Category: rapture

Posted in bible, bible jesus, end of days, end time, prophecy, rapture, tribulation

How long, O Lord?

Posted on by elizabethprata
I had someone ask me recently about the duration of all this. My friend intimated that I’ve been talking about this stuff for almost three years now, when’s it gonna GET here? Sooo, could I be wrong in translating the news of the world in terms of an imminent prophetic event? Am I wrong? Am I promoting an imminence that is false? Let’s take a look at that notion, biblically.

Generally, time has no meaning. Our life is “but a vapor that appears for a little while then vanishes away.” (James 4:14).  I ask, what’s 3 years in the face of eternity future? In the face of 6000 years past? In front of a God to whom a day is a thousand years and a thousand years is as a day? (2 Peter 3:8). He has the full measure of the timing He wants. He waits until the grapes of wrath are fully ripe, even a little overripe, (Rev 15:16). He waits until the entire measure of the iniquity is filled (Gen 15:16). He waits until the full number of Gentiles are come in. (Romans 11:25).

Now, more specifically, in 1948 Israel was born, and that was a huge end times sign. It was a direct Hand of God moment. And by most interpretations the generation who sees that will not pass away before seeing all these things come to pass.(Mt 24:34). No one who is alert and studious can fail to notice the signs. Over these last 3 years the US has fallen from prominence, half the work force is on food stamps, crime is up nationally 41%, homelessness and bankruptcies are a tidal wave upon the banks, which are failing at an exponential number since 2007. Even John MacArthur said this week that America’s judgment must truly be imminent.

Now even more specifically, I referenced the scripture about “peace and security” which is from 1 Thessalonians 5:3. Paul is talking about the period of judgment called The Day of the Lord, and the Second Coming. Here is the verse: “For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.” Now here is the rest of the verse:

“But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.” Though Paul is talking about the judgment period of the Tribulation, we can back-extrapolate the principle he is explaining, to us at the threshold of that time. Understanding the signs, understanding our position as the generation placed here at Divine will to accomplish His purposes in these last days, understanding that time means nothing, how does the bible say we are supposed to live? As a child of the light, alert and sober! Here is what that means:

Barnes Notes: “But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief – The allusion here is to the manner in which a thief or robber accomplishes his purpose. He comes in the night, when people are asleep. So, says the apostle, the Lord will come to the wicked. They are like those who are asleep when the thief comes upon them. But it is not so with Christians. They are, in relation to the coming of the day of the Lord, as people are who are awake when the robber comes. They could see his approach, and could prepare for it, so that it would not take them by surprise.”

We will not be surprised. Why? We are not asleep! We see His approach. We prepare for it! We who are soulfully injured by blasphemy, evil, iniquity, sin…should and do pray for His appearing. 2 Timothy 4:8 says, “Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.” Not only is it right to expect Him to appear any day, any moment, and to live for Him completely as if this moment could be our last to serve him on earth forever, but we receive a crown as a reward for eager anticipation!

For those who may be flagging…may be tiring from expectancy and anticipation: Habakkuk, that wise old prophet, recorded what God had to say about that: 

For the vision is yet for the appointed time; 
It hastens toward the goal and it will not fail. 
Though it tarries, wait for it; 
For it will certainly come, it will not delay. (Hab 2:3)

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Posted in end of days. prophecy, post-apocalyptic lansdcapes, rapture, revelation

"Post-apocalyptic landscapes" during this, the pre-apocalypse

Posted on by elizabethprata

Do you know who said this?

“We are living at a time when mankind seems to sense that the end of all things is very near. Just about everyone has a theory as to how the world is threatened and when that end might come. The media and the Internet are full of doomsday speculations concerning the New Age “Mayan Calendar” and the year 2012. Some scientists predict that Global Warming could wipe out life on Planet Earth within a certain number of years. At the same time, politicians work to halt the proliferation of life-destroying nuclear weapons before it is “too late.” High profile news reports of economic downturns, crime, wars, tsunamis, earthquakes, and disease outbreaks cause people to question whether God is bringing judgment on the world.”

I agree with this statement. We ARE living at a time when mankind seems to sense the end of things is nearing. The person who said that is Harold Camping, from his website We Can Know. Though I disagree with Camping’s setting a date for the rapture, of course, I agree that the times are dire enough that people sense an imminence to…something. Christians know that imminence is judgment on the world, after the removal of the faithful believers in Jesus.

This year in the US is the most expensive year ever for natural disaster recovery. As I’ve mentioned before, reporters and weather men are running out of superlatives to describe the weather systems and disasters they are covering. “Worst ever” dropped off a long time ago. “Historic” got worn out fast as new events outpaced prior events, because history was made monthly or even weekly. Recently we were reading about ‘epic’ floods/tornadoes/landslides/eruptions/earthquakes. Even ‘epic’ doesn’t’ describe what we see anymore. This week, a new term to describe the devastation has arrived: “Post-apocalyptic”.

The Australian Broadcast Company wrote this of the damage in Joplin MO from this week’s tornadoes:
“The twister hit the town of Joplin with only 20 minutes warning, turning whole neighbourhoods into a post-apocalyptic landscape.”

The Book of Eli, movie

Time Magazine reporter observed:
“I saw a man sifting through the rubble of what used to be Affordable Mini Storage. He was going through the remains of his storage unit, searching for anything salvageable in the post-apocalyptic landscape of our home town. He picked up a toy from the debris.”

At Fox News, we read–
After daybreak, survivors picked through the rubble of their homes, salvaging clothes, furniture, family photos and financial records, the air pungent with the smell of gas and smoking embers. Some neighborhoods were completely flattened and the leaves stripped from trees, giving the landscape an apocalyptic aura. In others where structures still stood, families found their belongings jumbled as if someone had picked up their homes and shaken them.”

