Category: end time

Posted in end time, prophecy

God is lifting His hand of protection

Posted on by elizabethprata

You may have heard the phrase, “God’s hand of protection” or “He is lifting His hand of protection.” It seems that is something God would do, keep a person or nation in the shelter of His hand. It seems logical to think that in His fierce wrath and anger that He would lift His hand. But is it biblical? Yes, it is.

In Lamentations 2, a chapter titled, God’s anger at sin, we read in verse 3: “In fierce anger He has cut off All the strength of Israel; He has drawn back His right hand From before the enemy. (Lam 2:3a). In Psalm 74:11 we read, “Why do You withdraw Your hand, even Your right hand? From within Your bosom, destroy them!”

In the news these days we read about and see devastating events, each more ‘unusual’, or ‘destructive’ or ‘unprecedented’ than the last. They are happening more frequently too, a major earthquake or flood or eruption each month, and each week. Pakistan is inundated. The flooding disaster has killed an estimated 1,600 people and affected up to 20 million. Disease is rearing its head and famine is on the horizon, all things Jesus said would occur in the last days as signs of His soon coming. (Luke 21:11).

When a devastating event occurs that affects such a large population, a nation, really, one has to wonder, “Is God lifting His hand from Pakistan? From China? From America?” As far as Pakistan goes, it does seem as though God is lifting His hand from them. It’s the home of the Taliban, which Pakistan’s President says the “world is losing the war against.” Pakistan is epicenter to birthing ground if Islamic militant violence, violence that does not even take a respite when floods come. “Taliban guerrillas are taking advantage of the large-scale misery caused by the devastating floods in Pakistan by attempting to enlist 50,000 new fighters — in return for food and medicine.” Violent, Godless, duplicitous, insurgent, Pakistan may indeed be enduring the withdrawn hand of LORD GOD at this moment.

God promises to destroy nations in which the Jews had fled during the Diaspora (Jer. 30:11), He also described the six things He must accomplish as stated in Daniel’s decree (Dan 9:24): “Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy.”

One of the purposes of the tribulation is “to put an end to sin”, and though we are not in the Tribulation yet, God is withdrawing His hand, because who among us as individuals or as nations have not sinned? Who among us deserves to have God’s hand of protection still sheltering them from their own consequences? None. That He has not taken it away from all nations yet is the miracle. These devastating events are not “accidents” nor are they merely or the ‘natural cycle of things.’ Pakistan is, and soon other countries will be enduring events that are designed to focus our eyes on sin, and cause us to repent.

He is lifting His hand of protection from the nations of the world. No, things will never “get back to normal.” They will only get worse. As the birth pangs inexorably contract, who will be the next nation to endure the consequences of sin, absent His hand of protection? America? “Alas for the day! For the day of the Lord is near, and as destruction from the Almighty it comes.” (Joel 1:14-15).

Posted in end time, prophecy

I’m looking at the numbers, and they don’t look good

Posted on by elizabethprata

In the bible, there’s a pattern to the proportions of people saved versus people lost. I just want you to think about the numbers, their proportions, even if I can’t make a doctrine out of it. The pattern is still troubling enough.

In the days prior to the flood, the earth had become populated. With average life-spans regularly in the 900-year range, the population could easily have reached several hundred million. Only Noah and his family – eight people- out of millions were found to be righteous, and saved. (Gen 6:9-11)

Sodom and Gomorrah (and Admah and Zeboim) were cities filled with a populace engaging in perversion, corruption, and wickedness. God decided to condemn the entire population of these four cities because of their wickedness. They cared not at all for God nor His ways. (Genesis 19:24-25, Deuteronomy 29:23). Only Lot, his wife, and their two daughters were spared, and even at that, Mrs. Lot looked back, disobeying God and thus was condemned also. Out of the population of four entire cities, four people were spared. (And one of those turned out to be a false convert…)

In Matt 13:3-23; Mk 4:2-20; Lk 8:4-15, Jesus tells the Parable of the Sower. A farmer sows seeds, and the seeds fall on different kinds of ground. The seed is explained to be the Word of God, received in varying degrees of success by the hearers. Some seed fell on the path and it was either trampled or birds ate it. Other seeds fell on rocky ground and withered. Still other seed fell on ground where thorns grew and was choked. The last example was seed that fell on good ground, took root, and grew fruit for the Kingdom of God. These last seeds are Believers. Four kinds of ground, and only one grew into believers destined for the kingdom. One in four.

