RUNNING IN A FURLONG By: Chris McCann 1 Corinthians 9:24 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. 25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. STADION ALWAYS TRANSLATED FURLONGS BUT ONCE RENDERED AS RACE One of the many ways the Lord has used to hide truth in the Bible was to permit the KJV translators to translate a Greek or Hebrew word into different English words. As a matter of fact the Greek word stadion (from which we get our English word stadium) is translated as furlongs everywhere else it is used except when it is rendered as race 1 Corinthians 9:24. The Greek word translated as race (stadion, Strongs #4712) in 1 Corinthians 9:24 is the identical Greek word translated as furlongs in the book of Revelation: Revelation 14:20 And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousandand six hundred furlongs. What is very interesting about Revelation 14:20 is that once the idea of 1600 furlongs is seen as 1600 days all sorts of Scriptures begin to fall into place. And the biblical calendar of history that the Lord opened up through the Scriptures and which guided us carefully to the conclusion of the great tribulation period on May 21, 2011 continues to unfold and give further guidance into these days after the tribulation. The verse in 1 Corinthians 9:24 which uses the word translated as furlong in Revelation 14:20, lays out the Christian life as though it were a foot race. Literally, the verse reads: Know ye not that they which run in a furlong run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. Of course the prize the Lords people seek after is the prize of eternal life: Philippians 3:13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. The next verse (v.25) found in 1 Corinthians 9 after referring to the race indicates that the finish line involves entering into the kingdom of God and receiving that glorious gift of living forever with a new body and soul. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. Since the Greek word stadion is translated as furlongs everywhere else it is found, we cannot help but understand that God would have us make the connection between the end of the race (furlong) and the reception of the incorruptible crown that all the elect will receive in the form of their new resurrected bodies on the last day of this worlds existence. THE END OF THE FURLONG What is extremely interesting about the usage of the Greek word (normally translated as furlong) being used to describe the race in which the incorruptible crown of eternal life is finally received--- is that the end of the race would also happen to be the end of the furlong. They which run in a FURLONG (race) run all. The Bible gives much evidence that since May 21, 2011 we have all been running (spiritually) in a 1600 furlongs race. It has been and will continue to be a grueling test of endurance for all. Marathons are renowned for wearing down runners. It takes special strength to run in a long race and to finish. If the information we have learned from the Bible is correct as we expect it to be, then the very last day of the 1600 furlongs will be akin to the last furlong/race to be run in our Christian life. At the conclusion of that furlong we have a good expectation of receiving the incorruptible crown: Matthew 24:13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. Some people have the natural strength to run long miles in a physical race (as God grants it to them); but no man or woman has the spiritual strength of themselves to endure to the end of the spiritual race. The strength must come from Gods Spirit. We must be one of Gods elect in order to run and finally endure in order to obtain the glorious incorruptible crown that awaits at the finish line of the last furlong. Isaiah 40:28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. 29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. 30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: 31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. Revelation 4:10 The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, 11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
Posted on: Tue, 27 Jan 2015 12:15:53 +0000
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