Category: end time

Posted in bp, end time, end time. prophecy, oil, paul noel

Watching our own demise, live on the internet

Posted on by elizabethprata

By now everyone knows the oil rig explosion on April 22, 2010 off Louisiana was a horrendous event. Lives were lost, and oil immediately started spilling into the Gulf of Mexico. Initially the Powers That Be (heretofore known as TPTB) told us at first, here and here, no oil was leaking at all. Then they said that the oil leak was stopped, then, the magnitude of the spill was downplayed. However, thanks to the internet, by April 30th the leaking oil quantities first put forth were quickly debunked as headlines like this one were published: Gulf oil leak reaches crisis proportions and lead sentences blared, “The massive oil well leak in the Gulf of Mexico abruptly turned into a national crisis yesterday, when scientists realized oil is probably gushing from the seafloor at five times the rate they first thought.” Or this one, which said flatly “Size of Oil Spill Underestimated, Scientists Say“

Anyone with eyes could see that more oil than TPTB said was leaking into the Gulf. Photographs showing the animals struggling in their dirtied environment soon made the rounds, and after that, hundreds of dead and dying animals soon washed ashore.

A pod of Bottlenose dolphins swim under the oily water Chandeleur Sound, Louisiana, Thursday, May 6, 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

An oil soaked bird struggles against the oil slicked side of the HOS Iron Horse supply vessel at the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana Sunday, May 9, 2010. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Current estimates of the leak are 200,000 barrels per day. Yes, that’s barrels, not gallons. There are 42 gallons per barrel. 8,400,000 gallons a day.

Paul Noel, works as Software Engineer (as Contractor) for the US Army at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama. He has a vast experience base including education across a wide area of technical skills and sciences. He supplies technical expertise in all areas required for new products development associated with the US Army office he works in. He supplies extensive expertise in understanding the Oil and Gas industry as well. He writes for Pure Energy Systems today:

I…think that the situation is getting further and further out of hand. The nature of the crude had changed, indicating that the spill was collapsing the rock structures. If it is collapsing the rock structures, the least that can be said is that the rock is fragmenting and blowing up the tube with the oil. With that going on you have a high pressure abrasive sand blaster working on the kinks in the pipe eroding it causing the very real risk of increasing the leaks.

More than that is the very real risk of causing the casing to become unstable and literally blowing it up the well bringing the hole to totally open condition. Another risk arises because according to reports the crew was cementing the exterior of the casing when this happens. As a result, the well, if this was not properly completed, could begin to blow outside the casing. Another possible scenario is a sea floor collapse. If that happens Katie bar the door.

The deposit is one I have known about since 1988. The deposit is very big. The central pressure in the deposit is 165 to 170 thousand PSI [pounds per square inch]. It contains so much hydrocarbon that you simply cannot imagine it.

The oil industry has knowledge of the deposit more than they admit. The deposit is 100 miles off shore. They are drilling into the edge of the deposit to leak it down gently to be able to produce from the deposit. The deposit is so large that while I have never heard exact numbers it was described to me to be either the largest or the second largest oil deposit ever found. It is mostly a natural gas deposit. The natural gas that could be released is really way beyond the oil in quantity. It is like 10,000 times the oil in the deposit.

It is this deposit that has me reminding people of what the Shell geologist told me about the deposit. This was the quote, “Energy shortage…, Hell! We are afraid of running out of air to burn.” The deposit is very large. It covers an area off shore something like 25,000 square miles. Natural Gas and Oil is leaking out of the deposit as far inland as Central Alabama and way over into Florida and even over to Louisiana almost as far as Texas. This is a really massive deposit. Punching holes in the deposit is a really scary event as we are now seeing.

If there are two things to remember from Noel’s comments they are: that the rock wall surrounding the deposit may be crumbling, and that the size of the original deposit covers 25,000 square miles. Think on this! The finances of a multi-million dollar company that brings us oil (which is in most products we use today), the economy of an entire region of the US, and the environment of millions of innocent sea animals are devastated. They may be devastated forever. This certainly isn’t something from which a nation recovers from quickly. It’s death and destruction and devastation on an enormous scale. Personally I believe that the impacts have not yet even begun to be felt and that it will be a lot worse than most realize.

One of the judgments is when “The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood,” (Rev 8:8; 2nd Trumpet judgment which occur after the 7 Seal judgments). By the time Rev. 16 bowl judgments roll around, all the seas will be as blood and all the creatures will die. Now, think on this for a moment: the Revelation judgments haven’t even BEGUN. The above photos are of the end time warnings, they are not judgments (because we are not appointed to wrath), and it’s still pretty awful to bear!

If you think the above looks bad now, later during the Tribulation you know how much worse it will get. I encourage all non-believers to ponder the gravity of the present situation, and decide if you really want to stick around or not. Because you do not have to be here to watch the planet’s demise, live and unfolding on the internet.