In Revelation, John is told to write seven letters to seven churches: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea. The purpose of the letters was first, literal, each church of that day had a special message they needed to hear. But in a double fulfillment, Jesus also wanted us to know that each church is a type and an age of church-going attitudes that also needed to hear the message through the ages. Of the seven churches/ages, only two were not rebuked: Smyrna and Philadelphia. Five churches were found to have been displeasing to the Lord. Five vs. two

In Matthew 7:13 Jesus warned, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.” In verse 14 Jesus says, “But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Many vs. few.

In Revelation 20:12, John wrote that “I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.”

There are so many unsaved that their names take books to list them, but there are so few saved their names are contained in one book. Books vs. book.

What does this tell you? You can interpret it it however you feel the Spirit is telling you to interpret it, but I see that the pattern from Genesis to Revelation is many lost and few saved.

Therefore am going to take Paul’s warning in 2 Corinthians 13:5 to heart and I urge you to do the same:
“Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?”

If you are standing before God and He tells you that you failed the test, it is TOO LATE. Check yourselves now. If you have not accepted Jesus as Savior yet, do not wait any longer. Time is growing short. You can almost hear the trumpet call.

Posted in end time, prophecy

Volcano quiet for 400 years suddenly erupts

Posted on by elizabethprata

More later…

Long-dormant Indonesian volcano suddenly erupts

A volcano in western Indonesia spewed hot lava and sand high into the sky early Sunday in its first eruption in 400 years. Government volcanologist Surono, who uses only one name, said Mount Sinabung in North Sumatra province started rumbling a few days ago and the minor morning eruption has mostly stopped. It sent sand and ash up to a mile (1.5 kilometers) high but lava only moved near the crater. It caused no major damage “but only dust covered plants and trees,” he said. He said Mount Sinabung last erupted in 1600, so observers don’t know the volcano’s eruption pattern and are monitoring it closely for more activity.

Posted in damascus, end time, prophecy

Behold, Damascus will be destroyed, it will be a heap of ruins!

Posted on by elizabethprata

In one sense, I hesitate to repeat what is clearly speculation. Israel has not, in fact, attacked anyone, and Israel is often accused of being about to attack someone. On the other hand, Jesus said the end time birth-pang signs would be characterized by “Wars and rumors of wars.” (Matthew 24:6)

Report: Israel planning to attack Hezbollah arms depots in Syria
“Israel is planning to attack Hezbollah arms depots and weapons manufacturing plants in Syria, the Kuwaiti newspaper Al Rai reported on Saturday. The report is based on Western sources who asserted that Israel has increased its military force level along the northern border in the Golan Heights and Mount Dov areas. The report cited European sources who claimed that recent Israeli unmanned aerial drone flights over Lebanon and Syria signal Israel’s intentions to carry out operations in the area. According to the report, Israel plans to attack Hezbollah weapons depots, including ones deep inside Syria that store long-range rockets. The Al Rai report said that the situation on the Israel-Syria border is tense and that Syria could respond immediately to any Israeli attack and not demonstrate the restraint that it did after the Israeli Air Force bombed a suspected nuclear reactor in Syria in the fall of 2007. According to the report, Syria’s military is on high alert and is strengthening its anti-aircraft defenses along the border with Israel and at strategic sites within Syria.”

I take indicators of any attack against Syria, whether in Damascus, Golan Heights, or any other place, very seriously. In my opinion, one of the most clear and definitive last days sign before the rapture would be the prophesied destruction of Damascus. (two others being the Psalm 83 battle and the beginning of the Gog-Magog Ezekiel 38-39 battle). You can see that either an attack on Damascus would spin the Middle East out of control, or that a strike on any Syrian territory would spin things out of control and Damascus could wind up in a heap of ruins. Either way, heightened alerts are not good at this stage of the last days.

Damascus is the capital of Syria, Israel’s neighbor to the north. Damascus is the world’s oldest continuously inhabited city, it has never been destroyed or abandoned. Isaiah’s prophecy in 17:1 states “The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.” The prophecy does not specifically say that Israel will raze the city, but it will be ruined. It is a likely thought that Israel will be behind this action. That the end result will occur is not in question.

