The world was shocked today to find out that 2 major pop culture icons died. One expectedly, the other not expectedly. Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett left this life today. Many people were shocked. Many questioned their own reason for existence as their own mortality stared them in the face.
There is one appointment on your life's timetable that you will undoubtedly keep. You may not know the day or the hour (neither MJ nor Farrah knew theirs), but one thing is for certain: you will pass from this life never to return again.
The Bible says "...man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment..." (Hebrews 9:27). So make no mistake...once you die, that is it. There's no going back. No reincarnation. No sleeping in the dust in bliss for all eternity. There is judgement to face. Every man must face his Creator and give an account for his life. What will God be looking for?
The Bible teaches that everyone will be raised on that last day...some to everlasting life, others to everlasting condemnation (Daniel 12:2). So who will be raised to life and who will be condemned? For the Bible also says that there is no one righteous, no not one. And also that "for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). So, what will be the requirement that allows a man to enter into Heaven?
First, let me just say that God, the Creator of the Heaven and the earth loves you sooo much! How much? Well, He knows (at any gven time no less) how many hairs are on your little (or big) head!! He formed you in your mother's womb, He gave you the personality that you have. He knew all your likes, dislikes, weaknesses and strengths before you ever let out one scream on the delivery table. He knows all your days (Psalm 139). He longs to spend time with you. To fellowship with you. The all-knowing, all powerful Ancient of Days is crazy about you.
Well, "if He is so all-loving, then why does God send people to hell?", you may be asking. He doesn't. God doesn't send anybody to hell. Does that surprise you? Why? You see, the scriptures are clear: God does not and cannot change. He is without sin. He is holy. That is just His nature. He set His moral standard for all humnakind in His Word. Yet, every single one of us has transgressed His law, His standard. We fall short. We sin. We are, by nature, enemies of the very God who loves us so much. Hell (sheol) was not created for you and me, but it was created for the devil and his fallen angels. And sin cannot exist in the presence of a holy God, so all who sin must go to the place of torment known as hell, where the Bible describes there will be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth and their torment never ends. So how can this be resolved to where a person can spend eternity with the Creator if we have all sinned, we have all gone against God's moral standard and deserve hell? (eternity is forever...it never ends. Hard to wrap your mind around, huh?)
The Atonement
In the first Covenant (You may be more familiar with the term Old Testament), God had the same exact standard He holds today. It can be summed up in the Ten Commandments, or the Ten Words. But people sinned back then, as they do today. So God made a provision for them through the instructions He gave to the children of Israel; a way they could be reconciled to Him and have their sin forgiven, by way of a blood sacrifice. Without the shedding of blood, there can be no remission of sin. But God did somethiing even MORE awesome than that. By His power and awesome wisdom, He became our sin sacrifice in the person of Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah. John 1 says "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us". Imagine that! The very moral standard...the very Word of God became human flesh, yet He was without spot or wrinkle, was without sin so that He could fulfill His own requirement for a perfect sacrifice! Then He offered Himself up to die in our place...to take the judgement and wrath we were so deserving of....He took it upon Himself...in its entirety. He did this so that you and I could be purchased, redeemed from the power of sin and death. He did this so that we could live forever with Him in Heaven when we die and so that we can have the abundant, meaningful, and full life He always meant for us to have here on earth! It would be like you were in court, sentenced to death because you broke the law. If someone came and took your place, paid your fine, and it was acceptable to the judge, he could commute your death sentence. It is the same with the Judge of the universe! Jesus paid your fine, setting you free from jail. On the day of judgement, the ultimate court date, your sin has been paid for. You have been purchased and can go free!
Isn't that incredible??
So the only thing that will stand before you and a holy God on judgement day is this: what did you do with God's Son? How did you respond to what He did for you, what He did in your place? Did you trample His blood under your feet? Did you laugh, mock, or think Jesus was for old women and weak people who need a crutch? Did you think His Word was a bunch of stories and fairy tales? Did you passively, if yet cowardly, think that is nice for some people, but I know how to live my life?- I'm doing fine? Or did you gratefully accept His payment for you? Or, instead, did you respond by saying Yes...if Jesus loved me this much, I would like to get to know Him, I would like to trust in Him for my salvation and live forever with God and His holy angels in Heaven. Because, my friend, this life is just a vapor in light of eternity.
Here today. Gone tomorrow. And you never know when your time will be up. All we have is now. Every moment, every breath is a gift of a loving God who does not want you to perish. He does not want you to reject His offer!!! God WILL NOT send you to hell. People send themselves there. They send themselves there by rejecting the one and only provision God has given them, by throwing it back in His face through unbelief, cynicism, and refusal to give up their sin, their pride, and the way they have been doing things. After all, if you were on a plane that was about to crash, and the pilot said "Here, put on this parachute, it will save your life", would you then say to the pilot, "I'll be fine. I've never died from a plane crash before..."? or "A parachute might be good for you, but I don't believe in parachutes..", or even, "I don't belive I will die from hitting the ground, I think I will just go into a very long blissful sleep". That sounds ridiculous, does it not?!
What is even more ridiculous? Having an opportunity to trust God for what He Has said and done and having the most satisfying, fulfilling relationship anyone could have the only one that can bring you true and lasting peace and assurance of Heaven, and squandering it away.
The book of Ecclesiastes states that it is a far better thing to consider death, to mourn and to wail, than to be happy, merry, and bright. Why? Because this is every man's end. No one has been known to escape it. No one ever will. Consider it now. It is your lot in life. And after that, the judgement. Judgement of what you did with the knowledge of God's love for you and His sacrifice for you.
I hope you will choose wisely.
*
Friday, June 26, 2009
Pregnant
I have been away from blogging the last couple of months because I have been very busy with an almost 2 year old explorer and battling morning sickness. We found out we are expecting our second child the beginning of Jan. (or more like the end of Dec). Fatigue, nausea, weight gain, and just plain ol regular life can make it to where the idea of writing a blog just doesn't make it to the top of the priority list sometimes.
Nevertheless, we are excited. I think it will be a girl, but I have been wrong before. (and pleasantly surprised!) There are some boys' name that I am fond of, but not inspired by. There are a couple of girls' names that I like, but only one I am inspired by. Nevertheless, the Bible says a good name is better to be desired than riches. And knowing that God had a hand in naming me, I do pray about what to name our baby. Because I believe that a person's name is significant concerning their prophetic destiny...their character, or what they will accomplish in life for the Kingdom of God.
The sonogram yesterday (day before yesterday? It is 3 am) for Down's Syndrome came back negative. Not that I would be dismayed even if our baby had D.S. It would not change my love for it. However, it was part of the screening and Kaiser was paying for it, so I figured, why not. This and I thought there was a possibility they could determine the sex (they couldn't...it was too early to tell). Besides, who would pass up every opportunity to peek at their child hidden in the womb?- after all, even Tom Cruise bought his pregnant wife a sonogram machine so they could see their infant in utero!
So I sit here in the middle of the night at the computer....gotta love those pregnancy hormones!- hoping I will get a couple more hours of sleep at least, before my son wakes me up for our eventful, fun filled day. Warm milk helps me. And a good- ol fashioned midnight snack doesn't hurt either.
*
Nevertheless, we are excited. I think it will be a girl, but I have been wrong before. (and pleasantly surprised!) There are some boys' name that I am fond of, but not inspired by. There are a couple of girls' names that I like, but only one I am inspired by. Nevertheless, the Bible says a good name is better to be desired than riches. And knowing that God had a hand in naming me, I do pray about what to name our baby. Because I believe that a person's name is significant concerning their prophetic destiny...their character, or what they will accomplish in life for the Kingdom of God.
The sonogram yesterday (day before yesterday? It is 3 am) for Down's Syndrome came back negative. Not that I would be dismayed even if our baby had D.S. It would not change my love for it. However, it was part of the screening and Kaiser was paying for it, so I figured, why not. This and I thought there was a possibility they could determine the sex (they couldn't...it was too early to tell). Besides, who would pass up every opportunity to peek at their child hidden in the womb?- after all, even Tom Cruise bought his pregnant wife a sonogram machine so they could see their infant in utero!
So I sit here in the middle of the night at the computer....gotta love those pregnancy hormones!- hoping I will get a couple more hours of sleep at least, before my son wakes me up for our eventful, fun filled day. Warm milk helps me. And a good- ol fashioned midnight snack doesn't hurt either.
*
Monday, April 20, 2009
Living in the Last Days- Watching the Signs point to...?
For those who haven't been following my blog regularly, I have been warning lately about the signs of the times. I feel we are reaching a critical mass here in this nation where each individual will have to make decisions for themselves and their families that will determine the rest of their lives, and ultimately, their eternal destination.
Now, before you go calling me a right wing conspiracy theorist (I wouldn't be too insulted by the term, but secretly flattered), let's take a look at the importance of many of these "signs" which are adding up:
Jesus said in Mark 13:37, "What I say to you, I say to everyone: 'Watch!' "
And so it is what I am saying to you and everyone: WATCH!
There will be those who will listen to what I say with a grain of salt (if not outright cynicism), but when the rubber meets the road, perhaps you will reflect on the things I warned about and be sobered up so that you may make a wise decision in time.
Last night, I saw the second half of a very touching true story. The movie was shown on a major network and it was called, "The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler" starring Anna Paquin. It was about a young Polish woman who was a social worker. She helped thousands of Jewish children escape the hands of the Nazis. Many children were pulled out of death's grip and put into orphanages and convents, complete with fake names and identities, just in the nick of time...sometimes within HOURS of the Nazi's filling the trains bound for the concentration camps. The scene which struck me to the core was the one where the Jews were just hearing about the news of a new concentration camp, Treblinka, being constructed, but without barracks. It was this kind of camp where there were to be no survivors. It was then that many of them understood the inevitable. But by then, for many, it was too late.
It was common during that time period for people to hear disturbing "news" as it mounted, evidence as to what the Nazis were planning. Many thought those that gave heed to such reports were paranoid. Many intelligent, thinking, well-educated, loving people really believed that those plans had nothing to do with them. Either that, or they thought that the war would be over soon and they would be safe.
My friend, are we making the same mistake in judgement today?
Here on this blog, I have been alluding to evidence that paints a certain future for anyone who adheres to a philosophy of life which the establishment deems threatening. It does not matter who you voted for. It does not matter if you are a conservative or a progressive. There are more stringent consequences if you do adhere to conservative values, as is evidenced by the recent report from the Department of Homeland Security. However, this should come as a warning to ANYONE who does not necessarily want to embrace what is coming down the pike.
On April 1, 2009, less than a month ago, the DHS issued a report on fusion centers. Fusion centers are local entities created for the movement of intelligence across federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. The story is they were created to share information on terrorism. However, if you have read the report of the previously mentioned DHS report about the threat of "right wing extremists", then you know that what was meant as an agency for the protection against terrorism can be used for any purpose the government deems necessary. Just like FEMA.
I have taken a little trip around youtube lately and have seen some of the footage about the internment camps and the disposable coffins. They are black plastic coffins. Tens of thousands of them, many being stored on private property throughout the midwest. They are flat on top for easy stacking. More and more reports are popping up baout them on the site because this is something that is hard to ignore. Although not reported in regular news, this story is very newsworthy. People who were interviewed about the coffins have said they were purchased by government agencies. They are indicative of the fact that the government anticipates massive loss of human life in this nation in the near future. That is obvious. But why or for what purpose is a little less clear. Local emergency response personnel have been in communication with the federal government on some of these matters. All the while you have been distracted by Anderson Cooper and his vile comments regarding the tea party protesters as well as his slanted viewpoint on the news. This infuriates me.