Joplin MO

Cormac McCarthy’s ‘The Road’

Unfortunately for those who are already at a loss for words, the apocalypse hasn’t even begun. But the use of that term to describe in visual terms what we have never seen before is telling. All we have are movies to conjecture what a devastated world would look like, and many of us have seen those films or ones like them. Here is a scene from The Book of Eli, a film starring Denzel Washington that was released last Memorial Day weekend. The summary- “A post-apocalyptic tale, in which a lone man fights his way across America in order to protect a sacred book that holds the secrets to saving humankind.”

The Book of Eli
Joplin MO

Japan tsunami damage:

Bloomberg News

From Cormac McCarthy’s ‘The Road’

Each of these following three links uses the same phrase, that [parts of] Tuscaloosa Ala, Joplin MO, Denning Ark were “wiped off the map.”

Post-apocalyptic is a good descriptive term, and each of the real scenes and the movie scenes mirror each other in some way. However, the apocalypse has not begun. How will newscasters describe the real post-apocalyptic events when the real apocalypse happens, if they are already using up comprehensible terms that come short of offering understanding to the minds of viewers, stunned at devastation unlike anything we have seen before?

I am not making any hidden allusion that the movies mean something in today’s world. There is no hidden message here. The message is actually about language and the ability of men to visualize total earthly destruction without humanity’s extinction, which is what the Tribulation actually is. These movies did a good job of visualizing a post-apocalyptic world for movie-goers’ entertainment, but now it unfortunately has come close to the truth. No longer entertaining, hundreds of thousands of people are living it as reality. Reporters are increasingly at a loss to describe it. Mike Bettes of The Weather Channel is a veteran of thousands of tornado coverage stories, but in reporting Joplin MO tornado damage, he simply cried.

Folks, we are still PRE-apocalyptic. If you sense (correctly) that the real apocalypse is coming, whether you are of the ilk that believes in Edgar Cayce, Nostradamus, Mayan Calendar, Global Warming, the Final Imam, or Jesus Christ, you are correct, something is coming. I know what it is, too.

“But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)

That’s the rapture! Though we do not know when that will be, we sense its nearness because our eyes are open and we see the signs the Lord said to look for appearing now with regularity and frequency. After the rapture, will be the Apocalypse. Here I quote Revelation 6-19, where the earth is devastated by earthquakes, 100 pound hail, disease, demonic attack on your physical person, torture, brutality, fires, and much more. Those two events will occur and you even have a choice as to which you would like to participate! If you sincerely believe you are a sinner rebelling against a just God, ask Jesus to forgive your sins and He will extend to you the pardon He bought for you in his own blood. You will be exempt from judgment and your sins will be wiped from the record. It will result in you being born again. You will enjoy a sweet and blissful time with Jesus in heaven while the apocalypse is happening down on earth.

Alternately, you can refuse to believe that you sin, that there is a Holy God who is judging you and will judge you, and you can choose to stay on earth for the apocalypse. If you like what you see in Japan, Joplin MO, Tuscaloosa, and Denning Arkansas, this option may appeal to you. If the reality of judgment begins to set in as it unfolds, you can appeal to the Holy Jesus and ask for forgiveness after the rapture, but do not wait until then. You may die, or you may have already been left with a hardened heart, Jesus having given you over to your desire to rebel and wallow in your sins. That is why we say now is the acceptable time of your salvation.

I plead with you to consider the reasons you are not saved but are reading this blog. The Spirit is pushing you, repeatedly, to understand the truths of His love, His justice, and His imminence. Do it today. He will not strive with man forever. (Genesis 6:3). You’ve seen the road ahead, and it is not pretty. You can traverse a road like Cormac McCarthy’s, which is broad and leads to destruction, or you can tread the narrow way which leads to eternal life and a street of gold. Your choice!
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Posted in rapture, staying strong, witnessing

Stay on the right track!

Posted on by elizabethprata

Watch this, the first three minutes, and then I’ll explain something.

I know, last week’s news was pretty dark, right? It really was. The blog was full of terrible things happening in the world. I pondered last week’s news all this week. I am gaining a new understanding each day, thanks to the Holy Spirit. Jesus said of the Time of Jacob’s Trouble- “Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it” (KJV). (Jeremiah 30:7). And again in Matthew 24:21, “He said “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.” How can we comprehend a time that will have unequaled suffering? A time that has never been so bad on earth and never will be again? Students of history may be familiar with the Dark Ages, as Wikipedia says, ‘a period of supposed intellectual darkness that occurred in Europe following the decline of the Roman Empire from the 5th to 15th centuries AD.’ It was a time of wars, rumors of wars, nations rising against nations, barbarians sweeping down from the Mongolian steppes or the German Alps and razing whole cities and populations. It was a time of bubonic plagues where the dead were stacked in the streets. A time of sudden fires and early death and child mortality and torture and Inquisition and witchcraft and sickness and gloom. The Tribulation will not be equal to that. It will be worse.

Jesus spent a great deal of time not only in Chapter 24 of Matthew explaining in detail about these things, but in most of the bible. All of the Old Testament gears up to the time of this Tribulation. How? The Church Age is a time when the Age of Law was paused for 7 years. The Tribulation is actually a resumption of the Old Testament, God finishing His business with the Israelites for the last 7 years. We HAVE to know about it. We HAVE to understand what is coming. Why?

I believe it is important first and foremost to have a solid understanding of the end times and upcoming Tribulation because they are in the bible. Period. Everything in the bible is profitable for knowledge and education and reproof (2 Tim 3:16).