Why Damascus?

Damascus is strategically aligned with Iran, who funds the terrorist group Hezbollah. In addition, Damascus’s interest in both biological and chemical weapons is long-standing. They are building weapons of mass destruction in the biological weapons facility they have constructed. Consultant to the NATO Defense Establishment in bio-warfare and counter terrorism expert Dr. Jill Dekker said that “Contrary to how the US State Department and other agencies tend to downplay the sophistication of the Syrian biological and nuclear programs, they are very advanced. Syria has always had the most advanced chemical weapons program in the Middle East.” So Damascus is a mere 150 miles from Jerusalem, is well-funded by Iran, has a nest of Israeli-hating terrorists waiting to obliterate the nation, and is home to the most advanced bio-and chemical weapons facility in the Middle East. What’s not to love?

“Operation Orchard” was an Israeli airstrike on a target in the Deir ez-Zor region of Syria carried out just after midnight (local time) on September 6, 2007. American intelligence indicated the site was a nuclear facility with a military purpose, though Syria denies this. In any case, Israel decided not to stand for it and with precision, struck.

Now, that was one facility, Damascus is an entire city, admittedly harder to strike with completeness and precision (unless it is nuclear). Indeed, Damascus may not be destroyed in a military strike, it may be destroyed by an earthquake, or another unknown and unanticipated disaster. But when I hear credible reports of an impending strike, and see that Syria is on heightened watch, I watch too. And pray!

Posted in atheism, end time, end time. prophecy, mockers and scoffers

The Tragedy of Atheism

Posted on by elizabethprata

“Beulah! Peel me a grape!” Who could forget Mae West’s famous quip in her second film, “I’m No Angel”? Her ribald lines, superficially innocuous, were delivered in a lazy, mocking elocution that had audiences either loving her bawdiness or up in arms over propriety. The line itself was hilarious because of the visual of Mae telling her black maid to peel the tiny fruit, an effort that was ridiculous but perfect in highlighting her character’s gross self-centeredness.

“Bring me evidence, Beulah! And while you’re at it, peel me a grape!”

‘God! Peel me a grape!’ Is the same attitude atheists exhibit today. Their mental laziness, mocking tone, and orders to bring them some evidence of God and then they’ll think about it, only serve to highlight their gross self-centeredness in which they proudly luxuriate.

Imagine if you had a loving husband, your groom, who daily gave you beautiful gifts. Who served you, ministered to you when you were sick. Who told you that could trust completely and said he never would leave you. Where his loving effects on others around him were obvious. And one day, He came up to you and said, “I love you!” and you answered, “PROVE IT! BRING ME EVIDENCE!”

First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. (2 Peter 3:3)

Worse, what if your 14-year-old son responded that way? If, there he was, in his well-appointed American bedroom, stuffed with laptop, digital camera, games, comfy bed, with his bank account passbook noting his growing college fund, and the key to the deposit box containing his inheritance. And you walked in one day, bringing him his supper that he wanted to eat in his room, and you lay it down and said, “Honey, I love you!” What if he answered, “PROVE IT! BRING ME EVIDENCE!”

I would think there would be punishments all around. I’d think he would receive a stern talking-to, and a grounding from his fun activities. And yet, our Lord, who has all power, does not respond this way. He patiently accepts mocking, self-centeredness, and constant demands for evidence that He has already provided (in His love and mercy). He has given us the world and we demand more.

Jesus, Lord of the Universe, Who has the worlds as a footstool for His feet, as your loving groom served us. He healed, ministered, told us in a thousand ways that He loves us and wants to be with us forever. He even dispensed with His own glory, and poured Himself into the form of a man, and washed feet, served food, and died for us whom He loves. Jesus still loves His children, all of them. And when you relate this eternal fact to unbelievers, they scream, “PROVE IT! PRODUCE SOME EVIDENCE!”

This selfish attitude should not surprise us. We are told by Paul in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 that “People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.” This is an age of unrestrained revelry and self-indulgence. Humility, diligent searching, and submission are anathema to culture today. 