You can choose to repent of your sins, which means that you are really sorry for the bad things you have thought, said, and done. Badness is rebellion against God, and He hates it. But He loves you and He made a way for you to be reconciled to Him. You ask, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” and all you need do is “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” (Acts 16:31). Believe that He died for your sins, believe that He has the power and ability to forgive them, believe that He lives now after being resurrected on the third day. Believe. And be saved. Or stick around and watch the planet’s death throes. God leaves it up to every individual to make that decision. And know this: not deciding is deciding.

Posted in bp, end time, oil slick, oil volcano, prophecy

"The sea is bleeding" (UPDATED)

Posted on by elizabethprata

The video below is from Alabama resident John Wathen, a long-time Hurricane Creekkeeper knowledgeable with the local waters, as a volunteer pilot flew him over the area where the BP Deepwater Horizon oil rig sank. Officials have stopped guessing at the amount of oil leaking although some speculate it may be closer to 1 million gallons per day.”It’s not a leak, it’s a volcano spewing oil”. The photo below is one still from the video’s heartbreaking truth.

I’ll be back later today to edit the post to offer some scriptural ties and prophetic truths to this scene. For now, watch, ponder, and pray … please …

Later…
New scale of disaster looms in the Gulf
“Concern grew Sunday that the US Gulf coast is facing a whole new level of environmental disaster after the best short-term fix for a massive oil spill ran into serious trouble. BP’s giant containment box lay idle on the seabed as engineers furiously tried to figure out how to stop it clogging with ice crystals. The British energy giant, which owns the lion’s share of the leaking oil and has accepted responsibility for the clean-up, has tried to banish the notion that the dome is a “silver bullet” to end the crisis. But should efforts fail to make the giant funnel system effective, there is no solid plan B to prevent potentially tens of millions of gallons of crude from causing one of the worst ever environmental catastrophes. Untold damage is already being done by the 3.5 million gallons estimated to be in the sea so far, but the extent of that harm will rise exponentially if the only solution is a relief well that takes months to drill.”

We discover, as there always is with Big Money, that there is more to the story, and more even beyond this that we will likely never learn. U.S. exempted BP’s Gulf of Mexico drilling from environmental impact study ;  Since spill, feds have given 27 waivers to oil companies in gulf.

Not only were BP (and other oil companies) exempted from the rules, rules designed to protect livelihoods, and wildlife, but the crewmen involved in the explosion were not allowed to go ashore but were held on floating boats and told to sign releases and statements that could be used in court. They were told they could not go home until they did so. Coercing them to sign without benefit of legal counsel, and in their state of shock and injury is just inhumane. Read for yourself:

“Choy, a young roustabout on the rig, was handed a form to fill out, asking what he’d seen. “They came on there, and they gathered everybody in the galley on the boat and handed out … papers and stuff saying, ‘[These are] statements. You need to sign these. Nobody’s getting off here until we get one from everybody.’ “But when Choy read the Coast Guard form, he didn’t like what he saw. “At the bottom, it said something about, like, you know, this can be used as evidence in court and all that. I told them, I’m not signing it,” Choy says.”

[Choy’s wife] “Monica first learned about the explosion from a phone call from an eyewitness — Choy’s stepfather. He worked on another rig 30 miles away from the Deepwater Horizon. “And the first thing he asked is, ‘Please don’t tell me that’s the Horizon,’ and he said, ‘Because that’s my son. My son’s on that Horizon.’ And you know, they told him that it was. And he just came in a panic.” He called Monica with the news.

“Monica would spend the next 12 hours waiting to hear if her husband was dead or alive. She repeatedly called a number for Transocean, Choy’s employer, and the owner of the rig. When someone finally called her back, they could only say that her husband was on a list of the survivors.” Choy didn’t get onto land until about 28 hours after the explosion on the oil rig.

Oh, my. James 5:1-5 comes to mind here

Warning to the Rich
“Look here, you rich people: Weep and groan with anguish because of all the terrible troubles ahead of you. Your wealth is rotting away, and your fine clothes are moth-eaten rags. Your gold and silver have become worthless. The very wealth you were counting on will eat away your flesh like fire. This treasure you have accumulated will stand as evidence against you on the day of judgment. For listen! Hear the cries of the field workers whom you have cheated of their pay. The wages you held back cry out against you. The cries of those who harvest your fields have reached the ears of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. You have spent your years on earth in luxury, satisfying your every desire. You have fattened yourselves for the day of slaughter.”

It is my hope that the BP Oil Company did not fatten themselves at the risk of human life, wildlife, and the entire Gulf basin’s economy. However, we do know that James tells us that the latter days will be filled with employers who use and abuse workers so that they will be enriched. Corporate greed was an issue in Amos’s day. He said “Hear this, you who swallow up the needy, and make the poor of the land fail, saying, “When will the New Moon be past, that we may sell grain? . . . Making the ephah small and the shekel large, falsifying the balances by deceit, that we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals—even sell the bad wheat?” (Amos 8:4-6) Greed was judged then also. And perhaps it is being judged now, again.