I knew about these internment camps 10 years ago. There is even one located within 20 miles of my then-hometown of Modesto. Although I was selective about whom I shared the informaiton with, I was even opposed by members of my family. Perhaps the info I presented did not fit in with their end-time world view? I am not sure. Nothing was ever explained to me. I am sure some of the first "watchmen" during WWII to sound the alarm were opposed by others and ridiculed too. But there was no one laughing or scoffing when peple were being carted away against their will by an insurmountable force known then as the Gestapo. Tragically, the accounts turned out to be true.
You see, not only is there a plan to eradicate the conservatives of our day, there is a global conspiracy to wipe out every Jew and Christian off the face of the earth. It's not my original idea...I wish I could be such a prolific science-fiction writer. Rather, this plan is the truth. It is made evident in the Bible. Genesis chapter 3:15. "I will put enmity between your seed and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head and you will strike his heel". This is God pronouncing judgement on the serpent (the devil). This is also the first Messianic prophecy in the Bible. The "seed" here, the "he" referred to is the Messsiah. The serpent did indeed bruise the Messiah's heel when Jesus was crucified. But the head of the serpent (the head symbolizing his authority) was crushed by the Messiah. So how does this exhibit a conspiracy theory? It exposes a demonic plan to wipe out a race of people, God's chosen people.
One may look down through time, throughout the centuries and see a pattern of attack and attempted annihilation against the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob- the Jews. They are God's chosen people, the very nation God would use to be a light to the nations, to make God and His ways known to the rest of the world. They were also the people through whom He would send the Messiah who is the living Torah. The living Word of God. Perfect in every way. The one who saves from sin and eternal damnation everyone who puts their trust in Him and forsakes his sin. Therefore, the devil sought on many occasions to wipe out the ones through which this would happen. The enslaved Hebrews in Egypt. The killing of the firstborn of every Hebrew slave. The killing of all babies under 2 years old by King Herod (around the time the Messiah Yeshua was born), the sacking of Israel's capital city, Jerusalem. More than once. The 2 captivities. The Hellenistic oppression and attempted assimilation. The pogroms of Eastern Europe. The ovens of the Nazis. The nations currently surrounding Israel and threatening them if they do not agree to a "2 state solution" thus accepting a covenant of the anti-christ, which he will break in the middle of the term. By the way, have you heard the latest threats of Javier Solana? Who?? The head of the European Union. Check out his power and paper trail at fulfilledprophecy.com.
This devilish conspiracy theory will not be over until the Messiah returns to set up His millenial reign on the earth. Judgement will be pronounced upon Lucifer, the fallen angel, or the devil, as well as on all those nations who have come against God's people Israel and those hwo have taken the mark of the beast. But by then, it will be too late. Too late to make up your mind, for the system of the beast as outlined in Revelation 13:17 will have already been in place. Each man not being able to buy or sell anything lest he have the mark of the beast or the number of his name. You will be forced to make a decision by then. The Bible says that those who take the mark (either in their hand or forehead) will be worshipping the beast aligning themselves with him (and the devil who is controlling him) forever more. The scriptures clearly state that those who do so will spend eternity in the place called Hades (hell) where there will be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. For those people who accepted not God's provision for the atonement of their sin, His son Jesus the Christ. There will be no repentance after that final act of taking the mark. And the Lord will then pour out His wrath on the earth and upon all those who have taken the mark of the beast. God's mercy and patience are extended until then. You may repent of your sin and accept the free gift of Messiah's blood to purchase your redemption until then. After that, it will be too late.
The warning judgements have already started. The coming shaking of everything that can be shaken is but birth pains of an extremely tumultuous time, a time uparallelled by any other time, the Bible says. The time of Jacob's trouble. The gospel is being preached to the uttermost parts of the earth. Man sees God's invisible nature and His glory in His creation (as it says in Romans chapter 1), so that man is without excuse. But our nation, America, is being handed over for judgement. God has turned us over to a reprobate mind. Just as the scriptures prophecied about these days we now live in, men do indeed call what is good "evil" and what is evil "good". And lawlessness (Torahlessness) abounds. Only those who repent now- only those who are stirred to repentance and faith, following the Lamb of God who was slain before the foundation of the world, even if it means giving up their very lives, will be saved. Exclusive? Yeah! But I didn't say it. God did. Jesus said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father but through me." (John 14:6).
Not Jesus and Buddah. Not Jesus and Mohammed. Not Jesus and your idolatry. Not Jesus and your tolernance of sin. (Remember- He is the One who said "if your eye causes you to sin, gauge it out".) Not Jesus and your ungodliness. Not Jesus and your popular world-view. Just Him. Salvation is free. But you were very expensive. And if you follow Him, you are no longer your own. For you were bought with a blood-price.
Pre-Trib, Post Trib, or Pan-Trib?
I have some friends who joke and say that they are "Pan-tribbers.....no matter what happens, it will all 'pan out in the end'". A nod to the fact that God soverignly holds all circumstances in His hand. Which is true. I myself used to hold to a "Pre-trib Rapture" theory. Until recently.
The Rapture is when the Bible describes the event of the "dead in Christ shall rise first, then those of us who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them and meet the Lord in the air and then will we ever be with the Lord" (1 Thessalonians 4:17)
I do believe in a rapture. (I believe in one resurrection as the First covenant talks of: the righteous will be raised to everlasting life, the unrighteous to everlasting condemnation. Daniel 12:2). However, I do not any longer believe the rapture will come before "Daniel's seventieth week". There is no phrase in the bible that calls this time period "the Great Tribulation". There is the phrase "immediately after the distress of those days" (Matthew 24:29) , but it is descriptive of the events described next in the passage, not a completely separate dispensation. The teaching of the Great Tribulation of 7 years and that all those who have put their trust in Christ being raptured out of the earth before tribulation comes, I do not believe there is substantial supportive evidence to support from the Hebrew perspective.
Now, I must note that this is not really a foundational issue. It is not an issue of salvation by grace only through Yeshua which is essential Christian doctrine. Therefore, we as believers can agree to disagree and not break fellowship over it. However, for the sake of practicalities and the decisions to be made in the near future concerning believers, concerning the changing world view amongst many evangelicals today, and concerning the deception that is coming and which is indeed already here, I think it is important to note.
I used to sit in prophecy conferences and hear the scenario being described of how the saints were going to be raptured before what they termed the "Great Tribulation". I read Hal Lindsey's books. But nothing about the picture they were painting seemd to settle in an orderly, peaceful way in my spirit or my mind. Quite frankly, I was confused. Now, I know they have movies and fictional books to help paint this scenario, and I know MOST of the proponents of said theory are godly, intelligent, respectable men (I love Hal Lindsey! He is a godly man and a lover of Israel...I just don't come to the same conclusions he does). However, I disagree with the way they view scripture. Conversely, when I began studying the scriptures in the Hebrew context (in which they were given), and listening to Messianic Jewish teachers who taught on prophecy, combining scripture form Old and New testaments and rightly dividing the Word of Truth within a Hebrew context, I began sensing a peace deep within and an orderliness to the end-time scenario. Besides, the fruit I was seeing from the "pre-trib rapture" teaching was not good. I saw an arrogant attitude, whether inadvertent or not, from saints who clung tightly to this idea that we were not going to experience any judgement. God is a God of mercy and He has not appointed us unto wrath. Which I agree He has not appointed us unto wrath (all true followers), however, I believe God's judgement is His mercy, that He doesn't stop being one to be the other. Moreover, Jesus was warning His followers, His disciples of the distress that was to come in those days (Matthew 24 and 25). He warned us so that we would not fall away. Why would He need to do that if we were not going to experience any of it? He even warned His followers what to do when "you see standing in the holy place 'the abomination that causes desolation' spoken through the prophet Daniel....." (which is a reference to when the anti-christ will set himself up in the Temple in Jerusalem as God),...then He gives His followers instructions. (see Matthew 24:16).
A Hint In the Passover
Remember the plagues of Exodus? The plagues were not directed to the Hebrews, as was evidenced in the fact that the Egyptians suffered, and many times they were unouched by them. But they were affected by them for sure. The Nile turning to blood, for instance. Althought the Hebrews lived in the Land of Goshen, they still got their water form the Nile, the source of all water in the region. And so they did experience some inconvenience. But they did not receive the brunt of God's wrath. And they had the blood of God's Passover Lamb to protect them from death, foreshadowing the Messiah, who is the Passover Lamb and the second death, eternal damnation, respectively. And so too, I believe we will be spared much in the days to come, if we obey the Lord. But we will be inconvenienced. And it will be "as in the days of Noah...and Lot's wife". The righteous taken out of the way immediately before God's wrath is poured out.
There is not enough room to go into the immense detail of this theory here. (That and my son needs to wake up from his nap!) However, the seeker who wants to delve further may contact me personally if you would like the appropriate resources. If the Lord wills and I have the means to oblige at the time, I would be happy to do so.
There is no way that one can know ALL of the aspects of the end times or what to look out for and what to chuck away as happenstance, especially as world events quicken at a rapid pace. But I do know I have been given a glimpse into how the Lord wants us to be watchful for when He comes. Some of that watching may require action.
After all, I am sure that if the Jews of Hitler's era (may his name be blotted out!) were to act on the things they were seeing, perhaps their outcome and the outcome for their families may have been different.
**
Now, before you go calling me a right wing conspiracy theorist (I wouldn't be too insulted by the term, but secretly flattered), let's take a look at the importance of many of these "signs" which are adding up:
Jesus said in Mark 13:37, "What I say to you, I say to everyone: 'Watch!' "
And so it is what I am saying to you and everyone: WATCH!
There will be those who will listen to what I say with a grain of salt (if not outright cynicism), but when the rubber meets the road, perhaps you will reflect on the things I warned about and be sobered up so that you may make a wise decision in time.
Last night, I saw the second half of a very touching true story. The movie was shown on a major network and it was called, "The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler" starring Anna Paquin. It was about a young Polish woman who was a social worker. She helped thousands of Jewish children escape the hands of the Nazis. Many children were pulled out of death's grip and put into orphanages and convents, complete with fake names and identities, just in the nick of time...sometimes within HOURS of the Nazi's filling the trains bound for the concentration camps. The scene which struck me to the core was the one where the Jews were just hearing about the news of a new concentration camp, Treblinka, being constructed, but without barracks. It was this kind of camp where there were to be no survivors. It was then that many of them understood the inevitable. But by then, for many, it was too late.
It was common during that time period for people to hear disturbing "news" as it mounted, evidence as to what the Nazis were planning. Many thought those that gave heed to such reports were paranoid. Many intelligent, thinking, well-educated, loving people really believed that those plans had nothing to do with them. Either that, or they thought that the war would be over soon and they would be safe.
My friend, are we making the same mistake in judgement today?
Here on this blog, I have been alluding to evidence that paints a certain future for anyone who adheres to a philosophy of life which the establishment deems threatening. It does not matter who you voted for. It does not matter if you are a conservative or a progressive. There are more stringent consequences if you do adhere to conservative values, as is evidenced by the recent report from the Department of Homeland Security. However, this should come as a warning to ANYONE who does not necessarily want to embrace what is coming down the pike.
