Category: prophecy

Posted in end time, gay marriage, homosexuality, Prop 8, prophecy, same sex marriage

DOMA, Prop 8, and legally defined marriage

Posted on by elizabethprata

There are two court cases in the US right now that have an interesting tension together. One is in Massachusetts, and the other is in California.

In the MA case, a decision from a federal district court judge in Boston last night struck down the 1996 federal law that defines marriage as a union exclusively between a man and a woman. It was the “Defense of Marriage Act” known as DOMA. DOMA was passed as a federal public law in 1996, and its precepts were that no state (or other political subdivision within the United States) needs to treat a relationship between persons of the same sex as a marriage, even if the relationship is considered a marriage in another state. And secondly, the federal government defines marriage as a legal union exclusively between one man and one woman. Judge Tauro wrote, “The federal government, by enacting and enforcing DOMA, plainly encroaches upon the firmly entrenched province of the state.”

This was challenged in MA and last night the judge declared DOMA unconstitutional on the grounds that it takes away from the individual states their right to define marriage in the way they see fit.

However, the second case in CA is being challenged exactly because the state defined marriage, but not in the way that is preferable to homosexuals. California’s legal history with same-sex marriage is a long and a sad one. Without getting into boring specifics, in the past, the people voted traditional marriage as the only valid marriage to be recognized in the state, the homosexual lifestyle lobby challenged it in court, and it was overturned. Rinse. Repeat. This cycle has been ongoing for several years but in the latest iteration, the November 2008 elections contained a ballot initiative known as Proposition 8. This proposition amended the state constitution to declare marriage between a man and a woman as the only validly recognized marriage in the state. It passed.

The homosexual lifestyle lobby immediately challenged it in court and that is the CA decision we are awaiting imminently. If the Federal court in MA declared that DOMA was unconstitutional because the rights of states to determine for themselves which kind of marriages are legal, and California validly went through a process defining marriage just as the MA Judge said they have the right to do, it will be interesting to see how this CA judge decides this Prop 8 case and on what grounds.

That was the legal summary. Here is the cultural summary. Last night Drudge had a red blaring headline announcing that the Prop 8 case decision would be released at 9 pm ET. This rumor caused swarms of reporters, television crews, and activists to storm the courthouse in anticipation. Emotions were running high because of another controversial decision handed down shortly before regarding the Mehserle trial for murder, known as the BART murder. Indeed, riots broke out in Oakland. And adding to the emotional mix, the MA DOMA decision was handed down that dame day, fueling conjecture that more riots would break out in CA, depending on which way the CA verdict went.

Well, no verdict came out on the Prop 8 decision but that didn’t stop the twitter-sphere from running rampant with emotions and accusations of “rights denied”. One particular point of the defense of overturning Prop 8’s definition of traditional marriage, was that homosexual lifestyle adherents are being denied their civil rights. This is not the case, however. There are five states and one District of Columbia which allow gay marriage. Three other states offer reciprocity in recognizing gay marriages from other states. Rights cannot be denied if they exist.

Of course, gay marriage is not about rights at all. Gays have not been deprived of the law’s equal protection, the clause under which many of their challenges are based.  Nor have they been deprived of the right to marry — only of the right to insist that a single-sex union is a “marriage” according to a legal definition. Boston Globe commenter Jeff Jacoby explains, “They cloak their demands in the language of civil rights because it sounds so much better than the truth: They don’t want to accept or reject marriage on the same terms that it is available to everyone else. They want it on entirely new terms. They want it to be given a meaning it has never before had, and they prefer that it be done undemocratically — by judicial fiat, for example, or by mayors flouting the law. Whatever else that may be, it isn’t civil rights. “

Traditional marriage as defined as the union of a man and a woman does not deny homosexuals the basic civil rights accorded other citizens. Nowhere in the Bill of Rights or in any legislation proceeding from it are homosexuals excluded from the rights enjoyed by all. Here is the Family Research Council’s FAQ on ten facts about gay marriage.

