Posted in apocalypse, prophecy

This and that

Hi Folks,

This piece is just a chat. It won’t be a deep theological treatise nor a blurb on the news of the day. We are a day and a half from the end of the school year, and let me tell you, the kindergarteners are restless! I’m pooped.

I usually get most of the blog comments overnight. I wake up at 6:00am and turn on the computer and there will be comments waiting for me to moderate. This morning there were four on one topic. I deleted them all. They were responding to the Jentezen Franklin piece. It’s interesting that the Jentezen Franklin post and its companion piece still gets notice and comment. Amazingly, the Franklin false teacher post gets a lot more comments than the Beth Moore false teacher essays I did. It is usually the opposite, I’m told by other evangelicals. An essay stating Beth Moore is anything except either an angel or a saint usually gets plenty of screed. But my readers, bless them, save their screed for the Franklin post.

I deleted all the Franklin comments this morning because they were screed. Any comments that say such things as “You’re a poopyhead for thinking this” won’t get past the draft screen. I post comments that either support or take issue with my posts that are polite and/or have bible verses to back them up. I won’t write a ‘comment policy’ because commenting is common sense. It is like a conversation- listen, share, be polite. Name calling is never an argument, unless it is an argument for instant delete.

On another topic, I have been thinking about prophecy education. For the last two weeks I’ve been musing about pulling back from the detailed view to share and present the wider view on the blog instead. An overview, even. And this week Pastor JD Farag said he was doing exactly that. And Jack Kelley has started revamping his Revelation overviews and has pulled back the lens. I had been thinking of dong a general overview of what will happen after the rapture, or perhaps a chronology. It seems the Spirit is pressing this idea to me and to others so I’ll pray some more and see how to proceed.

I was asked by the publishers of a new ‘zine to contribute to it. The topic is the Apocalypse, and the name of the zine is Apocalypse This. It will be sold at the Nottingham Zine Fair on May 26. I was asked to share the Christian view. The zine will contain other religions’ views as well. You can find the website for the zine here, and twitter here. Here is the Facebook page for the fair. Prayers are appreciated that the truth of the Word will reach the youths who are curious about a false Apocalypse but are unaware of the looming real one.

Speaking of the looming apocalypse, does it feel like a heavy burden of weight and presence to you? It feels so close. The European financial and economic crisis certainly adds portent to the events. The line-up of hostile nations in the Middle East certainly add portent. But even the news aside, the feeling of imminence is weightier every day. I don’t think it is a feeling of exhaustion that I usually feel this time of year, lol. It just feels like prophecy is speeding up.

Remember, prophecy is set before us in His word so that before it comes to pass, we may be prepared; and so that when it comes to pass, we may believe and worship Him who is outside of time and He who writes history beforehand.

“Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.” (Psalm 90:1-2)

The Creation: God measuring the Universe with a compass, c. 1375, The National Library of The Netherlands
Posted in contract, courageous resolution, prophecy

Is your church doing the "Courageous Resolution"?

The movie Courageous sparked another fad driven product. Fireproof’s Love Dare diary is so yesterday. Now it’s all about the Courageous Resolution. You may even be thinking that I’m late to post information on this. See? If you are, then it’s a fad.

The Courageous movie had a scene in which several of the fathers gathered in a living room with a pastor and made a resolution (swore an oath) which emphasized fatherhood, fidelity, and the man as head of the home. The Christian version of ‘man up!’

Like its previous movie, Fireproof, which came with a 40-day love dare diary or some such thing, now this movie has the Resolution For Men or whatever it is called.

It is supposed to mark the moment and celebrate the commitment being made to God and family. Here is the text of the resolution–

THE RESOLUTION
I DO solemnly resolve before God to take full responsibility for myself, my wife, and my children.
I WILL love them, protect them, serve them, and teach them the Word of God as the spiritual leader of my home.
I WILL be faithful to my wife, to love and honor her, and be willing to lay down my life for her as Jesus Christ did for me.
I WILL bless my children and teach them to love God with all of their hearts, all of their minds, and all of their strength.
I WILL train them to honor authority and live responsibly.
I WILL confront evil, pursue justice, and love mercy.
I WILL pray for others and treat them with kindness, respect, and compassion.
I WILL work diligently to provide for the needs of my family.
I WILL forgive those who have wronged me and reconcile with those I have wronged.
I WILL learn from my mistakes, repent of my sins, and walk with integrity as a man answerable to God.
I WILL seek to honor God, be faithful to His church, obey His Word, and do His will.
I WILL courageously work with the strength God provides to fulfill this resolution for the rest of my life and for His glory.

There are a few things to ponder. First, the positive:

I see nothing wrong on the face of it for any of the above statements, because they do not seem to vary with what God told us in the bible. That’s it. I can’t think of any other positive.

Now the negative:

–I see no bible verse addresses with them. Therefore they are man-made.

–At some point we have to take these fads that emerge from Christian movies and put them on the same level as the product fads that emerge from any other movie, like Star Wars light sabers or the Avengers dolls.

–Where is the Love Dare book now? Does anyone still do it? Where will The Courageous Resolution be in 2 years? Will anyone be doing it? Or will they be trailing after the next big thing?

I am a bare bones gal. I think the bible is all we need. Why make a man-made vow and swear on that? Don’t we make a resolution when we repent? Don’t we make a vow when we get married? Don’t we make an oath when we get Baptised? Don’t we make a vow when we present our children on Dedication day? Don’t we make a vow when we partake of the Lord’s Supper? How many vows do we need? How many ordinances? How many resolutions?

Here is the main point: Aren’t men already doing the things that are in the resolution? If not, then they need church discipline. If so, then abandon any man-made vow as unnecessary and extra-biblical.

