Category: end time

Posted in end time

More booms mystify -this time it’s Virginia

Posted on by elizabethprata

There have been series of booms in various states that mystify locals. Sometimes the booms occur coincident with quakes, and other times, not. Today another state reports mysterious booms: Virginia

Past booms:

Florida, March 2011
Geologist: Shaking Wasn’t Florida Earthquake
“Investigators are trying to solve a bizarre mystery in Flagler County. A wave of people called 911 around 9:30am Friday to report the ground shaking in Flagler County. The calls all came from the Hammock area of Palm Coast. However, people in the north Daytona area, as well as in Deltona and as far north as St. Augustine, said they felt it as well.”

South Carolina, March 2011
Residents report loud booms; CofC says no indication of seismic activity
“Loud booms and shaking across the Charleston area Monday afternoon had people a little jumpy.
Three big booms were reported late Monday afternoon. The reports came from people in different parts of the metro area. A Mt. Pleasant man said it felt like a truck hit his house. Vacationers from Canada reported hearing and feeling a series of loud booms at Folly Beach. Earthquake experts at the College of Charleston said there was no evidence of seismic activity.”

NJ, March 2011
Newark Police Puzzled By Mystery ‘Boom’
Police were investigating the cause of a mysterious noise on Monday after multiple people reported hearing it and feeling it. Residents living in the area of Idlewilde and Weiant avenues called police on Sunday afternoon to report what sounded and felt like a loud explosion. The noise caused homes to shake, residents said. Police and fire crews responded after several people called 911 to report the noise. They were unable to find any sign of an explosion or what might have caused so many people to feel the shaking.

Washington State, March 2011
Mystery boom heard Saturday
A loud boom was heard through Moses Lake Saturday night about 8:30 p.m. Authorities do not know what caused the sound.People described it in a variety of ways from a methane explosion to a sonic boom. “I don’t know what it was, but it was loud,” said Moses Lake police Capt. Dave Ruffin. “It sounded like a transformer blowing (up) down the street.” The Multi Agency Communications Center (MACC) received several reports through 9-1-1 about the sound of an explosion and deputies were dispatched to determine the cause, said Kyle Foreman, Grant County Sheriff’s Office public information officer. “The sound came from the sand dunes, but we couldn’t find anything,” said Foreman.

There were other booms in various states in January 2011 and in late 2010. I wrote about the booms in this piece “The language of God: Thunder.” The one thing that is immediately evident when reading the summary of news articles about these booms, is, they are all extremely similar. Booms are heard. Calls are made. Officials investigate. Quakes, jets, military, drilling etc. is ruled out. End conclusion: officials are mystified. Here is the latest:

Mystery boom rattles parts of Va.
“A loud boom rattled Hampton Roads and the Eastern Shore but the source is a mystery. Media outlets report that the mystery boom occurred Tuesday night. It was reported in Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake and Suffolk. Some residents reported that the disturbance shook their homes. The U.S. Geological Survey’s reports show no seismic activity at the time. A spokeswoman at Oceana Naval Air Station says a sonic boom from the base wouldn’t be heard as far away as Suffolk. A NASA spokesman says there wasn’t any rocket activity at the Wallops Island facility that could cause such a noise. National Weather Service meteorologist Mike Rusnak says there wasn’t any severe weather at the time.”

In Revelation John observed “From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. Before the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God.” Notice that rumblings and thunder are distinguished from each other. In the Greek (and the King James version) the word rumblings is “voices.”

It’s curious, what IS going on at the throne room of heaven, and what DOES God’s voice sound like? Ezekiel 1:24a gives a clue:

“When the creatures moved, I heard the sound of their wings, like the roar of rushing waters, like the voice of the Almighty, like the tumult of an army.” That’s pretty loud.

That same language is repeated in Rev 8:5 “Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.” And again, in Rev 10, 11, and 16. Always the three; lightning, thunder, and rumblings.

I like Wesley’s notes. His take on the voices/rumblings is: “And out of the throne go forth lightnings – Which affect the sight. Voices – Which affect the hearing. Thunderings – Which cause the whole body to tremble. Weak men account all this terrible; but to the inhabitants of heaven it is a mere source of joy and pleasure, mixed with reverence to the Divine Majesty. Even to the saints on earth these convey light and protection; but to their enemies, terror and destruction.”

Revelation talks of the voice of the seven thunders, which could be a voice or they could be an additional set of judgments we were not privy to. The voice told John not to write specifically about the seven thunders. (Rev 10:4) so we don’t know.

Back to the booms. They could have a logical explanation. But I don’t think the explanation is earthly. I believe that they are warning signs, and that once we are gone and the judgments begin, that the earth-dwellers will be hearing a LOT more rumblings that precede the judgments than they ever cared to before. If the voice of God were to be heard on earth to awaken people to His presence, I believe that booms are exactly what they would sound like. Mysterious, terrifying, explanation-defying booms.