Supporters of same sex marriage block the streets in a civil disobedience act in San Francisco, California, May 26, 2009. In a victory for gay rights in the United States, a U.S. district court judge in Massachusetts ruled on Thursday that a federal ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. source

In any case, homosexuals who choose that lifestyle are not qualified for marriage under the one law that counts: God’s law. Engaging in same sex sexual activity is sinful behavior condemned in the bible, along with other sinful behaviors. Attempting to set aside the standard of marriage that has for thousands of years been  the norm, to placate a small set of the population who declares it their right, is something that they will discover is a dangerous activity indeed. Displeasing the LORD is shaky ground and its effects last for all eternity.

Christian, please review these matters, it is an enormous national issue right now. Having both the legal facts and the spiritual facts, and then being able to speak the truth in love will do much for influencing those who are lost in hearing the truth. Being uninformed, or worse, being harsh and judgmental, will only further close the ears of those who need to hear the truth the most.

I’ll be awaiting the CA judge Walker’s decision. Please pray that he makes the right one: that the right of a citizenry to define marriage for themselves is valid. I hope he does not take away the rights of those voters. They participated in a valid and legal process, they voted, and they won. It is how democracy works. For now.

Posted in china sinkhole, end time, prophecy, UFO

Airport closed after UFO sighting and radar confirmation

Posted on by elizabethprata

Interesting story.

Flights diverted, delayed as UFO detected hovering
“An unidentified flying object (UFO) disrupted air traffic over Zhejiang’s provincial capital Hangzhou late on Wednesday, the municipal government said on Thursday. Xiaoshan Airport was closed after the UFO was detected at around 9 pm, and some flights were rerouted to airports in the cities of Ningbo and Wuxi, said an airport spokesman, who declined to be named. The airport had resumed operations, and more details will be released after an investigation, he said. A source with knowledge of the matter, however, told China Daily on Thursday that authorities had learned what the UFO was after an investigation. But it was not the proper time to publicly disclose the information because there was a military connection, he said, adding that an official explanation is expected to be given on Friday.”

The Australian News said this:
“A Chinese airport was dramatically shut down after baffled air traffic controllers spotted an incoming UFO on their radar systems. Planes were grounded and flights were diverted away from Xiaoshan airport in Hangzhou City, in the country’s east, after the mysterious glowing object appeared on monitoring instruments late Wednesday night, the Shanghai Daily reported. In a further twist, the closure followed several supposed sightings of a strange airborne object across the city, with locals reportedly seeing a comet-like fireball in the sky. … However meteorological experts poured cold water on the supposed sightings, suggesting that people had seen nothing more sinister than sunlight reflecting off conventional aircraft.”

All agreed that they had seen something with their own eyes. All agreed that what they had seen defied explanation. And all agreed that it was confirmed on radar, so much so that the Chinese grounded planes for 4 hours. That is an extraordinary action! But the explanations of what it was conflict. One report said that it was military in nature, and another said that it was meteorological in nature.

Was it a conventional plane? Was is a secret military operation? Was it an off-planet UFO? I’ll be waiting to see if the Chinese come through on their promise to provide an explanation on Friday. If I find one, I’ll post an update.

Posted in anxiety religion study, end time, prophecy

Religious people are that way because they are anxious, researcher says

Posted on by elizabethprata

We already know that society considers Christian fundamentalists extreme-end wingnuts. So does the American government. The cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but their curiosity as to what makes us tick is unabated. They wonder and wonder and study and study us. It is the Holy Spirit that makes us tick, given to us as a deposit of guarantee of what is to come. But to them, we are a perplexity.

The latest study trying to root out our inner workings has been published this week, and the answer to what makes us so offensively religious is … anxiety. We are anxious. Anxiety and uncertainty can drive people to become paranoid and more radical in their religious beliefs, the new research claims.

Anxiety May Be at Root of Religious Extremism, Researchers Find
“Anxiety and uncertainty can cause us to become more idealistic and more radical in our religious beliefs, according to new findings by York University researchers, published in this month’s issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. “Taken together, the results of this research program suggest that bold but vulnerable people gravitate to idealistic and religious extremes for relief from anxiety,” McGregor says.”

Because the cross is foolishness to them they cannot understand a ‘radical’ Christian’s devotion is because of personal recognition of our sins and that submission to the resurrected Jesus is the only way to live in a way that is not rebelling against Him. Nah! That can’t be it! It must be something more closely related to human reasoning, like…anxiety.

This report says “The researchers also measured superstitious beliefs of the participants and their deference toward a controlling God in order to distinguish religious zeal from meeker forms of devotion.”