The New Testament speaks to this oath taking: (from Got Questions)

“[The Jephthah account] shows us is the foolishness of rash vows. Perhaps this is why Jesus gave a new commandment concerning vows. “Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.’ But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No ,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one” (Matthew 5:33-37).”

“The principle here is clear for Christians: do not make vows, either to the Lord or to one another. First, we are unable to know for sure whether we will be able to keep vows. The fact that we are prone to the errors in judgment which are part of our fallen nature means that we may make vows foolishly or out of immaturity. Further, we don’t know what the future will bring—only God does. We don’t know what will happen tomorrow (James 4:14), so to make a vow that we will do or not do something is foolish”.

“God is the one in control, not us, and He “works all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). Knowing this, we can see that it is unnecessary to make vows and that it indicates a lack of trust in Him.”

“Finally, Jesus commands that our word be sufficient without making vows. When we say “yes” or “no,” that’s exactly what we should mean. Adding vows or oaths to our words opens us up to the influence of Satan whose desire is to trap us and compromise our Christian testimony. If we have made a vow foolishly and realized we cannot or should not keep it, we should confess it to God, knowing that He is “faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

“A broken vow, while serious, is not an unforgivable matter if taken to the Lord in true confession. God will not hold us to vows made imprudently, but He expects us to obey Jesus and refrain from making vows in the future.”
———end GotQuestions——–

God made it simple and wrote it down for us. We keep editing it… I just think it is better to live by the bible rather than take what is in the bible, mix it with man’s words, and swear an oath by it. To me that seems idolatrous. Submit to the Lord, live by His word, and get on with it, men!! For heaven’s sakes, stop talking about being men and just be men!

If a contract to be honorable fathers was such a good thing then why haven’t we been doing it for 2000 years?

Posted in peace and security, prophecy

While they are saying peace and safety

Though there are things we can’t know, there are things we do know with unalterable confidence:

 “When people say, “There is peace and security,” destruction will strike them as suddenly as labor pains come to a pregnant woman, and they will not be able to escape.” (1 Thessalonians 5:3).

We know that there is no peace and safety outside of Jesus.

Of this verse, note several things. First, no matter what translation you look at, the verse invariably says ‘when they are saying/while they are saying.’ The verse does not state ‘after they say’.

Additionally, the translations invariably use the phrase ‘peace and safety/peace and security’, which is what they are saying these days! The world is now seeking the increasingly elusive quality of peace and security.

The word security is from the Greek compound, meaning not and totter. The notion behind the word is they will be looking for a ‘firmness that equates to security.’ There is nothing on the earth that offers a foundational firmness that equates to security. There is no treaty, no house, no nation, no leader, no idea, no government that will offer the security that God does. The only security there is, is God.

That is why the drive to find peace and security ratchets up at a frenzied pace, because as the world crumbles into not-peace (war) and not-safety (chaos), they look toward something, anything, that will provide security.

We know war does come. There is no peace. The Tribulation opens with a horseman riding on the waves of war, unleashing it upon the world. (Revelation 6:3-4). Damascus is destroyed, (Isaiah 17), The Middle East goes to war (Psalm 83), Iran attacks Israel (Ezekiel 38-39), and the rest of the world is drawn into war after war (Matthew 24:6).

Now here is an interesting verse: Jeremiah 8:10b-12. Jeremiah speaks of conditions of the Israelites that mirror ours today, “From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit. They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. “Peace, peace,” they say, when there is no peace. Are they ashamed of their loathsome conduct? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; they will be brought down when they are punished, says the Lord.”

The priests and prophets spoke of superficial things, not getting to the heart of the matter, which was their sin and failure to repent of. We have that today, preachers refusing to speak of sin but instead treating the people with a bandage when what they need is a tourniquet. They dress the wound as if the people are not dying!

They speak of peace but there is no peace, none inside themselves with God and none outside themselves with each other. They are so seared with sin that they don’t even blush anymore. They have no shame at their deeds, and so, that important word “so,” meaning because of their failures before the Lord, they will be brought down and punished. As it was then, it will be again.

Posted in gay marriage, Obama, prophecy

What is the big deal about Obama’s change of opinion on gay marriage?

This week Obama came out and said openly that he now supports gay marriage. This caused a political earthquake in America and around the world. Some rushed in with money to support him so any potential second term may gain them political advantage of turning their deviancy into law. Some said his stance shows “moral leadership.”

The pressure ramped up on other world leaders, who immediately were pressed into stating, or re-stating their views. At once, the wolves circled the Australia Prime Minister, who had to ‘defend’ her views against gay marriage. The UK was pressed to follow Obama’s ‘lead.’

In all cases though, we know that his open stance set a global precedent. And not just for gay marriage, but also for gay adoption and ultimately for redefinition of the foundational rock of our culture: families united under God.

Now we know that Obama’s change in stance, or “evolution” as he calls it, is simply a crafty accession to a political timing. I mean, everyone could see this coming, and Southern Baptist Preacher and president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary Al Mohler said essentially we all knew where Obama stood from the beginning and it was only a matter of time until he came out for gay marriage unequivocally.

So on that last basis, people are saying, since we all knew this was coming, what’s the big deal?

Well, it IS a big deal. Franklin Graham said of Obama’s shift toward public and government support of gay marriage:

““President Obama has, in my view, shaken his fist at the same God who created and defined marriage. It grieves me that our president would now affirm same-sex marriage, though I believe it grieves God even more,” Graham said in a statement. “This is a sad day for America. May God help us,” he said.

