Category: end time

Posted in end time, krakatau, lake of fire, paracutin, volcano activity

Volcanoes this week

Posted on by elizabethprata

Volcanoes are completely fascinating. Of all the hits I receive on this blog, by far the highest are always earth-related. An earthquake, volcanic explosion, or unusual geo-physical event like a ‘river turning to blood’ will draw the most people the quickest. They are looking for answers I suppose. And why not? We feel in our human puniness that the earth is large and stable. When the earth is shook in some way, demonstrating that it is not, people scurry to find answers that will offer some kind of stability.

I hope that they find the true answer, which is Jesus. He is the stability.

“my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge, my savior; you save me from violence.” (2 Samuel 22:3)

“For you have been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat; for the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall,” (Isaiah 25:4)

“To the choirmaster. Of the Sons of Korah. According to Alamoth. A Song. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” (Psalm 46:1)

Paricutin in 1943, the town obliterated. Source

I’m fascinated by volcanoes. As an elementary student I remember reading about the Volcano in the Cornfield (Paricutin) that was suddenly born almost under a Mexican corn farmer’s feet. Paricutin is our continent’s youngest volcano. LOL, that was the first time I got a clue that the earth is not solid nor stable, and that anything could happen at any time.

They will play an important role in the UN-creation during the Tribulation. If you see the 7 days of Genesis 1 as God creating the world, then view the 7 years of the Tribulation as His orderly uncreation, a dismantling as it were. Genesis and Revelation are bookends of God’s human and heavenly creation and the story of our capacity to sin and His response.

I’ve mentioned before that the sun becoming black as sackcloth in Rev. 6:12 is from the ash spewed into the atmosphere from one or many volcano eruptions.

This week there has been a lot of interesting volcano news.

China’s Changbaishan volcano showing signs of increased activity
“The authors suggest that though Changbaishan is likely not gearing up for an imminent eruption, one could be expected in the next couple of decades.”

Volcanic activity on Spain’s El Hierro island resumes

Two volcanoes erupt in Indonesia
North Sulawesi, Lokon, and last week, Gamalama & Anak Krakatau also offered us some activity

UK Telegraph caption- “An image taken by astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) of a large plume of smoke, steam and ash erupting from the Sarychev volcano on the Kuril Islands, Russia. It is thought that the eruption has caused a hole to form in the cloud layer above it.”

Tim Challies and others have remarked on a video making the rounds, with Challies commenting “The Lake of Fire – This is an nearly unbelievable video (more information here). “Photographer Geoff Mackley and his crew descended 1,300 feet to the ‘lava lake’ in Marum Volcano on Vanuatu’s Ambrym Island.” I can’t help but think of Revelation 20:15.”

Mike Leake at Borrowed Light had some eloquent thoughts on the volcano video. HT to Challies for pointing us to it. I’ll excerpt a few of Mike’s thoughts.

“In response to that video Tony Reinke shared this quote from Jonathan Edwards, “”The torrents of liquid fire that are vomited from the belly of hell, by the mouths of volcanoes, shadow forth what is in hell. … If the Almighty can create something this fierce who can stand when he is bent on destruction?   Only those who find refuge in the strong tower that El Shaddai has hoisted, namely the all-powerful Jesus, will find safety on that day. “

Once again, refuge is ONLY in Jesus.

Posted in end time, jesus, locusts, prophecy, revelation, sounds of the apocalypse

Booms in the foothills a mystery

Posted on by elizabethprata

There is a report from Drudge about more sky booms, but this time people hear them coming from the ground. Previously, people in other locations have reported them coming from the sky. There have been so many booms, from so many places around the globe, for so long, that the name “Sounds of the Apocalypse” is widely recognized as the name for this phenomenon. I have reported on these booms myself many times. Do a Google search for sky noises, or booms, and you’ll see how many times they have been heard around the world.

In one post, I explored that the noises could be leak-through spiritual warfare in the heavenlies ramping up and used the verses in 2 Kings for support text (here). I also wrote about the possibility that it was leak-through from the throne room, and used support text from Ezekiel 1:24a, here. Thirdly I mused that it could be a fulfillment of a Jeremiah verse, here, this being the verse from Jeremiah-

“A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the LORD hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the LORD.” (Jeremiah 25:31).

I’ll propose a fourth theory. Just as we do not know what is happening in the heavenly realms now, apart from what is written in the bible, we do not know what is happening in hell, or in Tartarus (the lowest gloomy dungeon where the fallen angels are being kept (Jude 1:6, 2 Peter 2:4). I wonder do the noises from hell leak-through to us here on earth? Are the fallen angels sensing the nearness of the day when they as the Revelation 9 locusts will be released and they make a great rushing sound?

“And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit. He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were darkened with the smoke from the shaft. Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth.” (Rev 9:1-3).

When that happens, and it has not happened yet, don’t you think it would make a great noise? Yes, it does, and the bible tells us how great a noise they make:

“In appearance the locusts were like horses prepared for battle: on their heads were what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were like human faces, their hair like women’s hair, and their teeth like lions’ teeth; they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the noise of their wings was like the noise of many chariots with horses rushing into battle.” (Revelation 9:7-9).

When an orchestra warms up before the concert, they make a cacophonous sound as each individual musician tunes his instrument. Then the conductor raises his baton and at once, they perform in harmony and in like movements. It is the same with an army. As each soldier jockeys his armor into position, there is a rumble and a noise as the preparations go on, which gets louder and more cacophonous as the moment nears when the Commander raises his hand to begin.

Before a football game, don’t the fans, in their excitement, stomp their feet and pound the bleachers, making a great racket?

The “wondrous strange” thing about the coming of the prophesied locusts is that they have a king.

“They have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon.” (Revelation 9:11). Yet Proverbs 30:27 tells us locusts have no king. So the Revelation locusts are no ordinary locusts. Are they demons? Yes. They have a form and they have faces and they have armor and they have a sting of a scorpion even though they are called locusts.