Meeker forms of devotion… hmmm. In other words, forms of devotion that make others feel comfortable. Devotion they they can understand. Devotion that blends in with the world.  However, Christianity  practiced as Jesus wants us to practice it has never made people feel comfortable. It has always fomented division, because the world is the world, and the church body is not of this world. As for attitudes in the last days, 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.”

I will say that the peace that Jesus offers the penitent disciple, the one who is saved by His grace the blood shed on the cross, is palpable and real. That after releasing all one’s sins and craven, fallen self to Jesus, that He lifts you up into a state of forgiveness and rolls the burden of your sins away. The burden of a person’s sins is what makes a person anxious, but they are not even aware of it. However, the moment you believe your own guilt and ask Jesus to wipe them away, you feel lightened by the release of that burden and you are immediately aware of how heavy they had been. (Imagine how heavy that burden must have been to Jesus when He became sin for all the world and all time! What a Savior!)

Personally, I’m not too anxious about studies like this but I am anxious over the lost state of so many people. Brethren, still and always pray for the lost. Their anxiety will only increase after the rapture.

Posted in end time, paul noel, prophecy

Stephen and Paul enraging the mobs

Posted on by elizabethprata

The WORD of God incites people. It incites people to various reactions. Some are convicted and fall to their knees in repentance. Others get irritated and move away from the speaker. Still others become enraged. I was reading Acts 7 one day and then Acts 22 another day. It is the tale of two mobs’ reactions upon hearing the Gospel.

In the first, Stephen, Christianity’s first martyr, was speaking to the elders and the scribes. They were unable to cope with the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. Apostle Paul, then known as Saul, was int eh crowd.

The mob stones Stephen, (Acts 7:54-60)

 The Stoning of St. Stephen, by Paolo Uccello, Duomo, Prato

“Now when they heard this, they were cut to the quick, and they began gnashing their teeth at him. But being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God; and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” But they cried out with a loud voice, and covered their ears and rushed at him with one impulse. When they had driven him out of the city, they began stoning him; and the witnesses laid aside their robes at the feet of a young man named Saul. They went on stoning Stephen as he called on the Lord and said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” Then falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” Having said this, he fell asleep.”

Later in Acts, Paul is mobbed and about to be flogged, (Acts 21:35; 22:22-24)

“When Paul reached the steps, the violence of the mob was so great he had to be carried by the soldiers. They listened to him up to this statement, and then they raised their voices and said, “Away with such a fellow from the earth, for he should not be allowed to live!” And as they were crying out and throwing off their cloaks and tossing dust into the air, the commander ordered him to be brought into the barracks, stating that he should be examined by scourging so that he might find out the reason why they were shouting against him that way.”

I noticed a few things in thinking about the two mob scenes. First, like many fights, men take off their jackets, un-knot their ties, and roll up their sleeves. They did so there, laying aside their robes. The cut to the heart means to extremely exasperate, and gnash their teeth means acting in rage and pain. Imagine: the simple words of a man enraging them so much! They rushed at him with one impulse, and they drove him out, indicating frenzy and furor. From this description, we can safely say this is a mob scene.

In the second scene, there is the same thing happening again, and all because of the Truth! The WORD incites reactions. There was foaming at the mouth, furor and rage. Men took off their robes. They cried out. One difference is that this time, the mob threw sand over their heads. This is an interesting picture. We read of an enraged mob, disrobing, in a cloud of dust and noise.

What is this throwing dust? It is mentioned previously in 2 Samuel 16:13, “So David and his men went on the way; and Shimei went along on the hillside parallel with him and as he went he cursed and cast stones and threw dust at him.” Casting dust is a sign of extreme hatred and rage and abhorrence. It is the opposite of the act of tamping dust down, as explained here:

“It was an ancient custom, in those warm and arid countries, to lay the dust before a person of distinction, by sprinkling the ground with water. Dr. Pococke and the consul were treated with this respect when they entered Cairo. The same custom is alluded to in the well-known fable of Phudrus, in which a slave is represented going before Augustus and officiously laying the dust. To throw dust in the air while a person was passing was therefore an act of great disrespect; to do so before a sovereign prince, an indecent outrage. But it is probable that Shimei meant more than disrespect and outrage to this afflicted king. Sir John Chardin informs us, that in the East, in general, those who demand justice against a criminal throw dust upon him, signifying that he ought to be put in the grave: and hence the common imprecation among the Turks and Persians, “Be covered with earth,” or, “Earth be upon thy head.”