Here is why Obama’s change from a likely stance toward acceptance of gay marriage to an affirmed stance of homosexual unions codified under the force of law is a big deal: it’s public sin.

Graham is right when he says America has shaken her fist at God. God does not tolerate flaunted sin. He is grieved over all sin, of course, national and individual, but to openly defy God’s law regarding marriage and the family, affirming sin at the national level, takes it up a notch. God had even made a provision for a distinction between unintentional sin and defiant sin in Old Testament Law and he set rules for atonement for each:

“But if just one person sins unintentionally, he must bring a year-old female goat for a sin offering. The priest is to make atonement before the Lord for the one who erred by sinning unintentionally, and when atonement has been made for him, he will be forgiven. One and the same law applies to everyone who sins unintentionally, whether he is a native-born Israelite or an alien. But anyone who sins defiantly, whether native-born or alien, blasphemes the Lord, and that person must be cut off from his people. Because he has despised the Lord’s word and broken his commands, that person must surely be cut off; his guilt remains on him.” (Numbers 15:27-31).

And no one can say that homosexual unions under government establishment and approval is an unintentional sin. Look at this verse from 2 Peter 2:6-10–

“If he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment. This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the sinful natured and despise authority.”

The authority spoken of here is God’s authority, lordship authority and the celestial hierarchies.

So no one can say they were unaware that homosexuality is a sin. We were given an actual example of what is going to happen to the ungodly, and were then told that this will happen again to the ungodly because they had not heeded that example. In the case of Sodom and Gomorrah (and Admah and Zeboiim as per Deuteronomy 29:23) an entire region was destroyed due to public and flagrant sin. In the case of the US, remember that Obama is an elected representative of  the majority of 311 million people and a representative speaks for the majority of the people. So this week Obama publicly and intentionally flouted God’s law for the sanctity of marriage the way He has ordained in the bible.

So you can see that it is not just a matter of one guy changing his mind about how he feels about homosexual marriage. It is a matter of a man who was elected to lead the most blessed nation on earth (after Israel) who represents and speaks for the majority of them, a king of the world, who is supposed to righteously govern according to God’s standards but instead publicly flaunts God’s ordinances. He has shaken his fist at God.

We consistently kill millions of unborn babies despite being told not to pass our children through the fire and sacrifice them. (Leviticus 18:21). We affirm deviancy. We allow ‘no-fault’ divorce. We make empty professions of faith and practice idolatry. When the gay-promoters lash out at the bible believers they call us “intolerant.” They will soon discover how INTOLERANT God Himself is toward sin. Nineveh was smote for wickedness. Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim was smote for homosexuality and wickedness. Israel was punished for empty religion and flouting or abandoning God’s laws. God judged the world because “the wickedness of man was great in the earth” (Genesis 6:5a). America is no different than any other nation or the world.

But let’s bring our attention to a part of the verse that is a promise. The first part of the verse spoke about condemnation. The second part is a promise. Here is 2 Peter 2:6-9a:

“If he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials…”

He KNOWS how grieved we are to hear these things. He KNOWS how trapped we feel, we who did not elect him and who do not hold to these deviant standards. He KNOWS we are distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men. He KNOWS. He rescues the godly. He rescues.

Did he not rescue Noah, that righteous man, perfect in his generations? Did He not rescue Lot? Does He not promise to rescue us from the coming wrath? (1 Thessalonians 1:10). We are not appointed to wrath. (1 Thessalonians 5:9).

So? What is God waiting for? 2 Peter 3:7-9 has the answer–

“But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”

God waited for 400 years to judge the Canaanites. He waited until the fourth generation of the Amorites, until their iniquity was full. (Gen 15:16).

However at a certain point a nation does cross the line. Has America crossed it? As Franklin Graham said, Marriage “was defined not by man, but by God Himself. … This is a sad day for America. May God help us.”

Posted in prophecy, rapture

News blurbs: US-led military exercises near Syria, Putin ‘too busy’ to meet with Obama

From Hurriyet News, a Turkish Daily

12000 soldiers from 17 countries carry out a US-led joint military exercise in Jordan amid the ongoing the crisis in Syria. ‘It has nothing to do with Syria. [The timing] is just a coincidence,’ a top US official says
“The United States military said yesterday that 12,000 soldiers from 17 countries would be taking part in this month’s military exercises in Jordan, designed to enhance their ability to meet “security challenges.” Special action troops, naval and air force units from countries including Turkey, France and Saudi Arabia will carry out the joint training operations, according to the Voice of Russia. “The tactical execution of the Eager Lion 2012 exercises will officially start on May 15,” Major Robert Bockholt, public affairs officer at Special Operations Command Central, told Agence France-Presse. …

Iran, Syria links denied–“Some local media reports have speculated that the war games are linked to the unrest in neighboring Syria, saying the troops were seeking to secure Jordan’s border. “The execution of Eager Lion 2012 is not connected to any real-world event. It has nothing to do with Syria. It is just a coincidence, Bockholt said….”

Sure … and the US sending F22s to a base near Iran has nothing to do with anything either. Anyway, here is an article on the fate of Jordan according to prophecy.

I had written on the blog this week that Russia’s top military officer has threatened to carry out a pre-emptive strike on U.S.-led NATO missile defense facilities in Eastern Europe if Washington goes ahead with its controversial plan to build a missile shield…yet at the same time the US and Russia had agreed to war exercises in which they will be engaging in an anti-terrorism exercise that will involve Russian paratroopers using U.S. weapons to “take and hold” the main facilities of the CIA and Denver International Airport in Colorado and the National Security Agency in Utah.