Posted in end time, euclid, hypercube, prophecy

Non-Euclidean geometry in the bible. Really

Posted on by elizabethprata

Humans live in a three-dimensional world. The three dimensions are commonly called length, width, and height. A cube is a typical three dimensional object:

If you unfold a cube you get this:

In Euclid’s famous “Elements” treatise two thousand years ago, Euclid, the father of Geometry, said that “a point has no dimension at all. A line has only one dimension: length. A plane has two dimensions: length and breadth. A solid has three dimensions: length, breadth, and height. And there it stops. Nothing has four dimensions.”

Euclid’s axioms spawned Euclidean Geometry, and for two thousand years that was it, there was only Euclidean Geometry (and three dimensions). Then “In 1854, George Bernhard Riemann broke the cult position that the Euclidean geometry had for two thousand years with the introduction of the theory of higher dimensions. In the paper  “On the hypotheses which lie at the foundation of geometry“, Riemann exposed the novel properties of higher dimensional space and demonstrated that Euclid’s geometry is based only in the perception.” In other words, there ARE more than three dimensions!

If it was only in 1854 that mathematicians began experimenting with geometric representations in space and in math of objects in the fourth dimension… If Euclid said that there’s ‘length, breadth, and height and there it stops’, how then could the bible speak of four dimensions two thousand years ago as here in Ephesians-

“so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge …” (Ephesians 3:17-19a)

Do you want depth of vision? A four dimensional world has length, breadth, height, and depth!

Stay with me here: “Three-dimensional objects are bounded by two-dimensional surfaces: a cube is bounded by 6 squares. A four-dimensional cube, known as a tesseract, is bounded by 8 cubes.” A tesseract is a hypercube, a square figure with four dimensions to it, like a cube has three, and a square has two. Since we are three-dimensional humans, we can’t really accurately depict a four-dimensional object, but the closest we can come is this: a sort of cube within a cube with other cubes adjacent along each plane-

The 4D cube (tesseract) can be unfolded into eight cubes, just as the cube can be unfolded into six squares. There are three cubes meeting at every vertex … You see it gets complicated fast. If you unfold a 4D (tesseract, also known as a hypercube) it will look like this:

And once more for effect, an unfolded 3D cube and an unfolded 4D hypercube next to each other:

Albert Gleizes said, “Beyond the three dimensions of Euclid we have added another, the fourth dimension, which is to say, the figuration of space, the measure of the infinite,” The fourth dimension is the measure of the infinite. As soon as we go from the 3D solid to the 4D we go from known and understandable solid to the infinite. In the Ephesians passage, the breadth and length and height and depth of His love, is so far from our limited understanding,”it surpasses knowledge”.

Salvador Dali captured the infinite love of God in his work, “Crucifixion.” In that famous work, Dali showed Christ on an unfolded hypercube, ascending. If unfolded again, the shadow of the 3D hypercube hovering over the tiles below becomes a 2D representation of the tiles on the ground. Dali knew the mathematical principles behind his work and was purposeful in showing Christ as Master over four dimensions, and three, and two. Just as Ephesians says. The ‘son of God’ Himself is, by the way, a 3D representation of the 4D God.

The point in all this is not only that the bible once again wrote about maths and science that humans didn’t “know” until centuries later (a spherical earth, gravity, nuclear weapons, four dimensions) but of the infinite depths of His love, love that exists in dimensions “which surpasses knowledge.” 

And he loves you. He knows you: your name, the number of hairs on your head. He knew you before you were born. He wants to be with you, He delights in you. Won’t you accept His gift of love and repent of your sins so that you can be with Him? His love may surpass our knowledge but it certainly doesn’t surpass our ability to receive it.

Posted in deception, end time, prophecy

End time deception: trust no source except the bible

Posted on by elizabethprata

The End Time is rife with deception. (Matthew 24:3-4) The truth will be harder and harder to find- even for the elect (Matthew 2424b). This is because the demons are given increasing control of the world. (Mt 24:37; Gen 6:4-5😉 The ONLY absolute barometer of truth is the bible. (2 Tim 3:16). Even previously unimpeachable Christian sources cannot be trusted at face value. Really? Yes, really.

I’ll give two examples from just this week of good, Christian sources reporting something as fact that wasn’t. First, a quote Obama uttered to the Turkish Parliament on April 6th:

In his April 6 address to the Turkish Parliament, President Obama referenced how many “Americans have Muslims in their families or have lived in a Muslim majority country. I know, because I am one of them.”

Now, many Christians took that and ran with it, including a major, international missionary magazine, saying in effect, ‘Obama slipped, he said he is a Muslim!’ Well, no he didn’t. And do you really think this man ‘slips’? This man, who forms every public utterance with such forethought that he brings a teleprompter to a sixth grade classroom? In actuality, he uses in a verbal tactic a person I had to deal with in my work happily used all the time, “plausible deniability”, or, saying something in such a way that you can plausibly deny it later. Many politicians use this tactic, but Obama has perfected it.