The Gospel incites people who are under satan’s sway. Any Christian who has uttered the name of Jesus has felt some sort of reaction ranging from disapproval all the way to martyrdom. In addition, note this: it changes lives. Stephen was stoned to death in AD 34 or 35. Paul was deep in his sin, persecuting Christians and becoming enraged at hearing the Gospel. He approved of putting Stephen to death. (Acts 8:1). It was some three years later, after Paul’s conversion on the road to Damascus, that Paul returned to Jerusalem to meet with James, and was himself subjected to a mob enraged beyond the capacity to rationally act, but this time it was directed at Paul, not Stephen. You never know where the road to Jesus’ feet will take you. If any person, even respected Gamaliel. had told Paul that a few short years later Paul would be preaching Jesus resurrected to an enraged crowd, Paul would have laughed or worse, had Gamaliel arrested, I bet. The truth of Jesus is so great that a conversion such as Paul’s, chief persecutor, was preaching the resurrection shortly after the first martyr’s death  is a testament to the power of the truth to change lives!

Posted in doomsday ark, end time, prophecy, seed vault, vivos

Doomsday vaults doing bunker-busting business

Posted on by elizabethprata

I get a kick out of secular people who mock Christians for preparing for the moment when the Lord will come collect us and doomsday ensues for those left behind. They say we are crazy fear-mongers, nut-cases and ridiculous wingnuts. Then they spend billions of dollars preparing for doomsday.

‘Doomsday Ark’ to be Housed on the Moon -A Remote Access Toolkit to Rebuild the Human Race
“Eventually, it will be necessary to have a kind of Noah’s ark there, a diversity of species from the biosphere.”

See, already, the doomsday seed vault, the doomsday genetic vault, and the private doomsday vaults we are recently learning about are touted as inadequate for the horrific things that are coming. So we need one on the moon. There’s the seed vault in Norway, buried deep in a frozen mountainside, which houses all the supplies that humanity would need to rebuild a green world in the event the one we already have is wiped out. There’s the underground vault in Britain that houses genetic samples that could help rebuild an entire ecosystem. “The thing is, though, as highly reinforced as these structures may be, if Earth is wiped out, chances are these vaults won’t survive. But a vault on the moon — that’s a different story. The Ark will contain the essentials of life and human civilization, to be activated in the event of earth being devastated by a giant asteroid or nuclear war. The construction of a lunar information bank, discussed at a conference in Strasbourg last month, would provide survivors on Earth with a remote-access toolkit to rebuild the human race.”

That will only work if the people who have access to the “toolkit” are alive after the asteroid hits.

The notion of an ark was original to the bible. The LORD said He would render judgment because man at that time continually had evil thoughts. The LORD was grieved He had made man. (Genesis 6:5-8). However, Noah was deemed righteous and the LORD made a provision for Noah and his family to be saved through the coming Tribulation judgment. He directed Noah to build an ark. Note that the catalyst for building the ark, a vessel designed to hold the precious cargo in safety so that earth can start over, was GOD’S. Not man’s. Notice that the cataclysm that came was because of man’s evil, not God’s.

However, we have fallen so far that now, that things have reversed. Man decided he can rely on himself to carry him through doomsday, a doomsday that will come because of the evil and uncaring God. Note that the fall-back position is of the certainty of a doomsday. That a doomsday will come is not in question. The question is what to do about it. And man sure has been busy these last couple of years, but he is not taking actions in the right direction. We now hear in the news of of seed bunkers, genetic bunkers, lunar bunkers, private bunkers. All of them are called “arks” of some kind. Biblical references are often made.

Vivos’s private doomsday bunkers are selling like hotcakes. ABC News said,  “Armageddon. Apocalypse. The end of the world as we know it. Call it what you want, but they believe the end, some end, is near, and so they are preparing, buying bunker properties with hi-tech amenities. 21st centry fallout shelters to carry them through catastrophe. Vivos’s private luxury bunker touts that “Vivos may prove to be the next Genesis.” As the sales pitch went, “It’s Noah’s Ark, it just happens to be underground.” As the ABC News reporter says:

“There is now a critical mass of customers shopping for that extra sense of security.”