The tragedy of atheism is the hopelessness of the self. People who refuse to believe put their entire stock into their own strength, brain, abilities, and they say that any day now, the world will be better because of their own strength, brain, and abilities. It never will be, because we are sinners. But the proud refuse to accept their own sin as the stain that it is and humble themselves to Him who heals, loves, and saves.

The tragedy is that a whole class of people deliberately shrink their world to the provable and seen. Their world is of the brain, but not the mind. It is of the natural and not the supernatural, of the drearily provable and not the awe-inspiring mysterious. Their world is littered with decaying peeled grapes, while the believer’s world is endless, eternal, and perfect. The tragedy is in thinking that peeled grapeskins is all there is to life, when they could have so much more. Even in Apostle Paul’s day this attitude of ‘serve me’ was prevalent: “Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles.” (1 Corinthians 22-23)

Is this you? “Bring me evidence! But let me finish indulging in my debaucheries first…”

The tragedy is in the non-believer passively lying on a reclining Roman couch, demanding evidence when the bible says “Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always. (Psalm 105:4). This is an active command, not a passively receptive one. He even told us how to do it:

“My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.” (Proverbs 2:1-5). Again, this verse is full of active verbs, not passive tenses indicating a lolling receptivity.

Atheist, get off your lazy duff and seek His face! He is right in front of you!

How do we accept Jesus? Admit your sin. Yes, we all do wrong things, and we should be sorry for those. Apologize to Jesus and ask Him to be your Savior (saving you from eternal separation from Him) and also your Lord, (humbling yourself and admitting you need Him to lead you in life). Immediately you begin to understand how low you really are in your sin, and how permanently you deserve to be low forever compared to His holiness and glory. However, immediately begins His gifts. Far from your worst fears realized, that this is a permanent abasement, (as it should be) instead in His mercy He will lift you up! He will give you good work! A plan for your life that spiritually you intuit as better than the one you created for yourself! Talents and abilities to accomplish this work! A guarantee of your place in heaven and an inheritance of eternal life! It is within your reach, non-believer. But first, you have to get off the couch.

Posted in creation, end time, genesis, keep n the sunny side, prophecy

Consider the sun

Posted on by elizabethprata
Wow! God’s creation is so pretty! This is a sunspot, seen through a new, atmospherically corrective lens.

“This is a first light adaptive optics image from the New Solar Telescope (NST) at the Big Bear Solar Observatory in California. “With a 1.6-meter primary mirror, the NST is the largest solar telescope in the world,” says Nicolas Gorceix of the observatory staff. “It has realtime correction for atmospheric distortion (adaptive optics), so we can see things in very high resolution–as small as 65 km wide on the sun. For perspective,” he adds, “Earth is slightly smaller than the whole sunspot including the dark umbra and the daisy petal-like penumbra. The spot is surrounded by the sun’s ubiquitous granular field [which shows the boiling motions of the sun’s surface].”

“Researchers believe that high-resolution studies of sunspots can help them understand how sunspots evolve and anticipate when they’re about to erupt. “Next year, we plan to upgrade the telescope with a much higher-order adaptive optics system to get even better images,” says Gorceix. Stay tuned to the BBSO home page for updates.”

source, spaceweather.com

I know you know the verses to Genesis 1:1-8, but just think of the beauty and complexity of the sunspot, ONE item in the entire universe, and think of all the people who insist that it all happened by accident and explosion, and pray for them. They are missing out on so much! Just seeing the stupendous planetary objects rotating gracefully in their habitations and understanding they were placed there by the Hand of God, they are missing a moment of fellowship with God. It is the same hand of God who made us, His children, His delight. Also, glory in the LORD GOD who made this expansive universe for us, yet who cares for us daily. We become so involved in our lives we forget to consider the sun, to consider the range of objects above out heads and under our feet that reveal His mind, whimsy, power, impressive creativity. And His understated, “And it was good.” Yes, our universe, our planet, our lives, are indeed good.

