Category: prophecy

Posted in christmas, jesus, joseph, nazareth, prophecy

"He shall be called a Nazarene": God is the author of the future

Posted on by elizabethprata

“But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.” And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled: “He shall be called a Nazarene.” (Matthew 2:19-23)

God is the author of the future. He ordained it and only He knows it. Sometimes, He tells us before it happens. That is what’s called prophecy.

God tells us in different ways what His plans are for the future. In the Old Testament, He told Adam directly there would be a savior. Other times, He selected men as Prophets to receive His word. In the NT, He selected men as Apostles and told them to speak His future. Then finally, He spoke through His Son. (Hebrews 1:1-2). The life and death and resurrection of Christ is part of that amazing reliability of God’s ordination of events, because all the events prior to His coming pointed to Him!

“I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you.” 
(Psalm 2:7)

And after Jesus rose and went to heaven, God sent His Spirit to inspire men to write it all down so we could read the past, the present and the future all at once, in one book.

John MacArthur wrote,
There is no way to explain the Bible’s ability to predict the future unless we see God as its Author. For example, the Old Testament contains more than three hundred references to the Messiah of Israel that were precisely fulfilled by Jesus Christ (Christ is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word Messiah).

 Peter Stoner, a scientist in the area of mathematical probabilities, said in his book Science Speaks that if we take just eight of the Old Testament prophecies Christ fulfilled, we find that the probability of their coming to pass is one in 1017. He illustrates that staggering amount this way:

We take 1017 silver dollars and lay them on the face of Texas . They will cover all of the state two feet deep. Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly. . . . Blindfold a man and tell him he must pick up one silver dollar. . . . What chance would he have of getting the right one? Just the same chance that the prophets would have had of writing these eight prophecies and having them come true in any one man. ([ Chicago : Moody, 1963], 100-107)

And Jesus fulfilled hundreds more than just eight prophecies!

God is the author of the future. In eons past, He ordained that His Son would redeem a sinful humanity, and do it in a way that stops our heart just thinking about it. His Son would voluntarily depart from His holy habitation in heaven and descend into a helpless babe’s body. He would live and grow on earth as a human, amid the pollution, curse, and sin we created. He would teach and prophesy and die a bodily death as the Spotless Lamb of God, and pleased with His Son, God would raise Him on the third day.

“Be silent, all flesh, before the LORD; for He is aroused from His holy habitation.“
(Zechariah 2:13)

This was His plan since the beginning and made known to us since Genesis 3. Jesus is a fulfillment of God’s prophecies, His plan since the beginning of time, and the very embodiment of love.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him…” 
(John 3:16-17)

And He was and is called The Nazarene. Believe on Him and be saved.

Posted in Obama, prophecy, technology. selfie, two witnesses

Cultural narcissism, Obama’s selfie, and prophecy

Posted on by elizabethprata

When Former President of South Africa Nelson Mandela died, Barack Obama attended the memorial service. There were many other Heads of State in attendance of course. Memorial services for Heads of State are usually somber, filled with gravitas, and dosed with a healthy portion of dignity.

Not so with Barack Obama. So childishly entranced by the pretty blond girl next to him (who is the Prime Minister of Denmark by the way), Obama put on a white man’s overbite cell phone picture with her and a giggling UK Prime Minister David Cameron, risking the ire of his wife (who is making the ‘I’ll get you later’ angry wife face next to him).

British Prime Minister David Cameron, Denmark’s Prime Minister
Helle Thorning Schmidt and President Barack Obama pose for a
“selfie” picture during the memorial service for Nelson Mandela.
ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP/Getty Images

The Oxford dictionary crowned selfie as word of the year and defined it as “a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website.”

The NY Post described selfie another way in their article “Obama’s ‘Selfie Presidency’ – It’s All About Me!“:
“Selfie! It’s the concept of the year. Maybe — given its accompanying connotations of technology, media, instantaneous global transmission, carelessness, solipsism, frivolity, youth, inappropriateness and ironic juxtaposition — it’s the concept of our age.“

And there we have it summed up our world culture today: a pandemic of narcissism, solipsism, lack of gravitas, and instantaneous global transmission. The bible sums it up this way:

“But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.” (2 Timothy 3:1-5)

Let’s look at the instantaneous global transmission first. Remember when the news of Osama bin Laden’s death came across the wires? ESPN reported:

“The “U-S-A, U-S-A” chants began at Citizens Bank Park in the ninth inning Sunday night, as the New York Mets’ Daniel Murphy batted as a pinch-hitter against Philadelphia Phillies reliever Ryan Madson. And as the news filtered among the announced crowd of 45,713 — the 137th consecutive sellout in the stadium’s history — about U.S. special forces killing accused Sept. 11 mastermind Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, the chants grew louder and more widespread, and people could be spotted all over the ballpark checking their phones.“

The moment that bin Laden’s death became public, thousands upon thousands of attendees at a baseball game knew it, and erupted in cheers. Those who were a few seconds behind the news, caught up almost instantaneously as they checked their phones for texts from friends or family, or internet news. The big news was the death, but the second most reported news was how fast the news got out.

The UK Daily Mail reported,


Ecstatic fans at the game in Philadelphia held up their mobile phones
showing the news that Bin Laden was dead as they received messages
from friends. source

Hold this thought. I’m going to come back to it.

