prophecy – Page 69

Are things spinning out of control? (Answer: No)

Posted on March 16, 2012May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

If you read the news today it seems like everything is out of control. Politics is out of control. I mean, really:

Cost of living is out of control. Gas prices are out of control. Tell me about that last one. The price of regular gas went up ten cents last week, and two cents just today. $3.69 on the way into work, $3.71 on the way home from work. I don’t get paid for two more weeks. I wonder what the price will be then. The weather is out of control, there’s 80 degrees in Maine and twisters in Michigan and 250,000 tons of snow in Anchorage. The Middle East is out of control, with hundreds of rockets falling in Israel and at one point a million Israelis huddling in shelters. Iran is threatening the destruction of the US. You heard right, they’re not just the usual threats against Israel, but Iran issued a direct threat to destroy the US and not to rest until they have accomplished that. The economic situation is out of control. 80% of Americans say they are not better off than they were 4 years ago. UK unemployment is up more that they even figured for February.

A report is out that antibiotic overuse is so prevalent a scratched knee could be deadly. That last one reminded me of a documentary I’d seen recently in which a global epidemic occurred and within two weeks civilization collapsed. In the documentary, which was interspersed with live drama to illustrate the effects of the situations the various authorities were describing, the father, who had led his family out of LA and managed to survive gangs, disarray, hunger, thirst, loss of possessions, and all sorts of animal and human dangers, died from a scratch on his hand.

I think I have mentioned every sphere in which we live; food, transportation, government, war, medicine, peace, etc. Every sphere of our lives are unraveling, undergoing pressure, or otherwise getting worse. It sure feels like things are spinning out of control.

They’re not.

I was musing on God’s orderliness. Time and time again in the bible he shows us just how much He is in control. Everything happens in His schedule, in His timetable, in His timing, for His reasons. Nothing escapes His notice. Nothing happens unless He causes it, allows it, or oversees it and then brings it all to the Good for those who love Him.

You have to read the bible a lot to get this broad of an overview. I can put in bible verse after bible verse, but it wouldn’t broaden the scope enough to illustrate what I’m saying. The best thing to do is read Matthew 1-3. I’ll synopsize here.

For millennia, the People knew that there would come a Messiah to redeem them and bring them to sinless glory. They waited and they waited and they waited. It seemed like a long time was passing. And a long time was passing. But in God’s orderliness, this is how time was passing:

“So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ are fourteen generations.” (Matthew 1:17).

Orderly. Precise. Jesus arrived at the fourteenth generation of the fourteenth generation of the fourteenth generation, just as planned.

When the Magi arrived, Herod was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. (Mt 2:3). So Herod called the priests and teachers and asked about this birth and where it was supposed to take place. They replied:

So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:
‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, Are not the least among the rulers of Judah; For out of you shall come a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel.’” (Matthew 2:5-6)

Jesus was born in Bethlehem, just as He planned. Orderly.

Herod was much troubled and he decided to kill the boy Jesus, this coming King he had heard of, by killing all the tots under the age of two. But God sent an angel to Joseph, advising him to flee to Egypt. And so another prophecy was fulfilled.

“When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt I called My Son.” (Matthew 3:14-15)

Herod’s massacre then happened, and so the prophecy of Jeremiah was fulfilled–

“A voice was heard in Ramah, Lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, Refusing to be comforted, Because they are no more.” (Matthew 3:18).

Peter Paul Rubens Massacre of the Innocents

God sent the People their first prophet in 400 years, a man to announce the coming kingdom and to call for repentance: John the Baptist. This was to fulfill he “who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying:

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘ Prepare the way of the LORD; Make His paths straight.’” (Matthew 3:3).

Orderly. He was spoken of to come, and he came.

If you take the broad view you see that all had happened just as it should. You see that it is all happening now just as it should. Though daily events seem out of control, over the long term they are actually very orderly.

As an example, you look at the Reubens painting it looks like chaos. The mothers of the slain babies sure didn’t feel like life was orderly- it felt like it was spinning out of control. As the angel shook Joseph’s shoulder and told him to flee to Egypt, it sure must have felt like things were spinning out of control. You know how you feel when you get a 2 am phone call! It is scary at best and chaotic at worst, especially if the call brings bad news, especially if you have to run out to the police station or to the hospital.

I understand how the people of Jesus’ day would be confused, the disparate verses calling for a Bethlehem-born, lamenting Rachel, out of Egypt, Nazarene presaged by a Nazrite eating locusts and honey didn’t seem to fit together. But then, just as suddenly, they did. His prophecy is perfect and perfectly orderly.

If you feel like life is getting out of control, I understand. There’s high crime, wantonness, bloated lusts. But they too are prophesied:

“Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.” (Matthew 24:3b-8).

All these things must come to pass. And then He will call for us, and suddenly everything we have been told for thousands of years in the twinkling of an eye will become past history.

God has everything in control. If you are saved by His grace, your soul is secure. Everything is progressing just as it should be. Nothing is out of control.

It is happening in an orderly way, precisely, and perfectly. And no matter what happens in my life, no matter how low my bank account gets, or how many rumors of reduction in force swirl past my ears, no matter how many times I have to hide in the tub with a pillow over my head from tornadoes, no matter how empty my refrigerator gets, I know He has everything in control. That knowledge is the securest place I could possibly be, and I wouldn’t trade it. I am grateful for His grace, His perfection, His plan, His love for keeping me sheltered in this wonderful knowledge.