John Phillips wrote, “Picture what the world would be like if we were to open the doors of all the penitentiaries of earth and set free the world’s most vicious and violent criminals, giving them full reign to practice their infamies upon mankind. Something worse than that lies in store for the world. Satan cast out of heaven is now permitted to summon to his aid the most diabolical fiends in the abyss to act as his agents in bringing mankind to the footstool of the beast.”

Are the locust-demons in the pit pounding their bleachers and rattling their chains and yelling as they sense the Day approaching where they will be let out to destroy the earth and its peoples? I don’t know. Only God knows. The possibility of it reminds me of the famous quote from Hamlet. Upon seeing a ghost (demon) Horatio said to Hamlet, “O day and night, but this is wondrous strange!”

Hamlet replied, “… There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”

The thing to remember about these booms is that what we see is not real. The life we are living is not the full story. There is more, much more, in God’s realms than we see and experience. Paul said,

“as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:18).

Here is the report from Drudge. This time, the booms are coming from the ground, but they are not earthquakes. Or sonic booms. Or mining. They simply don’t know what they are.

Source Of Loud Boom In Foothills A Mystery
EL DORADO COUNTY (CBS13) – People from all over El Dorado County say they’re hearing loud booms several times a week, but there are many theories on what is causing them. “I thought it was thunder,” said one person. “It’s definitely not thunder; too consistent. I thought it was just mining,” said another person. “I always considered them to be sonic booms from flying aircrafts for years,” said Loring Brunius, owner of Sierra Rock Diamond Quarry. People who live near Pleasant Valley say their days have been interrupted by loud booms, shaking the floor beneath them. “You can feel it in the ground, no question about it. But no one’s been able to figure out why,” said Pleasant Valley resident Peter O’Grady. “I tend to hear somewhere between four to six of these things during the weekdays usually between 11 p.m. and 2 p.m. “Boom, boom, boom, boom just like that,” said Lorren Gonzales, who lives near Pleasant Valley.”

More at link.

Posted in end time, jesus, prophecy, wrath

Sinkhole swallows man; robot recognizes his own reflection

Posted on by elizabethprata

I found a 12-minute Youtube compilation of natural disasters that are happening in the world. The disasters you are about to see all happened within the last month. There is nothing bloody or gory. Just a plethora of disasters that are coming upon the world like birthpangs. Note how often you hear comments in the audio from people who say things like “this is unprecedented” or “I’ve never seen this in all my life.”

I’ve reported on some of the disasters, like the Philippine floods or the Louisiana sinkhole. Below the video, is one news excerpt I expanded from the video that goes into more depth.

Here is a lengthier treatment of the moment in the video above where a sinkhole swallowed a man.

Sinkhole swallows man
“As Typhoon Saola trounces Taiwan, surveillance camera footage showing an unidentified man being swallowed by a sinkhole in Sansia District, Taiwan, has surfaced. In the video, the man can be seen walking along the street until — within a split second — the ground gives way and he disappears. A rescue operation reportedly was attempted, but according to CNN the man later died of his injuries.”

I tried to screen cap it for those who can’t or don’t watch videos, but it really was a split second. On the video above, at second 7 he is walking jauntily along, and at second 8 on the video there is a gaping hole and a dead man under the rubble. Jonathan Edwards preached on this very thing in his famous sermon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.

“If God should withdraw his hand, by which they are restrained, they would in one moment fly upon their poor souls. The old serpent is gaping for them; hell opens its mouth wide to receive them; and if God should permit it, they would be hastily swallowed up and lost. … for awakening unconverted persons in this congregation. This that you have heard is the case of every one of you that are out of Christ. — That world of misery, that lake of burning brimstone, is extended abroad under you. There is the dreadful pit of the glowing flames of the wrath of God; there is hell’s wide gaping mouth open; and you have nothing to stand upon, nor any thing to take hold of; there is nothing between you and hell but the air; it is only the power and mere pleasure of God that holds you up. You probably are not sensible of this; you find you are kept out of hell, but do not see the hand of God in it; but look at other things, as the good state of your bodily constitution, your care of your own life, and the means you use for your own preservation. But indeed these things are nothing; if God should withdraw his hand, they would avail no more to keep you from falling, than the thin air to hold up a person that is suspended in it”.

Now …here is something else. I’ve posted very few posts lately on the prophetic indicators for the Mark of the Beast partly because it depresses me and partly because by the time the Mark comes both the saved and the unsaved are so far along in the Tribulation these pre-rapture signs will mean little to the Tribulation survivors. But this one struck me.

Robot learns to recognise itself in the mirror
“NICO spends a lot of time looking in the mirror. But it’s not mere vanity – Nico is a humanoid robot that can recognise its reflection – a step on the path towards true self-awareness.”

Now if that doesn’t give you chills, I don’t know what will.

I am part of an interesting generation. I was born in 1960, before the space age. I remember the US astronauts on the moon in 1968. I lived most of my adult life before the internet, and personal computers only came along after college. I wrote my term papers on a typewriter and used a lot of white-out. Audio cassettes weren’t even invented until 1962 and my family didn’t use them until I was nearly in my teens. CD music, cellphones, cable television…all very new. I was 12 when Pong was invented and my dad brought it home. Now look where we are with computer games…

The ATM wasn’t invented until I was nine and their use didn’t become ubiquitous until I was a teenager. For most of my life, the notion of a one world payment system was simply unbelievable.

Now we are closing in on Artificial Intelligence. The major question in robotics and computering is “can machines ever become self-aware?” I propose that it is a moot question, because God would shut down the whole shebang before another “creation” with consciousness and intelligence appears on the scene. Once a robot is self-aware, would they then have to become cognizant of their own sin and then choose a savior? Of course not, the premise that God would allow man to create consciousness is ridiculous. But if a robot is that close to recognizing itself, how close are we to AI, and how close to the rapture? What will the Mark of the Beast look like…how will it work? The world doesn’t have long to find out, I think.