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Posted in alabama boy, end time, tornado

Miracle of Alabama: Parents watch as eight-year-old boy is sucked into tornado … but LIVES to tell tale

Posted on by elizabethprata

UK Daily Mail has a great tornado story with an miracle ending: He is the boy who got sucked up into a tornado – and lived to tell the tale. Eight-year-old Reginald Epps Jr was picked up off his feet and pulled into the swirling darkness when one of the Alabama twisters tore through his home. As his family cowered beneath him he was carried through the air some 30ft before being set down again with just cuts and bruises. When the wind died down his terrified family looked up to see him walking towards them – and were stunned to see he was still alive. Reginald Jr, known as RJ, was at home in Coaling, Alabama when the tornado swept through at 200mph. At home were his father Reginald, 35, mother Danielle, 36, and brothers James and Joel, six and four. Speaking from his hospital bed in the Regional Medical Centre in Tuscaloosa, Mr Epps said that the family were watching the TV when they heard the tornado could be coming towards them. The firefighter said: ‘It was just after 5pm and I was due to be at work an hour later, but I thought I’d wait and see what was going to happen.”

“‘I had just got some flashlights for me and my wife and we were all in the kitchen when we heard the wind pick up. Then the windows at the back of the house blew out, it was like they popped.”

“‘I shouted at RJ to get up and come with us to the bedroom but when we made it in this roar started.”

‘I looked up and the walls and the roof came away and RJ few off with them. ‘It happened in an instant, he just got sucked away from me. I tried to reach up for him but I couldn’t stop him. It was like he was on a bit of string being pulled from behind. ‘Then I got down on top of James whilst Danielle got on top of Joel to protect them. I got hit by flying glass and other stuff and we held on and prayed for our lives. ‘Danielle was saying: ‘God, protect us! God protect us!’ and I said to James in his ear, I will never forget his face: ‘It’s OK buddy, I’m here for you, I’ll protect you’.’After just 30 seconds the tornado passed on, leaving their home utterly destroyed. Mr Epps said: ‘When it settled down I could see this dark silhouette walking towards us and realised it was RJ. ‘I couldn’t believe it.”

“‘I shouted: ‘Hey! Come here’ and he came towards us and we huddled together for a bit longer until I was sure it was over.’ Mr Epps, RJ and James were all taken to hospital and the children were released that day with just cuts and bruises. Mr Epps is still being treated for a punctured lung, three fractured ribs and cuts and bruises.”

The Daily Mail(linked above) has great photos, as usual
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Posted in ahmadinejad, end of days. prophecy, end time, gog magog, iran, last days

There’s a rift between Iran’s President Ahmadinejad and the Ayatollah; rumors swirl that Ahmadinejad will be out soon

Posted on by elizabethprata

Some significant news is occurring in Iran that’s not getting a lot of play in Western reporting media. Iran’s President is Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The Supreme Leader is Ayatollah Khamenei. Here is how one Iranian blogger described the role of the President:

‘Seyyed Ahmad Alam al-Hoda, the Imam of Friday Prayers in Mashhad, said, “All the officials, ministers, Majles deputies, judiciary chief, and the president who want to serve the nation must obey the orders of the Supreme Leader. If they do not do so, their position has no legitimacy, even if people have elected them.” He continued, “When people elect the president, their votes are just a bunch of zeroes. What gives meaning to the zeroes is the Supreme Leader’s certification of the vote. Assembly of Experts member Seyyed Ali Akbar Gharebaghi compared the current situation to the one involving Abolhassan Bani Sadr, the Islamic Republic’s first president, who was impeached in June 1981 after he clashed with Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. “The most efficient model of governance is one with the Supreme Leader,” said Gharebaghi. “Bani Sadr thought that because he had 12 million votes, he could oppose the Imam [Khomeini]. His problem was that he did not understand what it meant to oppose the Imam. He thought that the people voted for him, but did not know that without the Supreme Leader he had no legitimacy.”

So the news is, there appears to be a problem between the Supreme Leader and their hand-picked puppet, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Iran’s president and supreme leader in rift over minister’s reinstatement
MPs call for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to be impeached after his refusal to back Khamenei’s judgment
“A rift is emerging between Iran’s president and its supreme leader, prompting several members of the parliament to call for the impeachment of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has not been seen in public for days. Ahmadinejad has refused to appear at the presidential palace since Friday in what is being seen as a reaction to Ayatollah Khamenei’s reinstating of a minister he initially “asked to resign”. Under pressure from Ahmadinejad the intelligence minister, Heydar Moslehi, a close ally of the supreme leader, stepped down on 17 April but was reinstated when Khamenei asked him in a letter to stay. The president has not publicly shown his support for that decision and on Wednesday he refused for the second time to chair a cabinet meeting in which Moslehi was present. Ahmadinejad also reportedly cancelled an official visit to the holy city of Qom prompting reactions among conservatives that “the president was sulking”. On Tuesday, Parliament News, a website run by Iranian MPs reported that “the plan to impeach Ahmadinejad has begun” in the parliament, with 12 MPs asking for him to be summoned before them.”