Now we read this, also in the Hurriyet News– “Putin ‘too busy’ to meet Obama
Newly-inaugurated Russian President Putin will not attend next week’s G8 summit in the United States ‘due to his busy schedule.’ The decision raises new questions about Moscow-Washington ties on the eve of the NATO summit.”
“Russian President Vladimir Putin will miss the upcoming G8 summit in the United States as he is busy forming a government, just after starting his third term as head of state, the Kremlin said yesterday, raising new questions about Moscow-Washington ties. Putin will however meet U.S. President Barack Obama at the G20 summit in June in Mexico, the Kremlin added, confirming an earlier statement by the White House.”

Here is an article about Russia and Iran in prophecy, in which Gog, Putin, the Ezekiel 38-39 prophecy and Persia are all covered.

After Prime Minister Netanyahu’s surprise masterstroke of uniting the government and calling off early elections, the “U.S. Concerned Netanyahu, Mofaz May Attack Iran
U.S. worried that Israel’s new unity government could result in an attack on Iran at any given moment.
“The United States is worried that Shaul Mofaz and his Kadima party’s joining a unity government with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu could result in an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities at any given moment, according to a report on Channel 10 News on Thursday. U.S. government officials told Channel 10 News that they believe a Likud-Kadima joing government could make a decision about an Israeli attack on Iran at any moment and perhaps even before the U.S. presidential elections in November.”

Here is a 2009 article asking whether bible prophecy predicts that Israel attacks Iran The news is dated but the answer is good.

The prophecies of Revelation, Matthew, Psalm 83, Obadiah, Isaiah, and many more books of the bible are soon going to finally be completely fulfilled. As Ron Graham said in his article this week, “A very small amount of discernment is all that is necessary these days as we watch the current state of world affairs becoming more and more unstable.”

For those of us with discernment, a small or a large amount, the burden of the world is both heavy and light. Heavy because we know the left-behind Tribulation dwelling “people of Earth will feel like a prizefighter trapped in a corner of the ring while his opponent pounds him relentlessly” as Jack Kelley phrased it, and Light because Jesus is the Light and our very eternal treasure, whose promises do not fail and who will soon be breaking through the veil to call us up to Him. O come soon, Lord!

Posted in prophecy, sunspot AR1476

Here comes the sun: sunspot AR1476 that is

Little darlin’ here comes the sun…and I say, It’s all right…
News about Sunspot AR 1476coming into view and now faces earth–

“With at least four dark cores larger than Earth, the sprawling active region is one of the largest sunspots in years. Moreover, it has a ‘beta-gamma-delta’ magnetic field that harbors energy for X-class solar flares. Any eruptions in the days ahead could be Earth-directed as the sunspot turns to face our planet. Sunspot AR1476 is so large, people are noticing it without the aide of a solar telescope. The behemoth appears at sunrise and sunset when the light of the low-hanging sun is occasionally dimmed to human visibility. Alberto Lao sends this picture from Manila, the Phillippines:”

There are several classes of flares. “A solar flare is an explosion on the Sun that happens when energy stored in twisted magnetic fields (usually above sunspots) is suddenly released. Flares produce a burst of radiation across the electromagnetic spectrum, from radio waves to x-rays and gamma-rays. Scientists classify solar flares according to their x-ray brightness in the wavelength range 1 to 8 Angstroms. There are 3 categories: X-class flares are big; they are major events that can trigger planet-wide radio blackouts and long-lasting radiation storms. M-class flares are medium-sized; they can cause brief radio blackouts that affect Earth’s polar regions. Minor radiation storms sometimes follow an M-class flare. Compared to X- and M-class events, C-class flares are small with few noticeable consequences here on Earth.” (source).

Now that you’ve seen the sunspot and read about what they are, here is a news excerpt explaining it in laymen’s language:

Huge sunspot forebodes major flares
“An enormous sunspot observed on the sun over the weekend may portend problematic solar activity, according to a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration report. The cool area of the sun known as AR1476, which contains multiple sunspots big enough to see with even basic astronomy equipment, displayed complex beta-gamma magnetic fields as it passed within view of the Earth on May 6th. A sunspot is a temporary area of relatively cooled plasma on the surface of the sun. The group of sunspots that appeared on Sunday were massive, with four individual zones larger than the Earth itself and a complete length of over 100,000 kilometers. The same region of the sun is currently experiencing major solar flare activity, and stronger than usual flares are expected to hit the Earth between May 9th and May 11th.”

This article’s conclusion is pretty interesting:

“Scientists are keeping a close watch [on this sunspot group] over the next several years. Some are equating these solar phenomena with the so called Mayan Calendar. Some irresponsible people are proposing that an ancient calendar predicts the end of the world and connects the Sun with this prophecy. This is the kind of problem scientists are trying to avoid. Hopefully cooler heads will prevail and the Earth will just keep on going along as it’s always done.”

Their last statement is wrong on two counts. First, they make an assumption that the earth has always gone along as it has always done. It has not. There was a global flood, you know. Secondly they make the assumption that the earth will always go along like it has, and it won’t. It will end. (Matthew 24:35). However, it is correct to say that the Mayan prophecy predicting the end of the world is irresponsible. I agree, it is irresponsible to say that. Only the biblical prophecies are trustworthy because they come from an unimpeachable source: God. If a prophecy is from any other source it’s a #fail, because only God knows the future. All that false prophecy does is make mockers out of disbelievers and makes disbelievers out of the curious. And that is a very irresponsible thing to do.

One last thing to consider. There is a prophecy that says people will scoff at prophecy and deny it. Look at 2 Peter 3:3-5:

“Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.” [emphasis mine] Doesn’t that sound exactly like the conclusion of the news article above? The more they scoff, deny, and mock the prophecies, the more the prophecy is being fulfilled.