My opinion is that Obama is a demon from the pit of hell (or completely influenced by demons from the pit of hell), so we take the biblical position that since satan is a liar and the father of lies then Obama is a liar and the son of the father of lies.

His statement could be interpreted as ‘I am one of the Muslims’, or ‘I am one of the people who have had Muslims in my family’, or ‘I am a person who lived in a Muslim majority country’. Obama in my opinion did not say he was Muslim because he would never say anything unequivocal. (equivocal; “subject to two or more interpretations and usually used to mislead or confuse”.) If anything, Obama delighted in equivocating in this sentence so that it COULD be interpreted many different ways, for the dastardly purpose of un-discerning Christian fundamentalists running with it and having egg on their faces later. Which is exactly what happened.

Second, this week as I was driving to work I heard our major local Christian radio station report that Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia issued a release that was picked up by the AP, that the Court would now hear arguments from a New Jersey Lawyer on Obama’s eligibility. That Obama’s Occidental College records had been subpoenaed and showed Obama traveled on a foreign passport and received foreign aid from Indonesia. This was an April Fool’s Day Hoax issued LAST YEAR in 2009, and the radio station, caught in an undiscerning moment, reported it as fact in 2010.

The point of all this is: even solid Christian sources stumble, because this is the time of high deception, we must now, more than ever, “TEST ALL THINGS…hold fast to that which is good.” Just take the stance that there are NO unimpeachable sources anymore, except the bible. (As a side note, it also might help to adopt the position that Obama will never utter a truth in his life and that he will never utter a statement he can’t deny later. Just a helpful tip.)

It is a time of high deception, purposeful and deep deception. Do not take anything at face value, but think it through, test it against the bible, and pray. Stay discerning, Christian, even if you’re hearing something from a Christian source!

Posted in asymmetric war, end time, prophecy

Wars and rumors of wars: but what KIND of war?

Posted on by elizabethprata

There were no buyers or sellers on the US stock market for period of time yesterday. Stocks plunged then bounced wildly. CNBC said there were literally no bids, no buyers.  That means liquidity totally dried up in the market … Stocks were completely worthless for a period of time yesterday … Think for a moment about what that means … and what caused it. A thousand point stock market plunge took the US financial world by storm and made the rest of the already skittish world more skittish.

The People In The Know immediately identified the issue as a computer glitch but were baffled by it.  As soon as I read that I thought the same question I thought on Wednesday after three oil wells/refineries experienced ‘incidents’: “Are we under attack?” LOL, I wish I’d had the time to flesh out the thought yesterday, before it was widely reported today that “Plunge in US equities remains a mystery” but that the “White House doesn’t rule out sabotage in Thursday’s wild market fluctuation“.

We know that in Matthew 24:6 Jesus told the disciples that those in the end time should expect “Wars and rumors of wars… When we think “war” we think in terms of conventional war, like in WWII, armies of roughly similar size and strength, fighting for territory. But lately asymmetrical war has been the norm, as smaller terrorist organizations and smaller states rise to infamy. In Andrew J. Mack’s 1975 article “Why Big Nations Lose Small Wars” “asymmetric” referred simply to a significant disparity in power between opposing actors in a conflict. The article garnered little attention at the time.

Nowadays the notion is gaining much attention. Military authors of today tend to use the term “asymmetric” to refer to the indirect nature of the strategies many weak actors adopt, such as guerrilla warfare, insurgency, terrorism, counterinsurgency, and counterterrorism. (source). So I ask you, if an enemy weaker in numbers or bombs wants to attack or cripple us, what would it take? Perhaps attacking our infrastructure, perhaps putting a bomb in a car and parking it in Times Square? Or perhaps hacking with the stock market computers, wiping out a trillion dollars? Perhaps all three at once, because the main element in any war is the unexpected. What would Hezbollah do, attack us outright, or engage in behind-the-scenes hacking and monkeying? What would North Korea do, Syria, Iran? Any nation with fewer men and materiel who have stated they want us dead or crippled would not come at us frontwise but asymmetrically. Are we in a war but don’t know it?

“Wars and rumors of wars”, just wondering if these myriad incidents, failures, and glitches are an example of an ongoing asymmetric warfare, and if we are under attack. Wars and rumors of wars … this ain’t your father’s war anymore.

Posted in church for dogs, comedy central, end time, JC, prophecy

Comedy Central pitches show about JC; church is going to the dogs

Posted on by elizabethprata

I came across two news articles today, both of which saddened me, and made me fear for this country. The first is about a church that will now hold services for dogs.

Church is going to the dogs “
A church in Danvers, MA is launching a new once per month worship service — for dogs! Later this month, Calvary Episcopal Church will offer its first “Perfect Paws Pet Ministry” designed to give owners — and maybe even their pooches — a better chance to get into heaven. The Danvers church plans to hold the service on the third Sunday of every month, complete with communion for the humans and blessings (and treats!) for pets. According to the church, the idea is to take that unconditional love people feel for their animals and connect it to something higher.”