If you would like to partake of the sweetness of His security, knowing everything is perfect in the world according to His plan, then repent of your sins. Appeal to Jesus as your savior from the wrath of God, and fling yourself on Him in sorrow for your crimes against Him. He will forgive you. And then I would be blessed to say to you, “Welcome to the family of God.”

a city upon a hill, bible jesus, prophecy, wyoming doomsday bill

Wyoming advances doomsday bill

Posted on February 26, 2012 by elizabethprata

This news excerpt is from the Wyoming Star-Tribune. It is not a spoof.

Wyoming House advances doomsday bill
“CHEYENNE — State representatives on Friday advanced legislation to launch a study into what Wyoming should do in the event of a complete economic or political collapse in the United States. House Bill 85 passed on first reading by a voice vote. It would create a state-run government continuity task force, which would study and prepare Wyoming for potential catastrophes, from disruptions in food and energy supplies to a complete meltdown of the federal government. The task force would look at the feasibility of Wyoming issuing its own alternative currency, if needed. And House members approved an amendment Friday by state Rep. Kermit Brown, R-Laramie, to have the task force also examine conditions under which Wyoming would need to implement its own military draft, raise a standing army, and acquire strike aircraft and an aircraft carrier. The bill’s sponsor, state Rep. David Miller, R-Riverton, has said he doesn’t anticipate any major crises hitting America anytime soon. But with the national debt exceeding $15 trillion and protest movements growing around the country, Miller said Wyoming — which has a comparatively good economy and sound state finances — needs to make sure it’s protected should any unexpected emergency hit the U.S. Several House members spoke in favor of the legislation, saying there was no harm in preparing for the worst.”

Iran’s Khamenei hints that the Presidency may be dismantled

Posted on February 21, 2012 by elizabethprata

The News first then the prophetic implication.

In April of 2011 I had posted several articles noting the growing and obvious rift between the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei, and his handpicked and supposedly elected President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. There was a spate of articles and a heightened speculation, then…nothing. War tensions took over and news chat of Ahmadinejad’s position took back burner. Now this incredible news today. First, look at the three peices of news from last April/May-

Apr 28, 2011: There’s a rift between Iran’s President Ahmadinejad …
“A rift is emerging between Iran’s president and its supreme leader, prompting several members of the parliament to call for the impeachment of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has not been seen in public for days.”

Apr 29, 2011: Ahmadinejad may resign
“In an interesting story yesterday, it seems that Iran’s President Ahmadinejad has displeased the clerics (who really rule the nation) and especially has displeased Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei…”

May 6, 2011: “Are Ahmadinejad’s days numbered?“
“An Examiner article states that Arab TV has reported that the Iran’s Supreme Leader Khamenei has asked President hmadinejad of Iran to step down. If true, it indicates a tightening of the strife that has burst onto the surface.”

Iran’s Parliamentary elections are coming up. This parliamentary election will be held in Iran on 2 March 2012 to elect new members of Islamic Consultative Assembly, Majlis. The Presidential election is not until next year. “The [parliamentary] election is expected to be a contest between “supporters and opponents of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad within the conservative camp,” says the AP. So there was already a rift, but the election is the mechanism that will expose it to the light. And any tensions that have been successfully hidden from the world since last April, will be all the harder to suppress as the elections near.

Then this today.

“Supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei has hinted the office of the presidency may be dismantled“.

In this Al Jazeera opinion piece analyzing the current internal factionism in advance of the elections, it is stated,

“Soon after the presidential election of June 2009 – when Khamenei had to side with Ahmadinejad – the widely contested president was under the illusion that he enjoyed grassroots support. As a result of that deadly miscalculation, he and his faction now face two problems: not having his allies qualified for the next parliamentary election, and being impeached by the newly formed parliament for a barrage of corruption charges against him, his aides, and his cabinet. Ahmadinejad was always dispensable for Khamenei – but he seems to have had misread the Supreme Leader’s intentions, who has even recently suggested that the office of presidency might very well be altogether dismantled to guarantee his absolutist Sultanism without even a hint of democratic menace.”

Sultanism is “another name for Despotism, is a form of authoritarian government characterized by the extreme personal presence of the ruler in all elements of governance. … The term Sultanism is derived from the word Sultan, which is a title used in Muslim societies for a sovereign or absolute monarch.” (source)

This isn’t the first time the Ayatollah has said that he may get rid of the office of President. He said it 4 months ago in this article in the Washington Post- “An unusual proposal by Iran’s supreme leader to eliminate the position of president has highlighted an increasingly bitter struggle within the country’s political elite, as the leader and his allies continue to try to undercut the powers of Iran’s ambitious president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said “changing Iran into a parliamentary system” in which voters no longer elected a president would not be a problem.” Read more here.

Now the prophetic implication. The Tribulation is a time for Kings. It is all about kings. There will not be freedom, there will not be liberty, there will not be democracy. Geo-political changes occur so rapidly that individual national sovereignty is quickly done away with. the world forms into ten kingships. Daniel 7:24- “The ten horns are ten kings who will come from this kingdom. After them another king will arise, different from the earlier ones; he will subdue three kings.”