They think they can survive what is coming. They can’t. NO man can survive while relying on his own self, his own ingenuity, his own protections. They couldn’t before, they won’t now. UNLESS they are saved by the grace of Jesus and His blood shed on the cross for all humans. It is that, and that alone which will give them that sense of extra security.

Arks. Doomsday. Genesis. They deny the bible, but they prepare for its promised effects. And they will find that man’s preparations will be futile.

Posted in end time, prophecy

Jerusalem’s list of sins … seem horrifyingly familiar to us today

Posted on by elizabethprata

The LORD spoke to Ezekiel in Chapter 22 of the book of Ezekiel, listing Jerusalem’s sins that will cause Him to punish. It is the famous “standing in the gap” speech where the LORD said He looked for even one righteous person willing to stand up for Him (pray, in the gap) and found none. The proportions of a population’s ratio of righteousness to cravenness just prior to judgment is an interesting topic for another time.

In reading the list of sins God lists for the prophet to report, it strikes me…they are exactly the same as America’s now. Are we on bended knee?? No.

 –Shedding blood in her midst
–Defiles herself by making idols,
–They have treated father and mother with contempt;
–Oppressed the alien
–Mistreated the fatherless and the widow.
–You have despised my holy things
–Desecrated my Sabbaths.
–Slanderous men bent on shedding blood
–Eat at the mountain shrines and commit lewd acts.
–Dishonor their fathers’ bed
–Violate women during their period, when they are ceremonially unclean.
–Commits a detestable offense with his neighbor’s wife
–Defiles his daughter-in-law
–Violates his sister, his own father’s daughter.
–Men accept bribes to shed blood
–Take usury and excessive interest
–Make unjust gain from your neighbors by extortion.
–And you have forgotten me, declares the Sovereign LORD.
–There is a conspiracy of her princes within her like a roaring lion tearing its prey; and they devour people
–Take treasures and precious things and make many widows within her.
–Her priests do violence to my law and profane my holy things
–They do not distinguish between the holy and the common
–They teach that there is no difference between the unclean and the clean;
–They shut their eyes to the keeping of my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.
–Her officials within her are like wolves tearing their prey; they shed blood and kill people to make unjust gain.
–Her prophets whitewash these deeds for them by false visions and lying divinations. They say, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says’-when the LORD has not spoken.
–The people of the land practice extortion and commit robbery; they oppress the poor and needy and mistreat the alien, denying them justice.

That’s what the people did. The LORD said several times that they brought it on themselves: ” You have brought your days to a close, and the end of your years has come.”… bringing down on their own heads all they have done, declares the Sovereign LORD.”

This is what the LORD promised to do because of their persistent sins:

–I will make you an object of scorn to the nations and a laughingstock to all the countries.
–Those who are near and those who are far away will mock you,
–I will put an end to your uncleanness.
–I will surely strike my hands together at the unjust gain you have made…
–I will disperse you among the nations and scatter you through the countries;
–When you have been defiled in the eyes of the nations, you will know that I am the LORD.’
–I gather you in my anger and my wrath and put you inside the city and melt you.
–I will gather you and I will blow on you with my fiery wrath, and you will be melted inside her.
–You will know that I the LORD have poured out my wrath upon you.’ So I will pour out my wrath on them and consume them with my fiery anger…

Take heed, nations! Take heed, America!

Posted in bp, end time, prophecy, revelation

The BP spill is not a fulfillment of prophecy

Posted on by elizabethprata

Many people have been asking and wondering if the BP Oil catastrophe in the Gulf is a fulfillment of Revelation 8:8-9 – “And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood; And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed,” and/or Revelation 16:3 – The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it turned into blood like that of a dead man, and every living thing in the sea died.”

No, it isn’t a fulfillment.

First: the Revelation judgments have not begun. They will not begin until after the Rapture, and Israel is returned to a state of covenant relationship with God (Romans 11:25). We in the church are not appointed to wrath (1 Thess 5:9), and the judgments of Revelation are wrath (Rev 6:16). God is clear on this point. I wrote an explanation with more scriptures, here, if you would like to delve into the subject more deeply.

