prophecy – Page 57

Israel gives Hamas ultimatum: ‘You have 36 hours’

Posted on November 19, 2012 by elizabethprata

Israel gives Hamas ultimatum
Unless the rocket fire at Israel ceases within 36 hours, the IDF will expand Operation Pillar of Cloud.
“On the sixth day of Operation Pillar of Cloud, the question exercising Israel’s political and military leadership is whether to launch a ground attack and substantially expand the operation, or to strive for a cease-fire. While the intense rocket fire on Israel’s southern settlements continues and the Israel Air Force continues to operate in the Gaza Strip, there are talks on a cease-fire arrangement between Israel and Hamas with Egyptian mediation. Galei Tzahal (Army Radio) reports this morning that the gaps between the demands of Hamas and the terms Israel wants are very wide. Jerusalem has therefore given Hamas an ultimatum that unless a cease-fire is reached within 36 hours, Operation Pillar of Cloud will be expanded.”

Russia Today reports, “Israel’s Finance Minister told IDF radio the time left before Israel escalates its attacks can be measured in “hours, not days.”

eschatology, harold camping, prophecy

UPDATED– How to approach prophecy, plus, snow tornado

Posted on November 18, 2012May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Editor’s Note–I don’t usually update essays after a few hours at most, preferring to leave them alone. But today I was reading John MacArthur’s “Christ’s Prophetic Plans” and some things in there just dovetailed erfectly with what I was saying here. I am adding the prophecy chart and a paragraph that explains why prophecy is important.

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

In a chaotic world it is sometimes hard to sort out what’s true and what’s not. In a chaotic and sometimes obscure prophetic world it is sometimes really hard to sort out what is happening.

As a theological study subject, Eschatology, or the study of end time things, has gotten a reputation of a kind of sneering unpopularity. There is no doubt that it is a popular subject, especially in the last few years. But very few admit to liking it, studying it, reading it, or teaching it. And this is too bad, because Peter said in 2 Peter 1:19,

“And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts,”

Peter was urging them to delight in the prophecy of the Lord’s coming. He was telling them that the Old Testament prophets foretold of the Lord’s coming and He came. The word is sure. He will come again. That is sure too. Referring constantly to the Word will break the hold that the false teachers had on them, and they were besieged by the crackpots, false teachers, preachers, and prophets in that first century church. Satan was doing everything he could to make the Christians unsure. He still is.

Below is a chart of an overview of prophecy from MacArthur’s book “Christ’s Prophetic Plans”

One reason this area of study seems to have gotten a bad reputation is because of the crackpots, casual predictors, and personal diviners. It seems that everyone has a dream that they need to tell about the times. “I talked with Jesus last night…” Harold Camping and his ilk did much to damage the reputation of that sure word when they set dates and handle the Word incorrectly.

When the inevitable disappointment comes, people are all too willing to throw out the entire bible rather than the false prediction. “I knew it!” they say. “The whole thing is bunk!” Sad.

In Christ’s Prophetic Plans, John MacArthur wrote,

“Imagine this hypothetical dialogue about the millennium between two well-meaning Christians. One proudly announces “I am promillennial- whatever it involves, although we cannot really know for certain, I am all for it!” The other responds, Well, I am Panmillenial-while prophecy is important for Christians to know, I am sure it will ‘pan out’ in the end.” The first Christian concludes that one cannot know for certain what Scriptures says about prophetic issues and the second declares that it is not important to know. Both are sincere, but both are woefully ignorant that Scripture abounds with information on future things. Biblically minded Christians do not have to settle for such a muddled approach to eschatology.”

Richard Mayhue wrote in that same book, Christ’s Prophetic Plans, “Scripture teems with prophetic material. Not even one slight indication exists that prophetic materials are to be ignored, be set aside or marginalized.” He wrote, ‘Consider the following facts’–

94% of the bible presents predictive information (62 out of 66 books)
ALL nine authors of the New Testament mention Christ’s Second Coming
Next to the subject of faith/salvation, the next most prominent theme is Christ’s Second Coming
Of the 333 specific biblical prophecies dealing with Christ’s two Advents, one-third deal with the first coming and two-thirds deal with the second coming.

John MacArthur talked about this new bent toward mysticism rather that rely on the solidity of prophecy and His sure word in his sermon “The Sufficiency of Christ“, where people walk and talk with Jesus at all times of the day, personally, either in heaven or …in their bathroom? Dr. MacArthur said,

“It’s a big ego trip, Paul says. All these people who are into mysticism, it’s coming at us like a flood, folks, like a flood. All the mysticism that’s encroaching upon the church, this New Wave interest in missions where they’re saying we’ll never reach the world without signs and wonders. And they’re having courses in seminary on miracles and signs and wonders. And they’re teaching people how to get into the other dimension, how to get into the other paradigm, they use that term of the third world, and think mystically. And it’s nothing, it’s nothing but sheer imagination at best and at worst you are courting demons…courting demons. It’s just not true.”

“A man said to me, “Sometimes when I’m shaving, Jesus comes in the bathroom and puts His arm around me in the morning and talks to me.” I said, “You mean the real Jesus?” He said yes. I said, “And He puts His arm around you and you see Him?” He said yes. And I just had one question, “Do you keep shaving or do you fall on your face in the ground in terror because you’re in the presence of a holy God?” If you keep shaving, it wasn’t Jesus.”