Revelation 17:12 – “Revelation 17:12 “The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the beast.”

Daniel 11:40 “At the time of the end the king of the South will engage him in battle, and the king of the North will storm out against him with chariots and cavalry and a great fleet of ships. He will invade many countries and sweep through them like a flood.”

Revelation 16:12, “The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the East.”

The final days of the Church Age will see, and we are seeing now, a shifting of power. Not just in one president here or there but grand, sweeping changes, and changes not just of who governs, but how they govern, too. And not for the better. Changes where kings and presidents and ayatollahs and prime ministers and dictators are swept from power at a heartbeat. How many top leaders have been killed or have resigned int he last year? Power coalesces, and even nominal democracy is done away with. Think of all the dictators and leaders swept away in the Arab Spring, to be replaced with an Army or a Muslim Brotherhood, or a Terrorist faction. None of the new leaders have been better than the last, that is for sure.

It has to be so, because by Revelation 13 the Antichrist has gained enough power to force all people, great and small, to receive a mark on their hand or their forehead in order to worship the beast, or they may not buy nor sell. That is the word in Revelation 13:16- “forced” “everyone.” Only dictators can do that. As we near the Tribulation the world gets ready to form into ten kingships, then seven, then one.

That’s why it is prophetically significant that the Ayatollah has hinted he may get rid of the office of the President. By the time of the end, there will only be dictators. aAd then the final dictator, antichrist. It is all narrowing down.
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bible, prophecy, shepherd

Reclining at Jesus’s bosom

Posted on February 20, 2012May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Growing up, I used to watch the PBS Masterpiece Theatre classic “I, Claudius”. It was about one of the least known Emperors of the Roman Empire, Claudius. Who wouldn’t overlook him, being sandwiched between Caligula and Nero, lol. I was fascinated with the Roman banquets, of which the show “I, Claudius” had many, and I used to wonder why they ate while reclining. It seemed cumbersome to me.

However, Amos mentioned reclining while eating in Amos 6:7- “Therefore they shall now go captive as the first of the captives, And those who recline at banquets shall be removed.” Amos lived in around 760 BC. As a matter of fact, the first known artistic depiction of someone reclining while eating is captured in this ‘Garden Party’ relief from the North Palace of Ashurbanipal, Nineveh, Iraq, about 645 BC, well before the Roman Empire. The relief is currently housed at the British Museum. King Ashurbanipal reigned from 669-631 BC. Here he is shown eating while reclining on his left side, with a pillow propped under his armpit and his wife upright in front of him. This custom was later shown in Greek, Etruscan, and Roman art and writings. It was picked up in Jewish traditions.

source

I was then and I am still bemused by the Roman custom of eating while reclining. The Romans said it aided digestion. It also was a cultural boast, that the upper class Romans were so wealthy they could afford to not only sit to eat, but to recline. Leisure was a mark of class and wealth.

The photo below from Wikimedia Commons shows a re-enactment of a Roman banquet. The Romans would lie on their left side with a pillow under their armpit. They would use their right hand to eat. Their feet would extend out and away from the specially designed couches upon which they would recline for many hours. Dinners took a while, interspersed as they were with conversation and entertainment. Women were allowed to participate at dinners at later stages of the Empire, and usually sat in upright chairs in front of their husbands.

This reenactment of a Roman banquet shows members of the upper class reclining on couches. The women wear their chiton and palla, while the men wear purple-bordered togas, denoting their position of senator. As women are present, this is most likely a dinner party, as opposed to a symposium, where women would only be permitted if they were entertainers.

As the custom caught on, the middle class then the lower classes copied the posture of reclining while eating.

The typical dinner would include nine guests. There were three reclining couches arranged in a semicircle, with three diners to a couch. The inside of the horseshoe was left open so slaves could pour wine and serve food. Anything not eaten, like bones or shells, were cast to the floor to be swept up by the slaves later.

The host would assume the place in the middle of the central couch and to be placed next to him was the place of honor. It is like “the head table” at a wedding. The place of honor was given to the one on his left. Jesus spoke to this when he said in Matthew 23:6, “They love the place of honor at banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues,”

As Barnes’ Notes describes, “On these the guests reclined, leaning on their left side, with their feet extended from the table, and so lying that the head of one naturally reclined on the bosom of another. To recline near to one in this manner denoted intimacy, and was what was meant by lying “in the bosom” of another, John 13:23; Luke 16:22-23.

“John 13:23– “There was reclining on Jesus’ bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved.”

Embroidered altar dossal, 1633. source

Barnes continues, “As the feet were extended “from” the table, and as they reclined instead of sitting, it was easy to approach the feet behind, and even unperceived. Thus, in Luke 7:37-38, while Jesus reclined in this manner, a woman that had been a sinner came to his feet “behind him,” and washed them with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head. She stood on the outside of the couches. So our Saviour washed the feet of his disciples as they reclined on a couch in this manner, John 13:4-12. Whenever we read in the New Testament of “sitting” at meals, it always means reclining in this manner, and never sitting as we do. The chief seat, or the “uppermost” one, was the middle couch at the upper end of the table. This the Pharisees loved, as a post of honor or distinction.”