As for instantaneous global transmission, I think of this heartbreaking series of tweets from a woman who is slowly discovering her husband had died in a car crash. We not only share news after it happens, we now share it while it happens. Toledo News Now has it:

I am 53 years old so that means I grew up with phones that hung on the wall and you could only walk as far as the cord would let you. There were no cell phones. If you were out and about you had to use a pay phone (if you had a dime) or ask to use a business phone. We got along perfectly fine.

I remember the first time I saw cell phone selfies. It was 2007. I was attending a religious revival, and there were some high school kids on the bleachers. They were almost in unison taking photos of themselves. It was unusual enough that I shot a photo of them taking a photo of themselves. (I was there to take pictures for the newspaper). I never used the photo but I kept it. This was before the word ‘selfie’ was coined but it was the time when all people under the age of 25 had a cell phone in their back pocket and instantaneous global communication was born.

Now in 2013 we have this from Breaking News,

@BreakingNews

On Youtube I watched a flash mob re-enact the scene just before Rembrandt captured it forever in his painting The Night Watch. The final scene of the flash mob was to station themselves as Rembrandt did in his famous painting. Prior to the final scene, men dressed in Dutch Renaissance clothing were running all around a mall trying to capture a robber. Men in armor tramped through, a chicken was released, ropes dropped from the ceiling and people clambered up and down. In the video I noticed this woman. Either she is so involved in her texting she is oblivious to the strange goings-on around her, or she is so aware of what’s happening, she’s texting someone as it is happening. Either way, the technology is globally instantaneous; and either way it’s tragic.

This is what satan has always been after. God gave us Himself so we would look at Him. Satan gave us enticements so we would look at ourselves.

“So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.” (Genesis 3:6)

Immediately when satan enticed Eve, she turned her thoughts to herself, my food, my pleasure, my wisdom. And we have been off and running ever since. Because the curse always gets worse, we are coming to the moment when all of 2 Timothy 3:1-5 will be true for almost everyone on the planet. If a culture reflects itself in who we elect to lead us, then Obama certainly shows us that it’s all about MEEE!!! Satan’s work since the garden will be almost completed. Sin, which is narcissistic after all, will soon be making its final run.

Though there are advantages to instant global communication which are selfless and culturally elevating, technology soon turns to a vast wasteland. That is what satan does, he takes everything that is at hand and turns it to waste. (John 10:10). And it will be the same with technology. In the end technology will be used to instantaneously celebrate the deaths of the Two Witnesses that God sent for their edification and salvation but instead will be used to endlessly repeat the news loop of their putrefying bodies in the street of Jerusalem.

And when the Two Witnesses die, can’t you see the same thing but even even more instantaneous than bin Laden’s death? If people discovered the hated man’s death when it occurred, how much more will the virulently hated Two Witnesses’ deaths be celebrated? After all, the prophecy says ‘every tribe, people, language, and nation’.

“And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them, and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically is called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. For three and a half days some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb, and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth.” (Revelation 11:7-10)

The global instant communication is here, ready for the prophecy to be fulfilled. The mental and emotional state of pandemic narcissism Paul warns Timothy of is here also. The combination is one that will see the Two Witnesses deaths instantly known and instantly celebrated.

Christians will be gone well before that. We will be raptured prior to the Tribulation AKA Time of Jacob’s trouble. It will happen in the blink of an eye, so that no one will be able to capture our disappearance on cell phone or other instant media. The aftermath, yes. But our disappearance, no.

Come soon Lord Jesus.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Further reading

GLAAD: The Vicious Tolerance Police

Infamous Selfies

Posted in faithless, jesus, judgment, prophecy

What is the clearest sign of the approaching return of Jesus Christ?

Posted on by elizabethprata

There is no doctrine I can mention which someone purporting to be a Christian doesn’t refute.

In the old days, lol, five years ago when I started this blog, some people would argue about the timing of the rapture, whether sprinkling or dunking is a proper method for baptism, or whether Methodist or Baptist was a more conservative denomination. These are examples of doctrines and opinions which are not foundational to Christianity. In other words, if one believes one or another, it doesn’t mean they are not a Christian.

An essential doctrine of Christianity is one which distinguishes a person from all pagan religions. It establishes them as a child of God. An example of an essential doctrine is that one must believe that one is a sinner, destined for hell, and that Jesus the Son of God lived a sinless life on earth, died as the atoning sacrifice for our sins and rose again and went to heaven, and will return in glory to judge the living and the dead. Ha ha, I just gave the Gospel.

One must believe that Jesus is the Son of God and is God. One must believe that hell is real and sinners spend an eternity there, while repented sinners will go to be with Jesus in heaven. One must believe Jesus was both God and man. One must believe that salvation is by God’s grace through faith alone.

And so on.

Essential doctrines are the foundation of the faith structure. No builder says, “ah, we don’t need foundation forms, let’s just pour the concrete now.” All structures need a firm foundation, and so does faith. These are the foundational doctrines of which I speak.

Wiki commons

Five years later, the entire foundation has collapsed. Not of the Christian faith structure, because that is eternal, but belief in the foundational doctrines that many alleged Christians now challenge, or even set aside. There is no doctrine I can put forth as propositional (true or false, no in between) that some “Christian” doesn’t challenge as unnecessary. There isn’t one doctrine we can agree is untouchable in its necessity in the pantheon of things Jesus taught. Even the foundational ones.