I believe it is important to know these things to even greater detail because we are that generation who will see the end of the Church Age and be raptured. We will experience an unequaled event that all of human history since the beginning has been aiming toward. We are that generation who will personally experience, alive, the result of Jesus’ ministry on earth and on the cross: redeeming humanity with His own blood. We are the generation who will be going about our daily business, like every other generation that ever lived since Adam and Eve, but who will experience the interruption of time as Jesus Himself breaks through the veil and calls us up, snatching us up from the earth in a powerful event that defies all science, reason, and comprehension. Of course we should know about that moment, being the glorious recipients of it, and therefore can experience a great anticipation, joy, and hope that we can share with others in this dark time.

But should our knowledge of end time events stop there? No…

The Tribulation is God’s judgment for sin. We are sinners. It is only through the grace of Jesus that we will not be experiencing that 7-year period of darkness and horror that we want to shy away from and not know about. But we must have clear eyes and stare steadily into the train wreck that is coming, knowing we will be saved from that wrath (1 Thess 5:9) but understanding thoroughly that if we were not saved we would be experiencing it ourselves, and justifiably so! Who are we to say, ‘thanks Jesus, now I turn from the bible’s descriptions of what will happen to everyone else because it upsets me too much to see it beginning to be played out on earth’?!

Finally, the scene from the movie Fireproof comes to mind. That is the clip, above. That was the latest movie from the Christian folks from Albany GA in which Kirk Cameron starred as a firefighter whose marriage was falling apart. There was a scene where two cars had crashed and one was crumpled and stuck on the train tracks. Two women were in the car. They were trapped in the vehicle. At first, one firefighter was talking to the woman, asking her if she was OK, telling her the method he was going to use that would free her. Then two other firefighters arrived on scene. A bunch of bystanders started milling round, in the background, not saying or doing anything, just watching. A few walked away, likely not wanting to see the physical results of what may happen next. The three firefighters then heard a train whistle. They could not see the train but they heard it. They began to hurry, hurry to get the car off the tracks, knowing there was no time now to get the women out of the car. As the train rounded the bend, some bystanders came to help, and they grunted and sweated to get the car off the tracks. More joined, still more. At the last second they got the car off the tracks just as the train came by, saving the women from sure crushing- just as surely as people will be crushed by 100lb hailstones (Rev 16:21) or houses falling on them (Rev 11:13) in the Tribulation.

These days are like that scene. People all around us are trapped in their sins, in bondage and chained to the tracks. Many Christians are simply bystanders, looking on but doing nothing to really help the ones in the path of destruction. Some walk away. But at first one helped then another and another. They risked themselves to help. Don’t leave the job of salvation to just the fire chief (pastor) but it is all our duty to help those in the path of the wreck. Don’t peer at people in a crushed car (the enslaved unsaved) and say “Ew, that’s gonna be a mess” and walk away, covering your eyes even though you hear the train whistle. People all over the world are trapped in their sins just as the women were tapped in the car in the movie. Are the bible verses about the Tribulation and the news of today that match upcoming Tribulation events not worth reading because the grisly aftermath is easier to visualize now that the train is almost upon us? Let it not be so!

It takes all of us Christians to do the job: obeying the Spirit, being strong, and actually DOING something to help all the time everywhere, even though our eyes may be looking upon something unsavory or terrible while we do it. But we will not be helping if we never look at the train and know it’s coming, nor if we refuse to stalwartly look at the coming indicators of the aftermath, by contrast knowing their fate!

The directions are simple: “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.” Colossians 4:2. The more grateful you are, the more joy you have in what you have, and joy in what is to come.

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Posted in israel, jerusalem, Obama, rapture

Obama reportedly to call for dividing Jerusalem: Things are getting serious

Posted on by elizabethprata

A friend emailed me and mentioned that a lot of people seem to feel a burden of imminence. These are lay-people, not necessarily prophecy students or even very active Christians. I agree with her assessment, and I second it. Jesus likened the Tribulation to birth pangs. This is a timeless symbol because women from every epoch has gotten pregnant and delivered a babe in the same way. People from all cultures and ages reading the bible or hearing these words will immediately understand the process.

Working backwards, the baby being birthed here is the Millennium Kingdom. The time prior to the birth will be bloody, these would be the birth pangs. As the birth nears, the contractions will increase in intensity and pain until we know that the time of the birth is imminent. Prior to the birth pangs, signaled by contractions, the gestation is long and at first we may not even know any gestation is happening, but then it becomes increasingly evident as the mother’s stomach bulges.

When we see a very, VERY pregnant woman we all wince in sympathetic pain, We understand the time is near, and often we may even ask her, even if she is a stranger, “When’s the baby due?” The mom-to-be says something like ‘the doc said any time from May 10 to May 19, on.” Even with today’s science, we never know the exact day of the birth, only a general window that could come earlier or could come later than even the time period within the stated window. But when we see that woman waddling along slowly, sitting down carefully with bent knee and hand to her back, stomach bulging, we all know the time is near.

We are at that time.

The Tribulation is all about Israel. Matthew 24 is about what will happen during the Tribulation and it is spoken toward the Jews, not the church. Some think that verses 4-8 could overlap with the end time prior to the rapture, and I am one of those, but from verse 9 onward it is all about the Jews. It is punishment on an unbelieving world for scattering His people. It is about punishing the Pharisaical religious systems that oppressed the Jews. It is punishment toward the Jews themselves for their failure to remain with God and in God. It is retribution for dividing His land. Revelation 11:2 reports that the Gentiles will be trampling on the Holy City for 42 months. Jerusalem will be divided.