Is Ahmadinejad fighting for his political life?

‘Absent’ Ahmadinejad to address nation next week: media
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has not appeared in public for more than a week, is to make a televised address to the nation within days, local media reported Thursday, citing an official. “Ahmadinejad will speak to the nation next week, and his comments are going to please the friends of the revolution and despair the enemies of the regime,” several newspapers reported the vice-president in charge of parliamentary affairs, Mohammad Reza Mir-Tajedini, as saying.

Wow. Trouble in paradise? I guess so.

In relation to prophecy, Iranian politics always bears watching because Iran is forecast to be a terrible aggressor in the last days. The major event tripping the world into tribulation is Iran’s attack against Israel, joined by allies Turkey, Russia, Libya, Northern Africa, Armenia, and others. Iran attacks Israel in a surprise that almost devastates Israel and it looks like it will be destroyed it forever. It would be destroyed except that at the last second God Himself supernaturally saves the nation. (Ezekiel 38-39.) The world sees clearly that God saved Israel and Israel realizes this too. “I will rain down on him, on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, flooding rain, great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. Thus I will magnify Myself and sanctify Myself, and I will be known in the eyes of many nations. Then they shall know that I am the LORD.”’ (Ez 38:22b-23) Israel returns to covenant with God at that time. (Ez 39:7) Once she returns to Covenant, it means the warnings are over and the Tribulation has begun (Daniel 9:24-27). The church will be gone, ending the Church Age and re-starting Daniel’s prophetic clock for the last 7 years to conclude the long-paused Age of Law.

Mahmoud Ahmadinajad’s belligerence toward Israel is unparalleled. However, if he is not performing to expectations in some way, then the Supreme Leaders will have no issue with removing him and installing another puppet. In fact, some reports dribbling in claim that impeachment has already begun, as the UK Guardian article above reports.

Any time an unbalanced and megalomaniacal nation in the middle of the geographic region that is undergoing revolutions and overthrows, and is prophesied to be a catalyst for the worst wars the world has ever seen, you pay attention when they are reported to be having internal leadership problems! Grand Ayatollah Khomenei, the founder of the Islamic Republic, is quoted as saying that he had three goals for Iran: 1. Overthrowing the Shah; 2. Establishing an Islamic State; 3. Creating the situation for the return of the last Imam. The third goal’s situation for the last Imam’s return includes a world with no Israel.

It is very interesting indeed that Ahmadinejad has not been seen and that there are rumors of a new President appearing imminently. As with so many of the entrenched leaders in the Middle East this year, it seems that Ahmadinejad is not immune from a fall from power. But the question is, if Ahmadinejad is out, will the next President be even worse for Israel?
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Posted in end time, george soros, prophecy

Is George Soros the enemy?

Posted on by elizabethprata

George Soros is not the enemy. The New World Order is not the enemy. Obama is not the enemy. Muslims are not the enemy. The declining dollar is not the enemy. The economy is not the enemy. The Fed is not the enemy.

SIN IS THE ENEMY. And satan, who is the father of sin and the father of lies. Keep it in perspective, people. Ranting and raving against the government or the International Monetary Fund or any other person or organization is misguided warfare. Oh, yes, we are in a war and there is an enemy. So make sure you confess and repent daily, walk vigorously with the Lord, and pray. These are dangerous times and the enemy is about. Polish your spiritual armor, because we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, (Ephesians 6:12) remember, “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,” (2 Corinthians 10: 4-5).

Sin. Everything is always about sin. And we combat sin by personal confession, strong growth in the Spirit to help us continue to resist it, and powerful prayers for salvation of others so they may enjoy the same fruits of resisting sin, for His glory!

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Posted in bible, end time, god particle, gravity, science

God in a particle, gravity doesn’t exist, and the world will end soon: all say … physicists?

Posted on by elizabethprata
Credit

Some interesting physics news this week, and I balance that news against the scientific word found in the bible.

TV Scotland reports two titans of Astronomy though having divergent views, both agree that it’s likely the earth won’t survive the next few years.
Top astronomers warn the world could end within 90 years
“Two leading astronomers will put forward their stark predictions for mankind at the finale of the Edinburgh International Science Festival. The end of the world is nigh. That’s what top astronomers will claim during a debate to end the 2011 Edinburgh International Science Festival. Lord Martin Rees, the Astronomer Royal, believes civilisation has only a 50 per cent chance of surviving to 2100 without suffering a man-made catastrophe. And the Astronomer Royal for Scotland, Professor John Brown, has an equally bleak outlook, fearing a random event from outer space is the most likely cause of our demise.”

