Note: I continue to do well in my recovery from injuries sustained when I was hit by a car while traveling through Macon, GA on my motorcycle. I had a skin graft procedure on my left ankle last Wednesday (October 19). Yesterday I went back to the doctor and he said everything was looking just as it should. He was pleased with the way things are healing. I still have months of healing and physical therapy ahead, but I am comfortable and able to stay by myself in “The Dreamer.” Thank you for your prayers during this time of recuperation.
This post begins a new series where I will be publishing the revision to the book God’s Plan of the Ages.
God’s Plan of the Ages
The Need for Revision
My heavenly Father first directed me to begin a ministry of writing in 1999. In 2000 I published online my first book, The Remnant Bride. In 2001 I followed this with the foundational truths contained in the book Sabbath. The following year, 2002, ended up being the most productive time I had yet experienced in writing as I completed four separate books. These books, in the order they appeared, were Sarah’s Children, The Road from Babylon to Zion, Laying Down the Law, and God’s Plan of the Ages.
Ten years have passed since that busy season of writing, and eight more books have been completed. Recently, I have found it needful to go back and revise some of those early writings. The reason for the revision is not due to any error contained in what was previously set forth. Rather, the years have given me much opportunity to contemplate the subjects of these books further. The Holy Spirit has added much more to my understanding of Yahweh’s kingdom and His work among His creation. I have found that the explanations I would now give to certain important doctrines is much more robust. There are additional, and better, arguments to be set forth. I have found many ways to convey truth to the saints that work better than those early attempts.
Recently I revised the book Laying Down the Law. I did not change a single conclusion from the earlier version of the book, but I ended up completely re-writing it. The end result is a book nearly twice the original length, and with an approach to explaining the role and duration of the law that I was incapable of setting forth ten years ago. In a similar manner I now intend to revise this present book, God’s Plan of the Ages.
In the intervening years I have considered at great length the subject of this book, as well as many corollary teachings. Yahweh has opened my eyes to see many more truths. My understanding is much deeper and broader, as well as more solid, than it was a decade earlier. As I have corresponded with the saints, taught online through my websites, and spoken in many locations across this nation, I have found better ways to express certain truths. I am persuaded that those who read this book will benefit from this experience as it incorporated into this work of revision.
Back in 2002 the understanding of certain truths addressed in this book were fairly new to me. I incorporated the quotations from other men who had considered the same subject for a greater period of time. J. Preston Eby’s writing “The Savior of the Word Series” was quoted extensively in my earlier book. Although I believe it is good and proper to acknowledge those whom our Father has used to bring light and truth to us, in setting forth teachings to the body of Christ I believe it is preferable to write things in my own words. I have felt from the time that God’s Plan of the Ages was first made available on the Internet that a day would come when I would revise it, replacing the many copied passages from Mr. Eby’s writing with my own explanations. That time is now at hand.
A Controversial Topic
I acknowledge that those things set forth in this writing are considered controversial by many Christians today. What passes for orthodox teaching among the churches of this hour is very different from that orthodox teaching of Christ and His apostles. Both Christ and His apostles foretold of the great error that would permeate the majority view of the church in the last days. Let us look at a few scriptures that reveal the understanding that the days preceding Yahshua’s return would be days of profound deception and error.
II Timothy 3:1-7
But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God; holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; and avoid such men as these. For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Note very carefully here that Paul identifies the day he is speaking of to Timothy. “But realize this, in the last days difficult times will come.” How many ministers today are proclaiming that we live in the last days? It seems that many recognize that the hour is late, but they have failed to discern what the Bible foretells the state of Christianity to be at this late hour. Paul begins this passage by saying, “in the last days difficult times will come,” and he concludes by saying that people would be “always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” What Paul is speaking of is not the exception, but rather the overriding condition of the majority of Christians in the last days. Multitudes today are attending regularly to various forms of teaching, but they are not arriving at the knowledge of the truth.
Timothy was charged by Paul to preach the word. Things were already difficult in the days Paul wrote to Timothy. Consider then the difficulty of any minister who finds himself proclaiming truth to those in the last days. Indeed, their task will be formidable. Paul is still maintaining the same train of thought when he speaks the following words.
II Timothy 4:1-4
I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ , who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires; and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths.
When should one expect this time to come when men will not endure sound doctrine? Paul already has informed us that he is speaking of the last days, the days in which we now live. If men are not heeding sound doctrine, what are they listening to? They are listening to great accumulations of teachers that are speaking the things their wayward hearts want to hear. They are turning aside unto myths and fables.
There is virtually no area of truth that has remained unaffected due to the difficulty of the days we live. In the book of II Thessalonians, Paul described the dire state of these days with the word “apostasy.”
II Thessalonians 2:1-3
Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Yahshua the Messiah, and our gathering together to Him, that you may not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first…
Once more Paul is writing about the days that precede the return of Yahshua. He is writing of the days we live in. Paul states that Yahshua will not return unless the apostasy occurs first. Strong’s Dictionary of Greek words defines apostasy in the following manner.
646 apostasia (ap-os-tas-ee’-ah);
feminine of the same as 647; defection from truth
As one looks further into the meaning of this Greek word, it is seen that it shares a similar root with the Greek word meaning divorce. The apostasy of which Paul speaks is literally a divorcement from truth. Taken in relationship with Paul’s other statements we can discern that the last days will be a time when those who claim to be followers of Yahshua will divorce themselves from truth, and they will in turn be wed to myths and fables. They will figuratively heap up for themselves teachers that will proclaim error and falsehood unto them.
This is the perilous circumstance that we find ourselves in today. It is not the masses that are proclaiming truth, but the remnant. Truth is not widely preached and received, rather it is largely rejected, having been replaced with falsehood. How did this circumstance come about? Again the apostle Paul informs us of the reason.