Fortunately those who have repented of their sin will be carried safely up to heaven before all this crashes down and man lives with his folly. We will be made fully perfect, and that includes an awareness of the entire body of the Church to a degree we know about now cognitively but don’t directly experience fully (due to our sin nature.) Best of all, we will see, know, and experience a life with Jesus the Savior clearly, and not dimly like we do now. (1 Corinthians 13:12-13).

Any person who repents will be in that blessed group of the Church Age believers who are raptured out. For those who fence-sit, or who outright refuse to believe, well, just think on this. If robots are becoming self aware, how long do you think it will take before kings, dictators, and evil men use them to hunt you down? (“Open the pod bay doors, HAL. … I’m sorry, Dave, I’m afraid I can’t do that.”)

The disasters on the video, remember, occurred in just this last month. What does God have in store for the next month? We do know the near future holds wars and rumors of wars, pestilences, volcanic eruptions, floods, drought, hail, fires, pain, anguish and death. Doom and gloom? You betcha.

Jesus is HOPE and LIGHT! I prefer the hope and light to the doom and gloom. If you repent of your sins, and you are a sinner you know, and ask Jesus to forgive them, He will. He is a good savior. So when will the end come? Just because He hasn’t judged men in wrath does not mean He won’t. He has been patient up until now:

“The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9).

However that patience is coming to an end, and as a thief in the night, the end will come. The repentant will be given their reward and their relief, and the unrepentant will have given to them what they chose: the worst time the world has ever known or will ever know again. (Matthew 24:21). Like the Taiwanese man who was happily walking one moment and the next was dead under the rubble, Jesus will suddenly and without warning end His patience and begin His wrath. You really don’t want to be here for that.

Posted in Colosseum, end time, jesus, news, shark

600M without power in India, shark attack, Colosseum is tilting

Posted on by elizabethprata

Some news I thought was interesting

Colosseum in Rome is leaning, officials say
“Experts say ancient building has started to tilt, with south side 40cm [15inches] lower than north, and may need urgent repairs. The ancient Colosseum in Rome is slanting about 40cm lower on the south side than on the north, and authorities are investigating whether it needs urgent repairs. Experts first noticed the incline about a year ago and have been monitoring it for the past few months, Rossella Rea, director at the 2,000-year-old monument, said in the Italian daily Corriere della Sera.”

Before I was saved, I went to Italy. One of those times I visited the Colosseum. I wrote about that visit here. For a short while immediately after I was saved, in reading the passages in Revelation and Peter and Isaiah where the earth will be completely deconstructed and remade, I was sad that all the pretty things would be swept away too. All the “great art”, all the “monuments to man” like the Colosseum or Pyramids. But of course all those were made by sinful man’s hands and many of them, particularly in art, are odes to false gods. (Botticelli’s Primavera for example). As I matured I began to see man’s works for what they were, symbols of debauchery against a holy God amid our history across human epochs. The Colosseum will fall. Now or later, it is guaranteed to be swept away in the calamity of judgment imminently bearing down on us. Let’s start seeing these cracked and tottering monuments of rebellion for what they are- and get used to thinking about the glories ahead made by Jesus’s hands. (John 14:3).

600 million without power as massive blackout plagues India
“India’s northern and eastern power grids have failed, plunging half the country into darkness. It is the second consecutive day in which blackouts struck India. … Hundreds of miners are reported to have been trapped in Burdwan, North of Kolkata following the outages. “We are trying to rescue the coal miners. All efforts are on to resume power supplies. You need power supplies to run the lifts in the underground mines,” Mamata Banerjee told reporters in the state capital Kolkata. … Power is also being channeled into the subway to help get stranded passengers to the nearest station. The subway has been partially restored after coming to a grinding halt when the power cut struck. … A grid failure in Delhi and much of northern India left more than 300 million without electricity on Monday. This was one of the worst power outages to hit the country in more than a decade.”

600 million is twice the population of the entire US. Those in the dark today represent about 60% of the entire nation of India, which has 1.2 billion people. Wow.

The spiritual metaphor that sprang to my mind was the light versus the dark. India is the birthplace of four of the world’s major religious traditions; namely Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. According to 2001 census as Wikipedia reports, 80% of those 1.2 billion people in India are Hindu. Again according to Wiki, only 2% of those in India are Christian. Now they are in the dark physically. The nation is in the dark, spiritually. Even if the Electrical Power Minister organizes the crews to get the lights back on, those people will still be in the dark.

source

Man Hospitalized After Shark Attack Near Cape Cod
“The man bitten by a shark as he body-surfed with his teenage son off the coast of Ballston Beach near Cape Cod, [Truro] Mass., is expected to live, officials said. The attack happened around 3:30 p.m. Monday when Chris Myers, a father of two, was pulled under the water by a shark. Police say the shark bit Myers in both legs below the knees in possibly one single, crushing blow. “They dragged him out and they had to carry him up here and they had to wrap it around his legs and he was bleeding through the gauzes,” a witness said. “It was bad. Both his legs were pretty bad.””

Shark attacks this time of year in Massachusetts are not unusual. Seals come to feed, and they come pretty close to shore. Sharks prey on seals so it’s natural they would be close to shore as well.

I visited Martha’s Vineyard in 1975, crossing from RI to the Island on a friend’s trawler. That is where Jaws was filmed. Some of the filming apparatus was still around. The movie was just out but the kids I was traveling with nor the parents seemed concerned about swimming in the harbor. I remember the older teenage boys jumping from the flybridge into the sea, plunging down deep under the slate gray surface. Shudder. Not me. Too spooky

I have mentioned before that I also lived on a sailboat for a while. On our first day in the blue Bahamian waters, just after crossing from Florida, we swam and swam, delighting in the fact that we could see the bottom. The water was that clear. In the Atlantic you never see the bottom unless you snorkel close to shore. “What’s under there?” was a question that had held endless fascination for us and now we could actually see! We swam further and further, trailing along the anchor line that extended far in front of the yacht. Finally as the sun set we called it quits and climbed back aboard. Our VHF radio crackled on and the buddy boat we had crossed the Gulf Stream with told us some important information. “Never swim at dusk. The sharks come out to feed. In the ocean, you are at the bottom of the food chain.”