On April 1, 2009, less than a month ago, the DHS issued a report on fusion centers. Fusion centers are local entities created for the movement of intelligence across federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. The story is they were created to share information on terrorism. However, if you have read the report of the previously mentioned DHS report about the threat of "right wing extremists", then you know that what was meant as an agency for the protection against terrorism can be used for any purpose the government deems necessary. Just like FEMA.
I have taken a little trip around youtube lately and have seen some of the footage about the internment camps and the disposable coffins. They are black plastic coffins. Tens of thousands of them, many being stored on private property throughout the midwest. They are flat on top for easy stacking. More and more reports are popping up baout them on the site because this is something that is hard to ignore. Although not reported in regular news, this story is very newsworthy. People who were interviewed about the coffins have said they were purchased by government agencies. They are indicative of the fact that the government anticipates massive loss of human life in this nation in the near future. That is obvious. But why or for what purpose is a little less clear. Local emergency response personnel have been in communication with the federal government on some of these matters. All the while you have been distracted by Anderson Cooper and his vile comments regarding the tea party protesters as well as his slanted viewpoint on the news. This infuriates me.
I knew about these internment camps 10 years ago. There is even one located within 20 miles of my then-hometown of Modesto. Although I was selective about whom I shared the informaiton with, I was even opposed by members of my family. Perhaps the info I presented did not fit in with their end-time world view? I am not sure. Nothing was ever explained to me. I am sure some of the first "watchmen" during WWII to sound the alarm were opposed by others and ridiculed too. But there was no one laughing or scoffing when peple were being carted away against their will by an insurmountable force known then as the Gestapo. Tragically, the accounts turned out to be true.
You see, not only is there a plan to eradicate the conservatives of our day, there is a global conspiracy to wipe out every Jew and Christian off the face of the earth. It's not my original idea...I wish I could be such a prolific science-fiction writer. Rather, this plan is the truth. It is made evident in the Bible. Genesis chapter 3:15. "I will put enmity between your seed and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head and you will strike his heel". This is God pronouncing judgement on the serpent (the devil). This is also the first Messianic prophecy in the Bible. The "seed" here, the "he" referred to is the Messsiah. The serpent did indeed bruise the Messiah's heel when Jesus was crucified. But the head of the serpent (the head symbolizing his authority) was crushed by the Messiah. So how does this exhibit a conspiracy theory? It exposes a demonic plan to wipe out a race of people, God's chosen people.
One may look down through time, throughout the centuries and see a pattern of attack and attempted annihilation against the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob- the Jews. They are God's chosen people, the very nation God would use to be a light to the nations, to make God and His ways known to the rest of the world. They were also the people through whom He would send the Messiah who is the living Torah. The living Word of God. Perfect in every way. The one who saves from sin and eternal damnation everyone who puts their trust in Him and forsakes his sin. Therefore, the devil sought on many occasions to wipe out the ones through which this would happen. The enslaved Hebrews in Egypt. The killing of the firstborn of every Hebrew slave. The killing of all babies under 2 years old by King Herod (around the time the Messiah Yeshua was born), the sacking of Israel's capital city, Jerusalem. More than once. The 2 captivities. The Hellenistic oppression and attempted assimilation. The pogroms of Eastern Europe. The ovens of the Nazis. The nations currently surrounding Israel and threatening them if they do not agree to a "2 state solution" thus accepting a covenant of the anti-christ, which he will break in the middle of the term. By the way, have you heard the latest threats of Javier Solana? Who?? The head of the European Union. Check out his power and paper trail at fulfilledprophecy.com.
This devilish conspiracy theory will not be over until the Messiah returns to set up His millenial reign on the earth. Judgement will be pronounced upon Lucifer, the fallen angel, or the devil, as well as on all those nations who have come against God's people Israel and those hwo have taken the mark of the beast. But by then, it will be too late. Too late to make up your mind, for the system of the beast as outlined in Revelation 13:17 will have already been in place. Each man not being able to buy or sell anything lest he have the mark of the beast or the number of his name. You will be forced to make a decision by then. The Bible says that those who take the mark (either in their hand or forehead) will be worshipping the beast aligning themselves with him (and the devil who is controlling him) forever more. The scriptures clearly state that those who do so will spend eternity in the place called Hades (hell) where there will be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. For those people who accepted not God's provision for the atonement of their sin, His son Jesus the Christ. There will be no repentance after that final act of taking the mark. And the Lord will then pour out His wrath on the earth and upon all those who have taken the mark of the beast. God's mercy and patience are extended until then. You may repent of your sin and accept the free gift of Messiah's blood to purchase your redemption until then. After that, it will be too late.
The warning judgements have already started. The coming shaking of everything that can be shaken is but birth pains of an extremely tumultuous time, a time uparallelled by any other time, the Bible says. The time of Jacob's trouble. The gospel is being preached to the uttermost parts of the earth. Man sees God's invisible nature and His glory in His creation (as it says in Romans chapter 1), so that man is without excuse. But our nation, America, is being handed over for judgement. God has turned us over to a reprobate mind. Just as the scriptures prophecied about these days we now live in, men do indeed call what is good "evil" and what is evil "good". And lawlessness (Torahlessness) abounds. Only those who repent now- only those who are stirred to repentance and faith, following the Lamb of God who was slain before the foundation of the world, even if it means giving up their very lives, will be saved. Exclusive? Yeah! But I didn't say it. God did. Jesus said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father but through me." (John 14:6).
Not Jesus and Buddah. Not Jesus and Mohammed. Not Jesus and your idolatry. Not Jesus and your tolernance of sin. (Remember- He is the One who said "if your eye causes you to sin, gauge it out".) Not Jesus and your ungodliness. Not Jesus and your popular world-view. Just Him. Salvation is free. But you were very expensive. And if you follow Him, you are no longer your own. For you were bought with a blood-price.
Pre-Trib, Post Trib, or Pan-Trib?
I have some friends who joke and say that they are "Pan-tribbers.....no matter what happens, it will all 'pan out in the end'". A nod to the fact that God soverignly holds all circumstances in His hand. Which is true. I myself used to hold to a "Pre-trib Rapture" theory. Until recently.
The Rapture is when the Bible describes the event of the "dead in Christ shall rise first, then those of us who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them and meet the Lord in the air and then will we ever be with the Lord" (1 Thessalonians 4:17)
I do believe in a rapture. (I believe in one resurrection as the First covenant talks of: the righteous will be raised to everlasting life, the unrighteous to everlasting condemnation. Daniel 12:2). However, I do not any longer believe the rapture will come before "Daniel's seventieth week". There is no phrase in the bible that calls this time period "the Great Tribulation". There is the phrase "immediately after the distress of those days" (Matthew 24:29) , but it is descriptive of the events described next in the passage, not a completely separate dispensation. The teaching of the Great Tribulation of 7 years and that all those who have put their trust in Christ being raptured out of the earth before tribulation comes, I do not believe there is substantial supportive evidence to support from the Hebrew perspective.
Now, I must note that this is not really a foundational issue. It is not an issue of salvation by grace only through Yeshua which is essential Christian doctrine. Therefore, we as believers can agree to disagree and not break fellowship over it. However, for the sake of practicalities and the decisions to be made in the near future concerning believers, concerning the changing world view amongst many evangelicals today, and concerning the deception that is coming and which is indeed already here, I think it is important to note.
I used to sit in prophecy conferences and hear the scenario being described of how the saints were going to be raptured before what they termed the "Great Tribulation". I read Hal Lindsey's books. But nothing about the picture they were painting seemd to settle in an orderly, peaceful way in my spirit or my mind. Quite frankly, I was confused. Now, I know they have movies and fictional books to help paint this scenario, and I know MOST of the proponents of said theory are godly, intelligent, respectable men (I love Hal Lindsey! He is a godly man and a lover of Israel...I just don't come to the same conclusions he does). However, I disagree with the way they view scripture. Conversely, when I began studying the scriptures in the Hebrew context (in which they were given), and listening to Messianic Jewish teachers who taught on prophecy, combining scripture form Old and New testaments and rightly dividing the Word of Truth within a Hebrew context, I began sensing a peace deep within and an orderliness to the end-time scenario. Besides, the fruit I was seeing from the "pre-trib rapture" teaching was not good. I saw an arrogant attitude, whether inadvertent or not, from saints who clung tightly to this idea that we were not going to experience any judgement. God is a God of mercy and He has not appointed us unto wrath. Which I agree He has not appointed us unto wrath (all true followers), however, I believe God's judgement is His mercy, that He doesn't stop being one to be the other. Moreover, Jesus was warning His followers, His disciples of the distress that was to come in those days (Matthew 24 and 25). He warned us so that we would not fall away. Why would He need to do that if we were not going to experience any of it? He even warned His followers what to do when "you see standing in the holy place 'the abomination that causes desolation' spoken through the prophet Daniel....." (which is a reference to when the anti-christ will set himself up in the Temple in Jerusalem as God),...then He gives His followers instructions. (see Matthew 24:16).
A Hint In the Passover
Remember the plagues of Exodus? The plagues were not directed to the Hebrews, as was evidenced in the fact that the Egyptians suffered, and many times they were unouched by them. But they were affected by them for sure. The Nile turning to blood, for instance. Althought the Hebrews lived in the Land of Goshen, they still got their water form the Nile, the source of all water in the region. And so they did experience some inconvenience. But they did not receive the brunt of God's wrath. And they had the blood of God's Passover Lamb to protect them from death, foreshadowing the Messiah, who is the Passover Lamb and the second death, eternal damnation, respectively. And so too, I believe we will be spared much in the days to come, if we obey the Lord. But we will be inconvenienced. And it will be "as in the days of Noah...and Lot's wife". The righteous taken out of the way immediately before God's wrath is poured out.
There is not enough room to go into the immense detail of this theory here. (That and my son needs to wake up from his nap!) However, the seeker who wants to delve further may contact me personally if you would like the appropriate resources. If the Lord wills and I have the means to oblige at the time, I would be happy to do so.
There is no way that one can know ALL of the aspects of the end times or what to look out for and what to chuck away as happenstance, especially as world events quicken at a rapid pace. But I do know I have been given a glimpse into how the Lord wants us to be watchful for when He comes. Some of that watching may require action.
After all, I am sure that if the Jews of Hitler's era (may his name be blotted out!) were to act on the things they were seeing, perhaps their outcome and the outcome for their families may have been different.
**
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Poor in Spirit
Lately I have been ministered to by the Word, specifically the truths Jesus explained in the passage Matthew 5:1-10 known as the "Beatitudes". As I read this passage, a couple of things dawn on me: number one, In verse 1 it says "...when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down". The phrase "sat down" is not necessary to the passage and so it causes the reader to say, "Hmm. I wonder why it says Jesus sat down?" In the Hebrew way of studying the scriptures, this little clue is called a "remez" and it is put there so the ardent student will dig deeper.
Why was it necessary to say he sat down? Oftentimes, the text itself in the Bible will paint a wonderful picture. Here we have Jesus rising above the crowd, about to speak of some circumstances which the hearer may not think are ideal (such as being persecuted). The fact that he sat down indicates rest, but it also is a picture for us of God sitting on His throne in Heaven- reigning, sovereign and Supreme over all circumstances which could happen to us here on the earth. This is a beautiful and loving picture our Heavenly Father has given to every follower of Yeshua, to know that when we go through trials of many kinds in this life, and we decide to go through it rejoicing in Him, that God is ultimately in control, no matter what man may do to us and He is awaiting us, on the mountaintop, or rather in Heaven to reward us for our faithfulness. After all, Jesus said that if we give a cup of water to a child in his name, we will not lose our reward in Heaven. This begs the question...."If a cup of cold water, how much more so our very lives?"