All one had to do if wanting to ask a private question or make a one-on-one comment was to lean back against the person next to you, and with your head at their bosom, ask it in a low voice. The Beloved Disciple, assumed to to be John, asked this of Jesus when prompted by Peter, who was going to be His betrayer?

“He, leaning back thus on Jesus’ bosom, said to Him, “Lord, who is it?” (John 13:25).

Jesus replied to the Beloved Disciple who had just asked Jesus who His betrayer was going to be by saying it is the one to whom I will dip this bread (Verse 26). Because Jesus was able to hand Judas the bread it it assumed that Judas had been reclining at the second place of honor, to the Host’s left.

Though Jesus certainly had upside down ideas about the places of honor, so the ritual usually associated with Roman & Jewish dining places can’t be dogmatically assumed, except for Jesus being at the center. “When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this man your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”” (Luke 14:7-11).

The handing of bread that had been dipped was a custom of friendship, or reconciliation. By Jesus handing Judas the bread He was giving an offer of friendship at that late stage, and still giving Judas grace to change his mind.

Judas was close to Jesus because Judas was handed the bread and he took it.

“After the morsel, Satan then entered into him.” (John 13:27).

So Judas accepted the gesture but still resolved to betray Jesus! Then Jesus said, “What you do, do quickly.”

Here are a couple of other verses referring to intimacy and closeness in proximity by being at the bosom-

Luke 16:22– “Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried.”

Isaiah 40:11– “Like a shepherd He will tend His flock, In His arm He will gather the lambs And carry them in His bosom; He will gently lead the nursing ewes.”

The picture of the different people at the bosom of Abraham or Jesus shows us rest, intimacy, care. Are you reclining at Jesus’ bosom today? It is an amazing thing to know that He is holy, holy, holy; that His thunder can rend the earth into pieces, but that love of His forgiven is as gentle and accessible as being able to lay your head on His bosom. He will even gather you into His arms and carry you. He is not just the Judge of all sins, He is not only the Subduer of foes, but He is the gentle Shepherd, able to tenderly carry the feeble and the weak. Come to Him today, your Shepherd, your Companion.
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prophecy

The Bride awaits her Groom

Posted on February 18, 2012 by elizabethprata

What a lovely and spotless bride Jesus is creating! We often look around and see the mud and grime of the world and despair. For those of us who are older, we remember innocent days when children played outside unsupervised, roamed the streets with sticks and balls and bats, safe and happy. We remember when crime was lower and people were nicer. Today is it pretty ugly out there, and that of course is because of sin. But…the Bride of Jesus is shining, spotless, and beautiful! Do not forget that! Wearing garments white as snow, standing by the crystal sea, singing praises to Jesus! His acceptance of all the wrath of God on our behalf made possible our entrance into heaven. Our ugly and putrid sins were forgiven through His sacrificial act.

This is the long betrothal period, when the bride is separated from her groom. The bride are all those people past, present and future in the Age of Grace who have believed on the atoning sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, and His resurrection. We are anxious, waiting. We are making preparations such as remaining faithful. We are looking forward to the wedding day when everything will be perfect and we will be ready! (Revelation 19:7)

All brides on her wedding day are beautiful. She is radiant, and glowing and smiling and happy. Her white garment is spotless and adorns and wraps her gracefully. All the believers are installed in New Jerusalem, the holy city, which takes on the characteristics of the bride herself, because we who are His bride are in it. (Revelation 21:2).

“I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.”

We are finally united with our Groom!

The world is ugly and putrid and dripping with evil and poison and sin. But that is not us, thanks to Jesus our Christ. We are not of the world. Believers are spotless and beautiful in Christ’s eyes. “…Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.” (Ephesians 25b-27)

Stand up, you believers, and make ready for the Groom. You are so pure and lovely in His eyes. We who eagerly await Him are also eagerly awaited BY Him!
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prophecy, river turns blood red

Beirut River mysteriously runs blood red

Posted on February 16, 2012 by elizabethprata

UPDATE: The Yangtze River is running red, no one knows why. See my blog entry about that issue, here.

—————————-
The Lebanon Star newspaper is reporting that the Beirut River ran blood red today. I’ll post the excerpt from the article, then speak to a negative and a positive.

“BEIRUT: The Beirut River mysteriously turned blood red Wednesday after a stream of unidentified red liquid began pouring from the southern bank of the river in Furn al-Shubbak. The source of the liquid had yet to be determined Wednesday evening, as the river continued to empty the red-colored water into the Mediterranean Sea. Government and local officials rushed to the scene at the Chevrolet crossing of Furn al-Shubbak Wednesday morning in an attempt to locate the sewage canal that was dumping the red-colored water but they were unable to locate the source.”

Authorities have yet to determine the source of the substance causing the red color.

I do not know why they used the word “mysteriously” in the headline and lede, because later in the article it says this happens every two months or so.

“Several business owners around the Chevrolet crossing said that colored water pours into the river roughly every two months but no one pays attention to it. It was the quantity and brightness of the red liquid that grabbed the attention of many passersby and commuters on different bridges in the city Wednesday.”