The ocean can be, and often is, a hostile environment even for man who has been given to reign supreme over the animals. On dry land, we are on hostile territory too- spiritually. Satan is the god of this world, according to 2 Corinthians 4:4. When Satan tempted Jesus, he offered Jesus all the kingdoms of the world if Jesus would just worship Satan. (Matthew 4:8-9). Jesus did not refute that satan had the ability to make the offer. Though under God’s sovereign control, satan has been given latitude on this earth to roam freely and to devour whom he will. (John 10:10; 1 Peter 5:8).

If you are not saved, you are at the bottom of the food chain. Satan comes at you sneakily. Satan will chomp your legs just as fast as that shark did to that man in Cape Cod. If you are saved, Jesus has lifted you from the bottom of the food chain to the top! However, satan will still try to come at you, like Chihuahua nipping at your heels. If you do not resist him, he brings other Chihuahua dogs to harass you, or God may even cause him to dog you (2 Corinthians 12:7) for your own good. Always remember we’re on hostile territory- enemy territory. It is what is going to make reaching heaven through death or rapture such a relief. We’ll finally be in friendly lands, not a stranger any more but home with the Father and our spiritual family.

Posted in earthquakes in diverse places, end time

Of Brimstone and Earthquakes

Posted on by elizabethprata

One of the most interesting to me, and by the look of the blog statistics, others as well, is earthquakes as an end times sign. Jesus said that as a sign of His coming there would be earthquakes in diverse places. (Matthew 24:7). Of course, He gave other signs too. And also of course, one earthquake does not mean the end is near.

The end time is actually the time when Jesus ascended and will end when He comes back. So by that token, there have been many earthquakes over the last 2000 years. So what makes so many of us so sure that this is the end of the end time?

Jesus also said that the signs of His coming will be as birth pangs on a woman. (many parallel verses here.) The earth will travail and groaneth as in labor. (Romans 8:22).

You have to think about how labor pains work. The pregnancy gestates, at first unnoticed. Then the baby bump appears. It grows larger, seemingly slowly at first, then quickly. Finally the labor begins with the water breaking (I liken that to the rapture). After the water breaks the real labor has arrived. At first the pangs are painful but bearable. They come far apart. But then they increase with intensity and finally they are unbearably overlapping, painfully crashing one upon the other.

So in the early part of the century there was an earthquake or two here and there. But now, the quakes (and other signs too, I hasten to add) are all happening more frequently with more intensity. So let’s look at quakes.

There was only 1 major quake this past week. (June 10-16). “Major” quakes according to the US Geological Survey are quakes with a magnitude above 6.0 There was a 6.0 in Taiwan.

There were some smaller quakes in unusual places:

4.2 Pakistan
3.1 Dallas
2.5 Urban area Oklahoma City
2.8 near Oklahoma City
3.3 near Oklahoma City
5.3 Turkey-Iraq-Syria border region
2.6 Colorado
2.7 Colorado
4.0, 4.2, 5.7, 5.4, 4.6 Afghanistan

As I have been sharing, the end time prophesies are not just contained in Matthew 24. They are all over the entire bible. As a matter of fact, there is an end time judgment reference in every New Testament book except Philemon. And of course, Revelation is the granddaddy of the bible books with the most information in one place regarding the promises of God in the last days.

Mexico’s Volcano Popocatepetl

In Joel chapter 2 there is a reference to “columns of smoke”. “And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes.” (Joel 2:30-31).

The Hebrew word defines column of smoke as a pillar or palm-like tree trunk. It is a vivid picture, and can, in my opinion, be interpreted as volcanic column of ash and smoke. For the last three years, volcanoes the scientists thought were dormant have been popping back to life, sometimes very unexpectedly (Chile’s Chaiten).

Science fact of the day: Did you know that the biblical term for “brimstone” is the chemical element sulfur? Elemental sulfur can be found near hot springs and volcanic regions in many parts of the world, especially along the Pacific Ring of Fire. Hydrogen sulfide is the compound that smells like rotten eggs.

Smith’s bible dictionary explains: “Brimstone, or sulphur, is found in considerable quantities on the shores of the Dead Sea. (Genesis 19:24). It is a well-known simple mineral substance, crystalline, easily melted, very inflammable, and when burning emits a peculiar suffocating odor. It is found in great abundance near volcanoes. The soil around Sodom and Gomorrah abounded in sulphur and bitumen.” The bible refers to brimstone 14 times. The Lake of Fire burns with brimstone, “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death” (Revelation 21:8).

Though I don’t have quantifiable numbers, it seems that along with quakes, volcanic activity has dampened somewhat these last two or three weeks. The calm before the storm? Or the catching of breath before the next, bigger pang?

Posted in end time, flesh eating bacteria, prophecy, Uncategorized

(UPDATED)Third Georgia patient comes down with flesh eating bacterial infection

Posted on by elizabethprata

Three Four people from Georgia have now been infected and are being treated for the dread flesh-eating bacterial infection.

1. Aimee Copeland was riding a homemade zip line near the Little Tallapoosa River near Carollton, Georgia May 1st when the line snapped, causing a gash in her left calf. The bacteria thought to have triggered the infection, Aeromonas hydrophila, thrives in warm climates and fresh (brackish) water, like the river where Copeland was kayaking and zip lining with friends.

2. Lana Kuykendall was infected on May 7th after she gave birth to twins at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta.