And, there’s this:

Comedy Central considers series about Jesus Christ
“Having already caused a fuss this spring with the depiction of the prophet Muhammad on “South Park,” Comedy Central said Thursday that it has a cartoon series about Jesus Christ in the works. “JC” is one of 23 potential series the network said it has in development. It depicts Christ as a “regular guy” who moves to New York to “escape his father’s enormous shadow.” His father is presented as an apathetic man who would rather play video games than listen to his son talk about his new life, according to Comedy Central’s thumbnail sketch of the idea.”

Paul warned us in 2 Timothy 3:1-2 that in the time of the end people would be blasphemous. Is there anything more blasphemous than what the above two activities show? Yes. I don’t know what they would be, but I know that just when I think I have head the lowest, things get lower. So, I am sure than in a day or a month, there will be another blasphemous ting to come along that will be worse.

The dog services at Calvary Episcopal are a great example of the backwards thinking the deluded are under. Using dogs as ‘a chance to get into heaven?’ and connecting with ‘something higher‘? You don’t come to God because of love that WE transfer from our dogs to God, we love God because He first loved US.

The television show is a dangerous, dangerous thing. Television, especially entertainment tv, is only focused on money and profit. Shows that creators don’t think will sell are not pitched. If a show about ‘JC’ was pitched, it means they think it will sell, which means they think there is enough revenue to support this premise, meaning, there are enough people who will watch it and make it profitable. That’s a lot of people.

The same God whose anger burned against Uzzah for his irreverent act, the same God who smote Ananias and Sapphira for lying to the Holy Spirit and thus to God, will deal with our sin. God deals with irreverence and blasphemy. And Uzzah, Ananias and Sapphira were dealt with after ONE act. Their penalty was death. What do you think God will do to America for her long list of perpetual sins?

Posted in end time, great tribulation, prophecy, rapture

The purpose of the Tribulation

Posted on by elizabethprata

Jeremiah 30:7 shows God talking to Jeremiah, explaining that in due time, both Israel and Judah will experience trouble like the two kingdoms never had before. “How awful that day will be! None will be like it. It will be a time of trouble for Jacob, but he will be saved out of it.” He was prophesying of the time of the Jews from then until the Tribulation, the last seven years of Daniel’s prophesied seventy sevens.

Daniel 9:24-27 explains it:

Seventy Weeks and the Messiah
“Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place.”

Seventy weeks of years, or 490 years are decreed for the Jews to finish their transgression, or rebellion. Ah, but it seems that the 70 weeks is not spoken of as occurring consecutively. 

“So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress.”

When Jesus died and rose again, the time of the prophetic clock paused and the 490 years was interrupted by the Church Age. The Old Covenant was suspended at 483 years upon Jesus’ death (Not forgotten! Not set aside! Simply paused) and the Church Age began. In Acts 15:13-18 James states “Simeon has related how God first concerned Himself about taking from among the Gentiles a people for His name.” The Church Age is the taking a people from among the Gentiles, the Gentiles are grafted into the Covenant. Galatians 3:8 confirms this is part of God’s Plan: “The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.” Acts 15 continues with Stephen reminding the Jews that

“‘After this I will return and rebuild David’s fallen tent. Its ruins I will rebuild, and I will restore it, that the remnant of men may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who bear my name, ” (Acts 15)

That rebuilding will take place at the outset of the Tribulation. Jerusalem is the scene of the Psalm 83 war and the Gog-Magog Battle. Though they do emerge victorious, the city does not emerge unscathed and there is rebuilding to attend to.

An interesting thing happened when Jesus died and rose, and the Church Age began. Not only did the Old Covenant pause and the New Covenant begin, but the Holy Spirit entered a new phase of His ministry. In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit came upon people, and sometimes left people, but during the church age the gift of grace includes the doctrine of Once Saved Always Saved by the promise and strength of the indwelling Holy Spirit. However before the Church Age and after the Church age in the Tribulation, Jews and Gentiles alike were and are responsible for maintaining their faith through outward displays of service and obedience to the Lord through sacrifices and worship.

“Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined.” (Daniel 9)

The prince to come is the Antichrist.

“And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.” (Daniel 9)

The covenant will be confirmed for a period of seven years, resuming the last ‘week’ necessary for the Jews to finish their Transgression. That seven years is the Tribulation. It will not occur until two things happen: first as Paul revealed in Romans 11:25, the Jews have had a hardening of the heart until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. [“I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.”] “Full number” is a nautical term indicating the practice of by law, requiring a certain number of sailors and soldiers to man the ships, without which, they could not set sail. The hardening of the heart means that the Jews cannot and will not recognize their need for a Messiah until that hardness is lifted. And that hardness will not be lifted until the Church is lifted, literally, raptured and the last 7 years begins. The Old Covenant and the New Covenant do not mingle. At that point the prophetic clock resumes and the Old Covenant resumes as well, with the Jews suddenly clamoring for a Temple and the sacrifices allowed because their hearts are no longer hard.