Many other religions change their foundational doctrines at will, as needs change or cultures change. Mormons believed that polygamy was essential, until they didn’t. Islam has its additions/changes, and contradictions. Buddhist doctrines came in and went out, as they worked or didn’t work. Hinduism adds gods and now they are up to 330 million. Or 33 million. Who can keep track. Catholicism has added to the bible with its apocrypha (extra-biblical books written between the OT and NT times). Catholicism changes constantly because they depend on tradition, and as new traditions occur they were added into the pantheon of false beliefs. False religions change because they are doctrines of man. The doctrines of God don’t change.

Yes some want to change these doctrines, water them down, or delete them entirely.

“And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another.” (Matthew 24:10).

–Is hell eternal? Nah, love wins, said Rob Bell.
–Does God punish sin? God is love and His mercy and He will forgive all. We’re all one, says Neale Donald Walsch.
–Is the revelation from God complete? No, more is coming in, say Sarah Young and Beth Moore.
–How important is it for people to understand they’re sinners? Not that important, says Joel Osteen.
–Is Jesus God? Probably not but He taught great things. Thomas Jefferson certainly thought he was a good teacher, but nothing more.
–Is Jesus the only way to heaven? Not if you’ve lived a sincere life, says Billy Graham.

You see how many doctrines that are fundamental to our belief structure are being set aside and/or challenged. This is apostasy.

“For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?” (1 Peter 4:17)

Apostasy is a judgment upon those who are not Christians and it is a chastening upon those who are. Apostasy is a testing and an opportunity for true Christians to exalt Christ. The more apostasy around us, the more we are tested.

Judas betrays Jesus with a kiss. Judas Iscariot,
one of the Twelve Apostles, became an apostate. Public domain

“And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away.” (Luke 8:13).

The collapse has been rapid and stunning. I’ve watched through the lens of the bible and by writing on this blog nearly every day, and I’ve seen a swerve away from these precious doctrines. It pains me to see friends carried away by wolves. These folks are prey and it hurts to see them hurt. It is agonizing to see a church fall. It is very hard to see the celebrity pastors, and unknown pastors too, take so many down with them, particularly their families.

But it is prophesied and what is more, it is a judgment from God. When you’re persecuted for standing on truth amid a bevy of goats swirling around as your church weakens like the Swiss cheese photo above, count it all joy. Jesus said to rejoice in sufferings, and apostasy and what comes with it does make us suffer. Some are even harassed and dismissed because of it. But rejoice. I know that is hard. John MacArthur spoke to that in his sermon on the 1 Peter 4:17 verse titled The Fiery Trial, Part 2:

Paul Gorbould, Creative Commons

“Sometimes this is quite challenging, to be honest with you. When I have been battered around a little bit and say to myself, “Well, I should expect it, after all if I desire to live a godly life and preach the truth of God and if I want to hold the standard of holiness very high and if I want to hold the standard of doctrinal purity and biblical truth very high, I can expect to get this, so I must be ready for it.” I can usually handle that. It’s moving to that second one where I rejoice over it that challenges me…where I say, “Thank You, Lord, this is really wonderful, I’m loving every minute of this.” I find that sometimes a bit much. But I by the grace of God if I have the time to meditate on it and to lay it before the Lord, I find that the Spirit of God fills my heart with joy and it’s usually the joy twofold, the joy of participation in the sense that no matter what I might suffer it is small compared to what Jesus Christ suffered and yet I am a partaker of His suffering. And the second element that hits me hard is that whatever suffering I may incur in this life shall be more than rewarded in the eternal joy which shall be mine forever in the presence of the Lord. Rejoice in it.”

Here is a short answer by Jacob Prasch to the question, ‘what is the clearest sign of the coming of Jesus Christ?’ I understand that Mr Prasch is a polarizing figure and I make no claim to endorse or not endorse his ministry. I just liked what he said here. And despite his brashness in speaking this answer, I agreed with it completely. Every word.

Hear hear

Here is Dr Thomas Ice in a recent essay titled Drowning in Apostasy. I also liked his answer.

“The following is a list of the seven major passages that deal with the last days for the church: 1 Timothy 4:1-3; 2 Timothy 3:1-5; 4:3-4; James 5:1-8; 2 Peter 2:1-22; 3:3-6; Jude 1-25. Every one of these passages emphasizes over and over again that the great characteristic of the final time of the church will be that of apostasy. The New Testament pictures the condition within the professing church at the end of the age by a system of denials.

 Denial of GOD — Luke 17:26; 2 Timothy 3:4-5
Denial of CHRIST — 1 John 2:18; 4:3; 2 Peter 2:6
Denial of CHRIST’S RETURN — 2 Peter 3:3-4
Denial of THE FAITH — 1 Timothy 4:1-2; Jude 3
Denial of SOUND DOCTRINE — 2 Timothy 4:3-4
Denial of THE SEPARATED LIFE — 2 Timothy 3:1-7
Denial of CHRISTIAN LIBERTY — 1 Timothy 4:3-4
Denial of MORALS — 2 Timothy 3:1-8,13; Jude 18
Denial of AUTHORITY — 2 Timothy 3:4 [2]”

“As can be observed from the above characterizations, apostasy occurs in two basic areas: 1) doctrinal defection from the Bible, and 2) immoral or ungodly behavior. The clear course of the last days for the church consists of constant warnings to the believer, especially to pastors and leaders, to be on guard within the flock against doctrinal defection, commonly known as apostasy. Such a characteristic provides for the believer today a clear sign that we are in the last days of the church age.“

Forsaken Fotos, Creative Commons

Judgment began in the house of God. It continues. It is most evident in the form of apostasy. The faithless who in fact worship demons fall away, and as they fall, they tumble the walls of the church with them, exposing the goats and shearing the sheep.