Joel 3:2 talks about the land division, and a lot of land in Israel has been parceled away over the years. It is this land now that is back in the news. Read Joel 3:2 and all the parallel verses here, for basis.

The most egregious division of all is the dividing of God’s Holy City: Jerusalem. Daniel 9:24 is thought to be one of the most important prophetic verses in the entire bible. It says “[Seventy Weeks and the Messiah ] “Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place.” The Holy City of course, is Jerusalem (Is 52:1), and the Holy Place is the holy of holies, at the Temple.

The news media outlet in Israel called Ynet News says they have obtained an advance copy of Obama’s major Middle East speech he is due to deliver this week. Of course, Obama plans to deliver the speech the day Prime Minister Netanyahu leaves Israel to come to the US and make a rare visit to both houses of Congress and deliver his own major Middle East speech.

This line in the news article China’s Xinhuanet published about it is chilling:

“The president is also expected to announce his solution regarding the status of Jerusalem and call for its division. The U.S. envisions the city as the shared capital of the two states, Israel and Palestine, side by side in peace.”

This is what the LORD God Almighty has to say about Israel and His holy city, Jerusalem:

“I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling. Judah will be besieged as well as Jerusalem. On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations.” Zechariah 12:2-3

“And I will punish on that day all who leap on the temple threshold, Who fill the house of their lord with violence and deceit.” Zephaniah 1:9

“While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape.” 1 Thessalonians 5:3

Woe to those who call for dividing His Holy City! Woe to those who call for dividing His land! Those who curse His people will be cursed. (Genesis 12:1-3)

Surely the time is near. The feeling of imminence is burdensome to those who seek after these things, and even many who do not seek after these things are feeling it. The world feels like it is an elastic stretched taut with no possible additional stretching to be done but then it stretches more. The feeling of being on tenterhooks is almost unbearable.

“Tenterhooks were used as far back as the fourteenth century in the process of making woollen cloth. After the cloth was woven it still contained oil from the fleece and some dirt. A fuller cleaned the woollen cloth in a fulling mill, and then had to dry it carefully or the wool would shrink. To prevent this shrinkage, the fuller would place the wet cloth on a large wooden frame, a “tenter”, and leave it to dry outside. The lengths of wet cloth were stretched on the tenter using hooks all around the perimeter of the frame to which the cloth’s edges were fixed so that as it dried the cloth would retain its shape and size.”

“By the mid-eighteenth century the phrase “on tenterhooks” came into use to mean being in a state of uneasiness, anxiety, or suspense, stretched like the cloth on the tenter.” Other synonyms for being on tenterhooks are suspense, excited, nervous, apprehensive, on edge, agitated, anxious. I say I am yes to all of the above.

We are nearing midnight. How long can this draw out? Only the Lord knows. Not the Harold Camping crowd who says by May 21 it will be all over. They do not know. The Lord’s timing is perfect, but I pray that He will release us soon from this ever growing sense of imminence. Because it WILL happen, and it will be probably be soon. Are you ready?
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Posted in jesus, prophecy, rapture

Hal Lindsey tonight: rapture is so close

Posted on by elizabethprata

I was watching Hal Lindsey on HisChannel TV tonight, and he outlined the prophesies that are so rapidly unfolding in the Middle East. He said he is astounded at the conditions that will be present on earth during the Tribulation are appearing now, before our eyes. It means that the rapture is even closer. Lindsey said:

“For me the big story is how rapidly these events are unfolding. Folks, the end time prophesies are literally exploding before our eyes. That tells me the rapture of the church is even closer than we dared believe. It is so important to be prepared for that day. … I’m so convinced that we are in the final days of this age…”

I sense the urgency also in Jack Kelley, who flatly stated the other day that it seems like the rapture can be any day and we will not have long to wait. (I’m NOT a “May 21” believer). It’s just that after careful study of the bible and what we are told will happen by the God of the Universe, that it is plain to see that the days are here and the end is in sight. Most prophecy watchers are feeling a sense of urgency, for ourselves and also for the lost. As urgent as we feel the quickening of the Spirit and the imminence of the anticipated event, the lost are even more uninterested each day. I think of someone I know.

She is not saved and not interested in end time prophesies. I don’t think she is interested in the bible except as an intellectual exercise and to instill proper Jewish upbringing to her sons. She wrote on Twitter a few weeks ago: ‘I followed someone who was recommended, googled her and saw that she had written an end times essay. Ugh. End times. So not my thing. I quickly unfollowed.’

Now here is the ultimate irony. The ultimate tragedy. She will have to ENDURE the end time. It WILL be ‘her thing’ and so in her face that she will either convert, die, or go mad with the horror of it. The flippancy and arrogance of her dismissal of all end time biblical events, of the Word of a God she professes to believe in, is the horrifying thing. She will have to face the eternal consequences of her words.