OK, so granted, it is strange to see the river turn blood red with that depth of color. In all the other times, perhaps, it maybe ran green or yellow but never red.

“First we thought it was blood, but it seems like it is a kind of coloring dumped by a factory,” said Sabbagh, who also said that the test to determine the type of the chemical would take a week.”

Now that initial testing has taken place, The Star reported in a subsequent article that it is NOT blood. “BEIRUT: Laboratory tests of samples from Beirut River that mysteriously turned red Wednesday have discounted blood as the source of the coloration of the major waterway.”

It is obviously some industrial or organic runoff. The source will be found soon, I’m sure.

But I want to talk for a moment about the reaction to the first story as it unfolded online. This is the negative. People thought it was prophecy coming true. They believed that it was a direct fulfillment of Revelation 16:4, the Bowl Judgment where “The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood.”

The incident at the Beirut River cannot be a a fulfillment of Revelation 16 because all that is prophesied to happen before Rev. 16 is fulfilled has not occurred yet. God is orderly, and He said that His wrath in judgment would unfold after the church is taken up to heaven (1 Thess 5:9, Is 26:20). He said that the Third Bowl judgment would happen after the First and the Second Bowl judgments, and they haven’t occurred yet. He said that the Bowl Judgments would take place after the Trumpet Judgments (Rev 8-9) which take place after the Seal Judgments (Rev 6). None of this has taken place. Read Revelation 6-16 to see the order of what I just described.

A little biblical learning is a dangerous thing. Prophecy is meant to be God’s word to us foretelling the future, so that we may act accordingly, and so that we may believe. Only God knows the future, so when we see it coming true, we know He is sovereign and omniscient- knowing all things. We know He is omnipotent, because only He can cause the things to come true in the manner in which He has said. Thoughtlessly flinging around prophetic verses and casually and incorrectly saying they are fulfilled, is dangerous at worst and stupid at best.

This article in the Florida Baptist Witness is about Joel C. Rosenberg, a Christian and an expert on both geo-politics at the top levels and also is familiar with prophecy. In the article, Joel said war in the Middle East is coming soon. He also said of prophecy in general,

“Prophecy is an intercept from the mind of an all-knowing and all-seeing and all powerful God,” he said. It is meant to inspire, motivate and encourage. It will lead to repentance, holiness, and prayer and fasting, Rosenberg said, adding that prophecy is about the “preaching of the Gospel, making of disciples, planting churches, reaching young people with the Gospel, [and] reaching all people with the Gospel.””

Pastors today resist preaching prophecy. Rosenberg said, “For some it’s because prophecy has been “sensationalized” in the past and they resist the “cheapening of God’s Word,” he said. Others might feel unprepared. Some have simply forgotten its power.”

Amen to all the above. Prophecy, as is all of God’s word, is the truth of GOD delivered at great cost to the messenger and carried on the backs of martyrs who died for the faith. I feel particularly aggrieved when people cheapen prophecy by studying it casually and applying it liberally, and incorrectly. Don’t do that.

On the positive side, I was glad to see that when people saw the river turn red the first thing they thought of was God. For many, biblical prophecy in the end times was the first thing that came to mind, not an industrial accident or an organic event. That is good.

But now the question comes, what are you going to do about it? Because God’s word is sure. When it turns out to have been an industrial runoff, people will shake off their prophetic thought and think themselves a silly person. Not so. That premonition, that inkling, is real. Revelation 16 will come, and the rivers will turn to blood, for real. And then what will you drink? I hope by then you will be drinking the Living Water. (John 4:1-26). Jesus is the answer.
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earthquakes, prophecy

Are there more earthquakes? YES

Posted on February 11, 2012May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

How to find earthquake data. I go to the United States Geological Survey and I click on Global Earthquake Search. I enter the parameters for the date, which is always 1-1- YYYY to 12-31-YYYY. I plug in the magnitude, which is 5.0 to 5.9 or 6.0 to 6.9 etc. Here is a screen shot:

Then the search presents me with data in sum.

I compare the search results with USGS annual averages, here.

I make a chart in Word by using “table” and plugging in the data I get from USGS search. When I’m done I paste the Word chart into Photoshop. I do it in Word (or Excel) so I can update it more easily. Today I updated the chart I’d last published as of Nov 2011. Click on it to make it bigger.

The number of earthquakes per year is increasing.
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damascus, Isaiah, prophecy, syria

Western Syria is aflame, violence spills over to Lebanon

Posted on February 11, 2012May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

This information is from UK Telegraph’s live blogging tweets of the Syrian Uprising. They have stopped for the day, but you need to see this map they linked to.

They wrote: “Syrian uprising live. Live coverage of developments in Syria, as the violence escalates in the Syrian flashpoint city of Homs with soldiers loyal to Bashar al-Assad’s regime attempting to crush opponents. Join us for DAILY updates: http://www.facebook.com/syrianuprising, twitter: @SyriaUprising”

This was their last tweet for the day:

“21.05 All eyes are on Homs and the battle for Damascus but the uprising against Assad is actually far more widespread. Check out this Google map to see how almost all of western Syria is aflame.” [emphasis mine]

Syria – Friday 10/02/2012
“Videos and updates from around Syria. Towns with reported protests or on strike are marked in blue. Towns with updates alone are marked in green. Red markers show places which are under attack or where martyrs fell today.”