It’s also unfortunate that when one event happens, many people rush to say that it was the Hand of God for sure. We know that God is sovereign so that means He either cause or allows every little thing on earth and in heaven to happen. Not even a sparrow falls without His permission. (Matthew 10:29.)

But the earth is sinful and just because there was a Katrina or a Banda Aceh Tsunami or a quake in Kentucky it does not mean the end is near. Like the mountain peaks range of prophecy I’d mentioned earlier today, we have to look at the whole picture before we can say with any kind of certainty that this is the season of the end.

One way I look at it is through superlatives. If you are a regular reader of this blog you have read this before. It is when continual, persistent, events happen that top each other. When people begin to experience things that consistently outpace each other, it is something to look at. When those events start happening more frequently in time relative to each other, we look at that too.

This is because Jesus said the time of the end would be like birth pangs. The birth pain symbolism is used constantly throughout the bible describe individually prophesied events and also to refer to the long-term period of the end. (John 16:21, Revelation 12:2, Isaiah 13:8, Isaiah 26:18).

So what do I mean? Well, a few years ago if a weather forecasters said something like “This is a hundred year storm” people perked up. ‘WOW!’ they would say, ‘A once in a lifetime event is happening!’

But how many times have we heard even that topped? Hundred year events happen every year now. Snow records of “most ever” fall every winter. “Biggest-ever”, “worst ever outbreak”, “loudest ever”… are constant descriptors in the news now.

And when they run out of superlatives to describe a Superstorm Sandy they simply say things like “Historic”, “epic”, or even “biblical.”

And then we have the category of “rare” “unusual”, and “unprecedented.” Like this —

“As reported by TV company “Arig Us” from Republic of Buryatia, Russia- in the cold Republic of Buryatia, which is located in the east of Russia, for first time observed the snow tornado- huge tornado, which suddenly appeared out of the snow on the uninhabited forests of Buryatia. Vladimir Daganeev, a resident of Buryatia, was able to shoot the video of snow tornado in the mountains of the Oka region of Buryatia, at an altitude of about 3000 meters above sea level. Tornado lifted in the air a lot of snow, moving over the mountain tundra along Oka Ridge, the most surprising was, that the tornado was observed in complete silence and with full calm. Never before in the last 80 years in the Republic of Buryatia, was not seen a tornado…” (source)

The Accuweather meteorologists, in a separate newscast and not referring in particular to the Russian snow tornado, said that snow tornadoes are rare and elusive. They were reporting on a US snow tornado in Kentucky in March 2012. One forecaster said:

“It’s not terribly unusual for spring storms to bring snow after tornadoes, but this much snow (up to 6.5 inches reported in Kentucky) on top of this much damage (EF-4 in southern Indiana and EF-3s in Kentucky) is extremely rare – I personally have never seen it. “

You read this a lot in the news. Rare things happening frequently, lol. At what point do they become common and not rare anymore?

Here are some more recent superlative comments related to unprecedented things happening, this was Nov. 11. BBC reports. (I’ll put the superlatives in bold)

Venice ‘high water’ floods 70% of city
“Venetians direct anger at forecasters after ‘exceptional and unpredictable‘ rise in sea waters floods homes and businesses. Venice’s high water, or “acqua alta”, said to be the sixth highest since 1872, flooded 70% of the city and was high enough to make raised wooden platforms for pedestrians float away. The record high water in Venice – 1.94 metres in 1966 – prompted many residents to abandon the city for new lives on the mainland. Venetians bombarded Facebook with moans about the city’s weather forecasters, who had predicted just 1.2 metres of water on Saturday, before correcting their forecast at dawn on Sunday.”

So keep looking at the record-breakers. Note the language the weathermen and reporters use. Compare to an embedded prophetic situation, not just a one-time event. Think long-term. Keep to the sure word of God, but be measured and careful about it. I listed just one wrong date-setter, Harold Camping, but there have been many. However, you see the damage one wrong person was and the damage done to the reputation of God’s prophecies.

Above all, please do not follow dreamers. Here is what the bible has to say about people who have a “prophetic dream”:

“Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones. (Jude 1:8)

“For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream,” (Jeremiah 29:8)

The dreamers are not to be encouraged, as Barnes explains the Jeremiah verse: “As long as there was a market for dreams, so long there would be plenty of impostors to supply them.”

There certainly does seem to be a cottage industry for merchandising of dreams, heavenly trips, and angel talk, doesn’t there?

Do not follow people who say they chat up Jesus in heaven. So many people today say they talked with Jesus and have come back with a prophecy to tell. In this 15-minute video here, Justin Peters explains why stories of trips to heaven do not line up with scripture. I opened with the scripture that tells us we have a sure word, God’s word as stated by Him to us in the bible. Why would you follow after anyone else’s word?

confirm a covenant, gaza, Golan Heights, israel, prophecy, truce

Confirming a covenant

Posted on November 18, 2012 by elizabethprata

Israel and Hamas in Gaza are talking truce.

Israel, Gaza fighting rages on as Egypt seeks truce
“Israel bombed Palestinian militant targets in the Gaza Strip from air and sea for a fifth straight day on Sunday, preparing for a possible ground invasion while also spelling out its conditions for a truce. … “We are exacting a heavy price from Hamas and the terrorist organizations and the Israel Defence Forces are prepared for a significant expansion of the operation,” he said at a cabinet meeting, giving no further details. Israel’s declared goal is to deplete Gaza arsenals and press Hamas into stopping cross-border rocket fire that has bedeviled Israeli border towns for years and is now displaying greater range, putting Tel Aviv and Jerusalem in the crosshairs. … Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi said in Cairo, as his security deputies sought to broker a truce with Hamas leaders, that “there are some indications that there is a possibility of a ceasefire soon, but we do not yet have firm guarantees”.”