The last days are here. We must be ready, believers and unbelievers. Believers need to remain confessed of their sins on a daily basis. Let nothing separate you from the direct line to God at this time. Stay abiding in Him who saves, protects, and loves. Non-Believers, you chortle at end time discussions. You mock and scoff. But you are the ones who will have to live it. Let the Holy Spirit who draws you tug at your heart one more time, and this time be prepared for His conviction. Because, you know, the Tribulation was designed since the foundation of the world to be YOUR THING.
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Posted in end of days. prophecy, flood, rapture

Mississippi tributaries are flowing backards: officials call it epic flood

Posted on by elizabethprata

All Eyes on the Mississippi River
MEMPHIS: The Mississippi River continues to rise, so much so that its tributaries are starting to flow backwards. At Tom Lee Park, preps for Memphis in May continue knowing that the worst is still yet to come. It’s a site not often seen; the Wolf River and Nonconnah Creek are flowing backwards. The swelling river cannot take on much more water. Gene Rench with the National Weather Service said all eyes are on the Mississippi. The tributaries flowing backwards are a big problem for the adjacent communities. “Right now the Mississippi river is in the process of going through what we call an epic flood, meaning it’s more than historic, it’s more than a 100 year flood, it’s more like a 500 year flood,” he said. “We could flood many homes, businesses, close down factories, people could drown.” The river is more than two feet past flood stage; it rose two feet in the 24 hours following the storms. It’s expected to crest at 45 feet around May 10th, right when Barbecue Festival teams are setting up their tents. … As the Mississippi River rises to near-record levels, Tunica’s nine casinos will shut down indefinitely, displacing about 10,000 workers and costing millions in lost dollars. The closure orders were issued Wednesday to ensure the safety of visitors and workers.”

Oh, dear, this is a situation that calls for much prayer. Please pray that hearts are ready!!

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Posted in elijah, rapture, still small voice

You are not alone: lessons from Elijah

Posted on by elizabethprata

Poor Elijah. He really went through it, didn’t he? He was surrounded on all sides by non-believers. They were vigorous in their false faith and Elijah was vexed to the extreme. It’s really hard to be the only one in a place where you are the only one who knows the truth and proclaims it, yet no one else will listen.

Finally after a time of build-up, there was a showdown. You know the story. Under God’s direction, Elijah set a contest with the Baal Priests and false Prophets and of course God won. Then God told Elijah to kill all 450 prophets of Baal and Elijah did. When Elijah heard how angry Queen Jezebel was to have lost all her Priests, and she said she would kill Elijah, Elijah ran away. He ran and he ran and he ran until he was exhausted. Then he cried out to the LORD-

“And the word of the LORD came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He replied, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”(1 Kings 19:9-10).

Commonly when using this story as a teaching example, people will say that Elijah was pouting. His poutiness caused him to sit on his hands and do nothing. It may be. But I take a different interpretation. Remember, these Prophets were men after all. Regular men. They served the LORD directly and were given the charge and the ability to receive His Word and repeat it to the people. But their work was thankless, emotionally draining, and lonely. No one loved a prophet. (John 4:44)

Elijah was not a glorified man, nor a superhuman man. He was a regular person. And he had just gone through a debilitating and lengthy ordeal of fruitlessly trying speaking the Word of the LORD to the people, and they refused to hear. Then he went through an awful but glorious contest where the LORD manifested Himself to all. How would you react if the LORD manifested Himself in front of you? The reaction of the prophets and the apostles who see or hear God’s glory fall down as dead men. (Rev 1:17; Is 6:5; John 18:6; Acts 9:4; 1 Kings 18:39). Not only did Elijah live through a great and powerful manifestation of God’s glory, he had to then go and kill 450 people. Personally.  “…Elijah brought them down to the Brook Kishon and executed them there.” (1 Kings 18:40b). The most highly decorated heroes of warfare in our own day receive commendations for having slain fewer of the enemy and most of those were not for hand to hand combat. By now Elijah hides in a cave, and cries out the God that he is finished, he wants to die.

So the guy is tired, spiritually drained, afraid for his life, and alone. Or he thinks he is alone. The first thing God does is send an angel to comfort Elijah. (1 Kings 19:5). The angel gently touched Elijah’s shoulder, and refreshed him with food and drink. Elijah was not alone.

The next thing that happened was the God spoke to Elijah. He told Elijah to listen, and there the LORD sent wind and rockslides and tumultuous earthquakes but He was not in the wind nor the rocks nor the tumult, He was in the still, small voice. (1 Kings 19:12). Elijah was not alone.

God told Elijah that “I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.” (1 Kings 19:18.) Elijah was not alone.

God told Elijah to go to a certain town and find Elisha and anoint him as prophet to succeed Elijah. Just as Elijah was growing weariest, God gave him light at the end of the tunnel, and showed him that his time of service was nearing an end. He needed to train Elisha, and then Elisha will take over “in your place.” (1 Kings 19:16b). He would have a helper for a while. Elijah was not alone.

Elijah was blessed to have the LORD personally tell him he was not alone in his faith. But by that same token, because of its inclusion in the bible, the Lord is telling us today that we are not alone. He sends His Spirit to us. He sends His angels to us. He sends encouragers to us. He sends His Word to us. He sends hopeful doctrine to us so that we have light at the end of the tunnel, hope in the rapture of believers. We may live in a town where there are no other like-minded bible believing Christians within your field of vision, as Elijah had thought, but we belong to a body. That body extends worldwide, and we are part of it. We are not alone, not one of us.
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Posted in jesus, new earth, pets, rapture

Pets and the rapture

Posted on by elizabethprata

I’m asked more often lately about what will happen to our pets when we’re raptured. Some ask about the animals we keep, being a farm community. This place abounds with cows, bulls, buffalo, mules, goats, chickens, pigs and more. An ancillary question is often asked about pets and/or animals in the New Earth. I find the question fascinating, and also encouraging. The question about pets during the rapture has two answers: the literal one and the abstract one

The literal answer would have to refer to the bible. The book of Genesis tells us that we are unique in God’s creation, being made in His image and likeness. Also, though we and the animals have the breath of life in us, we were made to have dominion over the animals. It is reasonable to assume that our futures will be different, being of different flesh and having had different roles on earth.

We read in Isaiah 11:6-9 that there will be animals walking the earth during the Millennial Kingdom.

“The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.”