You see that there is violence at the borders. Indeed, the violence spilled over to Lebanon today.

“Syrian forces continued to bombard Homs on Saturday as Iraq claimed jihadists are crossing into Syria and weapons are being sent to opponents of President Bashar Al Assad’s regime. The bloodshed showed no signs of abating, even spilling over into Lebanon. Activists said 25 people were killed across the country, including a 55-year-old woman among seven who were killed in the latest attacks in many districts of Homs which also saw house-to-house raids. Food and medical supplies are running low in blockaded areas and many people are trapped in their houses. “We have intelligence information that a number of Iraqi jihadists went to Syria,” Adnan Al Assadi told AFP, adding that “weapons smuggling is still ongoing” from Iraq to Syria. In Damascus, Brigadier General Eisa Al Kholi was killed by three gunmen outside his home as part of a “framework of targeting Syrian intellectuals and the medical and technical cadres,” the official Syrian Arab News Service said. Al Kholi was the director of the Hamish Hospital in Damascus, it said.””

There is no way you can be a student of prophecy and know the prophecy of Damascus, and not see that map and get shivers. Damascus is 150 miles from Jerusalem. Now here is another shiver-worthy article–

Assad mulls use of chemical weapons (translated from Hebrew)
“According to dissident elements, the Syrian army had concentrated cluster of chemical weapons at a school in the city, Prime Minister of Britain: a horrible situation, very difficult”
“Homs opposition warned today (Thursday) from the Syrian army can use chemical weapons against the protesters. Forum social network today who told activists that received reports that the Syrian army gas masks distributed to his soldiers at checkpoints and cluster grenades and mortar shells containing chemical weapons were assembled one of the schools in Homs. Whether the Syrian military will use chemical weapons against civilians is thus sufficient grounds for outside military intervention.”

If they use chemical weapons, will they also use nuclear? The destruction of Damascus from being a city is a given because it is a prophecy, but how it is destroyed is not given.

Dr. Jill Dekker is a consultant to the NATO Defense Establishment in bio-warfare and counter terrorism. Dr. Dekker is also a member of the board of advisors of the Intelligence Summit. She gave an interview to the New English Review in December 2007. In it, she said,

“Contrary to how the US State Department and other agencies tend to downplay the sophistication of the Syrian biological and nuclear programs, they are very advanced. Syria has always had the most advanced chemical weapons program in the Middle East. The US and other western agencies have in a sense been distracted by this, but their biological programs and the “concept of use” are robust. Syria’s biological weapons capability today is closely tied to the former and current Soviet and Russian programs respectively, the DPRK, Iran and the former Iraq regime. A major concern is their strategic concept of use – which has gone from one of ‘special weapons’ to incorporation into their ‘conventional arsenal.’ That is a significant shift and one that seems to have eluded the US. The Syrians run their biological programs out of the Syrian Scientific Research Council (SSRC) in Damascus.””

In a 2011 article I’d commented on, the unrest that had begun in Syria those many months ago immediately sparked fears and the question was asked “what will happen to its chemical weapons?”

The 2007 Dekker interview summarized the situation like this:

“Dr. Dekker’s answers give a foreboding picture of how large and refined the Syrian bio-warfare programs are and how little Western Intelligence knows about how the programs were developed. The potential exists for a significant WMD threat in the Middle East and the West, especially, against America. Syria is a proxy ally of Iran, North Korea (DPRK) and terror groups such as Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad and Hamas. Thus, the supply of bio-weapons and delivery platforms that could results in mass casualties makes it a real and present danger.”

So Syria has the weapons (means), the motive (‘concept of use’ doctrine) and the opportunity (revolution). That danger is even more present now, and combined with the prophecy about Damascus’s destruction…well, shivers once again. The battle for Damascus goes on overnight.

“Behold, Damascus will cease from being a city, And it will be a ruinous heap. (verse 1)
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gog magog, iran, israel, prophecy

Foreign Press renting rooftops in advance of expected Israel-Iran war

Posted on February 9, 2012 by elizabethprata

This was in Hebrew and google-translated to English

The foreign media is preparing an Israeli confrontation with Iran
—Various agencies, including Reuters, the roofs of houses in Tel Aviv hired to prepare an attack on the town photography
–In addition, television networks in Israel sent senior producers
“Although non-ongoing uncertainty in Israel around the nuclear confrontation with Iran, Globes “has learned that the foreign media feel that the great event – meaning going to happen. Learned that recently hired various agencies, including Agence Reuters, roofs of houses in Tel – Aviv, to prepare for the shooting attack on the city. Also, the world’s television networks, more and less significant, senior producers sent to Israel to examine means of Helena, communications infrastructure, and protective measures in favor of big teams will come to Israel to cover the events. Between the agencies considering the deployment of these networks is currently FOX , NBC and CBS networks of American and European and Asian. One senior source said foreign broadcasters Globes: “It would be illogical not to prepare for it, when we hear your defense minister expressed constantly on. This assessment is similar to that which was here before the days of the Gulf War, the early ’90s.”