In one sense, they are right, the world won’t survive; “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up” (2 Peter 3:10). But there is nothing man can do to cause its demise. It is God who erases the earth. All one needs to do is look in the bible to see the truth of this science.

In 2 Peter the word for ‘great roar’ is roizēdon, a word that sounds like what it is. The word ‘boom!’ is a word that evokes the sound of that the verb is doing. Roizēdon is ‘whizzz’ or a ‘rushing sound’ like a balloon being quickly deflated. I am thinking that since Jesus is before all things and in Him all things hold together, (Colossians 1:17) then at His word he collapses all the forces of the universe, including thermodnynamics, and the universe along with the earth, melts. The bible is a great book of science.

In this next piece, a top theoretical physicist muses that gravity may not really exist. Is gravity there, or it is a force that we assume is there? It is not seen, only the effects are noted. What happens when gravity is not assumed? In other words, where does gravity come from?

Brilliant Physicist Explains: Guess What? Gravity Doesn’t Exist
“[H]e was also not very happy with the fact that we should just, well, assume that these things, these planets, attract each other and without even anything in between. So if there are two masses and empty space, there’s no, nothing that really happens between them, but still, they’re attracting each other. And he thought that was kind of mysterious and that it was something he would have liked to explain in a better way.”

Mysterious is a good word for it!

In this NYT article, the question is posed, “But what if it’s [gravity’s] all an illusion, a sort of cosmic frill, or a side effect of something else going on at deeper levels of reality? “For me gravity doesn’t exist,” said Dr. Verlinde, who was recently in the United States to explain himself. Not that he can’t fall down, but Dr. Verlinde is among a number of physicists who say that science has been looking at gravity the wrong way and that there is something more basic, from which gravity “emerges,” the way stock markets emerge from the collective behavior of individual investors or that elasticity emerges from the mechanics of atoms.”

This is so intuitive it’s blindingly clear. That the notion that gravity does not exist on its own but emerges FROM something else is the big ‘aha’ moment, in my opinion. And we who accept the bible as total truth know that the something from which gravity emerges is Jesus. “Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.” (John 1:3) and “In Him all things hold together.” (Colossians 1:17).

This next article has to do with the Higgs Boson particle and the Large Hadron Collider (particle smasher)  under the Alps at Switzerland and France. The Higgs boson is a hypothesised particle which, if it exists, would give the mechanism by which particles acquire mass.

World’s Largest Atom Smasher May Have Detected ‘God Particle‘
“A rumor is floating around the physics community that the world’s largest atom smasher may have detected a long-sought subatomic particle called the Higgs boson, also known as the “God particle.” … The Higgs boson is predicted to exist by prevailing particle-physics theory, which is known as the Standard Model. Physicists think the Higgs bestows mass on all the other particles — but they have yet to confirm its existence.”

Scientists have postulated the existence of the particle as a means of resolving inconsistencies in current theoretical physics, and attempts are being made to confirm the existence of the particle by experimentation, using the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN and the Tevatron at Fermilab. The Higgs boson is the only Standard Model particle that has not been observed in particle physics experiments. I’ve always been curious as to a supposed metod by which scientist can’t figure out something so they make something else up and then go looking for it, to the tune of millions of dollars. Now that’s faith! But I am even more interested in why they call it the God particle, hmmm?

“One of the most brilliant simplifications I’ve ever come across is the term “the God Particle.” Physicists think this subatomic speck of matter, if it is ever found, could explain the mysterious code at the origin of the physical world. To know this would be to “know the mind of God,” as Einstein wanted to do. The Nobel Prize winning physicist Leon Lederman wrote a book with that name 15 years ago that was so interesting that even a physics klutz like myself (I almost failed it in high school…) read and enjoyed it.”

Thus it becomes really obvious that science is its own kind of faith.

“SCIENCE IS FOUNDED ON FAITH”
“Since our perspective determines what we expect to see, our physical senses are an almost worthless guide to the ultimate realities of life. This is why a person’s philosophical perspective, or more to the point, the person’s faith, is what really shapes his view of reality. This is also why science — the study of the physical creation — is always based on our spiritual or philosophical presuppositions. In other words, science is founded on faith.”

If you want to know the mind of God, read the bible. If you want to know how the universe and the earth was created, read the bible. (Genesis 1) If you want to know why it holds together, read the bible. (John 1, Colossians 1) If you want to know why it is decaying, read the bible. (Romans 8:21). If you want to know how it will end, read the bible. (Rev 21-22). It’s all there.