The Lord’s return must be very close. As apostasy rises we rejoice that the Lord has a plan. He plans to return after He allows faithlessness to run its course. He will establish His holy hill, and the government will be upon His shoulders. No one will disbelieve again. No one will fall away again. No one will be persecuted for speaking the truth again. Hold on, dear brethren. Let the Lord find you standing when He returns.

by Aeterium

Posted in jesus, king, prophecy

The coronation of Jesus

Posted on by elizabethprata

I read Daniel 7 the other day and I still can’t get the spiritual-awesome out of my mind. I’m still mulling the scenes and pondering them in my heart.

I think of this scene with much joy:

The Son of Man Is Given Dominion

“I saw in the night visions,

and behold, with the clouds of heaven
there came one like a son of man,
and he came to the Ancient of Days
and was presented before him.
And to him was given dominion
and glory and a kingdom,
that all peoples, nations, and languages
should serve him;
his dominion is an everlasting dominion,
which shall not pass away,
and his kingdom one
that shall not be destroyed.
Daniel 7:13-14

The Lord is presented to the LORD! His coronation is seen! He comes into His kingdom! O, what long years and epochs the Son of Man has waited. What patience, what obedience, what submission!

Yet at the moment the Ancient of Days enters the heavenly throne room (Daniel 7:9), and the Son of Man is presented to Him, it is glorious all-joy! Jesus comes into His kingship. This is just before He calls His bride Home, and then returns with us. By then he is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. But now, as in Revelation 4, we see the moment He is given all absolute authority.

I long for when Jesus will come into His kingdom! I long for when the honor due Him will be expressed fully. He is due ALL, and this moment in the scripture shows the honor that is gloriously given Him.

Don’t you long for the day when Jesus is absolute King? When no man dare to sully His name on sinful lips? This scene in Daniel is uplifting in the extreme. I hope it blesses you as well.

His grace that saved us sinners is infinite. It was showered on us, and we will be privileged to dwell with the coronated King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

O, come soon, Lord Jesus. Come into Your Kingdom!

Posted in elijah, enoch, prophecy, two witnesses

"Where is Elijah’s body?"

Posted on by elizabethprata

Elisha Succeeds Elijah

An icon of Elijah
from Saint Catherine’s Monastery,
Mount Sinai

Now when the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho saw him opposite them, they said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” And they came to meet him and bowed to the ground before him. And they said to him, “Behold now, there are with your servants fifty strong men. Please let them go and seek your master. It may be that the Spirit of the Lord has caught him up and cast him upon some mountain or into some valley.” And he said, “You shall not send.” But when they urged him till he was ashamed, he said, “Send.” They sent therefore fifty men. And for three days they sought him but did not find him. And they came back to him while he was staying at Jericho, and he said to them, “Did I not say to you, ‘Do not go’?” (2 Kings 2:15-18)

Elijah had been taken up to heaven bodily in a chariot of fire, while his successor, Elisha, looked on. Elisha then took Elijah’s left-behind mantle and doffed it. When the other prophets saw Elisha return wearing it, they knew what had happened, and you see in the verse, they bowed in respect to the new premier Prophet of Israel.

They were also concerned about proper burial of Elijah’s body. They kept asking and asking and asking until they were ashamed to ask any more. Elisha kept saying No, and No, and No, until he was ashamed to say no anymore. He relented and said, Go. He knew they would not find Elijah. Elisha had seen Elijah be taken to heaven alive.

When the prophets returned unsuccessful, Elisha said, ‘Well? Didn’t I tell you not to go?’

Though Elijah’s body was not found in the deserts of Israel long ago, some time in the future, will it be seen by not just the concerned prophets, but all the world?

There will be Two Witnesses in the Tribulation who will come to tell the world of God’s truth. They will prophesy for 1,260 days.

The two witnesses, as depicted
in the Bamberg Apocalypse, an 11th-century
illuminated manuscript.

“Now when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the Abyss will attack them, and overpower and kill them. Their bodies will lie in the public square of the great city—which is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt—where also their Lord was crucified. For three and a half days some from every people, tribe, language and nation will gaze on their bodies and refuse them burial. The inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and will celebrate by sending each other gifts, because these two prophets had tormented those who live on the earth.

“But after the three and a half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and terror struck those who saw them. Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” And they went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies looked on.” (Revelation 11:7-11)

The Two Witnesses are not named. I believe they will be Enoch and Elijah, because these are the only two men in the world who have not died. (Genesis 5:23). Hebrews 9:27 says it is appointed for man to die once, and then the judgment. Only Enoch and Elijah have been taken to heaven alive, and never died once.

“By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God.” (Hebrews 11:5)

“It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” (Jude 1:14-15)

Elijah and Enoch – seventeenth-century icon,
Historic Museum in Sanok, Poland

IF the witness who lays in the streets of metaphorical Sodom is Elijah, and I have no certain information that it is, then the little detail in 2 Kings 2 about where Elijah’s body is becomes even more poignant. The prophets were searching and searching for a body that will not be found … until the far future, in the streets of a city that had become so unholy it is called Sodom, and to be seen by millions upon millions, not just fifty men.