Those verses do not give us any indication one way or another specifically whether any of those animals will be our resurrected pets or whether they will be all newly created animals, or whether they will be animals completely different from any we could conceive of. After all, our normal picture of angels never prepared us for the passages in Ezekiel 10:10-12 with the cherubim of four faces and wheel within wheels. And a word of caution. Remember, a redeemed earth is not a resurrected earth.

After the thousand year reign of Christ on earth concludes and He makes a New Heaven and a New Earth (Rev 21, 22, 2 Peter 3:13, Isaiah 66:22) there is no indication that animals will be present with us. I take comfort in the Genesis flood accounts that He took care to provide for animals of the earth. He didn’t make new animals after the flood, and He didn’t give Noah only the animals he would eat and sacrifice, but He provided for all the kinds of animals. But the truth is, we simply don’t know.

We do know for a fact that we will feel all joy in the new heaven, and the former things will not be remembered nor come to mind. (Revelation 7:16-17). I take that to mean that if our pets are not accompanying us in the eternal state, not only the crushing guilt of our sin will no longer be remembered and not only also our lost family members and friends will not come to mind, but also we will not remember our pets. Everything necessary to our happiness will be in heaven, and that will mean they will either be present or their memory will be absent.

The abstract answer to the question as to what happens to our pets indicates a growing awareness of the real impacts of imminent rapture. Many Christians who ask me this have been Christians for a lifetime, or at least many years. We hear about the rapture and most of us know it as truth and adhere to it as a doctrine, but peeking into the nuts and bolts of the mechanics of it has largely been absent from our thoughts. This is because until now it has not been obvious that we might very well be the generation spoken of that will experience it. Though the rapture has been imminent for thousands of years, the conditions that immediately follow our departure haven’t been.

But those conditions are present now and growing more glaring by the minute. Christians are waking up to the fact that the rapture could indeed occur in our lifetime, or next year, or tomorrow. As we gaze around at our world and see the decline of the church and the war against truth, we start picturing what it will exactly look like- after.

I have an indoor cat. When I’m raptured, whether it occurs when I’m home or at work, it means they will starve. They will be thirsty and alone and lonely and confused. Maybe a tree will fall on the house in one of the terrible storms and disasters prophesied to come upon the earth, and maybe they will be injured or escape into the world, only to be eaten by a larger predator. I don’t know. But it will be bad. The future does not look good for them.

Nor does it look good for the chickens in the pens and the cows needing to be milked and the dogs tied to the pole or inside the car while the master is inside getting coffee. I try not to think about it. It is just one of the many tragedies that will occur during this time. After all, Jesus Himself said “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.” (Matt. 24: 21-22). It will be a very bad time, for not only the people but for the animals who suffer under the same corrupted earth that we do. I simply try not to dwell on it.

I take encouragement from something Texas Baptist Pastor Don Fawcett said, “For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope, that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.” Romans 8:20-21. It seems abundantly clear from this verse that 1) the entire creation was subjected to decay and corruption due to sin, 2) animals and pets are created beings, 3) animals and pets are subject to corruption as part of the fallen world, 4) Christ, in his atonement, undid the sin/death principle for all corrupted creation, 5) at the eschaton, all things that have been effected by sin and corruption unwillingly will be restored. So, my conclusion- animals or pets in heaven? Animals? No doubt. Personal pets? I don’t know but it is certainly within the scope of biblical theology.”

I would like to agree with this. It is certainly in the scope of possibility, too.

I know God is good. His thoughts are above our thoughts and His plans are always working together for the good and His glory. It comes down to trust. I trust His thoughts and I trust His ways. After all, He sent Jesus to us. He sent the Holy Spirit to us. He sent the bible to us. He knows whither a sparrow falls and He knows our emotions and needs. Maybe He will send Fluffy and Scrappy to us! Heaven is perfection, and so, it will be perfect. I trust that with all my soul.

Further Reading:

Will our Pets be Raptured with Us?

Posted in end of days. prophecy, end time, rapture

Encouragement

Posted on by elizabethprata

Mike Taylor wrote a great essay about God, recent news, and judgment. I recommend it. Here is an excerpt from his essay “Our God is a consuming fire”

“Our minds cannot comprehend the vastness, the power, the might of Almighty God. We have scriptures in Revelation that John the beloved, tried to describe what he saw and they are partially revealing of the power of God, but I believe to express fully the power of God in all His glory is beyond the scope of mortal man. There are not enough words or adjectives that give enough information of what, and who we serve and the awesomeness of our God. … Was this the judgment passed on the people of Japan or in other countries where the human toll was great? I don’t even begin to understand the ways of God and what His judgments are and who will be affected. Because I am reminded of the apostles when they came to Jesus and asked the same type of question that many wonder with all these disasters. It’s found in Luke–

“Luke 13:1-3 “at the same time there were present some who told him (Jesus) of the Galileans whose blood Pilate mingled with [that of] their sacrifices. And he answering said to them, Think ye that these Galileans were sinners beyond all the Galileans because they suffered such things? No, I say to you, but if ye repent not, ye shall all perish in the same manner.”

“Sin is in this world and all will perish unless they are forgiven of their sins against God. It is not only individual judgment on a particular people, but the whole of humanity that will perish apart from forgiveness of the sinful condition that is rampant on this earth, especially in these latter days of man’s existence. We can’t point to anyone event or disaster and say that it is God’s judgment, as that is left to God, but we can see what is happening all around us, and know that God’s judgment is close at hand and we will see even more as the days grow darker and more evil.”

The time is growing short, but the news is so dire, it saddens all of us. I am asked quite often, how do I stay so cheerful? Optimistic? It takes work.