Friend, the God who melts the heavens and the earth with a fervent heat is the same God who holds your soul in His hand and gently awakens you to His presence. That is power! That is love! And He revealed Himself to us, through the Holy Word. All truth is there. It is a trustworthy Word. I applaud scientists in their search for understanding of how the universe works, but their search should begin with the bible. The Holy Spirit will take it from there.
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Posted in earthquakes in diverse places, end of days. prophecy, end time, pre-tribulation rapture

Earthquakes already meet or exceed yearly averages, and it’s only April

Posted on by elizabethprata

Just some data on earthquakes. All numbers are from the United States Geological Survey to the date of April 23, 2011. The data is USGS but the chart is one I put together. There were six ‘major’ earthquakes this week, over 6.0 magnitude. Most were in Japan near the stricken Nuke plant. [6.0, 6.1, 6.0] but also in the Solomon Islands (6.9), Kermedec Islands [6.6], and Indonesia [6.2].

In the first few months of this year, to date there have been 121 quakes between 6.0 and 6.9. The annual average for this magnitude is 134. We are near that average and it isn’t even half the year gone yet. I am sure that this average will be exceeded because to date there has been an average of three or more of these size quakes PER WEEK.

There have been eight quakes in magnitude between 7.0 to 7.9. The annual average for earthquakes of this magnitude is 15, so you see we are also more than halfway to the average for this magnitude with less than half the year gone.

There has been one quake over 8.0. The annual average is 1. We have met the average already and that occurred within the first quarter of the year on March 11 with the Japan quake. I am sure that 2011 will also see an exceeding of this average.

Jesus said that the interim between when He ascended on a cloud and when He returned on a cloud IN GREAT POWER AND GLORY that there would be earthquakes in diverse places, and likened them to birth pangs. (Luke 21:11; Mt 24:7) Birth pangs increase in intensity and frequency the closer to the time of the birth.

click on the chart to enlarge

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Posted in end of days, end of days. prophecy, end time, esurrection

He lives!

Posted on by elizabethprata

I wrote yesterday about the death of Jesus and His proclamation to the demons in prison. I also wrote how Paradise was in the belly of the earth, distinct and different from heaven which is far above. On the third day, Jesus rose! He is alive, He is not in the tomb any more!

Immediately He appeared to the disciples, many times. Jesus ministered on earth after His resurrection. Acts 1:1-3 begins this way:

“The first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when He was taken up to heaven, after He had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen. To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.”

Then it came time for Jesus to leave earth, and He blessed the group one more time, and was lifted on a cloud to heaven —

“After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. They also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:9-11)

So ended the Age of Law, and began the church age, the Age of Grace unto the all the world, including Gentiles. The Jews had rejected their Messiah, (Matthew 8:5-13 the Centurion’s Faith, Parable of the Tenants (Matt. 21:33-46) and the Wedding Banquet (Matt. 22:1-14). Because of the Jews’ unbelief, the Gospel was opened to the Gentiles. “For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:” (Rom 11:30). The Jews would be restored, which we have seen beginning in 1948, and they will be admitted to the Kingdom – if they have faith- not by birthright. But because of their unbelief, Jesus sent the Spirit to found His church and intended to take a full number of people unto Himself. (Romans 11:25). When that number is completed, He will call His church up to Him (the rapture) and He will return His attention to the unfinished business with the Hebrews, descendants of Abraham. That moment will begin the last 7 years of the Age of Law, paused all this time since Jesus ascended upon the cloud.

The angels said that we shall see Jesus return the same way as He left. That prophecy is stated in Luke 21:25-27 — “The Return of Christ “There will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. “Then they will see THE SON OF MAN COMING IN A CLOUD with power and great glory.”

Revelation 1:7 –“Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.”

When Jesus left on the cloud, the disciples went their way, rejoicing. When the earth people see Him return, they will not rejoice. He is coming in wrath, to judge. In between He has gifted the world with His presence in the form of the Holy Spirit, has breathed out the Holy Word in the form of the bible, and has raised up evangelists, missionaries and Christians to bring the Word of His Resurrection.

Jesus’ triumph over death, His sacrifice of Himself as the Spotless Lamb who takes away the sins of the world, is incredible. That His majesty and power also contains such love for you and for me is even more incredible. What will you do with this information? What will you do with His gift? Will you accept it, and repent of your sins and become one of His children? Or will you reject it, being one of those who sees Him come in power and great glory, only to hide your face in shame at the squandering of His life-giving blood offered to you?

Today’s celebration marks a celebration of a fact that is unalterable and forever: He lives! Will you?
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Posted in end time, paradise, resurrection, tartarus

Jesus- where was He after death but before resurrection?