The History of Creation
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day. Then God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.”  Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day.”

 source, Astronomy Picture of the Day Aug 2006, NASA
Posted in charles darwin, end time, mockers and scoffers, prophecy

Was Darwin wrong? a new study asks

Posted on by elizabethprata

Now here’s a headline that ought to brighten the day of any Christian:

Darwin May Have Been WRONG, New Study Argues
“A new study published in Biology Letters argues that Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution may have been wrong. While Darwin argued that competition was the key force driving evolution, a research team from the University of Bristol argues that “living space” is in fact the primary driver. Michael Benton, a co-author of the study, said his team concluded that “competition did not play a big role in the overall pattern of evolution. “Throughout geological time, patterns of global diversity of tetrapod families show 97 per cent correlation with ecological modes,” Sahney writes in the Biology Letters article co-authored by Michael Benton and Paul Ferry.

That Darwin’s theory, and remember it is only a theory, is being challenged at its most basic precept, is not cause for concern. Science almost always goes through iterations. Remember alchemy? Trying for almost a thousand years to turn lead into gold? For a long time scientists used to think the earth was the center of the universe. It was only 150 years ago we began to understand about germs. Even though DNA was discovered in 1859, it wasn’t until the middle of the twentieth century that scientists accepted that DNA was the main part of heredity, not proteins. And every week it seems like, there is a new “missing link” that will solve the issues in evolution. Now there is a new key theory of evolution itself.

Science is not bad. It is good. But science should not be a religion. The failures and problems with the theory of evolution should cause any person, Christian or not, to realize that such a notion could never answer the fundamental question of the universe: where did we come from? We came from God, who formed us with His hands. It is laughable to think that we came from monkeys, or further, that one animal changes into another, as the theory of evolution proposes.

Publicly disbelieving in evolution these days provokes a more severe reaction than ever. People are not holding back their contempt for the notion of a God-formed world, their derision for people who accept it, and their mocking of our submission to His order of things. But we should not be surprised, we were told that in the last days, there would be mockers and scoffers.

2 Peter 3:3-4 states “knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” Jude 18-19 states “how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts. These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit…”

Along those lines,  in defending a young earth, faith in Jesus, and creationism, people have said the following to me lately:

“not just you – all believers in any supernatural systems have very simple processes at work.”
“Wow, you are so blissfully ignorant. Have fun with that.”
“I have a big problem when people get hope, meaning etc from a supernatural beings. I would rather they got those things from self-belief, their education and an understanding of the collective power of people.”
“of course you think that. Your brain has engineered itself that way”
“please consider that thinking for yourself and looking around are unsettling but rewarding experiences”

Those are the mild ones. The ones that use profanity or hurl threats or insults, I blocked and/or deleted. Christian, things are going to get worse before they get better. The world will increasingly hate us and love satan. Please pray for your teenagers and young adults who are in college or living away from home and will undoubtedly be enduring such mocking at an overt and a covert level. They are most as risk. Pray for each other to be strong and willing to stand up for bible truths, no matter how unpopular they are in this fallen world. After all, God’s Word is forever, and the fads and mistakes in different theories come and go, sometimes monthly. God’s truth will never pass away, and neither will the Christian who believes!  

Posted in end time, prophecy

Hanging on a tree, Jesus became curse for us

Posted on by elizabethprata

In Deuteronomy 21:23a it is written: “His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;)”

Jesus was hanged up on a tree.

In Acts 5:30: “The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree,” Peter reminded the Jews of the curse. The weight of this knowledge would have been very heavy upon them.

Jesus became curse FOR us so that we would not have to endure the curse.

Repeated again in Acts 10:39- “And we are witnesses of all things which He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they killed by hanging on a tree.”

The Jewish leaders likely thought that Jesus’ disciples would give up after their leader was killed in such a cursed and embarrassing manner. And it was so. The crucifixion shattered the disciples’ hopes. They were dejected and said, “But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel.” (Luke 24:21a). Can you imagine their confusion? Jesus never had lived like they thought Messiah would live: He ate with sinners, He did not perform ritual washing prior to eating, He spent time with lepers, He rebuked the religious leaders. He was not a conquering King they had surmised, but a quiet shepherd. They had gotten used to all that, His not living the way they had thought, but then Jesus didn’t even die like they thought.

Philippians 2:6-11: “who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

HOW Jesus died is almost as important as the reason He died. He became curse for us, and sin is curse. The apostles preached the crucifixion constantly. One example is in 1 Corinthians 1:23- “but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness…” Sin is something God hates because “the sting of death is sin.” (1 Cor 15:56). He does not want any to perish!