And secondly, the hardness of heart won’t be lifted until the Gog-Magog battle occurs, as prophesied in Ezekiel 38-39. — “My holy name I will make known in the midst of My people Israel; and I will not let My holy name be profaned anymore. And the nations will know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel. Behold, it is coming and it shall be done,” declares the Lord GOD. “That is the day of which I have spoken.” God uses the Gog-Magog battle to show Israel His presence in their lives and uses His direct intervention in that battle to draw Israel back to Himself. (Ez. 39:7-8). The Jews recognition of God’s direct intervention in their lives occurs by the end of that battle. The 7-year peace treaty is signed and the Temple is immediately rebuilt. Sacrifices resume.The Church is gone by then.

So Daniel prophesied 490 years for the Jews’ full transgression. After 483 the clock stopped when Jesus died and the Church Age began. God builds up His church to a full number only He knows. It is a 2000 year pause as the Old Covenant is suspended temporarily and the New Covenant begins. (Hebrews 8:6-8; Luke 22:20). The end times are prophesied with its signs, and then when the full number of Gentiles is reached we are raptured. The Church Age is over. The end time is over. The clock starts again and the last 7 years begin: the Time of Jacob’s Trouble. The Tribulation is completely about Israel, and God’s conclusion of His punishment for their transgression. The Holy Spirit resumes His Old Testament ministry and the Jews resume their old covenant style of worship (along with Gentile believers- Acts 15:17). Church Age believers eat a banquet supper with Jesus as His bride and earth-bound unbelievers and new believers on earth go through a living hell.

Won’t you accept Jesus’ sacrifice for your sins NOW? Now is the day of your salvation – “For he says, “In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Cor 6:2) We are warned: “Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near. (Is 55:6). Do not say you will wait and see. Do not say that you need signs. Do not wait because He is near, even right at the door! His gift to you awaits. His love and mercy and forgiveness of your own rebellion. It is the most precious gift…and it is free. Here you can read How to Be Saved.

Posted in end time, end time. prophecy, god judges nations, oil rig

How/When God judges nations

Posted on by elizabethprata

God does judge nations. When He readies to do it, He first deems the sin incurable. He is not petulant nor is He quick, but is long-suffering, giving all a chance to come to repentance. For example, He waited 490 years before judging Israel’s failure to keep the 7th land Sabbath. Every 6 years they were to plant and every 7th they were to let the land rest. (Leviticus 25:18-22) Seventy times the Israelites failed to follow this law and after 490 years, God told them that they would be taken into captivity for 70 years, an equal amount of time they had failed to allow the land to rest. (Leviticus 26:28-35) After all, the earth is the LORD’S. (Psalm 24:1) Their sin had become incurable and God deemed it ready to judge.

In one case, in Jeremiah 7:16-19 God told Jeremiah NOT to pray for the people of Judah and the city of Jerusalem. God  had passed the point of no return and was in a holy anger against them for serving other gods. At the point of pronounced judgment, no display of repentance can sway the coming justice. Justice is sure.

God removes a hedge of protection from the nation. He gave an example of this in Isaiah 5:5. Then judgment comes. It comes in all forms and styles, but it comes.

Why does it come? In the above example, for disobeying His land laws. In other cases it was for one of the six things God hates:

Proverbs 6:16-19
There are six things which the LORD hates,
Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him:
Haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
And hands that shed innocent blood,
A heart that devises wicked plans,
Feet that run rapidly to evil, A false witness who utters lies,
And one who spreads strife among brothers.

Joel 3:19 pronounces judgment on Egypt and Edom specifically because they shed innocent blood. Same with Amos 1:13 to Ammon.

Wealth building at the expense of God’s commandments also wreaks judgment: “Otherwise, you may say in your heart, ‘My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth.’ “But you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. “It shall come about if you ever forget the LORD your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I testify against you today that you will surely perish. “Like the nations that the LORD makes to perish before you, so you shall perish; because you would not listen to the voice of the LORD your God. (Deut 8:17-20).

America is guilty of all the above.

The bible says that not only nations are judged by their actions as nations, but they will be judged according to how well they treated Israel. Genesis 12:3: “And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”

As a nation, has America committed the six things God hates? Yes. As a nation, has America been a friend or a foe to Israel this last year? Foe. And it gets worse: Jerusalem Post reports today,

Middle East may become Nuclear-free zone
“Washington and Cairo are negotiating an agreement which would see the Middle East become a nuclear-free zone, the Journal reported on Saturday.”

“According to the report, which comes two days ahead of a UN-hosted conference to prevent nuclear proliferation, the agreement is aimed at making the treatment of nuclear weapons in the Middle East more balanced. The US has been criticized in the past for expressing concern over the suspected nuclear ambitions of countries such as Syria and Iran with nary a mention of Israel’s reported nuclear arsenal. The Wall Street Journal quoted senior Obama administration officials as saying that the US officials would meet with their Egyptian counterparts in New York in efforts to promote the idea of a nuke-free Middle East which would encompass Arab countries as well as Israel, Iran and Turkey.”