Posted on by elizabethprata

Christ was crucified, was taken off the awful cross and laid lovingly to rest in Joseph of Arimathea’s tomb. He was cleaned, wrapped, inspected, and the tomb was closed with a large rock. (Mt 27:57-61; Mark 15:47; Luke 23:55)

What happened then? The bible is clear on what the people above the earth did. Mary and the women “rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment” after preparing spices and perfumes to later anoint the body. (Luke 23:56) Then they grieved.

What was Jesus doing? He wasn’t in heaven (John 20:17), He didn’t ascend until after He had shown Himself to the Ten, then later to all Eleven, to Mary, to Peter, and to the two going to Emmaus. (Luke 24:13-32; John 19:20-25; Luke 24:33-35). He told the thief on the cross that the thief would be in Paradise with Him later. (John 23:43). So Jesus was in Paradise. Where is Paradise?

Before Jesus’ resurrection, all the saved dead went to Paradise, also known as Abrahams’ Bosom, a place in the earth. Jesus Himself said He was going to be there three days as a sign. (Matthew 12:40). The story of Lazarus and the rich man also gives a glimpse. Lazarus the beggar died and was carried by angels to Abraham’s side in Paradise. (Luke 16:22). The rich man who had ignored Lazarus all his life also died but he was “In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.” (Luke 16:23). The rich man begged to have a drop of water, or to send someone to his brothers to tell them to avoid this place, but Abraham said “And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.'”

So we get a clearer picture of the belly of the earth, where there exists Paradise for the saved redeemed, hell for the unsaved lost, and between them, a chasm or a great gulf fixed. Below that there is Tartarus and then the abyss.

2 Peter offers a tantalizing clue of Tartarus, noting that after Jesus died:

“For Christ also hath once suffered for sins the just for the unjust that he might bring us to God being put to death in the flesh but quickened by the Spirit, By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison.” (1 Peter 3:18-19)

What spirits in prison? 2 Peter answers that question:

“For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment;” (2 Peter 2:4).

What sin did angels commit to be kept all this time in the lowest dungeon of hell?

“That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair and they took them wives of all which they chose…here were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.” (Genesis 6:2, 4). The Hebrew translation for ‘sons of God’ is divine being, angel.

The gloomy dungeons Peter refers to is Tartarus. The word Tartarus is actually used in several translations. You might remember Tartarus in Greek mythology. Tartarus was a place of punishment under the earth, to which, for example, the Titans were sent. In Greek mythology, the Titans were the elder gods, the first gods, who ruled until their children the Olympians led by Zeus overthrew them. When the overthrow was complete, the Titans were sent to Tartarus, the lowest underworld. Do you see the similarities in the ‘mighty men of renown’ noted in Genesis and how these first angels who sinned could be seen by the populace as giants to be worshiped and feared? The cultural memory of those giants spawned the entire Greek mythologies, and later the Roman gods. Far from Tartarus being a mythological place written about by Greek god worshipers, it is a real place that satan later mythologized when he co-opted the cultural memory of the sinning angels and perverted it to false god worship.

Anyway, Tartarus is the lowest, deepest dungeon and the angels who had sinned are chained there. In other translations, the word Tartarus is “abyss” the Greek being abusso. Tartarus is a deep section of hell, reserved for these demons.

Graphic from “Revelation” by Frank Overton, Jr.

Jude also refers to this place, calling it darkness- “And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day” but the word darkness in Greek is zophos, meaning “murky, appalling gloom, referring to darkness so dense and foreboding it is “felt”; (figuratively) apocalyptic, gloomy darkness associated with the nether world bringing its indescribable despair (incredible gloom).”

DEMON GRAPEVINE

Mt 8:29 and Luke 8:28 shows us that the demons know Jesus, and they know the appointed time of their doom. That is shown in the behavior of the Gadarene demoniac, who was host to a thousand demons. They talk amongst each other and news travels pretty quickly. They also know that Jesus is God and they fear Him. John MacArthur says that the demons have the most orthodox and conservative theology of us all. When Jesus got off the boat and walked to Gadara, the demoniac threw himself down in front of Jesus, saying, “When he saw Jesus, he fell down before him and shouted at the top of his voice, ‘What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me’”

Jesus asks their name, and they answer truthfully, and then “They were imploring Him not to command them to go away into the abyss.” (Luke 8:31)

It is not likely that the sinning demons chained in prison would have been able to tap into the demon grapevine, being kept for judgment in the lowest pit, the abyss, in apocalyptic darkness. So we remember Peter’s verse where it is written that Jesus preached to the demons in the lowest abyss.

Now, just imagine how it might have been topside at the moment Jesus died on the cross. Satan thinks he has succeeded in having Jesus killed and thinks he has foiled God’s entire promise to redeem humanity through the Messiah. He and his minions must have been partying like there was no tomorrow. They must have been demonically gleeful, cackling, and swooping in hateful hilarity. It was a party.