Number two: I notice about this passage in Matthew that this seems to be a passage contained in itself- in other words, Jesus begins the Beatitudes with a phrase and ends the Beatitudes with the same exact phrase. In verse 3 it says:
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.
And then again at the end, a similar phrase:
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.
Notice that the phrase "For theirs is the kingdom of Heaven" tends to act as a door on each side of the passage. That is another hint to dig deeper. Deeper where?? Deeper into the content on the inside of the doors! In other words, Jesus seems to be indicating that the truths contained within this passage are very important to fulfilling one's role as his follower.
This is what the Lord has been showing me lately: the first Beatitude is of utmost importance if you want to follow the Messiah. Let's look at it again:
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingom of heaven.
What does it mean to be poor in spirit? Is it like being poor materially? The word for spirit here is the Greek word pneuma. It means wind, or breath, but it also means things which are perceived as having no material substance, things such as spirit, heart, mind, the inner things of man which are also created in the image of God. But to be poor in spirit, one is emptied out of self, emptied out of one's own glory. As it is written in Phillipians 2:6 about Jesus, "Who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, bing made in human likeness". (emphasis mine)
Jesus is our example of being poor in spirit. He emptied himself out of himself in a way. He took the nature of a servant. He was not prideful. As a follower of Christ, we are called to do the same every day of our lives.
To be poor in spirit means to not esteem yourself higher than you ought. It means I esteem others higher than myself, rather than try to pump myself up, oftentimes using exaggeration (which the Bible calls lying) in order to do so. Just as a beggar is poor of material wealth, the poor in spirit are lacking in their own importance, their own agenda, a sense of their own rights or the need to defend those rights. They have nothing of worth which the Lord has not given them.
Being poor in spirit also means being thankful in all circumstances. Actually thanking God for those circumstances! Wait a minute! You mean even when others (my spouse perhaps?) are treating me unfairly? Yep. That is exactly what I mean.
There is a story told by Corrie ten Boom in her book "The Hiding Place" of when she and her sister were in the Nazi concentration camps. They lived in a crowded barracks. Corrie was tempted to complain and be unthankful for being in such a dismal place. Her sister, however, encouraged her to be thankful. "Even for the lice?" Corrie asked her sister. "Even for the lice", her sister replied. As the days wore on, the two women were sharing the Lord with the other women in their barracks and even holding prayer meetings and worship times with singing. They noticed that the guards let them carry on, not entering the barracks to interrupt this special time with the Lord. They later found out why the guards did not enter those barrack- the guards were avoiding the lice, the very adverse circumstance Corrie had thanked God for!
Seeking to become poor in spirit has been a hard-hitting teaching for me. For don't you know that when God deposits truth into us, He often then sends a trial to test that truth and to see if it has stuck? I mean, I get angry if I am inconvenienced at the grocery store!! I have so far to go...and I am painfully aware of how much I am in need of His grace to do this. When I hit bottom in the realization that I have nothing...nothing of myself to offer to Him that is of any value...then and only then I think I will have just started to hit the tip of the iceberg of what it means to be "poor in spirit".
Right now I would just like to share a couple of stories that are examples to me of Christians, real flesh and blood people, who are poor in spirit, who are emptied out of themselves so that they may be filled with the grace of God to abound to others who need to know Him.
The first story a friend was telling me today at lunch. It is not a long story, but rather a description: 2 missionaries to a foreign country. They wanted to reach a certain group of people and share the gospel with them. They both sold themselves into slavery to these people, forsaking their family members and their friends, not knowing if they would ever see their loved ones again. Not knowing of whether or not their new masters would be merciful to them, or harsh. I said to myself : These people are the real deal!! They did not think it below them to do such a thing. They were truly slaves for Jesus the Messiah.
This reminded me of another missionary story I heard some years ago: a young girl (of which nationality, I do not remember), a follower of the Messiah, was placed in a horrible prison. Her cell was tiny. It was dank and oppressive. There was no latrine and so all the prisoners, each in their own cells, had to "go" on the floor and live in the filth. The prison guards would come by every few days to clean out the cells. Knowing that these guards did not want to do this, and seeing a possible opportunity to both share the gospel with the inmates and be a light to the guards, she offered to go and do the dirty job. The clincher: she had no tools with which to scoop- only her hands. And as she would reach her hands into the dark cells and scoop the excrement, she would whisper to the prisoner, "I know of a better Way...."
Does this story make you well up with tears? It does me. Does it do it for the right reasons, though? It brings me to my knees. It makes me cry out to God from the painful pit in my stomach and the knowledge that I claim to be a follower of the Messiah, and yet I know I do not have the inner substance this young girl had. But I want it. The flesh hates what I am about to write....but my spirit is so excited....I want what this young follower of Messiah has. I am hungry to know what it is like to be "poor in spirit".
I think perhaps the days might be coming soon, possibly during times of great persecution, when I will have the opportunity to be conformed to this aspect of the image of the Messiah,
"...who for the joy set before him endured the cross..." Hebrews 12:2.
**
Why was it necessary to say he sat down? Oftentimes, the text itself in the Bible will paint a wonderful picture. Here we have Jesus rising above the crowd, about to speak of some circumstances which the hearer may not think are ideal (such as being persecuted). The fact that he sat down indicates rest, but it also is a picture for us of God sitting on His throne in Heaven- reigning, sovereign and Supreme over all circumstances which could happen to us here on the earth. This is a beautiful and loving picture our Heavenly Father has given to every follower of Yeshua, to know that when we go through trials of many kinds in this life, and we decide to go through it rejoicing in Him, that God is ultimately in control, no matter what man may do to us and He is awaiting us, on the mountaintop, or rather in Heaven to reward us for our faithfulness. After all, Jesus said that if we give a cup of water to a child in his name, we will not lose our reward in Heaven. This begs the question...."If a cup of cold water, how much more so our very lives?"
Number two: I notice about this passage in Matthew that this seems to be a passage contained in itself- in other words, Jesus begins the Beatitudes with a phrase and ends the Beatitudes with the same exact phrase. In verse 3 it says:
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.
And then again at the end, a similar phrase:
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.
Notice that the phrase "For theirs is the kingdom of Heaven" tends to act as a door on each side of the passage. That is another hint to dig deeper. Deeper where?? Deeper into the content on the inside of the doors! In other words, Jesus seems to be indicating that the truths contained within this passage are very important to fulfilling one's role as his follower.
This is what the Lord has been showing me lately: the first Beatitude is of utmost importance if you want to follow the Messiah. Let's look at it again:
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingom of heaven.
What does it mean to be poor in spirit? Is it like being poor materially? The word for spirit here is the Greek word pneuma. It means wind, or breath, but it also means things which are perceived as having no material substance, things such as spirit, heart, mind, the inner things of man which are also created in the image of God. But to be poor in spirit, one is emptied out of self, emptied out of one's own glory. As it is written in Phillipians 2:6 about Jesus, "Who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, bing made in human likeness". (emphasis mine)
Jesus is our example of being poor in spirit. He emptied himself out of himself in a way. He took the nature of a servant. He was not prideful. As a follower of Christ, we are called to do the same every day of our lives.
To be poor in spirit means to not esteem yourself higher than you ought. It means I esteem others higher than myself, rather than try to pump myself up, oftentimes using exaggeration (which the Bible calls lying) in order to do so. Just as a beggar is poor of material wealth, the poor in spirit are lacking in their own importance, their own agenda, a sense of their own rights or the need to defend those rights. They have nothing of worth which the Lord has not given them.
Being poor in spirit also means being thankful in all circumstances. Actually thanking God for those circumstances! Wait a minute! You mean even when others (my spouse perhaps?) are treating me unfairly? Yep. That is exactly what I mean.
There is a story told by Corrie ten Boom in her book "The Hiding Place" of when she and her sister were in the Nazi concentration camps. They lived in a crowded barracks. Corrie was tempted to complain and be unthankful for being in such a dismal place. Her sister, however, encouraged her to be thankful. "Even for the lice?" Corrie asked her sister. "Even for the lice", her sister replied. As the days wore on, the two women were sharing the Lord with the other women in their barracks and even holding prayer meetings and worship times with singing. They noticed that the guards let them carry on, not entering the barracks to interrupt this special time with the Lord. They later found out why the guards did not enter those barrack- the guards were avoiding the lice, the very adverse circumstance Corrie had thanked God for!
Seeking to become poor in spirit has been a hard-hitting teaching for me. For don't you know that when God deposits truth into us, He often then sends a trial to test that truth and to see if it has stuck? I mean, I get angry if I am inconvenienced at the grocery store!! I have so far to go...and I am painfully aware of how much I am in need of His grace to do this. When I hit bottom in the realization that I have nothing...nothing of myself to offer to Him that is of any value...then and only then I think I will have just started to hit the tip of the iceberg of what it means to be "poor in spirit".
Right now I would just like to share a couple of stories that are examples to me of Christians, real flesh and blood people, who are poor in spirit, who are emptied out of themselves so that they may be filled with the grace of God to abound to others who need to know Him.
The first story a friend was telling me today at lunch. It is not a long story, but rather a description: 2 missionaries to a foreign country. They wanted to reach a certain group of people and share the gospel with them. They both sold themselves into slavery to these people, forsaking their family members and their friends, not knowing if they would ever see their loved ones again. Not knowing of whether or not their new masters would be merciful to them, or harsh. I said to myself : These people are the real deal!! They did not think it below them to do such a thing. They were truly slaves for Jesus the Messiah.
This reminded me of another missionary story I heard some years ago: a young girl (of which nationality, I do not remember), a follower of the Messiah, was placed in a horrible prison. Her cell was tiny. It was dank and oppressive. There was no latrine and so all the prisoners, each in their own cells, had to "go" on the floor and live in the filth. The prison guards would come by every few days to clean out the cells. Knowing that these guards did not want to do this, and seeing a possible opportunity to both share the gospel with the inmates and be a light to the guards, she offered to go and do the dirty job. The clincher: she had no tools with which to scoop- only her hands. And as she would reach her hands into the dark cells and scoop the excrement, she would whisper to the prisoner, "I know of a better Way...."
Does this story make you well up with tears? It does me. Does it do it for the right reasons, though? It brings me to my knees. It makes me cry out to God from the painful pit in my stomach and the knowledge that I claim to be a follower of the Messiah, and yet I know I do not have the inner substance this young girl had. But I want it. The flesh hates what I am about to write....but my spirit is so excited....I want what this young follower of Messiah has. I am hungry to know what it is like to be "poor in spirit".
I think perhaps the days might be coming soon, possibly during times of great persecution, when I will have the opportunity to be conformed to this aspect of the image of the Messiah,
"...who for the joy set before him endured the cross..." Hebrews 12:2.
**
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Bye Bye Capitalism! Hello Beast.....
I stand in my bathroom staring at items from antiquity- items of nostalgic pop culture documenting, by virtue of their existence, a by-gone era. Little did I know these relics- framed pictures of advertisements from the 1940's for Campbell's Tomato Soup and Life Savers, a sewing tin advertising Singer Sewing Machines- would ironically have such significance now when everything about the very free-enterprise system which allowed for such ingenuity would soon be a thing of the past.