Isn’t it nice that American concocts a defense posture that strips Israel of their only deterrent to obliteration. Outing Israel’s nuclear stockpile seems to be the whack-a-mole game of the day. WaPo says “For Arab nations, it is a way of highlighting their complaint that Israel’s possession of nuclear weapons has been a major factor behind any proliferation in the region, and that the United States employs a double standard in demanding no nuclear weapons programs from Iran and Arab states.”

The Nuke Free Zone was first proposed in 1991 at the Madrid Peace Conference but stalled completely in 1995 due to Israel’s stance. Now it’s been revived and seems to be gaining some traction. The resolution is aimed at halting Iran’s nuclear progress, but since it is non-binding and we all know how well Iran adheres to anything- never mind “non-binding” -all the resolution would do is expose Israel into a catastrophic, deepening vulnerability.

It is my opinion that the oil rig disaster in the Gulf of Mexico is the first of the warnings of impending judgment upon America. I believe its effects will unroll like seismic waves in ever increasing troubles for America on the environmental, commercial, political, and food production fronts. Why? The Exxon Valdez had a finite amount of oil in its holds and when that was spilled, it stopped. Additionally, the rocky shores of Alaska could be hosed down. The marshes and lowlands of Louisiana, Alabama and the rest of the states in the slick’s path cannot. The oil is gushing from the very sea floor itself and has an unlimited amount to be spilled before it stops- if it ever does. It is located 5000 miles deep and beyond the reach of men. It is almost beyond the reach of remotely operated vehicles. Even if ROV’s do descend they will first have to move the massive rig that fell on top of the uncapped wellhead. And this, they will not be able to do for months, if at all.

Though the hedge of protection for America may be crumbling, the Christian’s individual hedge will remain strong if they walk in the ways of the Lord. However, the Christian dwelling in a nation that is experiencing the beginning of judgment and the last of its warnings will not be immune to the effects. Though we’ll see the effects from this terrible catastrophe on the people all around us,  He will feed, clothe, and care for us under His very wings. Indeed, they are an opportunity to remain strong in faith so His glory can shine.

God judges nations for their behavior. He hates six things, any ONE of which can and has brought judgment. He weighs a nation’s future against how it has treated Israel. Has America’s hubris grown so great that she thinks she will cakewalk straight to the rapture? That she will somehow escape the same rules that all other nations on the planet have lived or died by? To love the LORD is to fear the LORD, and hate the same evil that He does. Does America love the LORD and hate evil? No. America loves evil and hates the LORD. You do the math!

Posted in end time, gulf of mexico, oil spill

Does the oil platform explosion and oil spill have prophetic implications?

Posted on by elizabethprata
 
photo credit: Edison Chouest Offshore

On April 20 an explosion decimated the Deepwater Horizon BP oil well 50 miles off the Gulf Coast of Louisiana. It killed 11 and injured 17, four critically. The explosion that occurred released oil from the deepest part of the Gulf in a hot oil volcano, presenting unprecedented containment problems. Initially, the explosion attracted little attention but as the oil continued to gush, heads perked up and brows suitably wrinkled. A few days later, the magnitude of the problem became apparent:

April 22: Gulf oil rig run by BP explodes, sinks: massive spill threatens entire Gulf shore
April 29:  Obama sends SWAT teams to Gulf Oil Rigs
April 30: Second Gulf oil  rig tragedy: overturns near Morgan City LA
April 30:  No relief in sight as oil spill reaches LA shoreline:
April 30: Leaked secret government report: Government fears Deepwater Horizon well could become unchecked gusher “A confidential government report on the unfolding spill disaster in the Gulf makes clear the Coast Guard now fears the well could become an unchecked gusher shooting millions of gallons of oil per day into the Gulf.”

The issue now is a tragedy not only for the oil rig workers and families, not only for the Gulf Shore states, not only for the United States, but for the world. How can an oil rig explosion have worldwide implications? And further, how does it fit into the warnings about trouble in the end times?

ENVIRONMENT

Of course, the environmental damage is heartbeaking. Ten species are already at risk. “North Atlantic Bluefin Tuna: The Great Bluefin Tuna, prized for sushi and sashimi, is one of the species most in danger of slipping into extinction. Traveling down across the Atlantic seaboard, bluefin tuna spawn in the Gulf of Mexico between mid-April and mid-June.” The predicament for the tuna is the same for many other species: the grasses along the Gulf shoreline provide nursery habitat for the eggs and spawning fish.When the oil coats the grass it will kill it.The timing of the spill is also part of the problem not only is it spawning season, but the migratory birds that travel from the north to south America rest along these shores also. Beach-nesting and migratory shorebirds are at risk. Those that build their nests on the ground and feed on invertebrates are susceptible to oil on the beaches. Some migratory shore birds fly nearly the length of the Western Hemisphere and use barrier islands in the Gulf for key resting and refueling spots on their journey as well as migratory songbirds — warblers, orioles, buntings, flycatchers, swallows and others. There are roughly up to 5,000 dolphins in the Gulf area between the Mississippi and Louisiana coasts and the oil rig, many giving birth right now.