3. Bobby Vaughn of Cartersville, Georgia’s story– “Reports emerge of third flesh-eating bacteria victim with ties to Georgia.” Vaughn is a Cartersville landscaper who was injured at work May 4th when he fell from a tree and suffered a cut to his side.

4. UPDATE, A grandfather from Milledgeville (also not so far from Atlanta) is battling an infection of flesh eating bacteria. Shudderrrrrr…

The scale of miles between each location where the patient became infected is that each side of the triangle is roughly 50 miles from each destination. The distances are not long.

OK, one is a freak thing, two is something that makes me go HMMM, but three is a pattern. Three from the Atlanta area is just too close for comfort!

But now there is one in Long Island NY, a veteran fought for his life from a hospital bed warding off this weird bacteria. He survived. The article says that the bacteria “is rare”. I think they need to look up the definition of “rare” again. Four in the news in one week, suddenly, is not rare. It’s freaky…

I think of the verse that will be fulfilled in the Tribulation, the one where Jesus promised that there will be pestilences, (Luke 21:11; Rev 6:8). He created the entire world and all that is within it in 6 days. He can create a disease that will kill a fourth of mankind. Or He will allow a mutation of a disease that man in his own sin created, to kill a fourth of mankind. Or both.

What we have today is a flesh eating bacteria that is hard to handle in these relatively calm times with all the focus of the practicing experts brought to bear, with a total focus of curing the patient afflicted with it. A cure is almost too hard for them to manage now. Imagine when things are really chaotic and a quarter of the world is dying from plagues and wars and other deathly afflictions. If a person in the Tribulation catches this bacteria you will watch your flesh rot off while doctors are performing triage on patients worse off than you, until even they are overwhelmed with the flood of medical emergencies and finally practicing medicine as we know it sputters to a halt. If you believe I am overstating things, look what happened during Katrina.

I bring these unpalatable things to mind for you so as to think on His mercy. THIS is the age of grace, when repentance will bring joy and redemption to the penitent. Submitting to the loving care of the Savior brings to fruition for each individual all the promises of glory, peace, eternal joy with Him in heaven. Rejecting His offer of grace brings pain, death, and eternal separation from all his promises in hellish agony.

He said that he told us these things head of time so that when they came to pass you would believe. This presently ending of the Age of Grace is the last lead-time you will have to make these choices. (John 13:19). You can choose Jesus during the Tribulation, IF you survive any part of it, IF you don’t wait too long before all the world becomes deluded by the antichrist, IF Jesus doesn’t give you over to your perversions first, IF……

No, do it NOW. He loves you and wants you. He wants YOU.

Posted in end time, prophecy, tribulation

End times signs in pictures

Posted on by elizabethprata

The End Time signs in photos. I know that volcanoes have always erupted. I know that earthquakes have always happened. I know that there have always been wars or rumors of wars. But I thought it would be interesting to put in some photos from today’s news stories that closely match prophecy, to give a different, and visual, perspective of the Tribulation.

Volcanic ash envelops Kagoshima city. Kagoshima city has received a heavy dusting of ash since yesterday due to eruption of Sakurajima Volcano–

“When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood,” (Rev 6:12). A common side effect of volcanic eruptions is that when the ash is flung into the sky it darkens the sun in a phenomenon known as dry fog. I explored this in more detail, here. Or you can read about dry fog from a real science guy, here.

The BBC reported on the rare annular eclipse, here, and published this photo of the eclipse over Tokyo.

“And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves,” (Luke 21:25).

Below, PM Netanyahu meets with Winston Churchill’s granddaughter Edwina Sandys. Prior to WWII, Winston Churchill spoke against appeasing Hitler and foresaw the dreadful effects of failing to stop Hitler’s ambitions in time. He was laughed out of the room, only to unfortunately be shown later how right he had been. The situation brings to mind Netanyahu’s current sole position in his speaking of how dangerous it is to appease Ahmadinejad, and how precarious it would be for the world to fail to stop Iran’s convulsive power, cult of death and ideological zeal as that was demonstrated in the Third Reich.

“For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”’ (Esther 4:14).

Thousands homeless in deadly quake in Italy: 3000 homeless, 50 injured, 7 dead. Historic buildings destroyed.

“There will be earthquakes in diverse places” (Mark 8:13b)

Food shortages in North Korea’s rice belt have become so bad that farmers there have starved to death. As the caption to this photo states, “Famine amid food: North Korean rice farmers are starving to death on meagre government-mandated rations. Picture: AFP Source: AFP”

When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a black horse! And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and wine!” (Revelation 6:5-6). [A denarius was a day’s wages].

Mexico’s Popocatepetl Volcano erupts dramatically at night

“And in an instant, suddenly, you will be visited by the LORD of hosts with thunder and with earthquake and great noise, with whirlwind and tempest, and the flame of a devouring fire.” (Isaiah 29:5b-6)

Posted in end time, gog magog, prophecy, saudi arabia

Saudi Arabia and Iran, rivals till the end?

Posted on by elizabethprata

Let’s take a look at the rivalry between the Saudis and the Iranians for pre-eminence in the Middle Eastern region. We can start by looking at this recent article:

Saudi cleric: ‘Sin’ has led to Middle East unrest

Well, that’s true but not in the way the Muslim cleric thinks… Here’s the excerpt-

“Saudi Arabia’s top religious official has blamed Muslim sinfulness for instability in the Middle East, where pro-democracy unrest has toppled four heads of state. “The schism, instability, the malfunctioning of security and the breakdown of unity that Islamic countries are facing these days is a result of the sins of the public and their transgressions,” Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz Al al-Sheikh was quoted as saying by al-Watan newspaper.’

We tend to think of all Muslims as Muslim, the same, and working in concert to accomplish the global dominance of their goals. They do want to conquer the world for Islam but they are definitely not working in concert with one another. Just as there is not one “Christian” mindset, instead we are split by denominational lines, the false mixed in with the true (Catholicism, B’Hai), it is the same with Islam. The faith they practice is tempered by doctrinal interpretations, national or tribal history, and geography.