Then Jesus shows up!

Jesus preaches to them!

Jesus heralds His victory!!!!!

Look at the word preached in Greek. It was not preaching unto salvation, that word is euaggelízō. It was not preaching the Good News. It means PROCLAIM! Strong’s 2784 kērýssō – properly, to herald; to announce a message publicly and with conviction. Jesus, showing up in the middle of the demon-party, to say “YOU LOSE”. His eye is on the sparrow, and though these demons are in the lowest dungeons, He has not forgotten them. Every creature under His sovereign eye is accountable whether they are before Him at His throne or far below Him in gloomy dungeons. When Jesus died, I believe this is the time Peter meant when he wrote that Jesus went to the spirits in prison and proclaimed. I am of the opinion that it was His victory He was heralding. Praise HIM!!

Jesus died, went to Paradise to give comfort to the patiently waiting redeemed, and to preach to the angels in the lowest dungeon. It’s thought that when Jesus ascended to heaven, He gathered the waiting redeemed from Paradise, emptying it, and brought them to to heaven, where saved people who die now enter directly. Hell is still full of the unsaved dead, awaiting judgment, as well as Tartarus below that, with the sinning angels still waiting their day of judgment as well. But at least now they all know, they LOST. Jesus saves. He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords and His victory is complete. Because of this, ours is complete as well, if we believe.

Sinning Demon, YOU LOSE!

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Posted in end of days. prophecy, end time, middle east peace

Palestinian State push is a snowball turning into avalanche

Posted on by elizabethprata

I mentioned a week or so ago that Obama has been working on a new peace plan for resolution to the Middle East conflict between Everyone Else and Israel. I also mentioned that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is coming to the US to speak to a joint session of Congress in the first week of May, something that hasn’t happened since the early 1990s when Clinton was President and Netanyahu was in his first term.

I noted that both men, Obama and Netanyahu, were separately working on a framework to a revived peace plan, and conditions were unclear at that time on who would unveil whose first. Well, it’s Obama. Preempting the Israeli Prime Minister, Obama shared the framework of his new plan yesterday:

Obama’s plan
“The White House has been working on a new peace initiative for the past three months, one that revolves around a few key principles. According to the article, if Obama does, in fact, present a peace initiative, it will discuss four terms of reference: Israel’s acceptance of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders; Palestinian acceptance that there would be no right to return to Israeli land; Jerusalem as the capital of both states; and the protection of Israel’s security needs.”

Obama said three years ago that he would like to split Jerusalem. That the notion resurfaces now should not surprise us. Really, messing with Israel and splitting Jerusalem have been the ONLY concepts Obama has stuck to unswervingly since taking office. Here are the 2008 links to Gateway Pundit and Times of London and the quote:

“Barack Obama is to pursue an ambitious peace plan in the Middle East involving the recognition of Israel by the Arab world in exchange for its withdrawal to pre-1967 borders, according to sources close to America’s president-elect.”

Pre-1967 borders means that Israel gives up the land that they won in the Six-Day war, Sinai Peninsula (which they already returned to Egypt), Gaza Strip (which they already handed to Egypt for Egypt to administer), the West Bank which is also known as Judea and Samaria and includes East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights bordering Syria.

Even some Israelis are calling for a Palestinian State with pre-1967 borders…
“Dozens of prominent Israeli artists and intellectuals declared their support for a Palestinian state on the streets of Tel Aviv on Thursday and quickly found themselves confronted by rightist opponents calling them “traitors” and, according to one report, “Jewish Nazis.” While angry confrontations between protesters on opposite sides of Israel’s gaping ideological divide are not unknown here, this one came at a delicate time, with international pressure growing on Israel to find a way back to peace talks with the Palestinians.”

Clinton. Who will save peace process? (Photo: AFP)

Christians know the answer to that question. The antichrist will APPEAR to save the peace process by flatteries and deceit. (Daniel 7:20; Daniel 8:12; Daniel 8:23-25)… It will be a time when truth will be thrown to the ground, but he will fail, and it will not be human power that defeats him! (Daniel 8:25)

“And finally Jesus who is peace will institute His kingdom. Jesus will save the peace process! “The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together…” (Isaiah 11:6)

“For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given: And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, ever forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this…” (Isaiah 9:6-7)

Hallelujah!
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Posted in end of days. prophecy, end time, mark of the beast

The digital agenda for Europe includes a single European payment area. Mark of the beast infrastructure formed now

Posted on by elizabethprata

Let’s start from the end and work backward. The near future: “He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.” (Rev 13:16-17) This is the famous Mark of the Beast verse. Many people refer to it as the “one world currency” or the “New World Order.”