We can say farewell to the economic system built by our forefathers for a free and independant people. In an unprecedented move, on April 2, 2009, Obama quietly agreed to put our capitalist system under the control of Europe via a radical document that calls for a global economic union. The foundation is being laid for a world economic system which will be taken over and controlled in the future by the anti-christ.
My friends, wake up to the signs of the times. We are being ABSORBED.
As I write this, possibly hundreds of thousands are gathering in protest to their govenrnment. Dubbed as "tea parties", this tax day, 2009, both Republicans and Democrats alike, and everyone in between are assembling in opposition to the radical moves the new president has made to spend billions of tax payers' dollars in trying to "save" the system, which also includes increasing the size and scope of government. But don't be fooled...he has planned this intentionally since his community-organizing days. It is a tenet of a socialist government. And he intends to be the dictator at the helm. Making it look like it is what is best for the American people, he breathes platitudes to the masses. But the gap between what Obama says and what he does is astounding. It is time to start examining the actions of this government in light of a scriptural world-view, rather than blindly hoping in its promises.
Because of his recent motions, no longer will the people of these United States of America have the right to life, liberty, or the pursuit of happiness. But rather, your money and my money is going to pay for abortions (including late term) domestically as well as internationally, our money is going to pay for a government that is going out of its bounds in scope as established by the Constitution of the Unites States of America, the very document Obama swore with uplifted hand to protect, so-help-him-God. Since the governement (and any other entity they align themselves with...European Union?) controls the purse strings, they control the people.
We can expect to see deep division in our nation over these and similar issues, we can expect to see more intrusive government into our personal lives and affairs, and persecution by the governement of all those in opposition to the government. Hello? Free speech? Freedom of protest? They have an antidote for that too... called Homeland Security....
Read the latest from the director of homeland security? The govenrnment is on the look-out for "radical right wing extremists" who hold to such ideals as conservative Christian values, the traditional definition of marriage, and life for the unborn. Their tale-tell signs? The govenment is watching out for our BUMPER STICKERS(!) of all things.....and they have designs as to what to do with such dissidents.....please read my previous posts about the power given to the executive branch of government and FEMA, even during a "perceived crisis". Click here to read about the recent statement by homeland security: http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=94803
Do these things shock and surprise you? They shouldn't. We were foretold about this thousands of years ago when God was speaking through His prophets. Many Bible scholars today postulate as to why America is not mentioned anywhere in scripture. The end time scenario doesn't allow for a soverign independant nation whose ideals and principles are based on God and His Word..the concepts held dear in Judeo-Christian principles. No, but we do have an end-time picture in Revelation as well as Daniel of a massive "beast" who appears to be an amalgammation of many different parts. Ten horns and seven heads is the account in Revelation. This system is both political as well as religious (and we can therefore conclude cultural). And where are the faithful followers of the Messiah? This beast system is GIVEN power over all peoples on the face of the earth. See Revelation 13:1 and also Revelation 13:7 where this beast was given power to make "war with the saints and to conquer them". Are we nearing this picture even now? Perhaps we should give a balanced view to potential converts to Christianity of ALL that may be required of them when we present the gospel message? Many followers had their lives required of them~ most of the disciples were martyred. Many considered it a JOY to die for their Lord. "Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned, they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword... the world was not worthy of them" (Hebrews 11:36-38).
Again, I submit to the reader, with the recent events of the economic collapse and the recent signing over of our free capitalist enterprise to a European power which-forget what I think about it- but itself thinks it is the revived Roman Empire that we are indeed nearing more and more the trying last days before the return of the Messiah. Jesus told us to watch. He told us to let no man deceive us. He told us to not run after those claiming to be "the Christ" in Hebrew "anointed one", whether they be politician or clergyman. But to be faithful until He comes. Will we be willing to die daily to our own desires, yea, even our own politics and Christian end-time world views in order to be obedient and faithful only unto Him and His Word, His Commandments and decrees?- not taking what this world system has to offer us, even if it means giving up our very lives?
If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity he will go. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, with the sword he will be killed. This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints. Revelation 13:10.
Expect the tightening grip of this world system and the cultural pressure to embrace it to become increasingly up close and personal. Some of you may even be persecuted and turned in by members of your own family..."Christian" members.
Please do not misunerstand me...I am not proposing a political agenda. I do not have designs to raise up a revolution of the flesh. Just as in the days of Jesus, there will be those who will be a part of such things. We must be wise as serpents in the coming days and be thoughtful about whom we align ourselves with. What I am interested in is in preparing myself and the saints of God for what is to come...and shortly. My interest is in waking the followers of Messiah Yeshua from their slumber and to see with clarity the big picture, to forsake all sins of the flesh- ungodliness, idolatry, pride. To live is Messiah. To die is gain. Shouldn't we be practicing everyday by dying to self and living according to His decrees? May you be blessed with the wisdom, knowledge, and the patiently-enduring faithfulness which we will be called upon to exhibit in the near future.
To see the above referenced article on the ageement Obama made at the G-20 summit, click on the following link...and prepare yourself to be amazed....
http://watchmannewsletter.typepad.com/news/2009/04/obama-agrees-to-outsource-capitalism-to-european-socialists.html
**
We can say farewell to the economic system built by our forefathers for a free and independant people. In an unprecedented move, on April 2, 2009, Obama quietly agreed to put our capitalist system under the control of Europe via a radical document that calls for a global economic union. The foundation is being laid for a world economic system which will be taken over and controlled in the future by the anti-christ.
My friends, wake up to the signs of the times. We are being ABSORBED.
As I write this, possibly hundreds of thousands are gathering in protest to their govenrnment. Dubbed as "tea parties", this tax day, 2009, both Republicans and Democrats alike, and everyone in between are assembling in opposition to the radical moves the new president has made to spend billions of tax payers' dollars in trying to "save" the system, which also includes increasing the size and scope of government. But don't be fooled...he has planned this intentionally since his community-organizing days. It is a tenet of a socialist government. And he intends to be the dictator at the helm. Making it look like it is what is best for the American people, he breathes platitudes to the masses. But the gap between what Obama says and what he does is astounding. It is time to start examining the actions of this government in light of a scriptural world-view, rather than blindly hoping in its promises.
Because of his recent motions, no longer will the people of these United States of America have the right to life, liberty, or the pursuit of happiness. But rather, your money and my money is going to pay for abortions (including late term) domestically as well as internationally, our money is going to pay for a government that is going out of its bounds in scope as established by the Constitution of the Unites States of America, the very document Obama swore with uplifted hand to protect, so-help-him-God. Since the governement (and any other entity they align themselves with...European Union?) controls the purse strings, they control the people.
We can expect to see deep division in our nation over these and similar issues, we can expect to see more intrusive government into our personal lives and affairs, and persecution by the governement of all those in opposition to the government. Hello? Free speech? Freedom of protest? They have an antidote for that too... called Homeland Security....
Read the latest from the director of homeland security? The govenrnment is on the look-out for "radical right wing extremists" who hold to such ideals as conservative Christian values, the traditional definition of marriage, and life for the unborn. Their tale-tell signs? The govenment is watching out for our BUMPER STICKERS(!) of all things.....and they have designs as to what to do with such dissidents.....please read my previous posts about the power given to the executive branch of government and FEMA, even during a "perceived crisis". Click here to read about the recent statement by homeland security: http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=94803
Do these things shock and surprise you? They shouldn't. We were foretold about this thousands of years ago when God was speaking through His prophets. Many Bible scholars today postulate as to why America is not mentioned anywhere in scripture. The end time scenario doesn't allow for a soverign independant nation whose ideals and principles are based on God and His Word..the concepts held dear in Judeo-Christian principles. No, but we do have an end-time picture in Revelation as well as Daniel of a massive "beast" who appears to be an amalgammation of many different parts. Ten horns and seven heads is the account in Revelation. This system is both political as well as religious (and we can therefore conclude cultural). And where are the faithful followers of the Messiah? This beast system is GIVEN power over all peoples on the face of the earth. See Revelation 13:1 and also Revelation 13:7 where this beast was given power to make "war with the saints and to conquer them". Are we nearing this picture even now? Perhaps we should give a balanced view to potential converts to Christianity of ALL that may be required of them when we present the gospel message? Many followers had their lives required of them~ most of the disciples were martyred. Many considered it a JOY to die for their Lord. "Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned, they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword... the world was not worthy of them" (Hebrews 11:36-38).
Again, I submit to the reader, with the recent events of the economic collapse and the recent signing over of our free capitalist enterprise to a European power which-forget what I think about it- but itself thinks it is the revived Roman Empire that we are indeed nearing more and more the trying last days before the return of the Messiah. Jesus told us to watch. He told us to let no man deceive us. He told us to not run after those claiming to be "the Christ" in Hebrew "anointed one", whether they be politician or clergyman. But to be faithful until He comes. Will we be willing to die daily to our own desires, yea, even our own politics and Christian end-time world views in order to be obedient and faithful only unto Him and His Word, His Commandments and decrees?- not taking what this world system has to offer us, even if it means giving up our very lives?
If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity he will go. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, with the sword he will be killed. This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints. Revelation 13:10.
Expect the tightening grip of this world system and the cultural pressure to embrace it to become increasingly up close and personal. Some of you may even be persecuted and turned in by members of your own family..."Christian" members.
Please do not misunerstand me...I am not proposing a political agenda. I do not have designs to raise up a revolution of the flesh. Just as in the days of Jesus, there will be those who will be a part of such things. We must be wise as serpents in the coming days and be thoughtful about whom we align ourselves with. What I am interested in is in preparing myself and the saints of God for what is to come...and shortly. My interest is in waking the followers of Messiah Yeshua from their slumber and to see with clarity the big picture, to forsake all sins of the flesh- ungodliness, idolatry, pride. To live is Messiah. To die is gain. Shouldn't we be practicing everyday by dying to self and living according to His decrees? May you be blessed with the wisdom, knowledge, and the patiently-enduring faithfulness which we will be called upon to exhibit in the near future.
To see the above referenced article on the ageement Obama made at the G-20 summit, click on the following link...and prepare yourself to be amazed....
http://watchmannewsletter.typepad.com/news/2009/04/obama-agrees-to-outsource-capitalism-to-european-socialists.html
**
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Late in the Day
Get ready. Because it is late in the day.
Bible-prophecy-speaking. End-times speaking. Days to end all days speaking.
All one has to do is read any non-major media outlets news (and I emphasize the word non-major) to see that world events are happening at such a rate it is difficult to keep up with all of them.
However, if you know the sign posts to be watchig out for (as Herb Peters has stated), it is astounding to see how many of these world events are just lining up with end-time prophecy already fortold in the scriptures. * For more on the fulfillment of end-time prophecies, check out http://www.fulfilledprophecy.com/~
That is.....until it is either removed or censored bythe powers that be, whether at Google, the FCC under the current administration and the return of the Fairness Doctrine, or some other power given to the NWO by FEMA or some other shadow government. No, I am not a conspiracy theorist, (unless you are talking about the original conspiracy as outlined in the book of Genesis). I am just an American Christian who is waking up from a long slumber of distraction and deception....
Today, I would like to talk about a new perspective in the fulfillment of the One World Goverment and One World Religion. Put away your cheesy made-for Christians- rapture movies and the theories they spout as to how the anti-christ will arise. For I am about to tell you that he is already here. His vehicle has been in place for over a decade and the influence it is exerting over our culture as well as our government is disconcerting.