II Thessalonians 2:10-12
Because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved… for this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they might believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.
Because men have preferred lies over truth, the Father has sent a deluding influence upon them. This passage, and the others we have looked at, are not talking about the world, but those who claim to be followers of God. Those who read this book, and other writings that are proclaiming truth in this hour, must realize that what is written here is out of synch with the masses of Christendom because the masses of Christendom are themselves out of synch with God. Yahshua said He was the truth, yet the truth is not loved in the last days before Yahshua’s return. As a result the Father has sent delusion upon mankind so that they might believe what is false, which is what they prefer.
In the Gospels we find Christ uttering the following lamentation.
Luke 18:8
“However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”
Yahshua is speaking in reference to His second coming. At His first appearing there was a whole nation of people who claimed to be followers of His Father. There was a well used religious system centered around the Temple and the synagogues. People were studying the scriptures continuously, and they claimed to be waiting for the appearing of Messiah.
Do we not have a similar scenario today? There is a body of people, huge in number that claim to be followers of Yahshua (Jesus). There is a religious system that is utilized regularly. In place of synagogues there are church buildings on every street corner and at every crossroads. This great body of believers also claims to be awaiting the return of their Messiah.
With all of this teaching and religious structure in place, those who claimed to be waiting for Messiah did not recognize the day of their visitation when He appeared 2,000 years ago. Yahshua was despised and rejected. Certainly the Jews and their leaders would never have admitted to having a wrong understanding of Messiah and what His appearing would be like, anymore than would those in Christianity today. Yet Yahshua asks whether He will find faith on the Earth when He returns. Incredibly, Yahshua describes the last days prior to His return, unto His disciples in the following manner.
Matthew 24:10-13
“And at that time many will fall away and will deliver up one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise, and will mislead many. And because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end, he shall be saved.”
Let us consider the sum of all of these testimonies that speak of the last days of the church. Taken altogether we have the following witness.
Many will fall away; many will be mislead; most people’s love will grow cold; men will be lovers of self, lovers of money; men will not endure sound doctrine; men will turn aside to myths and fables; Yahshua will in no way return unless the apostasy occurs first; will He find faith on the Earth?
Understanding the condition of the church prophesied for the hour preceding the return of Christ should sober any sincere follower of Yahshua. I urge the reader to keep these things in mind as you proceed to read the pages of this book. Great deception has fallen upon the church in this hour. It was foretold over and over that this would be the situation on the Earth prior to Yahshua’s return. Do not be surprised that so much that is written here is in contradiction to what is being preached in thousands of pulpits throughout the world today. One should expect no less when the scriptures are properly discerned and the descriptions of the days we live in are rightly perceived.
This book covers some extremely important subjects. I would not feel that my writing was complete apart from setting forth the truths contained herein. It is my earnest expectation that this present revision of this writing will help introduce a remnant of God’s people to a vision of Yahweh’s plan of the ages that is hidden to the masses. May you be blessed with peace and understanding as you read.
Heart4God Website: http://www.heart4god.ws
Parables Blog: www.parablesblog.blogspot.com
Mailing Address:
Joseph Herrin
P.O. Box 804
Montezuma, GA 31063
Brother Joseph,
I am glad to know that you are healing physically and continuing your good fight. I just want you to know that you have another witness as to the subject of your post.
Take a look at the following excerpt from an article I just posted on my blog and you will see that Yahweh is speaking the same things to his faithful remnant.
Do you realize that God has been judging the church in America for quite some time? Though it may appear that much of the American church is prosperous, victorious and in need of nothing, there is a different reality beneath the surface. Please pay close attention to the following passage of scripture,
9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, 12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 (NKJV)
Here is the same passage in the modernized New Living Translation.
9 This man will come to do the work of Satan with counterfeit power and signs and miracles. 10 He will use every kind of evil deception to fool those on their way to destruction, because they refuse to love and accept the truth that would save them. 11 So God will cause them to be greatly deceived, and they will believe these lies. 12 Then they will be condemned for enjoying evil rather than believing the truth.
2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 (NLT)
Did you notice the highlighted phrases? The reason for the apostasy taking place amongst American Christians is because God has sent false prophets to deceive them because they did not love the truth! Do you think these things happen by accident? If so, then you might not really believe that God is sovereign over all creation and is in control of every situation. The Prosperity/Word of Faith Movement, the Toronto Blessing and Vineyard Movement, and the Lakeland Revival are just a few of the false winds of doctrine that have swept away many to their doom over the past twenty years. There are many lying spirits and wolves in sheep’s clothing in these movements preying upon the willingness of Christians to entertain falsehood. Many do not realize that barking like dogs, shaking uncontrollably, frothing at the mouth over money, and being “slain in the spirit” come from doctrines of demons. Because they refused to love God and obey His revealed truth they have received their judgment. We are not to seek after signs, wonders, and miracles. When we do, we open ourselves up to deception. This is God’s way of separating the sheep from the goats as the end of the age rapidly approaches.
If you think this scenario sounds strange or too far-fetched, I encourage you to read I Kings 22. It describes another situation when God sent lying spirits in the mouth of 400 prophets to deceive Ahab, the wicked King of Israel. Because Ahab listened to the 400 lying prophets and not the true prophet of God (Micaiah), he was killed on the battlefield. The point is this: when God’s people do not obey Him and place idols before Him, He often causes them to be deceived to their own detriment. The apostasy described by Paul in 2 Thessalonians is nothing more than the story of Ahab repeated on a larger scale for a disobedient people!
I can't wait to read the revised version of God's Plan of the Ages. I'll keep you in my prayers and ask that you do the same. We truly need each other in these dark days before the return of our Lord.