Secondly, the verses say that the seas became blood and turned into blood. Not oil that looked like blood. John was familiar with the plagues of Egypt and knew that God had the capability of turning large bodies of water into actual blood. In Revelation, when John could not explain what he was seeing, he said things like “Then I heard what sounded like a voice” as described here in Rev 6:6. Other times, when he could exactly describe what was happening, he wrote “He called out in a loud voice” as in Rev 7:2. So writing the seas will be blood means the seas will be blood. Take the literal when it is plain.

Third, the Gulf of Mexico is a small body of water and the amount affected is only 35% of that. Most of the globe is water, 70%. There are approximately 140 million sq miles of ocean on our planet. The Gulf of Mexico is 600,000 square feet, and the amount affected by oil is 200,000 sq feet. So we are a long way from biblical proportions, even though the catastrophe is horrendous.

However, the horrendous catastrophe in the Gulf is an example of how quickly and devastatingly the LORD can and will render pressure on the people to repent, and during the Tribulation, to render wrath to punish. If we think this is bad now, then imagine how VERY bad it will be when a third of the earth’s seas are dead, and later, all of them. I think the BP spill is the beginning of an ongoing event that can turn into a judgment during the Tribulation. But as of right now, it is not a fulfillment, it is merely a localized catastrophe of the kind we are told would be brought to bear on an unrepentant people.

In Haggai, the LORD told prophet Haggai to ask the people if they noticed the pressure He had brought to bear on them in His plan to make them aware of the need to return to Him. He had put a drought on the land, caused the rain not to fall, made their purses like sieves (the more they spent the more they wanted), made their exports decline, He put a drought on labor…He pressured them. Squeezed them. The LORD could be doing that now with the oil spill, pressuring America to return to Him and repent. The Lord is patient and long-suffering, pressuring His people increasingly to give them an opportunity to return to Him. When they don’t, then He starts the judgments.

That said, though, the BP oil catastrophe is gut-wrenching to watch and experience as a nation.

Tar balls washing up on all five Gulf states now: More than two months after oil from BP’s blown-out seafloor well first reached Louisiana, a bucket’s worth of tar balls that washed onto a Texas beach means the crude has arrived in every Gulf state. In a development potentially related to the BP oil spill, a recent news report stated,“two baby sperm whales died [on June 23, 2010] after beaching themselves on Florida’s East Coast; ‘Infections and toxins are going to be the big killers of these animals’ says pathologist.” Christian Science Monitor reports that a dead sperm whale was found floating and decomposed. Forty-five dolphins have beached themselves on the Gulf shores as well.

This is beyond heartbreaking, but imagine when a third of the sea creatures die. Or ALL of them. I simply cannot imagine. You do not have to be here when those judgments come down, though. You can confess your sins to the Lord and ask Him to forgive. He will! And then you can be dining with saints at a heavenly banquet, and then rejoice with praise and shouts when the Lord remakes the earth and restores all the animals to perfect environments.

Posted in end time, haggai, prophecy

Blessings come from the Lord

Posted on by elizabethprata

In the time of King Cyrus, the Jews had returned from Babylonian captivity in joy, relief, and thankful to God for their deliverance. They immediately set about re-building the Temple, the place of God’s presence so they could honor Him. However, they also set about building their own homes, so they could live. They planted their vineyards and olive groves, which were important money crops and exports. Soon – heartbreakingly soon – the Israelites’ focus shifted to personal home enhancement and the Temple was left unfinished and eventually no one was working on it. The LORD started pressuring the Israelites to remind them to return to their first priority. This has similarities to the US now. More on that in a moment.

After 15 years of the Jews failing to work on the Temple despite increasing pressure from the LORD, the pressure the LORD had brought to bear on them had had no effect. So the Word came to Haggai on what to tell them. Haggai urged the Israelites to resume work.