It should be noted that Egypt and Israel have a peace treaty in force, negotiated by Egyptian President Anwar El Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin in 1979. Sadat was the most hated man in the Middle East for having signed the treaty. He was assassinated in 1981. Vice-President Hosni Mubarak assumed the presidency and kept the treaty going when Sadat was assassinated. In 2011, when the Muslim Brotherhood came to power, they said they wanted to break the treaty.

Joel Rosenberg said with characteristic caution today, “The current war here between Hamas and Israel is terrible, and traumatic, and is drawing the attention of the whole world. Many people are Tweeting me to ask if this is a prophetic war and whether it will lead to the battle of Armageddon. Operation Pillar of Defense is not the beginning of the battle of Armageddon. It is not the end of the world as we know it. There is no evidence — at the moment, at least — that it is one of the specific wars against Israel that are mentioned in Bible prophecy. Still, this war could begin to establish the conditions that will lead to some of the most dramatic End Times prophecies in the Bible coming to pass in the not-too-distant future. Please keep praying for the Lord to comfort and protect the millions of Israelis and Palestinians on both sides who are being so deeply affected by the current conflict.”

I’m looking at the brokering a truce in the mirror of the Daniel 9:27 prophecy. It is widely interpreted that the Daniel prophecy is the gateway to the Tribulation. Here is what the verse says-

“And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.”

The “he” mentioned in the verse is the antichrist. He will be of the Roman sphere (Chapters 2 & 7). The verse literally says he will ’cause to prevail’ or confirm a pact with Israel that he will break in the middle of the time. (MacArthur’s Study Notes).

You note that the verse doesn’t say that he will create a covenant, but will confirm one, indicating a covenant, pact, or treaty already exists and that is brought back to the table.

We don’t want to be alarmist, while at the same time we want to be watching events closely out of respect for Gods’s word and in order to pray for those affected and to encourage each other. If Egypt brokers a covenant to cease fire, will this be the one spoken of by Daniel? It may be, or it may not be. Personally I don’t think so. I think the time is not quite yet.

Of all the wars that are prophesied to come in the end of days, as Rosenberg mentioned, this current hot war could be the one or it could lead to the one. If they do broker a truce and it is for a period of seven years, we will know that it is the one.

We keep watching and praying.

Meanwhile, Syria and Israel exchanged fire last night at the Golan Heights.
“There was small arms fire (at Israeli forces), there was a response and from what I hear over Arab media it appears Syrian soldiers were killed,” Brigadier-General Yoav Mordechai, Israel’s chief military spokesman, told Army Radio.He said Israel was trying not to be dragged into battles between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces and rebels. The chaos of the 20-month-old insurgency often makes independent assessment of casualties within Syria difficult.”

Israel is certainly surrounded.

azores, china, fajr-5, gaza, israel, kuril, prophecy

China eyes US base, sun’s humongous eruption, Israel prepares for 7 weeks of war

Posted on November 17, 2012 by elizabethprata

Some random news:

Humongous Eruption:

A truly gigantic explosion happened on the sun yesterday. On Nov. 16th, magnetic fields snaking halfway across the sun’s southern hemisphere erupted in tandem, producing a prominence so big, it doesn’t fit inside this image from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). Spaceweather.com has the photo and video

Israel told to prepare for 7 weeks of war:

Joel Rosenberg wrote today that “Israeli PM Netanyahu and his Security Cabinet have just concluded their classified meeting, which has lasted for hours. Only a few details have been released concerning their conclusions. But the main two are ominous:
* Israel’s Home Front Command has been ordered to tell the nation to prepare for 7 weeks of war.
* 75,000 IDF reserve soldiers are definitely being called up for action — up from 30,000 on Thursday, and 16,000 on Wednesday.”

Facts straight from IDF:

Israel Defense Force has a twitter stream. It is called @IDFSpokeperson. It is good to get the news directly from the IDF. He wrote today,
“This morning, the IDF targeted Mohammed Kaleb, a senior member of Hamas’ air defense unit in Gaza.
“A short while ago, the IDF targeted a senior #Hamas operative in Gaza who was in charge of the group’s weapons smuggling operations.”
“Some numbers from the last 3 days: 492 rockets fired from Gaza hit Israel + 245 Iron Dome interceptions = 737 rockets fired at us”

Fajr-5 Rockets:

The rocket that almost reached Jerusalem was a Fajr-R. Fajr 5 rockets can be fired from the back of a 6×6 truck to hit targets up to 75 kilometres (46 miles) away. These rockets are new to the Hamas arsenal. The Fajr 5 rocket has a far greater range than the home-produced Qassam rockets normally used by Palestinian militants in Gaza to target Israel, but neither are very accurate, defence analysts say. ” It is suspected that because Iran is the proxy behind Hamas that it was Iran who supplied the Fajr-5 to Hamas. Of course, they deny it.

Lebanon, Iran on alert

“The flow of arms to Gaza has not ceased despite Israel’s massive airstrikes in the Hamas-ruled territory, the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar reported Saturday. According to the Hezbollah-affiliated newspaper, a “considerable” amount of long-range missiles have been transferred to Gaza over the past 24 hours. Al-Akhbar also said Hezbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards have declared a state of alert.”