The prophets wanted to honor his body, but instead, it will be desecrated and lay unburied, spit upon, and mocked by all the world.

However, the witnesses’ bodies will become the vehicle whereupon God will show His power. He will call them up to heaven, and their bodies will reconstitute before all the eyes of the world, and be translated to heaven for their eternal rest.

Praise our Holy LORD for His plan, His mind, His perfection. The bible is fascinating.

Posted in cleon, ice storm, last days, prophecy, weather

Rare Weather Phenomenon Fills Grand Canyon with Fog; plus intensity limits of severe storms is increasing

Posted on by elizabethprata

A study on Weather and the Bible shows just how much God is in control of it and how much He uses it for His purposes. Far from an indirect happenstance, all weather is causal, and originates with God.

Some of it is brought about by satan, insofar as God allows him. As the author of the Weather and the Bible page I mentioned above, Diane Dew states, “However, Satan’s efforts must pass divine approval and are limited to the extent God allows.“

For example, He sends the frost to kill the trees (Psalm 78:47) and He sends the dew to refresh the land (Genesis 27:28). He sends the dew even to refresh the people. (Numbers 11:9).

God sends the thunder and lighting and rain and floods and hail and wind, and well, everything. As we see above, He has purposes of building up and sustaining, and He has and purposes of tearing down. Sometimes it is to show His power and sometimes it is to bring about repentance.

Therefore every weather event is from God. However not every weather event is a word FROM God. Sometimes a tornado on a Monday in 1912 may have results of an impact God wanted to make on a Tuesday of 2013. We don’t know, a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years is like a day. (2 Peter 3:8).

However, there is one overarching fact about the weather and it ties in with the general curse of the world. Things will devolve. Things are always going to get worse over time. This includes sin. It includes the world’s curse. (Genesis 3:17-19, Romans 8:20, Hebrews 6:8). It includes weather.

We are told that in general, because the world is cursed and things will get worse, the end times will have worsening weather. The end times are between when Jesus ascended and when He comes back, including the last 7 years of the Time of Jacob’s Trouble AKA the Tribulation. (Hebrews 1:2, James 5:3). We are in the last days. But we have been since NT bible times.

The weather will get worse because the curse gets worse and everything is going to be like labor pangs. Labor pangs start off with a gestation, build to the moment of water breaking, and culminates in ever shortening pains. Then the bloody birth.

Luke 21:11 speaks of earthquakes, and Luke 21:25-26 speaks of roaring waters and signs in the heavens. Matthew 24:7 speaks of famines and Revelation 11:6 speaks of droughts. The Holman Bible Dictionary explains, “A famine is an extreme shortage of food, and a drought is an excessive dryness of land. The Bible reports or predicts the occurrence of several famines and droughts. Drought was the most common cause of famines mentioned in the Bible.”

I’ve long noted that increasingly, weathermen claim that unusual phenomena are occurring. They have used superlatives like “rare” and “never before seen.” They use terms like “unexpected”, and are often “perplexed” over why or how these weather things are happening. When they run out of superlatives, having reached the top level in descriptors, they double up in attempting to describe what they are seeing. In one recent case, the Joplin tornado, the rough and tumble weather man just stood there and cried, his mind unable to come up with fitting descriptions for the devastation he was seeing.

This is an example to me of prophecy coming alive. When we see people who are in the know (or who claim to be in the know) struggling to explain on the ground an event that was once something only theorized in textbooks, then it is indicative of something out of the norm of human experience. Prophecy is the intersection of the explainable and the supernatural. I believe we’re at that point now.

Regular readers will know that I keep track of how many earthquakes are occurring over time. Earthquakes are mentioned in many of the prophetic texts as the indicator of the last days, including Luke, Matthew, and Revelation. Jesus mentioned them as a sign. Hence my interest.

On the last day of each year, I post a long-term trend chart in seeing how many quakes have occurred that year in four different magnitudes, using US Geological Survey data and their norms. I started peeking into this year’s results in early November, as we are coming up on Dec 31st. Initially when I looked at the data at the beginning of November, the number of 5.0-5.9 quakes was very far below the annual average posted by USGS. However, that has picked up significantly. Whether we read or exceed the average number is unknown, as it is unknown as to what it means if we do (or don’t.) But here is where the number of quakes stands now, as of December 5, 2013. I’ll post the final chart on the 31st in the evening. Click to enlarge

In fact, here are two more examples of this intersection or the normal and the supernatural in terms of weather.

Found on My Modern Met: yet another rare, once in a decade event, happening twice in three days!

Rare Weather Phenomenon Fills Grand Canyon with Fog
What an awe-inspiring sight! A few days ago, on Friday, November 29, The Grand Canyon was taken over by a rare weather phenomenon that filled the entire canyon with a thick layer of fog. The occurrence, called a temperature inversion, caused everyone, including rangers, to flock to the rim to take photos of it. As the Grand Canyon National Park Facebook page stated, “Rangers wait for years to see it. Word spread like wildfire and most ran to the rim to photograph it. What a fantastic treat for all!” If you stayed just a few more days, you could see it again as it happened twice in three days! Visitors to the canyon both on Friday and Sunday were able to witness the stunning, once-in-a-decade event.