Though the verse does not explicitly say, the concept of a global economy is inherent in the verse. If the Beast has been granted power over all the people, tribes, tongues and nations (Rev 13:7b) and causes all to engage in a certain action, i.e. to worship him, (Rev 13:8) then it stands to reason that he has power over the global economy, also. If you have the Mark, you can participate in the economy. If you don’t have the mark, you can’t participate in the economy – in any way.

Let’s skip back now to the past generation. Prior to the microchip’s invention in 1960 it seemed impossible that these verses could come about. People in prior generations could not conceive of how one man could have economic power over all the people in the world. Remember, these were the days before computers, satellite television, the internet, global positioning systems, and cell phones. The world was still a big place then, and many of the globe’s nations were little known to a non-traveling public.

In 1950 Europe had just finished a devastating world war and sovereignty was rampant. People loved their countries, having come so close to losing them, thanks to Hitler. And they wanted it to stay that way. But they also wanted economic prosperity. WWII had wiped them out.

The European Union was born in 1950 when an economic partnership between 6 nations over coal and steel was formed. Coal and steel were necessary components of the continent’s re-build of the continent’s WWII bombed-out infrastructure. Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands were those partners, and it went so well that  by 1957 the European Economic Community, or “Common Market” was born.

Between the birth of the microchip born 1960 and the solidification of the Common Market in the same decade, the groundwork for Revelation 13’s oppression through economic means was laid. In the 1970’s the Common Market was expanded to nine with the inclusion of Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom. By the end of the 1970s the European Parliament was created and member states could directly elect their representative.

In 1989 the Berlin Wall came down and the European Union bloomed as East and West Germany were unified. No more Iron Curtain separated vibrant economies of the same continent, and the EU grew in stature and membership. 1993 was the seminal year, when the Single Market was completed with the ‘four freedoms’ of: movement of goods, services, people and money.

In the millennium 2000 decade, the euro was introduced, and the EU membership swelled to 27 nations. They adopted a constitution. With the collapse of communism and its doctrine of suppression of information, the internet became widely available to the lay-person.

But wait, there’s more. Here’s where it gets closer to the end point that we saw in Revelation 13. The EU has a plan, and it has been lately debated and this week it was legislated and accepted. The next plan includes ‘pillars’ named “Single Market Act,” “Digital Single Market” and “European Stability Mechanism” – with implementation by 2012.

Thanks to some of the European nations that are not as deeply in debt as others, the EU is surviving the current fiscal crisis. However, they note that they were still impacted, notably by a large unemployed segment of the population – almost 10%. The Single Market Act was proposed and adopted by the European Commission this week. The Single Market Act proposes 12 key actions to boost European competitiveness and to unlock economic growth and jobs which, considering the crisis, we want to see adopted by the end of 2012. The 12 action items all of relate in some way to the free-flow of money, venture capital, and employees with payroll in and among member nations.

But HOW is the money, capital, and payroll to flow freely, you might wonder? The Digital Single Market, one of the founding pillars of the Digital Agenda for Europe.

“Transport, energy and electronic-communications networks are the backbone of the single market. Indeed, efficient infrastructures foster rapid free movement of people, goods and various types of energy and data (with the allocation of a sufficient radio spectrum) at a reasonable cost. Efficient economic integration relies on the integration of efficient infrastructure networks … networks need to become smarter in order to improve energy transmission. New legislation must facilitate the establishment of a unified smart network…”

The infrastructure mentioned is no longer the coal and steel, quaint commodities of the old days of the burgeoning EU in 1950, but data networks, fast internet, and single European payment area.

The problem is that a French guy’s credit card may not work in Bulgaria. A venture capitalist from Finland might want to start an annex to his business in the Czech Republic, and the data-transfer infrastructure as it stands now is too cumbersome. Hence, the ‘Digital Agenda for Europe’: in a nutshell, streamline the whole thing, NOW.

Single European Payment Area (SEPA) “will improve the efficiency of cross border payments and turn the fragmented national markets for euro payments into a single domestic one: SEPA will enable customers to make cashless euro payments to anyone located anywhere in the area using only a single bank account and a single set of payment instruments.” Wikipedia, map at link. Timetable is completion by end of 2011. 1st meeting is in June 2011.

I gave you the short history so you could see how far and how fast the economic unification has come in one generation. Fifty years ago, a Christian reading the Revelation 13 verse could not conceive, nor comprehend how it would all work. This week, the European Single Market Act was passed. The Single European Payment Area is on the horizon, and once the ‘infrastructure’ is created, it would not take much for a smooth talker who was killed and resurrected to wow the world and slyly take over the whole shebang. Which, since we know the end from the beginning, he will do. And it looks like it won’t be long.

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