Plume Spotted at Chirpoi in the Kuril Islands

“Located almost halfway between the Kamchatka Peninsula’s southern end and the northern tip of Hokkaido, Chirpoi is an isolated volcanic complex on its own island. Chirpoi actually refers to a cluster of volcanic features, including an 9-km-wide caldera and a series of smaller cones, including the active Snow Cone (I chuckled a bit at that). Two eruptions (that we know of) occurred at Snow over the 20th century, the most recent being a VEI 2 in 1962. However, the volcano did produce an eruption that was at least a VEI 4 back in 1712/3.”

“Now, as many of you know, trying to find a clear picture of the Kuril Islands via satellite can be tricky. Fabrice provided me with a small image of what looks like a plume seen on November 16. I looked back through some of the Terra and Aqua images and found a clear picture of the plume on November 11 in the Terra imagery (see above), drifting off to the southeast (towards bottom right). I’ve labeled the plume and some nearby islands and volcanoes to help get your bearings. The plume looks mainly white, which might suggest it is many a steam plume right now, but it is hard to tell from this image alone. KVERT doesn’t tend provide information about the Kuril Islands other than the northernmost, and Chirpoi’s remote location just might mean no one has been out there to notice the activity. However, this image and a MODIS thermal anomaly (as reported by Volcano Discovery and Fabrice) suggest that something is going on at Chirpoi, but so far, there isn’t any evidence of a full eruption, but rather a vigorous steam plume.”

Iran ready to double uranium enrichment at Fordo – IAEA

“A leaked report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said there were 2,784 centrifuges at Fordo, and that Iran could soon double the number operating from 700 to 1,400. The development is likely to fuel Western suspicions that Iran is seeking to develop nuclear weapons.”

China in Azores military base grab

The National Review reports this week that while we’re all looking at the economy or the Middle East, there is a Red Flag Over the Atlantic. They write:

“On June 27, a plane carrying Wen Jiabao made a “technical” stop on the island of Terceira, in the Azores. Following an official greeting by Alamo Meneses, the regional secretary of environment of the sea, the Chinese premier spent four hours touring the remote Portuguese outpost in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.”

“Wen’s Terceira walkabout, which followed a four-nation visit to South America, largely escaped notice at the time, but alarm bells should have immediately gone off in Washington and in European capitals. For one thing, Wen’s last official stop on the trip was Santiago, the capital of Chile. Flights from Chile to China normally cross the Pacific, not the Atlantic, so there was no reason for his plane to be near the Azores. Moreover, those who visit the Azores generally favor other islands in the out-of-the-way chain.”

“Terceira, however, has one big attraction for Beijing: Air Base No. 4. Better known as Lajes Field, the facility where Premier Wen’s 747 landed in June is jointly operated by the U.S. Air Force and its Portuguese counterpart. If China controlled the base, the Atlantic would no longer be secure. From the 10,865-foot runway on the northeast edge of the island, Chinese planes could patrol the northern and central portions of the Atlantic and thereby cut air and sea traffic between the U.S. and Europe. Beijing would also be able to deny access to the nearby Mediterranean Sea.”

It is a good article. You should read it. Remember, the Russians crept in to close territorial waters not once, but twice undetected recently. Once in the Gulf of Mexico, and they hung out there a while, and the other was off the eastern seaboard near Kings Bay GA where we maintain a huge submarine base.

The Kings of the East rise up, according to prophecy. (Revelation 16:12).

From the heights of the sun, to the depths under the volcano, to the humans on the earth from east to west, things are active.

earthquakes, prophecy

Update to earthquake post: major quakes keep coming

Posted on November 17, 2012May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

On November 11, I posted an essay remarking on the frequency of major earthquakes since the election in the United States. I am not saying that the US drives prophecy. We are a puny nation in the scheme of things. I personally believe that the election went the way the LORD wanted it to go. He raises up kings and deposes kings. (Daniel 2:21). That Obama re-elected means we as a nation were allowed to pursue unrighteousness, and are in fact under judgment (Romans 1).

But sin has consequences. Our national sin is great, as is most nations’ at this apostate and sinful time of the end. God shakes nations to get their attention.

According to the United States Geological Survey, a major quake is listed at anything above 6.0. They list these quakes in red on their earthquake page.

I’d noted that each year since 2009, the annual average expected for earthquakes in each category of magnitude from 5.0 to 9.0 had been exceeded. I can’t compare 2012 because the year isn’t ended yet- but I did look at the running total to see where we stood.

8.0-9.9 : 2
7.0-7.9 : 12
6.0-6.9 : 102
5.0-5.9 : 1336
The red means that category has exceeded USGS standard annual number for that magnitude quake in a year. The annual average number of quakes in the 6.0 range per year is 134. For the 7.0 range it is 15.

Of the 6.0-6.9 magnitudes, I’d said,

“Anyone have an idea that the two categories that haven’t met or exceeded the USGS annual average will be making up for lost time in the next few weeks? I do, if the last couple of days are any indication.”

And that has proved to be true.

I left off in the essay of Nov. 11 with the 6.5 in Offshore Guatemala. Since then, there have been six more:

Nov. 12: 6.4 GULF OF ALASKA
Nov. 13: 6.0 OFF THE COAST OF AISEN, CHILE
Nov. 14: 6.1 COQUIMBO, CHILE
Nov. 15: 6.0 GUERRERO, MEXICO
Nov. 16: 6.4 KURIL ISLANDS
Nov. 17: 6.1 TONGA REGION

Bringing the total to 108 major quakes in the 6.0-6.0 range. Each day in the last 12 days (except for the 9th) there has been a major quake of 6.0 magnitude or higher.