Posted in column of fire, end time, prophecy

Brazil’s rare column of fire

Posted on by elizabethprata

An extremely rare “fire tornado” raged across part of Brazil yesterday. In Aracatuba, in southern Sao Paulo state, a tornado of fire was seen during a brush fire. This is a rare event that occurs when a fire is whipped up by strong, dry air currents to form a vertical whirl. They can consist of a whirlwind of hot air around or within the flames or a vortex of fire itself, as the UK Telegraph explains.  Also known as “fire devils” or “fire whirls”, they can uproot trees up to 49 ft. Fire tornadoes are usually 30-200ft and a few meters wide, and last only a few minutes. But some of the largest can be more than a half a mile tall, contain winds over 100mph, and persist for more than 20 minutes.

There are two things here to consider. First, it is an example of yet another “extremely rare” phenomenon occurring in conjunction with a natural event. Increasingly these days we see headlines that say “unprecedented” or “rare” such as the numerous impact collisions on Jupiter, or floods in a place that gets less than two inches of rain in a year. In Ladakh, Himalayas, “a place where even a few raindrops are extremely rare and houses are flat-roofed and built with clay, the storms has caused the worst natural disaster in the region’s history.” Keep your eyes open for headlines that contain those phrases, or even contain the words “perplexed,” or “stumped.” Jesus said the signs on His return would include increasingly devastating natural events (Mt 24:7-8) and would gain momentum in frequency and intensity. The fire tornado is just such an example of a birth pang sign.

Second, I’d recommend watching the video a second time, while thinking about the LORD’S presence on earth as a column of fire. (Exodus 13:21) Imagine how it as for the Israelites to follow such a wonderful, fearful, and awesome phenomenon! What did they think about as they followed Him, and the fire burned but did not consume the ground beneath it? Were they in continual awe? Or did they become jaded and accepting of this miracle? How wonderful that our God cares about us so much He would lead them into a place of safety and a land perfectly suited for them. Jesus will do it again, He will manifest Himself on earth, smite the rebels, and lead us into a place of safety and love that He, Himself, prepared for us.

As for the news these days, we do not need to be perplexed nor stumped. Paul assured us that if we are walking closely with the Lord, and watching for the signs, “But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief.” (1 Thess 5:4)

Maranatha!

Posted in end time, moon, prophecy, signs in the sun

Signs in the sun, moon, stars: Jupiter impact

Posted on by elizabethprata

“There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea.” (Luke 21:25)

The planet Jupiter has been enduring some spectacular collisions lately. Another one occurred last night. According to spaceweather.com,

“FIREBALL ON JUPITER: On August 20th at 18:22 UT, two amateur astronomers in Japan independently recorded an apparent impact on Jupiter. Masayuki Tachikawa of Kumamoto city was first to report the event. His movie of the fireball shows the fireball scintillating (twinkling) along with other features on the planet — persuasive evidence that this is a genuine event on Jupiter. Soon after Tachikawa made his report, Tokyo amateur astronomer Kazuo Aoki realized that he had recorded the fireball, too:

“The ~800 km separation of the two observers rules out an event near Earth and reinforces the association of the fireball with Jupiter. The most likely explanation: A small comet or asteroid hit the giant planet. This is the third time in only 13 months that amateur astronomers have detected signs of impact on Jupiter. The earlier events occurred on July 19, 2009, and June 3, 2010. Jupiter is getting hit more often than conventional wisdom would suggest, leading many researchers to call for a global network of telescopes to monitor Jupiter 24/7 and measure the impact rate.”

Did you notice that line in there, “hit more often than conventional wisdom would suggest…” That is what birth pangs are all about, God’s increasingly direct intervention into the world until finally at each increase more and more people realize that it is God doing these things. Until the end, when He has done all He will do and there are still some who refuse Him. Then He stops.

Keep looking at the signs! “He answered and said to them, “When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red’; and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times.” (Matthew 16:2-3)

“Conventional wisdom” is man’s wisdom, which we know is not worth anything compared to God. “For we were born yesterday, and know nothing, Because our days on earth are a shadow.” (Job 8:9)

Our days may be a shadow but He is the Light! And He is shining it increasingly brightly on earth. Are you ready for it to get brighter? The future’s so bright we gotta wear shades!