Posted in end time, gog magog, prophecy, saudi arabia

Saudi Arabia and Iran, rivals till the end?

Let’s take a look at the rivalry between the Saudis and the Iranians for pre-eminence in the Middle Eastern region. We can start by looking at this recent article:

Saudi cleric: ‘Sin’ has led to Middle East unrest

Well, that’s true but not in the way the Muslim cleric thinks… Here’s the excerpt-

“Saudi Arabia’s top religious official has blamed Muslim sinfulness for instability in the Middle East, where pro-democracy unrest has toppled four heads of state. “The schism, instability, the malfunctioning of security and the breakdown of unity that Islamic countries are facing these days is a result of the sins of the public and their transgressions,” Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz Al al-Sheikh was quoted as saying by al-Watan newspaper.’

We tend to think of all Muslims as Muslim, the same, and working in concert to accomplish the global dominance of their goals. They do want to conquer the world for Islam but they are definitely not working in concert with one another. Just as there is not one “Christian” mindset, instead we are split by denominational lines, the false mixed in with the true (Catholicism, B’Hai), it is the same with Islam. The faith they practice is tempered by doctrinal interpretations, national or tribal history, and geography.

Here is an example. Iran is a powerful entity in the Middle East and seeks to be more so every day. However, adjacent nations which are also Muslim are not friendly toward Iran. Both Iran and Saudi Arabia are the two powerhouses vying for dominance, and the smaller ducklings are lined up behind each. The two Middle Eastern powers have been battling for preeminence in the Muslim world for decades. The LA Times wrote in Oct 2011, “Saudi Arabia and Iran seek to outmaneuver each other in matters such as the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the future of Iraq and the bloody political uprisings sweeping much of the region. Their mistrust, fueled in part by sectarian strain, is sharpened by Iran’s nuclear development program and Saudi Arabia’s long-standing ties to the U.S., Tehran’s most potent enemy. The animosity between the Sunni Muslim monarchy in Riyadh and the Shiite Muslim theocracy in Tehran has played out for years in diplomatic back channels and in proxy conflicts from Iraq to Lebanon.”

CNN wrote a few months ago, “The two countries, at odds since the 1979 revolution in Iran and ever more so in the wake of the Arab Spring, are competing for dominance in global energy markets and nuclear technology and for political influence in the Persian Gulf and the Levant. Their conflict, with its sectarian overtones, has the potential to weaken pro-democracy forces in the Middle East and North Africa, empower Islamists, and drag the United States into military interventions. To avoid all this, the United States will need strategic imagination to devise ways to mitigate and manage the rivalry between Riyadh and Tehran.”

The prediction that the rivalry will “empower Islamists” is turning out to be true. Witness the Muslim Brotherhood’s success in Egypt. While Iran and Saudi Arabia rival each other, the Brotherhood sneaks in under the radar, cements seats in Parliament, and before they know it, have the people backing them and political power to wield.

It is out of this mess that Jesus causes the final lineup to occur, and it seems that Iran comes out on top, given their prominent placement as a leader in the aggression toward Israel in the Ezekiel 38 prophecy. The old Arabic proverb goes, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” Just keep that in mind as we read news articles about these nations today and in the future. As a matter of fact, here is one Op-Ed piece in the Kuwaiti Al Watan Daily newspaper today that captures the mood:

“In worst case scenarios; especially during those times when we are really left with little or absolutely no options at all – and have to choose between showing solidarity with the Iranians (God Almighty forbid) or surrendering our earthly possessions, I am certain that we would much rather prefer to live in our deserts as shepherds – wandering around barefoot and working real hard for our livelihoods – than live under the imposing and tyrannical shade of the Iranian umbrella. We’d rather prefer going to bed on a half-empty stomach than enjoy the ill-gotten gains of the Iranians that once actually belonged and still belong to us. We’d rather sleep on the bare earth with no pillow under our heads or even a thin sheet covering our cold bodies than sleep under their silken sheets and warm comforters. Most importantly; we’d rather prefer to die in dignity than live under the shade of their deceptive umbrella.”

Gee, what do you really think of the Iranians, Mufarej Barjas Al-Dosari? Actually, the writer and the colleague Abdullah Al-Hadlaq that he mentions are known as Muslim Zionists, that is, Muslim supporters of Israel.

Al-Dosari and the colleague he mentions have urged his country to normalize relations with Israel. On Wikipedia, it states, ‘Responding to a question whether he believed that Muslims have a right to rule Jerusalem, Hadlaq said, “On the contrary, verse number 21 of Surat Al-Maeda of the Holy Quran emphasizes the right of ‘Bani Israel'”. He said that Israel’s model of democracy is unique and surpassed many of what he described as the “tyrannical, totalitarian” Arab regimes. In his 2008 article, “The Right of Self-defense,” Al-Hadlaq supported “Israel’s right to defend itself” and told the international community “not to criticize Israel if it continues its fight against Persian terror committed by the terrorist Hamas (…) and not to criticize Israel for using force to defend its citizens and its territory”. In 2011, Hadlaq warned against a unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state, which he says will shatter the idea of real peace in the region. According to Al-Hadlaq, Israel has in the past made strategic concessions for peace, in Sinai, the Gaza Strip and South Lebanon, proving her desire for peaceful negotiations, but the response she earned was a hail of rockets from the “terrorists of Hizballah and Hamas”. ‘ [emphasis mine].

See? The enemy of my enemy is my friend. The group hates Iran so badly they support Israel. I think it is interesting that the Kuwaiti newspaper continues to allow them to publish their Op-Ed pieces.