I just wanted to update the quake list, as something to do that involves facts and numbers to get my mind off the suffering of Israel right now. And also because I think it is pretty interesting. I do not think we will end the year without meeting or exceeding the earthquake averages once again. That would make 4 years in a row that there have been more earthquakes in every category, and eleven years of exceeding the USGS average number of earthquakes per year in at least one category.

end of days, hamas, israel, jerusalem, prophecy, rocket

O, Jerusalem!

Posted on November 17, 2012 by elizabethprata

When Hamas shot a rocket toward Jerusalem, landing in it suburb, it shocked a great many people, not the least were the Israelis themselves.

It was a shocking event for two reasons. First, because this was a new kind of rocket and also because Israel didn’t think Hamas had the range to reach that far into Israel. In the past, all the rockets launched from Gaza were aimed at the southern portion of the nation and were of short range. No rocket had ever been launched at Jerusalem since 1970. Earlier in the day, Hamas launched several rockets toward the city of Tel Aviv, Israel’s largest, and most industrial city. No rocket had ever been launched at Tel Aviv since 1990. While the Tel Aviv population was recovering from their shock at the rocket barrage, then the attack toward Jerusalem happened.

The rocket launched at Jerusalem shocked Israelis and Christians alike secondly because of the symbolism. Jerusalem is God’s city, his very bosom. Whether the Muslims care to acknowledge that verbally or not is irrelevant. Their cries to “Destroy Jerusalem!” are evidence that it is that city and that city alone which provokes their ire. Unconsciously they know that it is holy, and because they are not holy, they want to destroy it in any way they can.

When the Muslim Brotherhood came to power in different nations throughout the Arab Spring of 2011, soon afterwards they began to verbalize their intent to destroy Israel, and especially Jerusalem. Why Jerusalem? Jerusalem is not a financial center. It is not a manufacturing center. It is not a military base. It is not even the largest city in Israel. Compared to other cities in the Middle East, it is almost a backwater. If it is not a plum military target, manufacturing target, or financial target, why do they want to destroy Jerusalem, then?

It is God’s eternal city. It is a city where God Himself has put His name. (2 Kings 21:4). This is significant. There is nothing holier in the universe than the name of God. He says of Himself, “I am the LORD, that is my Name” (Isaiah 42:8). He has concern for His holy name. (Ezekiel 36:21). His name is a strong tower, (Proverbs 18:10). In His name and no other is salvation (Acts 4:12). So when God sets His name, it means something!

For those reasons, the ungodly hate Jerusalem, because it de facto means they hate God. They seek to destroy Him, and since He is not present on earth now (they sought to destroy Jesus when He was here!) they try to do the next best thing- attack the Jews, the Christians, and the holy city where God chose to place His Name.

God’s enemies have always sought to destroy His name, ever since Genesis when satan slyly and craftily deceived Adam and Eve. In the Tribulation they continue attack God, but more pointedly, openly, and vastly. And they go after Jerusalem viciously. (Luke 21:20). What sparks this attack is that Satan is thrown out of heaven, barred from re-entry in Revelation 12:9, and as a result his fury is such that as the bible tells us in Revelation 12:13, 17, he goes after the Jews and the Christians. Satan’s open hatred of God culminates at the end of days in his finally leaving off attacking the Jews (who had fled to Petra and are being supernaturally protected by God) and having killed most of the Christians, prevailed against them, (Revelation 13:7, Dan 7:25), he assembles the armies of Armageddon to make war against the Lamb Himself. (Rev. 17:14)

Satan has always gone after God’s people. Genesis 3 opens with satan’s hatred of God, taken out on His children, and the story of sin ends with it.

Back to today, it should not be surprising to us in the spiritual realms that Jerusalem is attacked with missiles, it is prophesied. God’s word never fails, and we know that we know this will happen.

But it is surprising. Even though we know it will happen, when it does, we still have to absorb all the impacts emotionally, personally, and mentally. We are only human, after all. Knowing it will happen is different from seeing it happen. The illusory protective seal we thought had surrounded Jerusalem, simply because it hadn’t been attacked in 40 years (a generation) was pierced in a moment when the first rocket fell. Now our minds have to deal with a new reality.

It takes a moment to adjust.

What will aid our adjustment more smoothly and more rapidly to this new, dire world we live in, of which doom is deepening by the day, is prayer and praise.

Pray to the Lord for all your needs. Pray for your fleshly provision such as food and clothes and a home, of course. Also, pray for spiritual strength, wisdom, love, patience, insight into His word. Being bathed in prayer and washed in God’s Word will help as our hearts and minds re-align to what is coming upon the world. We need HIM to establish peace within us, and to equip us as soldiers in withstanding the worldly pressures. He is squeezing the world after all, and we are in the world. We’re squeezed too. The difference is when we are squeezed, we have an opportunity to grow and shine brighter as trophies of His glory.

Even those Christians who are unaware of end times events feel the spiritual burden. They know at an intuitive, spiritual level that when Jerusalem was attacked it brought in a new era of worsening geo-political situations. They may not know the details of why it is bad, but they know it is bad. Unfortunately, these Christians are least equipped to withstand the spiritual pressure. Perhaps having been for a lifetime unfamiliar with the Word or having never developed a habit of turning to the Lord in troubling times, they flail about like a fish with no air. Remind them that the air they need is His word and His ways. The world is dying. It has been dying since Genesis 3:7 when Adam and Eve listened to the devil and ate the fruit. Jesus is the cure, but Jesus only resuscitates those who repent. For those who refuse His name and who reject holiness, they will die.