Photo: NPS Photo by Erin Whittaker

What does it mean that the rare, once-in-a-decade event occurs twice in three days? I believe it is the Lord speaking to us. Now, if that was the only event happening, that in itself is not indicative of anything, except maybe a furrowed brow and a verbal “huh.” However the totality of global events occurring which align with prophecy, are increasing like birth pangs, and are unusual by any standard, is of more interest and deserves some attention and meditation by Christians.

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Here is another event, happening now as I write. The meteorologists are saying “epic storm!” (notice the use of superlative, epic). They are “predicting power outages to last “5-10 days in some areas!”

Epic Ice Storm Possible; Millions Could Lose Power

This winter storm is bringing record snow and record cold to a huge swathe of the middle of the US. They are describing the storm as crippling.

Was it only 10 months ago that another “historic” blizzard pounded New England? Nemo? Remember? (Feb 6, 2013).

How often has the new term ‘snowmageddon’ or ‘snowpocalypse’ been used lately? A lot, says Wikipedia.

  • North American blizzard of 2009 (Snowpocalypse)
  • February 5–6, 2010 North American blizzard (Snowmageddon)
  • February 9–10, 2010 North American blizzard (Snowmageddon: Snoverkill)
  • February 25–27, 2010 North American blizzard (Snowicane)
  • December 2010 North American blizzard
  • January 31 – February 2, 2011 North American blizzard
  • February 2013 North American blizzard
  • Winter of 2009–2010 in the United Kingdom

It’s obvious that increasingly the severe weather we are experiencing all over the globe is only getting worse. And we’re not done yet. Earth’s people have experienced the world’s biggest/worst storm, in October with typhoon Haiyan hitting the Philippines. The NBC Science News editor says:

“Experts say Typhoon Haiyan was about as strong as it could theoretically get when it swept through the Philippines, killing thousands of people and driving hundreds of thousands from their homes. But intensity limits have been rising over decades past — and climate models suggest they will keep rising over the decades to come, with the potential for bigger and more devastating storms.”

If you are in the path of this ice and snow storm named Cleon, please be careful and listen to the officials. I’ve already seen so many photos depicting empty shelves swept clean in a shopping frenzy, no bottled water, or bread. There have been fatalities and sorrow already, panic and anxiety. Be anxious for nothing, though, the Lord has the weather in His hands, and you as well.

Posted in curse, earth, planes, prophecy, rapture, to and fro, travel

Planes in the air, to and fro

Posted on by elizabethprata

I saw a graphic on Thanksgiving Day and it struck me deeply. My jaw dropped open I think. Here it is. It is from Planes in the Air Now-

Now, tell me, what does that picture remind you of? Anything? Anything? How about this one?

Pic from Mark J Norman ‏Twitter handle, @markjnewsman, shot Nov 27 with the caption: “Penn Station is hell right now”:

It reminded me of the prophecy in Daniel 12:4,

“But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.”

Speaking of to and fro, many people go back and forth on exactly what this prophecy means. I believe the consensus among scholars is similar to what Pulpit Commentary explains:

“Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. This is to be looked upon as a description of the last time, when circumstance shall remove the seal from the book. The translator of the Septuagint has been led away by the idea of the time as one of sorrow. The verb, however, translated “going to and fro” may be rendered, as it is by Ewald, as “to peruse.” The veil then shall be removed, the seals broken when men peruse the prophecy carefully, and knowledge is increased.”

Or as Gill’s explains,

“many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased; that is, towards the end of the time appointed, many persons will be stirred up to inquire into these things delivered in this book,”

Or as John MacArthur explains,

“run to and fro- The Hebrew movement always refers to the movement of a person searching for something. In the Tribulation, people will search for answers to the devastation and will discover increased knowledge through Daniel’s preserved book.”

However, in seeing the graphic of all the planes in the air over the US on Thanksgiving Day, and seeing the crammed people at Penn Station, it just strikes me how overburdened the earth is. I’m not talking overcrowding, like the eco-hippies talk about. I know there are many places with room to spare. But overburdened, as in sins piled up to heaven. Tottering sins piling up to heaven. I read Ezra’s prayer:

“saying: “O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens.” (Ezra 9:6).

I read Isaiah 59:12, “For our transgressions are multiplied before you, and our sins testify against us; for our transgressions are with us, and we know our iniquities:“

I think of all those planes and all those people crammed in at the station and I think of all that sin. All those sinners traveling to and fro, carrying their sin with them, and so many people and so much sin, the earth groans!

“For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.” (Romans 8:19-22)

More people on the earth just means more and more sin.

Doesn’t it feel like the earth would be groaning under all that bursting pressure and sins and people and to and fro and activity and curse?

Sometimes I wonder how much more the balloon can be filled up before it pops. Seeing an airplane graphic like this one makes me wonder how soon the rapture will be here.

The promise of the glory that awaits is compelling. It draws my thoughts often. I so long to worship the risen Jesus in person, in glory, seeing Him full in the face! I can’t wait to sing with the brethren and the angels of His holiness and purity. Sure, I’m tired of this world and I’m tired of my own sin, but that’s not the total reason for all this longing. It’s to be with Jesus, in His place He has prepared for us! It is to finally sing hallelujah for His work on earth and praise and exalt Him to the utmost, with no sin nature in me to pollute it.

Scenes like these flood my thoughts:

“At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne. And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald. Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God, and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal.” (Revelation 4:2-6)

O, that emerald rainbow!