He writes, “On the contrary, we will never ever be deceived even in the event that Iran changes its tactics and tries to win us over through soothing words of comfort and never ending support. We will never fall prey to their false claims of solidarity under the pretext of being Muslims and true followers of Islam. If they were indeed true followers of Islam, they would never have trampled on the rights of their own brethren and fellowmen. It is open knowledge that they do not believe in brotherhood despite their futile claims that they are indeed devout Muslims and hence encourage the welfare of all other Muslims.”

As for the Grand Mufti…Saudi Arabia’s top cleric? This is the same man who criticized those who want to raise the legal marriageable age, He said that raising the age of marriage for Muslim girls to 25 is not necessary, because girls aged 10 or 12 are fully ready for all marital duties if raised properly and those who want to raise it are absolutely mistaken. (source Turkish newspaper). He is the same man who said just last week that a fatwa should be issued against all Christian churches in the Gulf region, that they should all be destroyed. And… he is one of the most influential religious leaders in the Muslim world.

Now here is something interesting. It is extra-biblical but based on the bible. I know nothing about the Yalkut Shimoni, only having discovered it just now. Here is an article from Arutz Sheva from 5 months ago. This is their headline, not mine:

Iran and Saudis Acting Out Ancient Messiah Prophecy?

“Jews familiar with an ancient compilation of Aggadic exegesis called Yalkut Shimoni noticed in recent weeks that current tension between Iran and Saudi Arabia matches a prophecy it contains regarding the year in which the Messiah – the King who redeems Israel and the world – is to appear. In particular, the recently revealed Iranian plot to assassinate Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the U.S. and subsequent reports that the Arab nations are pressuring the West to attack Iran, appear to fit the sequence of events predicted in the Yalkut Shimoni. In to the part of the book dealing with the Book of Isaiah, the following passage appears:

“Rabbi Yitzchak said: ‘In the year in which the Messiah-King appears, all the nations of the world are provoking each other. The King of Persia provokes an Arab king and the Arab king turns to Aram for advice. And the King of Persia goes back and destroys the entire world. And all the nations of the world are in panic and distress and they fall upon their faces and are seized with pains like those of a woman giving birth, and Israel are in panic and distress and asking ‘where shall we go? Where shall we go?,’ and He says to them ‘my sons, do not fear; all that I have done, I have done only for you. Why are you afraid? Do not fear, your time of redemption has come, and the final redemption is not like the first redemption, because the first redemption was followed by sorrow and servitude under other kingdoms, but the final redemption is not followed by sorrow and servitude under other kingdoms.” 

The article continues- “Persia is currently known as Iran, and an Arab king – or the Arab king – can be reasonably understood, in modern eyes, as referring to the king of [Saudi] Arabia, the Arab homeland. This passage is relatively well-known and oft-quoted, and some modern versions of it substitute “Edom” for “Aram.”… The instability in precisely this area is reportedly what most concerns the Saudis, as a U.S. pullout from Iraq looms and Syria’s pro-Iranian regime teeters. The prophecy bodes ill for much of the world, which, if Rabbi Yitzchak’s quote is to be taken literally, is to be destroyed by Iran before the Messiah steps in.”

In biblical prophecy, it is generally interpreted that in Ezekiel 38:13 the Sheba and Dedan that are mentioned are the Saudi Arabian peninsula peoples, including Kuwait, and their question to the aggressors Iran and Russia “have you come to take a spoil?” indicate that Sheba and Dedan do NOT participate in the Gog-Magog attack, perhaps even then, still rivals in a warring and dying world.

The burden of knowing these insults against the Graceful and Merciful Jesus and His people exist, and are getting more outrageous is getting heavier by the day. But what a promise of deliverance we have! When He comes, He will destroy the enemies of the cross, and institute a theocracy that is perfect in all its facets! We will be fully released from the bondage of our sin nature, and will worship Him in united love for Him the perfect Lamb. What a joy it will be to see children safe and the world restored to Edenic glory- and Jesus occupying His rightful pace at the Head, on the throne, and visible to all!

Posted in gog and magog, NATO, prophecy, russia, Uncategorized

Russia threatens pre-emptive strike, yet we plan wargames with them on our soil

I’m not catching the military or diplomatic benefit here… On the one hand, we are engaged in joint games with Russia, on our soil.

Russian paratroopers to ‘seize’ US facility on our soil in elaborate war games
“According to reports, the U.S. and Russian military will be engaging in an anti-terrorism exercise that will involve Russian paratroopers using U.S. weapons to “take and hold” the main facilities of the CIA and Denver International Airport in Colorado and the National Security Agency in Utah. … Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Colonel Alexander Kucherenko publically announced this 24-21 May “anti-terror drill” this Friday past noting that this will be the first time Russian airborne forces have held exercises with the US airborne forces on US territory. Colonel Kucherenko stated, “According to the exercise scenario, soldiers of the two countries will hold a tactical airborne operation, including the reconnaissance of imaginary terrorists’ camp and a raid. After the operation, a helicopter will evacuate the soldiers.” He further added that Russian airborne troops would be training with US special service weapons in these drills in Fort Carson, Colorado.”

On the other hand, Russian top officials said they will bomb our NATO troops if plans for a missile defense shield move forward in Eastern Europe…

Russia says it could pre-emptively strike missile shield
“Russia’s top military officer has threatened to carry out a pre-emptive strike on U.S.-led NATO missile defense facilities in Eastern Europe if Washington goes ahead with its controversial plan to build a missile shield.”

Well, isn’t that special. Let’s take a look at Russia in recent political history and then in biblical prophecy.