Here is an example. Iran is a powerful entity in the Middle East and seeks to be more so every day. However, adjacent nations which are also Muslim are not friendly toward Iran. Both Iran and Saudi Arabia are the two powerhouses vying for dominance, and the smaller ducklings are lined up behind each. The two Middle Eastern powers have been battling for preeminence in the Muslim world for decades. The LA Times wrote in Oct 2011, “Saudi Arabia and Iran seek to outmaneuver each other in matters such as the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the future of Iraq and the bloody political uprisings sweeping much of the region. Their mistrust, fueled in part by sectarian strain, is sharpened by Iran’s nuclear development program and Saudi Arabia’s long-standing ties to the U.S., Tehran’s most potent enemy. The animosity between the Sunni Muslim monarchy in Riyadh and the Shiite Muslim theocracy in Tehran has played out for years in diplomatic back channels and in proxy conflicts from Iraq to Lebanon.”

CNN wrote a few months ago, “The two countries, at odds since the 1979 revolution in Iran and ever more so in the wake of the Arab Spring, are competing for dominance in global energy markets and nuclear technology and for political influence in the Persian Gulf and the Levant. Their conflict, with its sectarian overtones, has the potential to weaken pro-democracy forces in the Middle East and North Africa, empower Islamists, and drag the United States into military interventions. To avoid all this, the United States will need strategic imagination to devise ways to mitigate and manage the rivalry between Riyadh and Tehran.”

The prediction that the rivalry will “empower Islamists” is turning out to be true. Witness the Muslim Brotherhood’s success in Egypt. While Iran and Saudi Arabia rival each other, the Brotherhood sneaks in under the radar, cements seats in Parliament, and before they know it, have the people backing them and political power to wield.

It is out of this mess that Jesus causes the final lineup to occur, and it seems that Iran comes out on top, given their prominent placement as a leader in the aggression toward Israel in the Ezekiel 38 prophecy. The old Arabic proverb goes, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” Just keep that in mind as we read news articles about these nations today and in the future. As a matter of fact, here is one Op-Ed piece in the Kuwaiti Al Watan Daily newspaper today that captures the mood:

“In worst case scenarios; especially during those times when we are really left with little or absolutely no options at all – and have to choose between showing solidarity with the Iranians (God Almighty forbid) or surrendering our earthly possessions, I am certain that we would much rather prefer to live in our deserts as shepherds – wandering around barefoot and working real hard for our livelihoods – than live under the imposing and tyrannical shade of the Iranian umbrella. We’d rather prefer going to bed on a half-empty stomach than enjoy the ill-gotten gains of the Iranians that once actually belonged and still belong to us. We’d rather sleep on the bare earth with no pillow under our heads or even a thin sheet covering our cold bodies than sleep under their silken sheets and warm comforters. Most importantly; we’d rather prefer to die in dignity than live under the shade of their deceptive umbrella.”

Gee, what do you really think of the Iranians, Mufarej Barjas Al-Dosari? Actually, the writer and the colleague Abdullah Al-Hadlaq that he mentions are known as Muslim Zionists, that is, Muslim supporters of Israel.

Al-Dosari and the colleague he mentions have urged his country to normalize relations with Israel. On Wikipedia, it states, ‘Responding to a question whether he believed that Muslims have a right to rule Jerusalem, Hadlaq said, “On the contrary, verse number 21 of Surat Al-Maeda of the Holy Quran emphasizes the right of ‘Bani Israel'”. He said that Israel’s model of democracy is unique and surpassed many of what he described as the “tyrannical, totalitarian” Arab regimes. In his 2008 article, “The Right of Self-defense,” Al-Hadlaq supported “Israel’s right to defend itself” and told the international community “not to criticize Israel if it continues its fight against Persian terror committed by the terrorist Hamas (…) and not to criticize Israel for using force to defend its citizens and its territory”. In 2011, Hadlaq warned against a unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state, which he says will shatter the idea of real peace in the region. According to Al-Hadlaq, Israel has in the past made strategic concessions for peace, in Sinai, the Gaza Strip and South Lebanon, proving her desire for peaceful negotiations, but the response she earned was a hail of rockets from the “terrorists of Hizballah and Hamas”. ‘ [emphasis mine].

See? The enemy of my enemy is my friend. The group hates Iran so badly they support Israel. I think it is interesting that the Kuwaiti newspaper continues to allow them to publish their Op-Ed pieces.

He writes, “On the contrary, we will never ever be deceived even in the event that Iran changes its tactics and tries to win us over through soothing words of comfort and never ending support. We will never fall prey to their false claims of solidarity under the pretext of being Muslims and true followers of Islam. If they were indeed true followers of Islam, they would never have trampled on the rights of their own brethren and fellowmen. It is open knowledge that they do not believe in brotherhood despite their futile claims that they are indeed devout Muslims and hence encourage the welfare of all other Muslims.”

As for the Grand Mufti…Saudi Arabia’s top cleric? This is the same man who criticized those who want to raise the legal marriageable age, He said that raising the age of marriage for Muslim girls to 25 is not necessary, because girls aged 10 or 12 are fully ready for all marital duties if raised properly and those who want to raise it are absolutely mistaken. (source Turkish newspaper). He is the same man who said just last week that a fatwa should be issued against all Christian churches in the Gulf region, that they should all be destroyed. And… he is one of the most influential religious leaders in the Muslim world.

Now here is something interesting. It is extra-biblical but based on the bible. I know nothing about the Yalkut Shimoni, only having discovered it just now. Here is an article from Arutz Sheva from 5 months ago. This is their headline, not mine:

Iran and Saudis Acting Out Ancient Messiah Prophecy?