Many Americans are emotionally sick over the state of the economy in our country, as well as the rise of socialism and fascism which we could see coming a mile away since before election day. This country is in a constitutional crisis right now. The quibble over the elegibility of Obama to hold office per his birth certificate- or lack therof- is a minor issue in this crisis, although it does say a lot to how little the leaders (almost ALL of them) in our country care about the constituion which they swore with uplifted hand to protect. When I saw Obama, then all of his staff raise their hand and swear to protect the constitution, I shouted, yes, shouted at the tv screen "LIARS!!!! ALL LIARS!!" How dare they treat with disdain, the blood of men and women who have died in order to protect that unique and special document by which all of our freedoms given by God Almighty are protected in this land.
But I digress....
My friend, we have been sold up the river by private bankers and by politicians paying off thse private bankers for political favors and position. Our rights to privacy have been chipped away at, and we cannot point the finger at former President Bush and the Patriot Act, for all that did was make official what the government had already been doing since the Clinton Administration....spying on the American people. Wire-tapping was something Slick Willey was doing back when a penant for the Texas Rangers was a gleam in George Bush's eye.
Now we must look to the ones who have real power in the world. Ones who would not think twice about weilding it over us, as a slave owner wields his whip. I am talking about the WEU (Western European Union) and the massive global agenda they have, not only to dictate what is done in the European Union itself, but in the Middle East as well- including the pan Arab states and...yes, you guessed it~ Israel.
Last week, Javier Solana threatened the new Israeli government under Benjamin Netanyahu to accept a two state solution or else (in not so many words). This is the first time such a tone has been taken with the Israeli government in recent years concerning an outside "broker for peace", and with such a staunch defender of Israel's soveriegnty (Netanyahu) ...the Good 'Ol Mr Huggie (that is what they call Solana) is showing his true colors. This is exaclty what he had in mind when he brokered the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership for Peace. Sound familiar? I bet you didn't catch that on Fox News. Sounds alot like the "North American Parnership for Peace", does it not? Googe that.
If you look at a map describing the aforementioned document (EUROMED Partnership for Peace) , and set it up side by side with a map of the Old Roman Empire straight from the back of your Bible, you will see that they look identical. Broker for peace, Hmm??....
They way the EU is going to bring about their global agenda is partly (or at least at the present) due to an idea called "Global Governance". I did not say "Global GOVERNMENT". This is where you have to put aside the images you have of the anti-christ taking control of the nations a la Hitler from those old end-times videos produced by Christian ministries in the 80's and 90's.....this is why I say it is already here. Global Governance does not come in like Chuck Norris in a china shop, the way we would describe "global government". No, it is much more insidious than that. What Global Governance does is it weilds its influence as just that...influence. Much more diplomatic. Much more subtle. If a nation can come under the influence of the ideas and values of the One-World System, no force is needed only compliance in local areas (a la the Old Roman Empire). This is exactly how Solana expects to gain the reigns of current soverign nations. Such priming of the masses has already come through our popular culture...media, arts, entertainment, gorup-think, evolution and it's assumptions of the origins of life, or lack thereof, which is programmed in to our citizens daily through the public school system, and of course, the dumming-down of American citizenry to where the next generation is so fixated in their toys- playing Guitar Hero, whilst they are led to the slaughter.
Global Governance is scary. It is legislation at mere suggestion. It is offering the nations of the world to join in the status and benefits of the European Union by offering them "Neighborhood Status"as opposed to "Member status" complete with econimic, trade and security benefits, and in return, expecting local, state, and nation level compliance.
And right about now, we could use some help in those areas, wouldn't you say??
What would you need in order to create a police state? Only the cooperation of local police and fire departments to comply with an overriding order or legislation to "keep the peace', and then an ensuing atmosphere of chaos and destruction, so that ordinary citizens will gladly give over their individual and inalienable rights. What kind of events could we imagine that could possibly precipitate such an ordeal??? Anyone? Anyone? Beuller? How about: food and water shortage, disinfranchisement of the classes (as in what socialism brings), mass political unrest followed by the organization of factions and in-fighting leading to civil war (as what the current constitutional crisis could muster), and oh, wait a minute, any natural or man-made disaster or perceived disaster FEMA would deem necessary to institute their emergency powers which they already have!! (see article on FEMA shadow-government at http://www.apfn.org/apfn/shadow.htm.
Any one of these scenarios, or a combination of them and we would be crying out begging for relief from outside sources. Either that, or they would come so insidiously and we would already be so stremlined into compliance, that we would hardly know what was happening.
My friend, we are a bit distracted. Boy, isn't that the understatement of the year?! And it is late in the day.
But none of these events have taken God off guard. Nor have they taken Him off of the throne. He forewared us about them in the books of Daniel, Revelation, and the gospels to name a few(during what's referred to as the Olivet Discourse- see Matthew chapter 24 among others). When these books are lined up in what the Hebrew perspective of Bible study calls "parallelism", one can see that the order in which events of the last days are mentioned is no coincidence. Nor is it any accident. Jesus mentioned even the order of world events prior to the end- all according to this way of organization. Now, for this persepective, I am going to stamp on many people's theological toes. For the Bible in it's entirety, when studied form a Hebrew perspective (in which it was given), only talks about ONE RESURRECTION, and that after many of these events I have been describing to you have already happened. (!!) Many warnings are there for believers as well. I won't get into the fact that the Bible does not contain a phrase called "the Great tribulation" in the sense that many pre-trib Christians have been taught. That is a man-made tradition. No, it is all in the context of Daniel's 70th week and there is no splitting up of believers to rapture some now and some later. What I will say is this....for those who have ears to hear, eyes to see, and a heart that perceives, we are already in the throws of birth pangs that will bring about the Day of the Lord (which is a day of Judgement where every man and every nation will have to give an account to God Almighty).
It is late in the day. I urge anyone who has any inkling of studying Bible end-time prophecy, to do so in the context of the entire bible as understood from the Hebrew perspective. For that is the perspective in which it was written. In order to do so, you may have to have your "lenses" cleansed of Western gentile Chritsitanity where it departs from this perspective. And that perspective does not allow for lawlessness. So put away your ideas that you can live how you want, do what you want, celebrate what you want (did I say that out loud to my Easter/Christmas-loving bretheren?!) , continue to violate the commandments of God and still be counted among his people who are separated out of the nations as those who do not take the mark of the Beast (antichrist and his world system). We already see the constructs in place for all power to be handed over to him. We even have an educated guess as to who he is. But only those who refuse to bow down to idols (remember Daniel who kept himself pure, not eating contaminated food from the king's table and who refused to bow down to the image of Nebuchadnezzar- the anti-christ of his day?) but remain faithful to the Lord til the end will be saved out of the coming deception. Some of us may have to pay for that faithfulness with our lives....not be raptured out of it.
If my writing is not concise, neat, pretty, or spelled right, it is because I am writing feverishly and frantically while my son sleeps. Then when he wakes, my real work, my important work begins. Because it is late in the day......
**
Bible-prophecy-speaking. End-times speaking. Days to end all days speaking.
All one has to do is read any non-major media outlets news (and I emphasize the word non-major) to see that world events are happening at such a rate it is difficult to keep up with all of them.
However, if you know the sign posts to be watchig out for (as Herb Peters has stated), it is astounding to see how many of these world events are just lining up with end-time prophecy already fortold in the scriptures. * For more on the fulfillment of end-time prophecies, check out http://www.fulfilledprophecy.com/~
That is.....until it is either removed or censored bythe powers that be, whether at Google, the FCC under the current administration and the return of the Fairness Doctrine, or some other power given to the NWO by FEMA or some other shadow government. No, I am not a conspiracy theorist, (unless you are talking about the original conspiracy as outlined in the book of Genesis). I am just an American Christian who is waking up from a long slumber of distraction and deception....
Today, I would like to talk about a new perspective in the fulfillment of the One World Goverment and One World Religion. Put away your cheesy made-for Christians- rapture movies and the theories they spout as to how the anti-christ will arise. For I am about to tell you that he is already here. His vehicle has been in place for over a decade and the influence it is exerting over our culture as well as our government is disconcerting.
Many Americans are emotionally sick over the state of the economy in our country, as well as the rise of socialism and fascism which we could see coming a mile away since before election day. This country is in a constitutional crisis right now. The quibble over the elegibility of Obama to hold office per his birth certificate- or lack therof- is a minor issue in this crisis, although it does say a lot to how little the leaders (almost ALL of them) in our country care about the constituion which they swore with uplifted hand to protect. When I saw Obama, then all of his staff raise their hand and swear to protect the constitution, I shouted, yes, shouted at the tv screen "LIARS!!!! ALL LIARS!!" How dare they treat with disdain, the blood of men and women who have died in order to protect that unique and special document by which all of our freedoms given by God Almighty are protected in this land.
But I digress....
My friend, we have been sold up the river by private bankers and by politicians paying off thse private bankers for political favors and position. Our rights to privacy have been chipped away at, and we cannot point the finger at former President Bush and the Patriot Act, for all that did was make official what the government had already been doing since the Clinton Administration....spying on the American people. Wire-tapping was something Slick Willey was doing back when a penant for the Texas Rangers was a gleam in George Bush's eye.
Now we must look to the ones who have real power in the world. Ones who would not think twice about weilding it over us, as a slave owner wields his whip. I am talking about the WEU (Western European Union) and the massive global agenda they have, not only to dictate what is done in the European Union itself, but in the Middle East as well- including the pan Arab states and...yes, you guessed it~ Israel.
Last week, Javier Solana threatened the new Israeli government under Benjamin Netanyahu to accept a two state solution or else (in not so many words). This is the first time such a tone has been taken with the Israeli government in recent years concerning an outside "broker for peace", and with such a staunch defender of Israel's soveriegnty (Netanyahu) ...the Good 'Ol Mr Huggie (that is what they call Solana) is showing his true colors. This is exaclty what he had in mind when he brokered the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership for Peace. Sound familiar? I bet you didn't catch that on Fox News. Sounds alot like the "North American Parnership for Peace", does it not? Googe that.
If you look at a map describing the aforementioned document (EUROMED Partnership for Peace) , and set it up side by side with a map of the Old Roman Empire straight from the back of your Bible, you will see that they look identical. Broker for peace, Hmm??....
They way the EU is going to bring about their global agenda is partly (or at least at the present) due to an idea called "Global Governance". I did not say "Global GOVERNMENT". This is where you have to put aside the images you have of the anti-christ taking control of the nations a la Hitler from those old end-times videos produced by Christian ministries in the 80's and 90's.....this is why I say it is already here. Global Governance does not come in like Chuck Norris in a china shop, the way we would describe "global government". No, it is much more insidious than that. What Global Governance does is it weilds its influence as just that...influence. Much more diplomatic. Much more subtle. If a nation can come under the influence of the ideas and values of the One-World System, no force is needed only compliance in local areas (a la the Old Roman Empire). This is exactly how Solana expects to gain the reigns of current soverign nations. Such priming of the masses has already come through our popular culture...media, arts, entertainment, gorup-think, evolution and it's assumptions of the origins of life, or lack thereof, which is programmed in to our citizens daily through the public school system, and of course, the dumming-down of American citizenry to where the next generation is so fixated in their toys- playing Guitar Hero, whilst they are led to the slaughter.