Remember, Russia was the Mother Bear anchor for the old Soviet Union of Socialist Republics, or USSR. “The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics” (also known as the USSR or Soviet Union for short) consisted of Russia and surrounding countries that today make up Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. The USSR was founded in 1922, five years after the Russian Revolution overthrew the monarchy of the czar, and was dissolved in late 1991.” (source)

The book Petrostate: Putin, Power, and the New Russia summarizes the recent history of that ancient state this way-
“In the aftermath of the financial collapse of August 1998, it looked as if Russia’s day as a superpower had come and gone. That it should recover and reassert itself after less than a decade is nothing short of an economic and political miracle. Based on extensive research, including several interviews with Vladimir Putin, this revealing book chronicles Russia’s dramatic reemergence on the world stage, illuminating the key reason for its rebirth: the use of its ever-expanding energy wealth to reassert its traditional great power ambitions. … The book provides an informative overview of oil in Russia, traces Vladimir Putin’s determined effort to reign in the upstart oil oligarchs who had risen to power in the post-Soviet era … Goldman shows how Russia paid off its international debt and has gone on to accumulate the world’s third largest holdings of foreign currency reserves–all by becoming the world’s largest producer of petroleum and the world’s second largest exporter.”

It IS an economic and political miracle, one that Christians see has God’s fingerprints all over it. Nations rise and fall, they don’t usually rise again, and if they do, like the Roman Empire, there’s a 2000 year gap between iterations. The Olmec civilization fell. Babylon fell. The United Kingdom Empire fell. The Tang dynasty fell. The Anasazi civilization fell and then vanished. So a decade between Russia’s rise to fall to rise again is amazing. Downright miraculous.

Prophetically, Russia plays a major part in upcoming history. Ezekiel 38-39 describes Russia as a strong aggressor with a focus on taking a spoil and plunder. It  is one of the main confederates in a dreadful alliance that attacks Israel in the last days. Ezekiel 38 opens with God talking to Gog through Prophet Ezekiel. Gog will get an evil thought to come against Israel like a cloud, her and all her confederates, to take plunder and spoil. They will attack the peaceful and unsuspecting people who dwell in safety in unwalled villages. God allows the attack so that He can show Himself Holy to the world and He protects Israel in so doing.

Look at the geography here. I couldn’t even include all of Russia because it is so big the nation labels become unreadable. And Russia’s allies the “-stans” are both east of the Caspian sea and west of it. And in between there and Israel are the Arab states. All these territories and nations attack Israel in the last 7 years. Israel is so tiny on the map you can’t even see it. God is so amazing to protect her, making her an immovable rock!

“And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth are gathered together against it.” (Zechariah 12:3)

Russia it is believed, is the nation mentioned as the one “from the far north”, who will “…come from your place out of the far north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great company and a mighty army. You will come up against My people Israel like a cloud, to cover the land.” (Ezekiel 38:15-16).

It has been speculated that the spoil Russia comes to take is oil. And indeed, Israel has discovered great riches and reserves of natural gas and oil that is easily accessible and quickly converted to usable fuel. One thing that has been historically consistent with Russia is her ambitions. They have always been large, and in this era her ambitions rest on gas and oil. It is one reason the nation is so protective of itself and sees the installation of NATO missiles in Eastern Europe, especially Kaliningrad, which is Russia’s close neighborhood as something they do not want to happen.

Yet we are going to do wargames with Russia. It sure is a crazy world, with shifting alliances and sudden moves, threats, wars and rumors of wars. We don’t know what will happen tomorrow, but we know what will happen soon, the bible tells of the Isaiah 17 prophecy where Damascus and larger Syria are destroyed, where Israel’s near neighbors are decimated, (Psalm 83), where Ezekiel prophesies the destruction of the alliance of Russia, Iran, Turkey/Armenia, Libya, Sudan etc. by God Himself. We know the last book in the bible, Revelation, speaks of battles of the Kings of the South and of the East marching against Israel. All this and much more is prophesied. And being promises of God, they will not fail.

“Blessed be the LORD, that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant.” (1 Kings 8:56)

And Russia will be right in the center of these, some of His last promises. God is great, His plans never fail. I am amazed how He uses nations and events to bring to pass His will. After a startling fall and seeming defeat on the world stage, Russia is back, the bear is awakening from her short slumber and beginning to growl her intentions across the pages of prophecy.

“And the heavens shall praise thy wonders, O LORD: thy faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints.” (Psalms 89:5)

Posted in earthquake, prophecy, sky noises, wisconsin town rattling

Something’s rattling Wisconsin town

Last Thursday I’d posted an essay titled “Strange boom heard in GA, spiritual warfare ramping up?” In that essay I explored the news of strange sky booms, rattles, rumbles, and clanks repeatedly being reported worldwide.

In addition, one year ago, on March 18, 2011, I’d reported a shaking in a Florida town that felt like an earthquake, but was not. It is yet another phenomenon that has been reported off and on, the ground shakes but seismologists say their instruments don’t indicate seismic activity. The first paragraph of that story says,

“Investigators are trying to solve a bizarre mystery in Flagler County. A wave of people called 911 around 9:30am Friday to report the ground shaking in Flagler County. The calls all came from the Hammock area of Palm Coast (see map). However, people in the north Daytona area, as well as in Deltona and as far north as St. Augustine, said they felt it as well. Many people were worried that the shaking was an earthquake.”

This happened in other places too, but the FL shaking was representative of the kind of incidents that have been occurring. Of course, we haven’t even mentioned the sinkholes, sinkholes, and more sinkholes, and the earth cracks that have been appearing regularly, too. It seems that above and below, weird things are happening that freak out the people who experience them and puzzle the officials charged with explaining them.