“Now therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts, “Consider your ways! “You havesown much, but harvest little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; you drink, but there is not enough to become drunk; you put on clothing, but no one is warm enough; and he who earns, earns wages to put into a purse with holes.” Thus says the LORD of hosts, “Consider your ways! “Go up to the mountains, bring wood and rebuild the temple, that I may be pleased with it and be glorified,” says the LORD. You look for much, but behold, it comes to little; when you bring it home, I blow it away Why?” declares the LORD of hosts, “Because of My house which lies desolate, while each of you runs to his own house. “Therefore, because of you the sky has withheld its dew and the earth has withheld its produce. “I called for a drought on the land, on the mountains, on the grain, on the new wine, on the oil, on what the ground produces, on men, on cattle, and on all the labor of your hands.” (Haggai 1:4-11)

Haggai’s encouragement shamed them into resuming work on the Temple, shamed them so much they began again with alacrity, only 23 days later! Would that all convictions from the Spirit resulted in such immediate action! Good for them.

Haggai said the LORD asked the Israelites, in effect, hadn’t they felt the difference in blessings? Haven’t they noticed that things had been getting more difficult? He said that He saw they had been increasingly consumed with material goods to the neglect of their spiritual life. They ate but were not full. They drank but still thirsted. Their purse was full of holes, indicting mis-spending and little saving. Sounds like America now.

The LORD continued, saying that He had brought a drought on the land, on the mountains, on the grain, on the new wine, on the oil (which was a drought on local agricultural production and exports). Sounds like America now.

The LORD called for drought on men, on cattle, and on all the labor of your hands. A drought on labor. Sounds like America now. The LORD pressures a people to remind them of whence their blessings come. Sounds like America. As we go forward on this day remembering our origins and celebrating our future, let us remember Who holds the country’s future in His hands.

Posted in crust, earthquake, end time, malaysia chasm, prophecy

Earth crustal changes continue, Malaysia chasm opens in highway

Posted on by elizabethprata

I’ve been looking into the pattern of crustal collapses lately that evidence themselves in sinkholes, chasms, and explosions. I reported on them May 25 here, May 31 here, June 10 here, June 13 here, including the famous Guatemala sinkhole and the fear-inducing spate in China. For end time connections, I like to work from the firmly known and described from the Tribulation, and work backwards. I proposed the theory that the floods, quakes, volcanic action around the world was a precursor to the shifts in earth’s crust that will later, during the tribulation, be catastrophic.

A five metre wide chasm has mysteriously opened in a busy road. The enormous crevice tore through the ground late last night, causing traffic chaos in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. Miraculously no one was killed, although one truck was overturned by the force of the collapse. Officials have no explanation for why the giant hole has appeared but confirmed they were looking into it.

“Lucky escape: No one was killed, although this truck was overturned by the force of the collapse.”

Another report stated “Most motorists were simply bemused at the sight, taking photos of the geological menace – but the fact the road collapsed in the middle of the night caused trouble for others. June tends to be the wettest time for this part of the country, with the southwest monsoon dumping nearly a fifth of the annual rainfall during the month. But since no one has yet come up with a definitive explanation as to the appearance of the hole, officials continue to look into it.”

It’s interesting to think that the road “mysteriously” cracked, and that “officials have no explanation.” These kind of words are repeatedly and often in news stories these days about why the ground is simply not solid anymore beneath our feet. The red mud bubbling up from underneath a Chinese thoroughfare puzzled officials too, as well as the road that cracked unexpectedly from which the bubbling mud oozed. New first-ever airborne radar images of the deformation in Earth’s surface caused by a major earthquake show that in the April 2010 Calexico 7.2 mag quake just south of San Diego, the earth moved substantially, in some places 2 1/2 feet, it shifted 6-10 feet in Mexico. The quake broke San Diego’s Crust and at Mexico’s border, and the new space imaging shows where Earth’s crust shifted 10 feet.

As this age comes to a close, major shifts of all kinds, not just earth crustal shifts, are evident. These changes will become worse as time goes on, until the full-fledged Great Tribulation begins and nothing is the same. For now, though, the shifts may seem distant and unconnected, but they are as bright as neon for the aware Christian watchmen, because “you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief; for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness; so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober.” (1 Thess. 5:4-6)

Posted in end time, fossil doscivered peru, job, prophecy

Leviathan discovered and it ain’t a crocodile

Posted on by elizabethprata

The bible mentions “leviathan.” That is a word that means “a very large creature.” The verses that discusses leviathan are in Job 41 and they are extensive. The discussion between God and Job is a comparison of Job the puny man to the mightiest of earthly creatures at that time, Leviathan. Read the description of this creature below, it seems fierce indeed.