This article was in English originally, it is an opinion piece of irony and sarcasm from Eurasia Review:

Foreign Press Rents Tel Aviv Rooftops To Cover Iran War – OpEd
“You remember the descriptions of the First Battle of Bull Run when all of Washington’s high society rode out in their fine carriages and horses to picnic under the shady trees and watch their Union boys send the Rebs packing? Did they get the shock of their lives when the Rebel musket balls whizzed over their heads and the Union soldiers ran for their lives from the field? Or similarly, the Israelis in southern Israel who took lawn chairs out to watch the IDF smash Gaza to smithereens in 2009? Here’s a picture of another group of expectant, thrilled Israelis watching the action. That’s what the foreign press corps appears to be doing now in Tel Aviv in preparation for an attack on Iran. They’re renting the right to put film crews and reporters on the city’s rooftops (Hebrew) during the upcoming war in order to cover the anticipated Iranian counterattack. That way they can get great photo ops and pictures of missiles wreaking havoc on the city. What a story! What a feast for the eyes! Other news organizations like CBS, Fox News, and NBC are sending their senior producers to Israel to scope out the place in case they have to send in the big boys–the news anchors and senior correspondents (especially since no one can report from Tehran!).”

On one webpage discussing this story/rumor of the day, Daniel F stated, “In January 1991 everybody was caught by surprise at 03:00am in the morning when the first Scuds hit Tel Aviv. CNN, the most aggressive news agency at the time, had paid handsomely for access to a rooftop and provided excellent live coverage (and were also inadvertently acting as a forward artillery spotter for the Iraqis). Other news agencies were quick to follow suit until some understood that the Iraqis might be watching TV. So I suppose that some of the news agencies are “buying options”, hardly surprising and I suppose that the asking prices are still reasonable. More dancing in the streets of Gaza?”

We know from prophecy in Ezekiel 38-39 that Israel and Iran get into it, as well as Israel and the Psalm 83 nations (Lebanon, Gaza, Hezbollah, Hamas, Jordan, Egypt) and we know Syria’s capital of Damascus is obliterated at some point in between all this (Isaiah 17). The only question is, when. I don’t think we have long to wait to find out.
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doomsday preppers, last days, prophecy

I am a prepper! Are you prepping for doomsday?

Posted on February 9, 2012July 7, 2017 by elizabethprata

Are you a prepper? It means someone who is prepared for a certain eventuality they believe might occur in their life at some point in the near term or the far future. Being prepped used to mean to be prepared for an operation, lol, but it also used to mean prepared for retirement with a good sized savings account and retirement plan. Preparing for retirement was what my generation did, penny by penny, dollar by dollar, over the course of a life.

Then it came to mean insurance. “Do you have insurance?” The boutique kinds of insurance were created and the people buying them felt prepared. Pet illness insurance, flood insurance where floods had not occurred before, hurricane insurance, term life insurance because we are living longer, long term care insurance to tide us over in the nursing home until the end. Life was getting more complicated so we had to be prepared for more things.

Now prepper means prepared for Armageddon. The secular world does not mean literal Armageddon. They do not think that is going to happen, of course. The prophesied battle of the last days where the world’s armies assemble for one last cataclysmic battle against the Holy Savior is what Armageddon really means. (Rev 16:16, Revelation 19:19-21).

What the world means when they say they are prepping for Armageddon is they are getting themselves ready to live through any number of earth-shattering, wide-scale cataclysmic events. We certainly have seen enough of them in the last few years. There was the Christmas Tsunami at Indonesia in 2004, and the March 2011 quake and tsunami at Japan. The series of quakes that occurred at Haiti and Chile and New Zealand at the beginning of last year. Tornadoes wiping out whole towns, one after another. Volcanoes exploding, spewing ash to halt half the world’s air travel. Floods covering a quarter of Australia. The world has seen death and destruction on a wide scale. We have seen that it can and it does happen. Now they are getting ready. Preppers have constructed a safety net for any and all contingencies.

Even Chevy got into the apocalypse game and presented (a winning) ad during the Superbowl. In this still clip, a man in a Chevy survived meteors, UFO invasion, earthquakes, volcanoes, a plague of frogs, fires, and civilizations’ collapse.

Here is the ad:

I like to read futuristic fiction. Last summer I read the classic Alas, Babylon, a 1950s era novel depicting the effects of a nuclear attack on the US. Despite being over fifty years old it consistently ranks in Amazon.com’s Top 20 Science Fiction Short Stories list. The novel deals with the effects of a nuclear war on the small town of Fort Repose, Florida, which is based upon the actual city of Mount Dora, Florida. Despite being a bit scientifically inaccurate it does a good job of showing the collapse of society and the reformation attempts in the nuclear aftermath.

I also read One Second After, a 2009 novel by American writer William R. Forstchen. The novel deals with an unexpected electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack on the United States as it affects the people living in and around the town of Black Mountain, North Carolina. It was extremely realistic. The end of the book talked about the likelihood of a given population’s survival after an EMP with all the attendant collapses. The Wiki on this book states, “Refugees from the cities show up looking for food and shelter and the fight over scarce resources leads to confrontation, home invasion, and more violence-related die-offs. The community becomes an inviting target for free prisoners and organized gangs and more violence-related die-off. Ration cards are issued to conserve the little remaining food; regardless, the community slowly starves with the elderly the first to die off. Next parents starve themselves to save their children. Throughout this period suicides are common. After a year, approximately 20% of the initial population has “survived”. It was stated in the epilogue section from actual sociologists and scientists that such a die-off rate (80%) in the aftermath of an EMP is very likely. I recommend the book.