Or this, in Revelation 5:11-12,

Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands,  saying with a loud voice,

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might
and honor and glory and blessing!”

We will be there, singing with them someday! Singing TO the Risen Jesus.

When I drag my mind back from the heavenly scenes and think of all those planes in the air, pointlessly going to and fro for sinful reasons and craven reasons and all the sin we carry, who wouldn’t want to be in the purity of a heavenly abode, so beautiful?

“But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— (1 Corinthians 2:9)

Someday it will be us in the air. Come soon, Lord Jesus.

Posted in Ahab, encouragement, prophecy

Ahab learned the hard way, you’re either all in, or all out. There’s no halfway

Posted on by elizabethprata

1 Kings 22. King Ahab of Israel wants to go to war.

Earlier, Ahab had truly repented in sackcloth and ashes, and the LORD saw that his heart was truly saddened for his sin. So God delayed the prophecy’s fulfillment that Ahab would die in battle and dogs will lick his blood until later in Ahab’s life.

Meanwhile, Ahab and Jehoshaphat, King of Judah, wanted to get the city of Ramoth-gilead back but they have to fight the king of Syria to do it. Ahab sought the prophets, who, of course, told Ahab exactly what he wanted to hear. Except for the real prophet, Micaiah, who delivered bad news. And of course Ahab went ballistic and ordered Micaiah to jail and Ahab decided to go to battle anyway.

“But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the sections of his armor. The king told his chariot driver, “Wheel around and get me out of the fighting. I’ve been wounded.” (1 Kings 22:34)

However…

When Micaiah said that Ahab would die in battle against BenHadad, king of Syria, and all men would scatter like sheep, Ahab ignored the prophecy but still feared it. He disguised himself and told Jehoshaphat to keep on wearing his own royal robes. Yet a stray arrow shot at random still found its mark and wound its way into Ahab’s breastplate. Ahab died that night, and his blood covered his chariot and it had to be washed in the pool at Siloam, where, according to prophecy, the dogs licked Ahab’s blood.

The battlefield disguise made no difference to the LORD, who sees all things–

And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” (Hebrews 4:13)

The notation in the verse about the randomness of the arrow shows just how powerful God is, it was no thing for Him to direct the arrow to pierce the fragile flesh of a man who feared God only as long as the prophecies were good to him.

Ahab should have listened to Micaiah, and he should have known that the Lord speaks truly and certainly. Fear the LORD fully, and you will do well.

God is all or nothing. He is truth, or He is not. He is all-powerful, or He is not. He sees all, or He does not. What is it in man who thinks we can out-wait, out wit, out-think a God such as this?

Ahab was in it part-way, and he lost all.

It’s foolish to fear God because He’s God, but then think a mere clothing disguise will prevent Him from seeing you. If He is the God who can make all things come to pass, a few inches of metal on your body aren’t enough to shield you from His eye nor His will. You either fear Him or you don’t fear Him, You either rebel in your own will or you accept His will. Ahab was playing a child’s game of costume Trick or Treat and he forgot God is the omniscient God of the eternal.

Remember, there is the broad way, and the narrow way. Foolish virgins and wise virgins. Heaven or hell. With Him or against Him. No ‘Bible PLUS tradition.’ There’s no tricks, no disguises, no argument. Read Matthew 7:21 to see how far the arguments carry.

Don’t be an Ahab. Fully embrace Him. And why not? Jesus is glory and beauty and truth and love and perfection.

“He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,” (Hebrews 1:3)

Posted in antichrist, bitcoin, jesus, prophecy, quantum computer

Bitcoins and quantum computing

Posted on by elizabethprata

Back in April of this year, I wrote about a quirky new virtual currency called bitcoin. At that time, it was just three years old and amazingly, valued at 1 BN. Forbes magazine at that time called it a “disruptive technology.” They state their opinion in a well-written, understandable piece of logic:

“A financial network is a technological platform that people build businesses on top of. And the traditional banking and credit card networks are closed platforms. If you want to build an e-commerce site, a payment network like Paypal, or any other service that deals in dollars, you need to convince incumbent financial institutions to do business with you. Getting such a partnership is difficult and involves a lot of red tape.

 There’s a good reason for the high barrier to entry: electronic transactions in the conventional banking system are generally reversible. If someone makes a fraudulent charge to your credit card, you can dispute the transaction and in most cases the bank or the merchant, not the customer, will cover the cost. That’s convenient for consumers, but it requires the financial system to be a fairly close-knit web of trust. Allowing a new member into the club creates risks for everyone else. So the incumbents are understandably reluctant to deal with anyone who isn’t well-known and well-capitalized.

 Bitcoin is different. Because transactions are authenticated cryptographically and cannot be reversed, there’s no need to restrict access to the network. There’s no risk to accepting payments from complete strangers. That means people don’t need anyone’s permission or trust to go into business as a Bitcoin-based merchant or financial intermediary.”

So how is bitcoin doing three and a half years after debut, and 7 months after it poked through the ceiling of global consciousness? Pretty durn good. The Verge has a piece on bitcoin from last night.

Source

Bitcoin hits $700 during surprisingly friendly Senate hearing on the virtual currency
“Bitcoin, the decentralized virtual currency that approximates cash on the internet, had a big day today. The four-year-old currency had its first hearing in Congress as experts from the government, the Bitcoin community, and the nonprofit sector appeared to discuss the implications of the growing popularity of virtual currencies. And while that testimony took place, a single Bitcoin soared to $700 on the market at the tail of a two-week climb.”