“Jews familiar with an ancient compilation of Aggadic exegesis called Yalkut Shimoni noticed in recent weeks that current tension between Iran and Saudi Arabia matches a prophecy it contains regarding the year in which the Messiah – the King who redeems Israel and the world – is to appear. In particular, the recently revealed Iranian plot to assassinate Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the U.S. and subsequent reports that the Arab nations are pressuring the West to attack Iran, appear to fit the sequence of events predicted in the Yalkut Shimoni. In to the part of the book dealing with the Book of Isaiah, the following passage appears:

“Rabbi Yitzchak said: ‘In the year in which the Messiah-King appears, all the nations of the world are provoking each other. The King of Persia provokes an Arab king and the Arab king turns to Aram for advice. And the King of Persia goes back and destroys the entire world. And all the nations of the world are in panic and distress and they fall upon their faces and are seized with pains like those of a woman giving birth, and Israel are in panic and distress and asking ‘where shall we go? Where shall we go?,’ and He says to them ‘my sons, do not fear; all that I have done, I have done only for you. Why are you afraid? Do not fear, your time of redemption has come, and the final redemption is not like the first redemption, because the first redemption was followed by sorrow and servitude under other kingdoms, but the final redemption is not followed by sorrow and servitude under other kingdoms.” 

The article continues- “Persia is currently known as Iran, and an Arab king – or the Arab king – can be reasonably understood, in modern eyes, as referring to the king of [Saudi] Arabia, the Arab homeland. This passage is relatively well-known and oft-quoted, and some modern versions of it substitute “Edom” for “Aram.”… The instability in precisely this area is reportedly what most concerns the Saudis, as a U.S. pullout from Iraq looms and Syria’s pro-Iranian regime teeters. The prophecy bodes ill for much of the world, which, if Rabbi Yitzchak’s quote is to be taken literally, is to be destroyed by Iran before the Messiah steps in.”

In biblical prophecy, it is generally interpreted that in Ezekiel 38:13 the Sheba and Dedan that are mentioned are the Saudi Arabian peninsula peoples, including Kuwait, and their question to the aggressors Iran and Russia “have you come to take a spoil?” indicate that Sheba and Dedan do NOT participate in the Gog-Magog attack, perhaps even then, still rivals in a warring and dying world.

The burden of knowing these insults against the Graceful and Merciful Jesus and His people exist, and are getting more outrageous is getting heavier by the day. But what a promise of deliverance we have! When He comes, He will destroy the enemies of the cross, and institute a theocracy that is perfect in all its facets! We will be fully released from the bondage of our sin nature, and will worship Him in united love for Him the perfect Lamb. What a joy it will be to see children safe and the world restored to Edenic glory- and Jesus occupying His rightful pace at the Head, on the throne, and visible to all!

Posted in end time, homosexuality, sin

Backsliding Baptists muddy waters of gay marriage issue

Posted on by elizabethprata

Dr. David P. Gushee’s bio on Wikipedia states he is an historian, ethicist, public intellectual, and professor dealing primarily with ethical issues and Christian thought. Gushee is the Distinguished University Professor of Christian Ethics at Mercer University, and was formerly the Graves Professor of Moral Philosophy and the Senior Fellow of the Carl F. H. Henry Center for Christian Leadership at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee. Gushee also serves as the president of Evangelicals for Human Rights, an organization advocating for an end to torture, especially that sponsored by the United States government. Additionally, he is a columnist for Christianity Today and the Associated Baptist Press.

For all that, here is some news about something he said and did recently- this is from the Associated Baptist Press–

Gushee: Covenant best model for sexual relationship
“The co-convener of a conference on sexuality and covenant said April 20 that long-term committed relationships are the best model for Christians struggling to make sense of changing morals about sex.”

Don’t get excited. It sounds good. But it is not good. Read on.

“I believe that covenant is a, if not the, single best way that has emerged in the great Christian tradition to talk about what we are supposed to do with our sexuality, and for that matter, our relationality,” said David Gushee, an ethics professor at Mercer University, co-sponsor with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of the April 19-21 conference at First Baptist Church in Decatur, Ga.”

Still don’t know why I’m disappointed? He hasn’t said MARRIAGE yet. Read on.

“Gushee defined covenant as a “voluntarily entered sacred pact between two persons and between those two persons and the God to whom both are committed.” OH NO! Why, you ask? Because he said ‘two persons’. Not “man and woman.” Read on:

“Gushee said he doesn’t think the main issue facing the church today is which groups of people are to be viewed as eligible to make covenants. “The main issue is to rescue the very practice of covenant before it disappears forever, not only in society but in our own house,” he said.”

BAD BAD BAD. He wants to ‘rescue” covenants (like God needs human help with maintaining covenants) but declines to specify who is eligible to enter them. However the bible is clear on who is eligible to enter the type of covenant he is talking about, marriage. It is a man and a woman. The Bible condemns homosexuality as an immoral and unnatural sin. Leviticus 18:22 identifies homosexual sex as an abomination, a detestable sin. Romans 1:26-27 declares homosexual desires and actions to be shameful, unnatural, lustful, and indecent. Defining “which groups” are eligible to enter sexual covenant is not a necessary endeavor for today’s Christian because it already has been defined for us. All we need to do is proclaim the truth and obey it. Failing that and instead focusing on the covenant and not the people in the covenant is a backwards approach that leaves out Jesus.

First Corinthians 6:9 states that homosexuals are unrighteous and will not inherit the kingdom of God. it stands to reason that a sacred covenental relationship between same genders would be entering a sinful relationship and not approved by God. That Gushee declined to specify that, thereby proclaiming less than the whole counsel of God, is a severe disappointment.