Global Governance is scary. It is legislation at mere suggestion. It is offering the nations of the world to join in the status and benefits of the European Union by offering them "Neighborhood Status"as opposed to "Member status" complete with econimic, trade and security benefits, and in return, expecting local, state, and nation level compliance.
And right about now, we could use some help in those areas, wouldn't you say??
What would you need in order to create a police state? Only the cooperation of local police and fire departments to comply with an overriding order or legislation to "keep the peace', and then an ensuing atmosphere of chaos and destruction, so that ordinary citizens will gladly give over their individual and inalienable rights. What kind of events could we imagine that could possibly precipitate such an ordeal??? Anyone? Anyone? Beuller? How about: food and water shortage, disinfranchisement of the classes (as in what socialism brings), mass political unrest followed by the organization of factions and in-fighting leading to civil war (as what the current constitutional crisis could muster), and oh, wait a minute, any natural or man-made disaster or perceived disaster FEMA would deem necessary to institute their emergency powers which they already have!! (see article on FEMA shadow-government at http://www.apfn.org/apfn/shadow.htm.
Any one of these scenarios, or a combination of them and we would be crying out begging for relief from outside sources. Either that, or they would come so insidiously and we would already be so stremlined into compliance, that we would hardly know what was happening.
My friend, we are a bit distracted. Boy, isn't that the understatement of the year?! And it is late in the day.
But none of these events have taken God off guard. Nor have they taken Him off of the throne. He forewared us about them in the books of Daniel, Revelation, and the gospels to name a few(during what's referred to as the Olivet Discourse- see Matthew chapter 24 among others). When these books are lined up in what the Hebrew perspective of Bible study calls "parallelism", one can see that the order in which events of the last days are mentioned is no coincidence. Nor is it any accident. Jesus mentioned even the order of world events prior to the end- all according to this way of organization. Now, for this persepective, I am going to stamp on many people's theological toes. For the Bible in it's entirety, when studied form a Hebrew perspective (in which it was given), only talks about ONE RESURRECTION, and that after many of these events I have been describing to you have already happened. (!!) Many warnings are there for believers as well. I won't get into the fact that the Bible does not contain a phrase called "the Great tribulation" in the sense that many pre-trib Christians have been taught. That is a man-made tradition. No, it is all in the context of Daniel's 70th week and there is no splitting up of believers to rapture some now and some later. What I will say is this....for those who have ears to hear, eyes to see, and a heart that perceives, we are already in the throws of birth pangs that will bring about the Day of the Lord (which is a day of Judgement where every man and every nation will have to give an account to God Almighty).
It is late in the day. I urge anyone who has any inkling of studying Bible end-time prophecy, to do so in the context of the entire bible as understood from the Hebrew perspective. For that is the perspective in which it was written. In order to do so, you may have to have your "lenses" cleansed of Western gentile Chritsitanity where it departs from this perspective. And that perspective does not allow for lawlessness. So put away your ideas that you can live how you want, do what you want, celebrate what you want (did I say that out loud to my Easter/Christmas-loving bretheren?!) , continue to violate the commandments of God and still be counted among his people who are separated out of the nations as those who do not take the mark of the Beast (antichrist and his world system). We already see the constructs in place for all power to be handed over to him. We even have an educated guess as to who he is. But only those who refuse to bow down to idols (remember Daniel who kept himself pure, not eating contaminated food from the king's table and who refused to bow down to the image of Nebuchadnezzar- the anti-christ of his day?) but remain faithful to the Lord til the end will be saved out of the coming deception. Some of us may have to pay for that faithfulness with our lives....not be raptured out of it.
If my writing is not concise, neat, pretty, or spelled right, it is because I am writing feverishly and frantically while my son sleeps. Then when he wakes, my real work, my important work begins. Because it is late in the day......
**
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Why My Child is a Miracle
One time, a ruler was pontificating with an advisor. He asked if there was a God, what would be the proof of his existence?
The advisor responded thoughfully, "The existence of the Jews".
In the Beginning
The descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, nowadays referred to as the Jews, were a unique people about which God said he would bless and all nations through them would be blessed:
The Lord had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.
I will make you a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you". (Genesis 12;1-3)
God promised Abram that he would become a great nation, that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars and as the sands of the sea. God changed the name of Abram to "Abraham", meaning father of a multitude (of nations).
God also promised Abram that he would grant him land that would be an inheritance to his offspring (Genesis 12:7; ratified through blood covenant in Genesis 15). The land would be an inheritance to the descandants of Abraham, through his offspring Isaac and Jacob, forever. God ratified this covenant in a unilateral blood covenant while Abraham was asleep. This is to indicate that God Himself would bear the brunt of the covenant and make sure it would be fulfilled (after all, Abraham was in a deep sleep when God did this. See Genesis 15:9-21).
God also prophesied to Abram that his descendants would be slaves in a nation not their own (Egypt) for 400 years. Moreover, through later prophecies in Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, God also told the Israelites that they would be taken captive and scattered to the far corners of the earth and into every nation for serving idols rather than serving the Lord their God who brought them up out of Egypt and out of slavery. This did indeed happen.
But here is the catch: God also promised to bring them back from captivity and into their own land, the land God swore to their father Abraham. God made many promises to Israel which have been fulfilled in history.
No other nation or people group on the face of the earth has existed that was decimated by their enemies, then were re-gathered to become a people group again. No other group was taken over by their enemies, scattered to the four corners of the earth, then came back to their land with their language restored! This could only be described as a miracle.
The definition of a miracle is: any amazing or wonderful occurrence; a marvellous event manifesting a supernatural act of a divine agent.
The fact that God prophecied the future over a period of thousands of years through various people and that many of those prophecies have already come to fruition is quite miraculous. It declares that there is One author of the scriptures, one who is supernatural and who exists outside of time. Furthermore, the way those scriptures are arranged in the Hebrew language to where certain messages are encoded beneath the text (and still make sense at the surface of the text), indicates that the authorship of the Word of God itself is none other than the One who causes all things to be fulfilled.
Moreover, the regathering of the Jews into their own land and the restoration of them as a people is nothing short of a miracle.
The fact that my son is one of those physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, is nothing short of a miracle. For all intents and purposes, my son should not be living on the face of this earth! If evil men had their way, my son's ancestors would have been decimated long ago through not one, but two captivites, a slew of wars, and countless acts of persecution throughout the centuries (remember the Crusades, and the Spanish Inquisition?- all attempts at wiping out the Jews).
During World War II, as many as 1/3 of world Jewry were destroyed in the horrors of the Nazi concentration camps, when Hitler attempted to wipe off every Jew from the face of the earth. They were stripped of their citizenship, women were raped, and Jews were locked in their synagogue with it set on fire whilst their enemies marched around singing Christian songs. I seriously doubt those people were real Christians. The Jews were imprisoned, many of them, an estimated 6 million total were gassed and burned in the crematoriums. Unspeakable horrors happened to this people. All because (and only because) they were Jewish. Even still, God caused the Jews to survive and not only survive, but come back to...you guessed it, the Land of Canaan (modern-day Israel) and become a nation. This too was prophesied thousands of years before it happened:
"Before she goes into labor, she gives birth; before the pains come upon her, she delivers a son. Who has ever heard of such things? Can a country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth in a moment? Yet no sooner is Zion in labor than she gives birth to her children" (Isaiah 66:8) (emphasis mine).
When was the fulfillment of this prophecy? On May 14, 1948, after Israel had been scattered to the four corners of the earth, Israel the nation was re-born! She was recognized by the United Nations and she was once again her own sovereign nation.
From that point on, and up til this day, millions of Jewish people have emigrated (the term is to make 'aliyah') to the land of Israel, the nation. This is in fulfillment of many prophecies, including Jeremiah 16:14-16-
"However, the days are coming", declares the Lord, when men will no longer say, 'As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelities up out of Egypt', but they will say, 'As surely as the Lord lives who brought the Israelites up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had banished them'. For I will restore them to the land I gave their forefathers".
This is the scripture the Lord gave me after an intense time of prayer during which He showed me the work I would be doing in my then-upcoming trip to Russia. While on my face, the Lord showed me a vision of a map of Russia and myself behind a group of people- Jews- pushing them up north, over Finland, and south into Israel. I said in my heart, I have never heard of such a thing. I asked the Lord to confirm this to me in His Word if it was true. I opened my Bible. It fell open to Jeremiah 16 and my eyes fell on verses 14-16. The land of the north, Russia, is the land referenced in the above passage, for the land of Russia is directly north of Israel. The Lord had shown me we would be routing Jews up out of St. Petersburg, Russia, by way of Finland, south to Israel, their new home.
In October of 1998, we did just that. Now, dozens of Jews are living safely in Israel, due to the work we did in Russia.
What a profound way for me to see Bible prophecy coming true before my very eyes!!
Implications
You know why I think the truths I have just explained to you are so far-reaching and impacting, even unto our own lives right now?
Because it is further proof that God means what he says. He has kept his word concerning the Jewish people. He will keep his word concerning your life and my life as well.
Either God is right and true and He will keep all of His word, as the fulfillment of these prophecies indicates, or he is a liar and is untrustworthy. If you say that God is true and His word is trustworthy, then the logical conclusion you must come to is that even what God says about sin and salvation is true as well.
It says in 1 Corinthians 6:9 that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God. And it lists the immoral behavior of those who will not be inheriting the kingdom. But then it says in verse 11 "And that is what some of you were". What happened? They repented and believed in Jesus Christ, God's only son and his death on the cross as the provision for their sins. They realized the truth of God's word as stated in Romans 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord." The word wages in this verse means the same as payment.
And in Romans 3:23 it says "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus". Jesus himself said, "I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the father but through me" (John14:6). He didn't say I am a way, or a life, as in one amongst many ways to get to God. What He said was pretty exclusive.
Jesus was the lamb of God prophecied throughout the entire Old Testament (or what we Messianic Jews refer to as the First Covenant.) Just look at how Isaiah prophecied the Messiah's coming in Isaiah 53:4-6:
Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
(emphasis by this blogger).
Isaiah could have only been talking of one person: the one who would take away the sins of the world. (John the baptist, or immerser declared this about Jesus of Nazareth. And Jesus' own words declared himself to be the one who would do this.)
The fact of the matter is this: every man on the face of the earth has sinned (transgressed God's moral law as outlined in the 10 Commandments, Deuteronomy chapter 20. Jesus explained further how strict God's law is: if you have so much as looked at a woman with lust in your heart, you have committed adultery. If you so much as hated someone in your heart, you have committed murder (from God's point of view). Ever told a lie...even a little one? Then according to God's strict standard, you have bore false witness. Who amongst us has done that? I sure have!! And no one who has sinned in this life will be permitted to enter Heaven when he or she dies. Nothing unclean or unholy can enter Heaven. Because God is a just God, like the judge of a court, a payment must be made to pay for these sins (every one of them) if you are to enter into His Heaven.
Good News Indeed!
The Good news is......(that is why they call it 'gospel' the word means good news) that that debt for your sins has already been paid!!