This end of the end times, and soon to be Tribulation, are the death throes of the world. All unrighteousness that dwells within it is speeding up. The long, 6000-year decline of the world and all that is within it is beginning its death rattle, the cancer finally having spread to the essential organs.

If you work in the medical profession, you know how hard it is to watch death come to those whom you have worked hard to save. It is especially hard to watch a child die of a dread disease like cancer or leukemia. When the person’s time is up, it happens fast. We know that death will come, but it is still hard to watch. Compassion is deep in the face of the unavoidable.

In this present age, Christians are all nurses, pleading with people to go to the hospital of the cross to have fixed what ails them. Jesus can heal their spiritual death throes, but many refuse. They have a blinded mind and cannot think straight.

In the adventure non-fiction book by Jon Krakauer Into Thin Air, several groups of mountain climbers were attempting to make the Everest summit in the fateful season of 1996. One climber made the top…but he stayed up too long. On his way down, it began to grow dark and he was trying to make the base camp. He ran out of canned air. Radioing his mates at Camp, they pleaded with him to take an oxygen tank stashed nearby for that very purpose. He found the canister and even held it in his hands, but he was convinced that it was empty. That all of them were empty. They weren’t, but prolonged exposure to thin air made his brain unable to think straight. He died soon after, holding his wasted salvation in his hands.

The lost are like that. Salvation is within their reach, but they do not take the breath of life Jesus is willing to extend. They die on the mountain, not one inch closer to God than when they were in the valley.

Things in the Middle East could die down, of course. I hope they do. But it is equally likely that they won’t. Even if war does not break out today, it will probably break out tomorrow, or next week. The attack on Jerusalem, even though the rocked failed to reach the city center, pierced a bubble and now there is no going back. It is like the dogs of war have been unleashed in the rabid minds of the furiously debased and the thought to wipe Jerusalem from the map will only grow. They will circle now, eager to take what is God’s. But God will stop them.

And the LORD will inherit Judah as His portion in the Holy Land, and will again choose Jerusalem.” (Zechariah 2:12; also Zechariah 1:17)

“In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom the LORD of hosts has blessed saying ‘Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.” (Isaiah 19:24-25)

gaza, israel, pillar of cloud, pillar of defense, prophecy

Updated, Explosion in Tel Aviv. VIDEO: Commanders Prepare Troops for Ground Invasion

Posted on November 16, 2012 by elizabethprata

Breaking News (@‏BreakingNews) reports this morning: “Explosion heard in Tel Aviv area after sirens sound, witnesses say “- source Reuters.

Gaza/Hamas barrage Tel Aviv with rockets in successive fire this morning. Explosions heard, mobile phones down. No word on casualties or injuries. Follow BBC< Reuters or BreakingNews on Twitter FMI. ——————————– Posted by Israel's Arutz Sheva this morning, our time. It is midday there.

“IDF commanders began Friday morning to brief their troops in of a possible ground operation in Gaza. Thousands of reservists have been called up for duty, and a total of at least 16,000will be summoned for service. While troops gathered outside Gaza, terrorists in the area continued their attacks on civilian communities in southern Israel. More than 40 rockets have been fired since Friday morning. At least two rockets were fired at the city of Be’er Sheva. The Iron Dome system successfully shot them down. Four rockets were fired at Ashdod shortly before 11 a.m. They, too, were shot down by Iron Dome. Earlier in the morning terrorists fired a rocket that hit next to a residential building in the city, causing damage and sending four people into shock. A short time later, terrorists hit a broadcast truck with an anti-tank missile. The truck went up in flames, but nobody was injured.”

Operation Pillar of Cloud: Egypt and Assyria have a dim near future but a bright Millennium future

Posted on November 15, 2012 by elizabethprata

The rockets that Hamas terrorists launched at Tel Aviv happened in the middle of the day, Eastern US time. It landed 15Km from the city in a densely populated area-

Times of India reports, “Militants defied a major Israeli bombing campaign across Gaza on Thursday, firing off volleys of rockets which killed three Israelis and sparked panic in Tel Aviv. It was the farthest distance ever attained by fire from Gaza. Defence Minister Ehud Barak gave the go-ahead for 30,000 reservists to be called up, with the army saying it was “in the process of expanding the campaign.”

There is much propaganda on the side of the Gazans and Hamas. This Israel National News report explains:

“Barely one day into the fighting in Hamas-run Gaza, the locals are hard at work playing the victim for the world’s press. Footage from the BBC captured by watchdog group Honest Reporting shows a heavy man lying on the ground and being carried away by residents, apparently after being injured by an Israeli attack. Moments later, that same man again fills the frame, except he is walking about and obviously unhurt. The widespread staging of such victim situations is a favored tactic of Arabs fighting Israel and has come to be known as “Pallywood.” Because Israel is stronger militarily, the Arabs cling to the underdog image of poor refugees under occupation and siege by evil Israelis, thus eliciting sympathy.”

The foray is named Pillar of Cloud, in Hebrew. The news magazine Israel Today wrote,

“Israel on Wednesday evening launched a major aerial campaign against terrorist targets across the Gaza Strip under the banner of “Operation Pillar of Cloud.” The action comes after days of incessant terrorist rocket fire against the residents of southern Israel.”