The Baptist Standard covered the conference this way–:

 Christians lack consensus on sexual ethics, speaker tells conference
“Christians no longer share a consensus that sex outside of marriage is always wrong and must find new ways to deal with that reality besides splitting into smaller and smaller groups over issues like homosexuality and contraception, a keynote speaker said April 19 in the opening session of a [Baptist] Conference on Sexuality and Covenant co-sponsored by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and Mercer University’s Center for Theology and Public Life. … David Gushee, head of Mercer’s Center for Theology and Public Life, said the university was happy to co-sponsor the event because of its long identity as a Baptist institution and interest “in promoting dialogue about an important and sensitive issue that some people would be afraid to host a dialogue about.” Gushee said his center normally deals with public policy issues, but in this case cordoned off that part of the discussion to make it easier to have conversation. He said the conference still could have implications for public policy if it demonstrates that people really can discuss a sensitive issue like sexuality constructively and with respect.”

Here is the perspective on “dialogue”. I’ve always been interested in language, and how language, particularly through media, influences the mind. How it can clarify or obfuscate. The Emergent Church penchant for insisting on ‘respectful dialogue’ is part of the tactic of obfuscation. It brings muddiness to the clarity of scripture and it is simply a defense mechanism for satan to deflect dogmatic truth.

I posted a blog entry a short while ago titled “It’s 2012 and homosexuality is still a sin” as a jab at emergent post-modern culture that says we have to get with the times and dialogue about these points to see whether they are still relevant. I have an answer for you. They are still relevant. End of dialogue.

As a result of my interest in how language is used or misused, the emergent church, and John MacArthur’s solidly biblical sermons, I’ve heard just about everything MacArthur has said or written on the subject. Here is his explanation of the tendency toward dialogue in his essay “The perspicuity of scripture“

He wrote- “A new movement is now arising in evangelical circles. Apparently, the main object of attack will be the perspicuity of Scripture. Influenced by postmodern notions about language, meaning, subjectivity, and truth, many younger evangelicals are questioning whether the Word of God is clear enough to justify certainty or dogmatism on points of doctrine. Ironically, this new movement to a certain extent ignores all the previous debates. Instead, its proponents are more interested in dialogue and conversation. As a result, they scorn and rebuff propositional truth (which tends to end dialogue rather than cultivate it) as an outmoded vestige of twentieth-century modernism.”

He’s right. Proclamation tends to shut them up. There is no debating God.

Peter said that Jesus preached to the spirits in prison, (1 Peter 3:19) and the word preached means proclaimed. The Greek word is kērýssō (“to herald”) and refers to preaching the Gospel as the authoritative (binding) word of God, bringing eternal accountability to all who hear it. (Strong’s Concordance).

Do you really believe that scripture is so unclear about what’s a sin that we need to have endless discussion as to whether marriage is meant for life between a man and a woman under God or can be included to mean two men for whatever period of time as their lust brings them together? If so, do you believe that when Jesus descended to prison to speak with the demon spirits, He said “Let’s promote a dialogue about an important and sensitive issue that some people would be afraid to host a dialogue about. And I promise to be respectful”?? NO. He proclaimed GOD’s RIGHTEOUSNESS. His death & resurrection meant He triumphed over death, over hell and over sin, sin that includes homosexuality!

I’m really disappointed in the Baptist segment of our denomination that is behaving this way. Failing to stand on the word of God as authoritative and binding means one is actually standing on a house of sand. And we all know what happens when the storm comes. “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.” (Matthew 7:24-27)

Note the last line of the parable. “Great was its fall.” The Greek word defines ‘great’ as megas, “large, as in the widest sense.” Jesus is saying that unless you stand on His word as the foundation, your fall will be so great it couldn’t be any greater!

Posted in bible, bozrah, end time

Petra the Sheepfold

Posted on by elizabethprata

I wrote about Petra once before, here. This is an excerpt of that blog essay.

Petra is also known as Sela, both of which means rock. The rose red city of Petra in Jordan is referred to in Judges 1:36; Isaiah 16:1, Is 42:11; Obad. 3 where Petra is known as the “cleft in the rock”. Petra is also known as Bozrah, which means sheepfold. Sheepfold or sheep pen is an enclosure designed with overhangs or other protection from the elements, and is solid enough to keep the sheep in and the wild animals out. It always has one narrow gate for entry. Bozrah is the perfect sheepfold! Our Shepherd Jesus will protect His remnant during the Great Tribulation at Bozrah, the sheepfold, the Cleft in the Rock.

It is there He returns at the Second Coming and becomes stained with blood of the armies attempting to wipe out the remnant, and leads them to victory at Mt. Olive. (Photo source above)

God’s Vengeance on the Nations
“Who is this who comes from Edom, With garments of glowing colors from Bozrah, This One who is majestic in His apparel, Marching in the greatness of His strength? “It is I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save.” Why is Your apparel red, And Your garments like the one who treads in the wine press? “I have trodden the wine trough alone, And from the peoples there was no man with Me I also trod them in My anger And trampled them in My wrath; And their lifeblood is sprinkled on My garments, And I stained all My raiment.” (Isaiah 63:1-3)

Jews during the Great Tribulation are told by Jesus in Revelation 12:6 “Then the woman fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God, so that there she would be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.” In Matthew 24:15-16 He tells them when they see the Abomination of Desolation to to flee to the mountains. The only place where there are mountains across the desert is toward Jordan and to Petra.

In that Day, two-thirds of the Jews will be killed during the Tribulation. One-third survives. (Zechariah 13:8). That one-third had fled to the mountains at Petra and there they are protected, but it is also there that they finally repent and clamor for the Messiah, Jesus. (Zechariah 12:10). Now let’s fast forward our imaginations to that terrible time, and envision the Jews who are now Christians, repentant and supplicating to Jesus, nourished by him, His sheep finally returned to the fold. Look at the picture below and imagine the worship services that will be happening in that Day!

Imagine, being nourished by the very providence of God! As they were once nourished by the quail and the manna in the desert, so again will the remnant be nourished in the desert, His sheep protected by the sheepfold at Bozrah throughout the latter half of the Tribulation!

He is a God who cares for His people, He prepares places for us. And that is a mighty thing indeed. Hallelujah to the One True and Mighty God!

source