By whom?! By God Himself!! In 1 Peter 3:18 it says, "Christ died for sins once for all". You see, to fulfill God's righteous requirement to pay man's sin debt, God Himself came in the flesh. His name is Jesus (Yeshua in Hebrew). He lived a sinless life so he could fulfill God's requirement for a sinless sacrifice (read about the Passover lamb Exodus 12). He then took our punishment on himself. That is why if you accept Jesus' death on the cross as payment for your sins and repent (turn from the way you have been doing things toward God's way of doing things), and follow Jesus, then on the day of Judgement, which will be attended by every human being who ever lived, God can commute your death sentence (eternity in hell), and allow you into Heaven. We don't have to pay the sin debt. We couldn't anyway even if we tried. But we are required to accept what was already done for us. Not only that, but we get to have a close personal relationship with God, who loves us much he knows (at any given moment!) how many hairs are on your head! We get to enjoy fellowship with Him, know his truth, as well as the abundant (full and meaningful) life Jesus came to bring us. If that weren't enough, we get to spend eternity in Heaven with God and have every tear wiped from our eyes, free from emotional and physical pain forever. And forever is a looong time. What could be better news than that?!
It is not a church you join. In fact many churches do not follow after Messiah or walk in the truth. It is not a list of rules and regulations you have to follow in order to be good enough. You could never be good enough to meet God's requirements. In fact, no one should think he must first go and get cleaned up before coming to God or following Jesus! There is no need. Simply believe that he already paid for your salvation, start walking with him by talking to him everyday (praying), and let him change your heart. That's all. Read his letters to you (the Bible) and find out more about him, who he is, things that please him and the things that don't, and he will guide you, as a loving Father; giving your life meaning and giving you a destiny you could never have even dreamed of on your own. And don't forget to ask God to lead you to a group of believers as well so you can grow in His grace. All believers need to fellowship with other believers to be strengthened and to realize our gifts, callings, and destiny in the Messiah.
But don't delay! Jesus warned about the folks who were distracted by the cares of this life that they didn't come to Him when they first heard. The truth is, none of us knows exactly how much time we have on this earth. And why would you want to delay such a wonderful existence anyway?
This is the reason I am so excited to know that God is who He says He is and the reason I can know His Word is true. That is why everytime I look into the precious brown eyes of my son- the ones he inherited from his father's side, his Jewish ancestors.....I think of how faithful our God is and how He always keeps his word!
**
The advisor responded thoughfully, "The existence of the Jews".
In the Beginning
The descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, nowadays referred to as the Jews, were a unique people about which God said he would bless and all nations through them would be blessed:
The Lord had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.
I will make you a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you". (Genesis 12;1-3)
God promised Abram that he would become a great nation, that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars and as the sands of the sea. God changed the name of Abram to "Abraham", meaning father of a multitude (of nations).
God also promised Abram that he would grant him land that would be an inheritance to his offspring (Genesis 12:7; ratified through blood covenant in Genesis 15). The land would be an inheritance to the descandants of Abraham, through his offspring Isaac and Jacob, forever. God ratified this covenant in a unilateral blood covenant while Abraham was asleep. This is to indicate that God Himself would bear the brunt of the covenant and make sure it would be fulfilled (after all, Abraham was in a deep sleep when God did this. See Genesis 15:9-21).
God also prophesied to Abram that his descendants would be slaves in a nation not their own (Egypt) for 400 years. Moreover, through later prophecies in Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, God also told the Israelites that they would be taken captive and scattered to the far corners of the earth and into every nation for serving idols rather than serving the Lord their God who brought them up out of Egypt and out of slavery. This did indeed happen.
But here is the catch: God also promised to bring them back from captivity and into their own land, the land God swore to their father Abraham. God made many promises to Israel which have been fulfilled in history.
No other nation or people group on the face of the earth has existed that was decimated by their enemies, then were re-gathered to become a people group again. No other group was taken over by their enemies, scattered to the four corners of the earth, then came back to their land with their language restored! This could only be described as a miracle.
The definition of a miracle is: any amazing or wonderful occurrence; a marvellous event manifesting a supernatural act of a divine agent.
The fact that God prophecied the future over a period of thousands of years through various people and that many of those prophecies have already come to fruition is quite miraculous. It declares that there is One author of the scriptures, one who is supernatural and who exists outside of time. Furthermore, the way those scriptures are arranged in the Hebrew language to where certain messages are encoded beneath the text (and still make sense at the surface of the text), indicates that the authorship of the Word of God itself is none other than the One who causes all things to be fulfilled.
Moreover, the regathering of the Jews into their own land and the restoration of them as a people is nothing short of a miracle.
The fact that my son is one of those physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, is nothing short of a miracle. For all intents and purposes, my son should not be living on the face of this earth! If evil men had their way, my son's ancestors would have been decimated long ago through not one, but two captivites, a slew of wars, and countless acts of persecution throughout the centuries (remember the Crusades, and the Spanish Inquisition?- all attempts at wiping out the Jews).
During World War II, as many as 1/3 of world Jewry were destroyed in the horrors of the Nazi concentration camps, when Hitler attempted to wipe off every Jew from the face of the earth. They were stripped of their citizenship, women were raped, and Jews were locked in their synagogue with it set on fire whilst their enemies marched around singing Christian songs. I seriously doubt those people were real Christians. The Jews were imprisoned, many of them, an estimated 6 million total were gassed and burned in the crematoriums. Unspeakable horrors happened to this people. All because (and only because) they were Jewish. Even still, God caused the Jews to survive and not only survive, but come back to...you guessed it, the Land of Canaan (modern-day Israel) and become a nation. This too was prophesied thousands of years before it happened:
"Before she goes into labor, she gives birth; before the pains come upon her, she delivers a son. Who has ever heard of such things? Can a country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth in a moment? Yet no sooner is Zion in labor than she gives birth to her children" (Isaiah 66:8) (emphasis mine).
When was the fulfillment of this prophecy? On May 14, 1948, after Israel had been scattered to the four corners of the earth, Israel the nation was re-born! She was recognized by the United Nations and she was once again her own sovereign nation.
From that point on, and up til this day, millions of Jewish people have emigrated (the term is to make 'aliyah') to the land of Israel, the nation. This is in fulfillment of many prophecies, including Jeremiah 16:14-16-
"However, the days are coming", declares the Lord, when men will no longer say, 'As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelities up out of Egypt', but they will say, 'As surely as the Lord lives who brought the Israelites up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had banished them'. For I will restore them to the land I gave their forefathers".
This is the scripture the Lord gave me after an intense time of prayer during which He showed me the work I would be doing in my then-upcoming trip to Russia. While on my face, the Lord showed me a vision of a map of Russia and myself behind a group of people- Jews- pushing them up north, over Finland, and south into Israel. I said in my heart, I have never heard of such a thing. I asked the Lord to confirm this to me in His Word if it was true. I opened my Bible. It fell open to Jeremiah 16 and my eyes fell on verses 14-16. The land of the north, Russia, is the land referenced in the above passage, for the land of Russia is directly north of Israel. The Lord had shown me we would be routing Jews up out of St. Petersburg, Russia, by way of Finland, south to Israel, their new home.
In October of 1998, we did just that. Now, dozens of Jews are living safely in Israel, due to the work we did in Russia.
What a profound way for me to see Bible prophecy coming true before my very eyes!!
Implications
You know why I think the truths I have just explained to you are so far-reaching and impacting, even unto our own lives right now?
Because it is further proof that God means what he says. He has kept his word concerning the Jewish people. He will keep his word concerning your life and my life as well.
Either God is right and true and He will keep all of His word, as the fulfillment of these prophecies indicates, or he is a liar and is untrustworthy. If you say that God is true and His word is trustworthy, then the logical conclusion you must come to is that even what God says about sin and salvation is true as well.
It says in 1 Corinthians 6:9 that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God. And it lists the immoral behavior of those who will not be inheriting the kingdom. But then it says in verse 11 "And that is what some of you were". What happened? They repented and believed in Jesus Christ, God's only son and his death on the cross as the provision for their sins. They realized the truth of God's word as stated in Romans 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord." The word wages in this verse means the same as payment.
And in Romans 3:23 it says "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus". Jesus himself said, "I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the father but through me" (John14:6). He didn't say I am a way, or a life, as in one amongst many ways to get to God. What He said was pretty exclusive.
Jesus was the lamb of God prophecied throughout the entire Old Testament (or what we Messianic Jews refer to as the First Covenant.) Just look at how Isaiah prophecied the Messiah's coming in Isaiah 53:4-6:
Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
(emphasis by this blogger).
Isaiah could have only been talking of one person: the one who would take away the sins of the world. (John the baptist, or immerser declared this about Jesus of Nazareth. And Jesus' own words declared himself to be the one who would do this.)
The fact of the matter is this: every man on the face of the earth has sinned (transgressed God's moral law as outlined in the 10 Commandments, Deuteronomy chapter 20. Jesus explained further how strict God's law is: if you have so much as looked at a woman with lust in your heart, you have committed adultery. If you so much as hated someone in your heart, you have committed murder (from God's point of view). Ever told a lie...even a little one? Then according to God's strict standard, you have bore false witness. Who amongst us has done that? I sure have!! And no one who has sinned in this life will be permitted to enter Heaven when he or she dies. Nothing unclean or unholy can enter Heaven. Because God is a just God, like the judge of a court, a payment must be made to pay for these sins (every one of them) if you are to enter into His Heaven.
Good News Indeed!
The Good news is......(that is why they call it 'gospel' the word means good news) that that debt for your sins has already been paid!!
By whom?! By God Himself!! In 1 Peter 3:18 it says, "Christ died for sins once for all". You see, to fulfill God's righteous requirement to pay man's sin debt, God Himself came in the flesh. His name is Jesus (Yeshua in Hebrew). He lived a sinless life so he could fulfill God's requirement for a sinless sacrifice (read about the Passover lamb Exodus 12). He then took our punishment on himself. That is why if you accept Jesus' death on the cross as payment for your sins and repent (turn from the way you have been doing things toward God's way of doing things), and follow Jesus, then on the day of Judgement, which will be attended by every human being who ever lived, God can commute your death sentence (eternity in hell), and allow you into Heaven. We don't have to pay the sin debt. We couldn't anyway even if we tried. But we are required to accept what was already done for us. Not only that, but we get to have a close personal relationship with God, who loves us much he knows (at any given moment!) how many hairs are on your head! We get to enjoy fellowship with Him, know his truth, as well as the abundant (full and meaningful) life Jesus came to bring us. If that weren't enough, we get to spend eternity in Heaven with God and have every tear wiped from our eyes, free from emotional and physical pain forever. And forever is a looong time. What could be better news than that?!
It is not a church you join. In fact many churches do not follow after Messiah or walk in the truth. It is not a list of rules and regulations you have to follow in order to be good enough. You could never be good enough to meet God's requirements. In fact, no one should think he must first go and get cleaned up before coming to God or following Jesus! There is no need. Simply believe that he already paid for your salvation, start walking with him by talking to him everyday (praying), and let him change your heart. That's all. Read his letters to you (the Bible) and find out more about him, who he is, things that please him and the things that don't, and he will guide you, as a loving Father; giving your life meaning and giving you a destiny you could never have even dreamed of on your own. And don't forget to ask God to lead you to a group of believers as well so you can grow in His grace. All believers need to fellowship with other believers to be strengthened and to realize our gifts, callings, and destiny in the Messiah.
But don't delay! Jesus warned about the folks who were distracted by the cares of this life that they didn't come to Him when they first heard. The truth is, none of us knows exactly how much time we have on this earth. And why would you want to delay such a wonderful existence anyway?
This is the reason I am so excited to know that God is who He says He is and the reason I can know His Word is true. That is why everytime I look into the precious brown eyes of my son- the ones he inherited from his father's side, his Jewish ancestors.....I think of how faithful our God is and how He always keeps his word!
**
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)