 “Virtual currencies, perhaps most notably Bitcoin, have captured the imagination of some, struck fear among others, and confused the heck out of many of us,” Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE), chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, told a packed room.”

 “The hearing was the culmination of a three-month investigation into Bitcoin and other virtual currencies, he said. The proceeding was made up of two panels. The first featured Jennifer Shasky Calvery, the director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network; Mythili Raman, an attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice; and Secret Service agent Edward W. Lowery III.”

The above article concluded ended with this “While the hearing was frontloaded with discussion of the potential for virtual currencies to be used for crime, there was no sense of alarm about the strange new world of Bitcoin. “

So far from being disruptively and wild N woolly, the bitcoin is settling into its place in commerce and in governmental mindsets. It is traded on the exchange, and is gaining investors, according to TechCrunch. The Chinese bitcoin exchange “pile onto bitcoin” and is gaining momentum. Bloomberg goes so far as to say it is gaining credibility. Bloomberg reminds us that “Bitcoins … exist as software and aren’t regulated by any country or banking authority,” and this is a remarkable statement because the currency didn’t even exist three years ago.

It is prophesied that the false prophet will force all to accept a mark of worship that will not only ally the recipients with satan via the antichrist but allow the recipients to buy or sell, (Revelation 13:16-17). People who refuse the mark will not be allowed to buy or sell. This is an intriguing prophecy. For millennia, it has been impossible for commenters, theologians and interpreters of the bible to understand how one man could control all of the world’s commerce by regulating its currency and to know instantly at point of sale who is allowed to buy or sell- and who is not. They believed it, they just couldn’t envision it.

However, since technological times in this generation, people have accepted that somehow the world economy will be remade to the point where one currency will circulate, but before the internet was invented the best they could envision was that it’d have something to do with barcodes.

The barcode was invented in 1952 but it wasn’t used commercially  until 1974. That is not so long ago. I was in high school. Since then, technology has made envisioning some of the previously more difficult and obscure prophecies not only clear but almost realized in our lifetime. Whether bitcoin will be THE currency used to fulfill the prophecy, or another one will be, it is increasingly clear that since this generation was born there have been astounding technological advances that not only laid the groundwork for the prophecy to be fulfilled but the details of it to be envisioned with clarity and precision.

Think about it- prior to 1974, no barcodes were in use in commercial economy. Since then we’ve had the advent of the internet, a global economy, and new currencies. One may buy and sell virtual items without ever touching money. A kindle book is one example. eCommerce is de rigueur.

Parallel to the bitcoin’s rise is the necessity for supercomputers to handle the world’s increasingly virtual commerce. And just yesterday, a quantum computing record was set. If there is to be a new currency and if it is to be virtual-based, the world will need faster computers to maintain these commerce and banking records. Enter quantum computing. Instead of using silicon based transistors, a quantum computer “will harness the power of atoms and molecules to perform memory and processing tasks.”

“Notoriously hard to manipulate and even more difficult to maintain Quantum memory states are often best controlled at absolute zero, however this new record has shattered previous estimations by being carried out at room temperature.” (source)

And the record that was “shattered” was that the quantum computer was maintained at room temp for 42 minutes. That’s a huge leap. A quantum leap. Sorry. Couldn’t resist.

With our old global economy on the brink, fiat money increasingly diluted, and new currencies popping up, combined with the convergence of all other prophecies such as the rapid decline of society, rise of apostasy, and Christianity’s great shrinking, it seems to me that we could actually see the Messiah in our lifetimes- if not sooner.

Posted in prophecy, seminary

How to spot a liberal seminary, storms, political discourse

Posted on by elizabethprata

Clint Archer has a good article on How to Spot a Liberal Seminary. If you were wondering how so many false pastors get into churches, and then turn around and corrupt the sheep, this is how. I personally believe we have passed a tipping point, with so many pastors as the tares choking out the real wheat. Pastors who don’t know the bible have to come from somewhere. Liberal seminaries are one place from which they spew.

Do you think there are more huge storms lately? Superstorm Sandy has already been upstaged by “the biggest storm ever, “Typhoon Haiyan. Here is an editorial looking at the last few years’ worth of storms and comparing them to the prophesied birth pangs. Data don’t lie.

Speaking of storms, another usual occurrence occurred. The Huffington Post commented on the recent rash of tornadoes in the Midwest yesterday. Their line, “Illinois was struck the hardest by the unusually powerful late-season tornadoes” contains the by-now usual superlatives I’ve been talking about. With each passing storm, each one larger than the last, or more unusual, or more powerful, we read of superlatives. In the HuffPo piece, we read three at once; ‘Unusual”, “powerful” and “late-season”.

We’ve gone from this:

“The citizens of the U.S. are responsible for the greatest trust ever confided to a political society” ~James Madison

And this:

“The jaws of power are always open to devour, and her arm is always stretched out, if possible, to destroy the freedom of thinking, speaking, and writing.” ~John Adams

To this. This is what passes for public, political discourse lately:
MSNBC’s Bashir Apologizes For Saying Someone Should Defecate on Sarah Palin

The scriptures say-
“Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.” (Proverbs 13:3)

“Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.” (Ephesians 5:4)