“You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” 1 John 4:4

How does one overcome? You persevere. “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 15:58)

Perseverance leads to endurance– “If we endure, we will also reign with Him; If we deny Him, He also will deny us;” (2 Timothy 2:12)

Endurance leads to overcoming– “”I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

Like any race you put one foot in front of the other, every day. Just never stop moving. Here is the practical application of how I do that:

I pray, read the Word, and listen to hymns, the ones that have the real verses in them. As for praying, I do all kinds. I do it every day at all times. Quick prayers, short conversations. A comment. Other times during the day I engage in intentional, deep prayer that is a humble, a spiritual communion with the Lord. The point is, the communication with Him is constant and doesn’t have to be in a special kind of theological language. He is God, but He is my friend, too. Fellowship with Him through prayer is the way to keep in touch and remain open to His communication back to me. It calms me to talk with Him, and it gives me peace and strength.

Reading the Word is the other way to remain in constant communication and fellowship with Him. Doing this gives me a center point. When I begin reading a peace washes over me. The peace turns to joy and usually tears as I re-read the promises He has made, or the nature and attributes He demonstrates in his Word.

I sing. Praise music leaves me just as hungry as when I began singing but I get full of the Word with the traditional hymns such as The Old Rugged Cross, Shall We Gather At the River, Glory to His Name, etc. I turn on Pandora online. You get 40 free hours per month, and it streams your favorite music. You can hone and refine the music by clicking ‘like’ or dislike;’ to a particular song. It will re-add or delete songs with those attributes so that the music list lengthens increasingly with only songs you enjoy. I particularly enjoy the Gaither Vocal band, with many traditional quartets. Even if I am doing dishes or another task that takes my mind away from intently concentrating on the words, the background noise in my home is reverential, joyous, and appropriate. This also puts me in good frame of mind. These days I need all the tips I can employ to keep steadfast and serene. If I have too much clamor in my heart, I can’t hear Him.

As for the negative tips, here is what I do. Sins begin with a thought (Mt 15:19). Footholds and fortresses begin with a thought (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). When a thought comes creeping in, such a “Maybe you aren’t really saved after all, or  “Maybe you will be left behind” or “Maybe the rapture isn’t really pre-trib like you thought” I shut them out immediately. I mean immediately. I don’t dwell on them. I don’t share them with others. I don’t obsess over them. I don’t muse over them in my journal. I knock them out of the ballpark right away, and I don’t watch them go. Satan will try to steal your joy by confusing you and weakening you. The way he does this is by planting seeds of doubt. When you are dragging around doubt it is the same as dragging around a ball and chain. Add another ball to the chain every time you let a non-biblical thought linger. Pretty soon you are so tired from dragging the doubt-chain behind you that you don’t walk any more. Not walking with the Lord means that you stop persevering. You stop enduring. You stop overcoming.

It is work to remain joyful and optimistic in days such as these. It’s work. It doesn’t come naturally, because though we are saved, we have a sin nature and by nature, sin is negative. It is work to remain walking with Him when the days are filled up with just surviving. We are working harder, we are working longer hours, knowing that there are so many out of work that we are eminently replaceable. We are tired. It gets easier to lay aside the bible, it gets harder to sing His praises when there is so much happening that we do not understand. But as any athlete knows, this is precisely the time to keep doing what we have always done, pray, walk, sing, study…because it is precisely now that we need it more than ever. And most importantly, the lost need us. As one famous advertisement says, not advertising is like winking in the dark. You know what you are doing, but no one else does. Everyone should know Jesus, and if we work at our relationship with Him we will shine brighter than ever, pointing to Him. “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.” (John 12:32)

So be of good courage, and persevere.
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Posted in end of days. prophecy, end time, rapture, shia

The Lord is coming soon, says…everyone

Posted on by elizabethprata

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Israel’s rabbis, and Christian ministers are all saying that the prophesied battle of Gog and Magog will occur soon that the Lord’s arrival on earth is imminent. I find it very interesting that the leaders of the three major religions in the world all feel a similar spiritual burden- that end time prophesies are about to be fulfilled. Let’s see who is saying what, but first, delve into some biblical background for context.

The End Time, End Times, or End of Days is a time period described in the eschatological writings of the three Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam). In Christianity, the End Times are depicted as a time of tribulation that precedes the Second Coming of the Christian saviour who is Jesus who will then usher in the fullness of the Kingdom of God and bring an end to suffering and evil after smiting the rebellious ones (non-believers). In Islam, Yawm al-Qiyāmah “the Day of Resurrection” or Yawm ad-Din “the Day of Judgment” is Allah’s final assessment of humanity. It is preceded by the end of the world. In Judaism the term “End of Days” is taken from the Tanakh, Numbers 24:4, as a reference to the Messianic era and the Jewish belief in the coming of Mashiach and the World to Come. (Summarized by Wikipedia).

 IRAN/PERSIA & AHMADINEJAD,
In the Gog Magog prophecy of a battle to come described in Ezekiel 38-39, Ezekiel said that Persia, Libya, Ethiopia, Sudan, Turkey Russia and Armenia will surprise attack Israel. It reads: “Persia, Cush (the upper Nile region) and Put (Libya) will be with them, all with shields and helmets, also Gomer (Turkey) with all its troops, and Beth Togarmah (Armenia) from the far north with all its troops—the many nations with you.” (Ez 38:5). They are almost successful in their attack. However, at the very last second when all seems lost, God rescues Israel, visibly and demonstrably. All will know who and how Israel was rescued and it is this demonstration of divine intervention which pulls Israel back into covenant relationship with God. “I will execute judgment on him with plague and bloodshed; I will pour down torrents of rain, hailstones and burning sulfur on him and on his troops and on the many nations with him. And so I will show my greatness and my holiness, and I will make myself known in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the LORD.’ ” (Ez 38:22-23)

By the end of the battle Israel will be back in old covenant, ‘I will make known my holy name among my people Israel. I will no longer let my holy name be profaned, and the nations will know that I the LORD am the Holy One in Israel. It is coming! It will surely take place, declares the Sovereign LORD. This is the day I have spoken of.” (Ez 39:7-8). Because of Israel’s recognition of God as the God of their Old Covenant (Abraham, Isaac, & Jacob), it means that by the end of the battle the church is gone, because we represent the new covenant. The last 7 years remaining for the old covenant to be fulfilled will resume. (Daniel 9:25, and see below).