A few months ago I watched a very compelling, recent documentary called “After Armageddon” on the History Channel. It is a theoretical account of a worst case scenario for global disaster, this time, a pandemic thanks to a superflu. The live scenes of how this affects a family in Los Angeles were interspersed with interviews with real scientists discussing what to do and how to act at the various points of the flu’s run. The docu-drama shows in graphic detail just how fast normal society can break down. I thought it was very realistic. The video can be seen here, part 1/9.

There is a new television show now on the National Geographic channel, called “Doomsday Preppers.” The tagline goes like this: “Doomsday Preppers explores the lives of otherwise ordinary Americans who are preparing for the end of the world as we know it. Unique in their beliefs, motivations, and strategies, preppers will go to whatever lengths they can to make sure they are prepared for any of life’s uncertainties. And with our expert’s assessment, they will find out their chances of survival if their worst fears become a reality.”

An article about it opens, “A lot of people are terrified that, unlike Harold Camping, the ancient Mayans got it right and that the apocalypse (zombie or otherwise) will unfold in 2012. … Hence, the arrival of new show “Doomsday Preppers” (Tues., 9 p.m. EST on Nat Geo). Ordinary Americans who are readying themselves for disaster get to have their apocalypse survival plans evaluated by survival experts. On the series premiere, Kellene Bishop taught self-defense techniques to a group of women so that they could overcome their worst-case scenario, whether it be doomsday or attempted rape.”

The end of the world is equated to attempted rape. Uh, okayyyy.

The end of the world is touted as survivable. Uh…okayyyyy.

In another article about the new show they write, “The channel commissioned an online survey of 1,007 adults in the USA, and found that 61% of Americans believe the country will experience a major catastrophic event within the next 20 years, but only 15% feel they are fully prepared for it.”

I can guarantee that less than 15% are actually prepared for it. The article continues,

“In the series premiere, viewers meet a retired couple who have 50,000 pounds of food stored in their doomsday-proof home built of steel shipping containers, an an urban survivalist in Los Angeles prepping for a severe earthquake.”

Here is what is coming: “Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since mankind has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake. The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. … Every island fled away and the mountains could not be found.” (Revelation 16:18-20)

No amount of “prepping” will survive that.

Here is what will happen to that doomsday-proofed home: “Ezekiel 38:20 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.”

Every. Wall. Will. Fall.

It is part of man’s hubris to think he can outsmart, out-wait, out buy, and make an end run around what every heart knows is coming: their judgment. The air is ripe with expectancy. Chevy commercials, movies, books, television are focused on last days. They like to use the Mayan 2012 doomsday date as an excuse, but it is really because they know something is coming.

The 2012 Mayan doomers certainly are not helping this focus on doomsday, apocalypse, Armageddon, whatever they are calling it now. The Harold Camping ‘rapture May 21, 2011’ got them going. The endless stream of catastrophes have gotten everyone thinking about how best to prepare for the next one. But they are thinking along the wrong lines. I am prepped for doomsday. I am ready! Getting prepped doesn’t take a container house full of food. Nor does it take a grab bag and a bug out plan. It doesn’t take stockpiles or guns or puffed-up prep jargon and a Berky water filter in my Jeep.

It takes a second to prepare for doomsday. It takes a second to get prepped for eternity. One second. And one second after, you will enter a light and a joy that will last forever. All it takes is repentance.

If you repent of your sins and plead with Jesus to accept your apology (and turn away from the bad ways you act,- and we all act bad against Jesus, no one is sinless except Him), He will forgive you! You will be set forever. He will cherish you, provide for you, teach you, wipe the very tears from your eyes. “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Revelation 21:4)

Repent literally means change. It means to change your mind that you are a good person and can stand before Holy God on your own merits. It is a change from old ways hateful to God to new ways pleasing to God with the aid of the indwelling Holy Spirit. It means change your heart from thinking you don’t need a Savior to a heart that cries in shame for its lack of humility toward Him and an acknowledgement of our need for Him.

The final 7 years is a judgment time upon the earth. It culminates at Armageddon with assembled armies literally thinking they can defeat Jesus (Rev 16:16). They don’t. But in between the opening salvo at the Tribulation’s start and the final Word at Armageddon (Rev 19:21), preppers who see their carefully constructed homes collapse in a moment (Isaiah 24:1,3) will sincerely wish they had done their one second of prepping: repent, and be saved. Christian preppers were ready for His return. They repented and were in Him, were in His gracious gift of salvation, sanctification, regeneration, and justification. They will be taken in the rapture to a glorious marriage supper (Revelation 19:7-10), and installed in their place He has been preparing (John 14:2), and given crowns and awards (1 Thessalonians 2:19-20, Rev. 22:12). You have the option to choose which kind of prepping you want to do. You can go here to learn about what salvation is and what you are being saved from, or you can go here to watch NatGeo’s part 1 of Doomsday Preppers.

You can rely on your Chevy which man created, or you can rely on God, who created the world.

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