FOOD/FISHING

The Gulf accounts for a fifth of U.S. commercial seafood production — including 75 percent of our shrimp. The crude that enters the coastal estuaries areas will cause “a dramatic drop in seafood recruitment, possibly for years to come,” says George Crozier, executive director of the Dauphin Island Sea Lab. This is already “the worst case scenario for shrimpers, oyster harvesters, crabbers — all the commercial fisherman,” says fishing boat charterer Brent Roy. The Baltimore Sun is more blunt, they just said “ecological devastation”: “The oil that began washing ashore Friday in Louisiana could devastate one of the richest coastal ecosystems in the country and cripple a major source of the nation’s seafood, a top Maryland scientist warned Friday.” So seafood will become scarce, and expensive. This, already in the face of US food inflation spiraling out of control. Fresh and dry vegetables prices are up 56.1% over last year, in one example.

SHIPPING

“The biggest grain-shipping port in the U.S. may be disrupted by the spread of the BP Plc oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, threatening to depress domestic prices by encouraging importers to buy from South America. More than half of the grain inspected for export from the U.S., the world’s largest grower of corn and soybeans, is shipped from the mouth of the Mississippi River, according to the Port of New Orleans.”

COMMERCE

In an already poor region, “As oil begins flowing ashore from the massive spill in the Gulf of Mexico, coastal communities from Louisiana to Florida are bracing for what could turn out to be an unprecedented and long-lasting economic disaster for the region.”  London Times reports, “The cost to Louisiana’s fishing industry could be $2.5 billion (£1.6 billion) while the impact on tourism along the Florida coast could be $3 billion, according to Neil McMahon, an analyst at the investment firm Bernstein.” Like the current economic disaster isn’t enough… more losses in an area ill-prepared to wait it out. Six states are in declared emergencies and the National Guard has been called out in LA to fight the spill.

And there’s this as-yet little discussed impact:

The news reports say that it may take weeks to months to cap the well that is 210,000 gallons of oil into the Gulf each day. Hurricane season starts June 1. “The strong winds in hurricanes, sweeping across the surging waves they have created, such up a considerable amount of surface water and blow it inland. This time, however, those winds could also end up picking up a considerable amount of the oil slick floating on the sea’s surface, which would be deposited as rain well inland, damaging croplands and forests, too.” Think about it- What happens when you mix oil with salty water? It results in a mayonnaise like light foam, an emulsion. A lot of foam can be created from a small amount of oil. The emulsion could become easily airborne under high winds. As the hurricane makes landfall, the oil foam would be plastered on everything for hundreds of miles . When trees, grasses, plants, animals, ect get pounded with the foamy winds they will get a thin layer of oil. That thin layer of oil mixed with sea water will kill any vegetation. Normally Texas receives its first tropical storm on average around June 6.

“The following is not public,” reads the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Emergency Response document dated April 28. “Two additional release points were found today in the tangled riser. If the riser pipe deteriorates further, the flow could become unchecked resulting in a release volume an order of magnitude higher than previously thought. Asked Friday to comment on the document, NOAA spokesman Scott Smullen said that the additional leaks described were reported to the public late Wednesday night. Regarding the possibility of the spill becoming an order of magnitude larger, Smullen said, “I’m letting the document you have speak for itself. In scientific circles, an order of magnitude means something is 10 times larger. In this case, an order of magnitude higher would mean the volume of oil coming from the well could be 10 times higher than the 5,000 barrels a day coming out now. That would mean 50,000 barrels a day, or 2.1 million gallons a day. 

God gave Adam and Eve dominion over the earth and the authority to rule over the animals. “God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Man, have we ever messed up creation. And have we ever messed up spiritually. There are two truisms, and they are absolute: God always judges nations’ sins, and God does have a point at which there is no return, when judgment is sure and imminent. I’ve written about national sin and judgment twice recently. Just a few weeks ago, I posed the question, “Has America’s point of no return been reached?” In that article, I explored the biblical concept of national sin and judgment; and under what condition that judgment occurs. America was the blessed nation, the city upon a hill, and in the article I wrote in September, I explored the background to America’s original commission and its peril in going away from it.

It is impossible to understand all the ramifications of this unfolding tragedy. It is clear that there are many. It is not for me to say whether this disaster is a judgment or not. However, knowing that America was founded on a golden commission, that we have abandoned it for sin, destruction, perversion, idolatry, profanity, immorality, and violence on a national scale, and knowing that God always judges these things when the point of return has been reached, it is logical to assume that our troubles from this disaster have only begun!

We as Christians can be Light and Salt in a fallen world. Pray for the leaders who are dealing with this disaster, that they themselves would pray, not for success in cleaning up the oil or that businesses don’t suffer, but for repentance! And pray that if repentance does sweep over the states and the nation, that it is not too late.