The prophesied seventy weeks, or four hundred and ninety years to accomplish what the LORD wanted to do with Israel are divided into three distinct periods, to each of which particular events are assigned. The three periods are: –
I. Seven weeks, that is, forty-nine years.
II.-Sixty-two weeks, that is, four hundred and thirty-four years.
III. One week, that is, seven years. It is this last 7 years of concern to us now.

The Shias also believe that the world will end after a 7-year turmoil, that there will be deceiver, that Jesus will return to help the Mahdi as his deputy to force all to convert to Islam. The Shia Muslim end time scenario is exactly the same as Christianity’s, except the exact opposite. Think of their doctrines as being a photographic negative to the picture of Christianity. So, here is what Iran’s leader said today (Iran = Persia) and note how closely it relates to this upcoming Gog-Magog battle:

US, Israel will soon exit Middle East: Ahmadinejad
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Friday that a new Middle East is being created which would be free of the United States and Israel, as he backed the Arab uprisings but warned Egyptians to be watchful of America’s “friendly face.” “We will soon see a new Middle East materialising without America and the Zionist regime and there will be no room for world arrogance (the West) in it,” Ahmadinejad told the cheering crowds who gathered despite the cold and cloudy weather.

In his fiery style, Ahmadinejad, showed his messianic beliefs on Friday, saying the world was witnessing a revolution managed by Imam Mahdi, the 12th Shiite imam who disappeared as a five-year-old in the 10th century and who Shiites believe would return on the judgment day. “The final move has begun. We are in the middle of a world revolution managed by this dear (12th Imam). A great awakening is unfolding. One can witness the hand of Imam in managing it,” said Ahmadinejad. “Come and take away the Zionist regime which is the source of all crimes… take it away and liberate the region. Free the region and give it to the people and take this regime, which is the child of Satan (the United States), out.”

The Gog Magog battle is a foray of the Muslim coalition to do just that- an attempt to wipe Israel from the earth. That two Iranian warships were allowed through the Suez Canal after 32 years to patrol waters in the Med off Israel is no accident. That missiles are being fired into Gaza as we speak for the first time since the Gaza war is also no accident. The war is coming. Ahmadinejad is right.

Israel’s rabbis say the same thing.

“RABBIS SAY ARAB UNREST SIGNALS MESSIAH COMING SOON”
Prominent rabbis from the Lithuanian ultra-Orthodox sector have offered their own curious interpretations for the upheaval that is spreading through the Middle East, stating that the events are a clear proof that a higher power is at work. “Recently it appears that there is a powerful effort to destroy and agitate the world of the Torah, through various attempts to prosecute kollels and yeshiva students,” Steinman said. “When you try to agitate the world of the Torah, God agitates the world.” Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, an unconventional Lithuanian leader who is believed to have mystic powers, offered a different explanation. “It is evident that many unnatural things are happening,” he said. “People have come to me and said that it’s ‘Gog and Magog’. We cannot know. But it’s probable that any unrest that God creates shows that the Messiah is coming, and that we must begin to prepare for it and become stronger.”

And finally, Christian leaders also say that the end is nigh and the battle of Gog-Magog is coming. Joel C. Rosenberg commented on the Ynet article above,

“On this, I agree with Rabbi Kanievsky – the War of Gog and Magog is approaching, the Messiah is coming, and we must be prepared and become stronger spiritually as the Lord’s return draws near. That said, I suspect the Rabbi and I disagree on the Messiah’s identity. That’s a good discussion to engage, particularly now. The Hebrew prophets told us the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem Ephratah, would minister to the people living darkness in the region of Galilee, would teach in parables, would do miracles, would suffer and die as a guilt offering for our sins, and then would rise again and His body would not see decay in the grave. What’s more, in Daniel chapter 9 we learn that the Messiah will come, atone for our sins, and be “cut off” before the Second Temple is destroyed and Jerusalem is crushed by the Romans. That means if the Messiah didn’t come before 70 A.D., He is never going to come. I know beyond the shadow of a doubt that our Messiah has come, and that He is coming back, possibly sooner that we realize. Today, we are seeing the type of “uprisings” and “lawlessness” that the Lord Jesus warned in Matthew 24 and Luke 21 would precede His return. What’s more, I believe we are steadily approaching what the Hebrew Prophets called the “Day of the Lord,” the tumultuous events that will lead us right into what Jeremiah called “the time of Jacob’s trouble” (Jeremiah 30:7), what Jesus Christ called the “Great Tribulation” (Matthew 24:21), and what the Apostle John described in horrific detail in the Book of Revelation.”

Another prominent Christian leader, Pastor John Hagee also commented this week on the military buildup in the Middle east and the Libyan participation as a precursor to the set up for the Gog Magog battle.

With the globe’s most scholarly and well-versed religious leaders all saying that the tribulation time of judgment and Jesus’ return to the earth is imminent, you pay attention. You know what else? Since the rapture precedes the Tribulation, it must be REALLY imminent. Keep looking up!
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