That Israel chose to use that name for this military engagement is so interesting. 38 percent of names given to Israeli military operations and weaponry between 1948 and 2007 alluded to the Bible. This present one, of course, evokes the verses in Deuteronomy 31:15:

“And the LORD appeared in the tent in a pillar of cloud. And the pillar of cloud stood over the entrance of the tent.’

and in Exodus 13:21-22,

“And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.”

It is so amazing that this foray which involves Egypt is named that, but even more so what struck me was the mention of the cloud in Isaiah 19:1

The near future of Egypt is extremely dim. If you read Isaiah 19 it foretells of some dire things for the Egyptian people. The prophetic chapter is easy to read and understand. Toward the end of the chapter, the future becomes gloriously brighter as we read verse 20 to verse 25:

“When they cry to the Lord because of oppressors, he will send them a savior and defender, and deliver them. And the Lord will make himself known to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians will know the Lord in that day and worship with sacrifice and offering, and they will make vows to the Lord and perform them. And the Lord will strike Egypt, striking and healing, and they will return to the Lord, and he will listen to their pleas for mercy and heal them. In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria will come into Egypt, and Egypt into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians. In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.”

Those are the only three nations to be specifically mentioned as existing in the Millennium and even more incredible is that each receives a specific compliment from the Lord unique to them. He considers Egypt His people…and why not, Hosea 11:1 reminds us, “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.” He allowed Egypt to shelter His own son when Herod was chasing Him.

The fact that He calls Egypt back to Himself in the above verses is so wonderful to read. Tears come to my eyes when I read of how specific His plans are and how perfectly they all come together.

But back tot he here and now. An Israeli in the southern part of Israel such as the city of Sderot only has 15 seconds to get to a shelter when the air raid sirens go off.

This is a 40 second video put out by Israeli public information filmmakers. It is called “15 seconds to save your mama”. It is not gross nor graphic, being for general distribution in Israel for public information. However, it is powerful, and gives a street level, real feel view of exactly what the Israeli people are enduring.

Is this the end of the beginning? We’ll see if the tensions de-escalate. Please pray. I pray He strengthens the church, I pray He shakes the nations so they repent, I pray He delivers wisdom to the Israeli, Egyptian, and other Middle Eastern leaders. There are so many things to pray for, aren’t there?

gaza, hamas, isaiah 19, israel, prophecy

UPDATED–Israel’s retaliation for Gaza rockets is to assassinate Hamas leader. Brink of war, and Isaiah 19 prophecy

Posted on November 14, 2012 by elizabethprata

Joel Rosenberg is in Israel. He just wrote:

“Urgent prayer request: Hamas violence escalating rapidly….raining rockets on Israel…IDF calling up reserves, preparing to invade Gaza….latest details.

“The situation here is rapidly going from bad to worse. It is nearly midnight here, and the battle between Hamas and Israel has been intensifying hour by hour throughout the day. Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other Palestinian terror organizations — all backed by Iran — are firing rockets, missiles and mortars at innocent civilians in Israel, along the southern border. Each act is a war crime. The Iranian-backed terrorists are also firing from behind innocent civilians in Gaza, often from hospitals, mosques and schools. Thus, each act is actually two war crimes. In just the past several hours, the terrorists have fired more 50 times at Israel. That’s more than 100 war crimes. Since Saturday, they have fired at Israeli civilians more than 200 times. That’s more than 400 war crimes. Yet the world is paying very little attention and doing little to stop the terrorist attacks. Israel, therefore, is moving swiftly to defend herself.”
—————————–
A poignant Tweet: Avital Chizhik ‏@avitalrachel wrote–

“In a bomb shelter in Netivot, after 55 rockets fired in the past few hours alone. Not that anyone cares #Hamas #rockets”

Her photo:
Embedded image permalink

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What a difference 8 hours makes. this morning I was looking at the earthquakes and the US mess. As I got home from work I see that in the meantime, the Middle East went to hell. Literally.

I’d written on Sunday that Israel was getting hit from the north and south, and being squeezed in the middle from east to west. This refers to the shelling by Syria into northern Israel, the shelling into southern Israel by Hamas from the Gaza Strip, and the Palestinian Authority’s push to upgrade the Palestinian Authority in the UN to Observer State. The exchange with Syria at the Golan Heights was the first in 40 years, and the shelling in the south is becoming interminably horrific for the residents there, who can hardly live normal lives. The push by PA Abbas at the UN would also be a stick in the eye for Israel. So, how much can they take?

It appears that the line has been crossed. Today, Israel hit Hamas where it hurts, making a rocket strike in Gaza that was targeted to and killed their leader Ahmed Jabari, the head of its military wing. Israel’s Shin Bet domestic intelligence service confirmed it had carried out the attack, saying it had killed Jabari because of his ‘decade-long terrorist activity’

Hamas said that this event would “open the gates of hell.”

Here is the Israel Defense Force video of the assassination:

There might be a ground war as a result of this, with Israel saying they are prepared to go into Gaza with forces, if need be. “Israeli media are reporting that the IDF is sending emergency call-up notices to reservists. IDF General Yoav Mordechai told Channel 2 news ground troops may be sent into Gaza: “There are preparations, and if we are required to, the option of a entry by ground is available.”

Predictably, even though Hamas has been shelling Israeli civilians and children for weeks, “Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas asked Arab League Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi to call an emergency meeting of the League’s Council to denounce “dangerous Israeli escalation and brutal aggression on our people in the Gaza Strip”.”