Now today a story being reported by CNN is titled “Something’s rattling small Wisconsin town
Mysterious explosions. Unexplained shaking. Something’s going on in Clintonville, Wisconsin, but nobody seems to know what it is. The sounds — variously described as rattling pipes, clanging metal, thunder or firecrackers — have continued on and off since early Sunday night in just one part of the small town of 4,600, located about 180 miles northeast of Madison. Accompanying the sounds are vibrations that have shaken homes and household objects in the northeast corner of town, city manager Lisa Kuss said. The sounds were loud enough Monday morning that a CNN journalist could hear them during a cell phone conversation with Kuss.”

Workers have examined all the likely candidates, to breaking pipes to rattling gas or water bubbles to improperly sized manhole covers…and the USGS has said that it wasn’t seismic activity either.

More at link.

What could be going on? Is there a biblical explanation?

Well first, we know that the earth is the LORD’S. Psalm 24:1 says,
“Of David. A psalm. The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;” so if He wants to rearrange the continents, crack them, shake them, He can and He will. Actually, He does.

 Job 9:6 says: “He shakes the earth from its place and makes its pillars tremble.”

Secondly, we know that the earth will crack apart in the very last day.

“The earth is broken up, the earth is split asunder, the earth is thoroughly shaken. The earth reels like a drunkard, it sways like a hut in the wind; so heavy upon it is the guilt of its rebellion that it falls—never to rise again.” (Isaiah 24:19-20).

Third, before that time, we know that in Revelation, the judgments that come during the Tribulation are so forceful that they change the face of the earth.

“The mountains melt beneath him and the valleys split apart, like wax before the fire, like water rushing down a slope. (Micah 1:4)

“The fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the beasts of the field, every creature that moves along the ground, and all the people on the face of the earth will tremble at my presence. The mountains will be overturned, the cliffs will crumble and every wall will fall to the ground.” (Ezekiel 38:20)

“The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.” (Revelation 6:14).

And there are many other scriptures that show that the earth will experience shakings and changes so as to render it unrecognizable. That the cataclysmic-change process may be starting now is a possibility.

Fourth, we know that a great many demons are being held in the deepest dungeon in the earth. (Revelation 9:1-3). These are described as locusts and scorpions but they are demons. 2 Peter 2:4 describes where these demons have been imprisoned since the time they sinned, and it is the lowest abyss in the earth.

“The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. And out of the smoke locusts came down on the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth.” (Rev 9:1-3).

Now some of this language is figurative…it could be actual smoke, the pit of hell belches out its vaporous sulfur and inky smoke, or it could also be the innumerable demons themselves, so many of them that they blot out the sun as they make their flight from hell to create a hell on earth.

If you have a large dog and you have to crate it to bring it to the vet, you know that when it’s inside the crate he gets so vigorous that the crate shudders and shakes and skitters across the floor. If there are so many demons held in prison, and we know they know what is going on somehow through the demon-grapevine, wouldn’t you think they’d be getting so excited that “their time” is coming that their clanking in chains and their demonic dances in the pit would shake parts of the earth? Are they rattling the cage even now?

The end of the Church Age is rife with supernatural events, as Jesus outlined in Matthew 24. 2 Thessalonians 2:9 says that the coming of the Lawless One is accompanied with lying signs and wonders. The Lord said the time of the end will be like a woman having birth pangs. Those start off small and soft but grow in intensity and quantity as the time of the birth grows nearer. I believe the time of the ‘natural’ is ending and the time of the ‘supernatural’ is beginning. Increasingly, events fail to have a ‘natural’ cause associated with them, and explanations simply don’t pass the straight face test. (For example, the rumblings at Wisconsin, one article proposed that it was far-off thunder, as if the residents of the town had never heard thunder before).

As we sometimes can hear the neighbors through the walls, or sometimes our watercolors bleed into each other on the paper, or our gravy on the plate leaks over to the carrots, the overtly natural and the overtly supernatural are mixing.

Something’s rattling a Wisconsin town, but more to the point, is something rattling your heart? Your mind? That is the Holy Spirit, telling you that these events are really happening, the bible is really true, and God really wants to call you precious one in His family. All that is required is to confess that you’re a sinner, and believe that Jesus (who is sinless) died as the acceptable sacrifice for your sins, payment to God to satisfy His wrath.

You see, the world already is supernatural. Every Christian has the Holy Spirit inside them. (2 Cor. 1:21-22). Satan is already stalking the world (Job 1:7, 1 Peter 5:8). Demons already are in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth. (2 Chron 18:21; Matthew 8:28; Jude 1:6).

A thunderstorm begins with low rumblings from far off. In the bible, thunder is associated with judgment. As the storm gets closer, the thunder will be heard more loudly, more vigorously, (Revelation 5:5; 8:5, 10:3; 11:19…) as the judgments begin. I will be in heaven when the pillars of the temple rattle from songs of praise from the multitude. (Isaiah 6:4). I hope you will not be on earth as it is rattled from its foundation, to crack and reel like a drunkard, cracking up under the weight of its sins, but in heaven, with us.

Ultimately, what we know for sure is the the times will get more perplexing, more supernatural, more inexplicable. The Christian will defy gravity and fly upward to Jesus when He calls us. The non-believer will suffer the torments of demon bites, waters that turn to blood, and other supernatural events which are judgments for unrepentant sin. Let the Savior rattle the cage of your heart let Him rattle it free, as these events perplex you, let Him shake your foundation so that you tumble onto His nail-scarred feet in abject sorrow for your sins. He will lift you up, and you will be free from His wrath forever.