In biblical circles, the actual animal Leviathan describes was always in dispute. It has variously been called a crocodile or a whale, but even then, scholars acknowledged that neither animal seems to match the mightiness of the animal God is talking about.

Job 41
“Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook? Or press down his tongue with a cord?” Can you pull in the leviathan with a fishhook or tie down his tongue with a rope? Can you put a cord through his nose or pierce his jaw with a hook? Will he keep begging you for mercy?Will he speak to you with gentle words? Will he make an agreement with you for you to take him as your slave for life? Can you make a pet of him like a bird or put him on a leash for your girls? Will traders barter for him? Will they divide him up among the merchants? Can you fill his hide with harpoonsor his head with fishing spears? If you lay a hand on him,you will remember the struggle and never do it again! Any hope of subduing him is false; the mere sight of him is overpowering.”

“No one is fierce enough to rouse him. Who then is able to stand against me? Who has a claim against me that I must pay? Everything under heaven belongs to me. “I will not fail to speak of his limbs, his strength and his graceful form. Who can strip off his outer coat? Who would approach him with a bridle? Who dares open the doors of his mouth, ringed about with his fearsome teeth? His back has rows of shields tightly sealed together; each is so close to the next that no air can pass between. They are joined fast to one another; they cling together and cannot be parted.”

“His snorting throws out flashes of light; his eyes are like the rays of dawn. Firebrands stream from his mouth; sparks of fire shoot out. Smoke pours from his nostrils as from a boiling pot over a fire of reeds. His breath sets coals ablaze, and flames dart from his mouth. Strength resides in his neck; dismay goes before him. The folds of his flesh are tightly joined; they are firm and immovable. His chest is hard as rock, hard as a lower millstone. When he rises up, the mighty are terrified; they retreat before his thrashing. The sword that reaches him has no effect, nor does the spear or the dart or the javelin. Iron he treats like straw and bronze like rotten wood. Arrows do not make him flee; slingstones are like chaff to him. A club seems to him but a piece of straw; he laughs at the rattling of the lance. His undersides are jagged potsherds, leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing sledge. He makes the depths churn like a boiling caldron and stirs up the sea like a pot of ointment. Behind him he leaves a glistening wake; one would think the deep had white hair. Nothing on earth is his equal— a creature without fear. He looks down on all that are haughty; he is king over all that are proud.”

Wow. That’s some creature.

Matthew Henry wrote — “The description of the Leviathan, is yet further to convince Job of his own weakness, and of God’s almighty power. Whether this Leviathan be a whale or a crocodile, is disputed. The Lord, having showed Job how unable he was to deal with the Leviathan, sets forth his own power in that mighty creature.”

Scientists have unearthed a fossil that is fairly complete and illustrates the skeletal attributes of the disputed but firmly described creature in Job. And guess what? They named him “Leviathan.” [The sea creature is not 12M years old, as a literal creationist I believe that the creature is no older than 6000 years old]

‘Sea monster’ whale fossil unearthed

Researchers have discovered the fossilised remains of an ancient whale with huge, fearsome teeth. Writing in the journal Nature, the scientists have dubbed the 12 million-year-old creature “Leviathan”. It is thought to have been more than 17m (56ft) long, and might have engaged in fierce battles with other giant sea creatures from the time. Leviathan was much like the modern sperm whale in terms of size and appearance. But that is where the similarity ends. While the sperm whale is a relatively passive animal, sucking in squid from the depths of the ocean, Leviathan was an aggressive predator. According to Dr Christian de Muizon, director of the Natural History Museum in Paris, Leviathan could have hunted out and fed on large sea creatures such as dolphins, seals and even other whales. “It was a kind of a sea monster,” he said. “And it’s interesting to note that at the same time in the same waters was another monster, which was a giant shark about 15m long. It’s possible that they might have fought each other”. The researchers speculate that Leviathan was able to feed on very large prey up to 8m long. It would catch the prey in its huge jaws and tear it apart quickly and effectively with its giant teeth.  Now, the discovery of the skull means that the Leviathan is not merely the stuff of myth and legend. “Finally we found it,” said Dr Lambert. ” It was a very exciting moment”.

It is an exciting moment for many Christians too, who know that the bible is always right, all along! Please read the rest of the article at the headline-link. Good stuff!