This latest escalation of the parties, which brings them to the brink of war, is called on the Israeli side, “Operation Pillar of Cloud.” You will remember from the Old Testament that a pillar of cloud led the Israelites in the desert by day. At night it was a pillar of fire.

“And in the morning watch the Lord in the pillar of fire and of cloud looked down on the Egyptian forces and threw the Egyptian forces into a panic, clogging their chariot wheels so that they drove heavily. And the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from before Israel, for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians.”(Exodus 14:24-25).

Maybe not as predictably, but certainly prophetically, the Egyptians sided with Hamas.

There is a prophecy in Isaiah that is yet unfulfilled. I am not talking about the unfulfilled prediction that Damascus will be destroyed (Isaiah 17:1). I am talking Isaiah 19 and Egypt.

The opening of Isaiah 19 begins like this, with another reference to a cloud!

“An oracle concerning Egypt. Behold, the Lord is riding on a swift cloud and comes to Egypt; and the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence, and the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them. And I will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians, and they will fight, each against another and each against his neighbor, city against city, kingdom against kingdom; and the spirit of the Egyptians within them will be emptied out, and I will confound their counsel; and they will inquire of the idols and the sorcerers, and the mediums and the necromancers; and I will give over the Egyptians into the hand of a hard master, and a fierce king will rule over them, declares the Lord God of hosts.” (Isaiah 19:204)

The harsh master is probably the antichrist. But we cannot say for sure.

Joel Rosenberg wrote a piece called “What does the bible say about the future of Egypt?” He produced this video at the tail end of the revolution which ousted Hosni Mubarek at the end of the Arab Spring.

Is this the time for Isaiah 19 to come true, with the beginning of fulfillment in seeing a ground war between Gaza, Egypt and Israel? Possibly. Probably, actually.

Please keep praying and keep aware of events. Keep reading your bible. It has so much to say about these times. For example, of all the names the Israelis could have used, the Pillar of Cloud is one that not only figures into their history past but is part of Isaiah 19 and history future. We will watch to see if that future history has arrived.

earthquakes, judgment, prophecy

Major earthquakes since the election: God is shaking the nations

Posted on November 12, 2012May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

UPDATE: I posted an update to this essay here, updating the total of major earthquakes since the election.

Not that the US election is a global prophetic barometer, in fact, Israel is the only nation where we can confidently say that, but the US is one indicator of the depths of perversity and depravity that a nation of 300 million souls has sunk to. In addition, the major prophetic focal point, Israel, is being hit with rockets in the south, and attacked from the north… So, let’s look at how the Lord is shaking the nations. Just sayin’–

Nov 7- 7.4 OFFSHORE GUATEMALA
Nov 8- 6.3 VANCOUVER ISLAND, CANADA REGION
Nov 11-6.8 MYANMAR
Nov 11-6.5 OFFSHORE GUATEMALA

There have been 18 aftershock quakes at Guatemala in the last 6 days above 4.3 in addition to the two major quakes.

There have been 6 large quakes at Myanmar today, formerly Burma, including the major 6.8.
5.6 / 5.8. / 5.0 / 5.6/ 5.0 / 6.8

There was the strong (for the region) 4.3 quake at Kentucky followed by a 2.5 (New Madrid?).

The USGS has annual averages for each sized magnitude of quake.

As far as previous years go, we note that as of year end 2011, it was the third consecutive year that quakes in each of the categories from magnitude 5.0 to 9.0 have exceeded annual averages. Statistically there is no doubt there are more earthquakes.

Let’s get a thumbnail of how 21012 is stacking up– I usually do a year-end statistical analysis of how many quakes there have been in each year and compare that to the previous nine years against the USGS annual benchmark. It isn’t the end of the year yet, so it wouldn’t be statistically reliable to do an apples to apples comparison until Dec 31, but here is a roundup of how many large quakes there have been so far with 6 weeks to go in the year 2012.

8.0-9.9 : 2
7.0-7.9 : 12
6.0-6.9 : 102
5.0-5.9 : 1336

The USGS search didn’t have in its database the three 6.0-plus quakes that have happened in the last few days, so I added those in. Anyone have an idea that the two categories that haven’t met or exceeded the USGS annual average will be making up for lost time in the next few weeks? I do, if the last few days are any indication.

The writer of Hebrews said,

“At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.”” (Hebrews 12:26).

This verse is referring back to Haggai 2:6, and Barnes Notes explains, “The words here quoted are taken from Haggai 2:6, where they refer to the changes which would take place under the Messiah. The meaning is, that there would be great revolutions in his coming, as if the universe were shaken to its center. The apostle evidently applies this passage as it is done in Haggai, to the first advent of the Redeemer.”

Both the first advent of Jesus and the second advent of Jesus will shake the nations. However, the second advent will shake the heavens too.

The shaking of the earth here evidently refers to the commotions among the nations that would prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah.
Listen, people. God is going to come in terrifying judgment. Revelation 6:13 says when the sixth seal is opened, a great shaking will occur in the universe- “and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale.”

Matthew 24:29 is a parallel, “Immediately after the distress of those days “‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.”

The earthquakes are the beginning of the fulfillment of the prophecy where Jesus said “For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.” (Matthew 24:7.)

The earthquakes are the warning sign. of the shaking judgment to come. This judgment has been given to JESUS.

“The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son,” (John 5:22)

If you believe on Jesus’ name, you will be His friend and not His enemy to be judged. Here is how to be saved from that judgment!

God’s Simple Plan of Salvation