Category: wrath

Posted in creator, hubble, spiritual warfare, wrath

Some good stuff: Importance of preaching Divine Wrath, Tithing is not a New Testament command, Reality of Spiritual Warfare, 25 Years of Hubble (allowing us to see God’s handiwork)

Posted on by elizabethprata

Some good stuff:

John Martin – The Great Day of Divine Wrath

I’m big on wrath. What are we “saved” from, if we never teach, witness about, or preach the wrath? How can we understand the majesty, depth, and generosity of His love if we do not first understand the wrath? This article appeared at Ligonier and is written by one of the preachers I enjoy most, Steven Lawson:

Is It Necessary to Preach Divine Wrath?

The Genevan Reformer John Calvin said, “Preaching is the public exposition of Scripture by the man sent from God, in which God Himself is present in judgment and in grace.” Faithful pulpit ministry requires the declaration of both judgment and grace. The Word of God is a sharp, two-edged sword that softens and hardens, comforts and afflicts, saves and damns.

1 Corinthians 9 is a tremendous chapter, embedded as it is between 8 and 10, where Paul lengthily expounds about eating meat sacrificed to idols. In reading the passage, I found some parts of chapter 9 difficult to understand. My puny mind and all. I turned to another of my favorite preachers, S. Lewis Johnson, after I’d read the particular passage. He expounded on it in a tremendous way. In one part of the sermon, he took a little side trip. Oh, our beloved preachers and their rabbit trails, lol. Here is the side trip down tithing lane in his sermon “Paul’s Right to Compensation“:

Now, we know that of course in the Old Testament, the Levitical priests carried out the ministry, and they were supported by the children of Israel, the other tribes. They were supported by the tithe. The tithe was not a gift. The tithe was income tax. They had to pay a tenth to the support of the priests, and so the priests carried on the work of the Lord, and they were supported by the children of Israel because they were taxed, ten percent. Clinton hasn’t brought that up yet. But nevertheless, in the Old Testament that’s the way it was done. The Old Testament speaks of tithes and offerings. Offerings were in addition to the tithe. Tithe was income tax. It’s so amazing to me, so amazing to me that we can hear ministry to the effect that we ought to give tithes. Tithes are the big thing in most of our churches, tithes. If you’ll just simply take your Concordance out and look at the New Testament and look up the term “tithe,” and you’ll see that it is never used of anything other than something that happened as history, as history, not now.

I remember my father, when the church in Charleston was putting up a new addition, First Presbyterian Church there, the Old Scots Church. And it was later on, I had been a minister of the gospel for a good time, and we had a number of talks. He was an elder in the church, and he handed me the literature. And he said, “Well, what do you think about this? Do you think — what do you think he was implying what I thought he should give? Well, I wasn’t going to give him any advice at all, but I read the material. And it was an appeal to the members of the First Presbyterian Church of Charleston to give for the new addition. Tithes was mentioned I don’t know how many times. I may still have that in my — in my notes somewhere. I thought it was a good illustration. I could use it in preaching.

But tithes, tithes were mentioned, and I had an opportunity to mention to my father that, as far as the tithe is concerned, the tithe is an Old Testament income tax. And I do know that he happened to give an offering. He told me later, he had given an offering. But we just, I feel, after all these years as old as I am, the biggest mistake made in a local church is failure to read the Bible, failure to read the Bible. The elders, deacons, and members, failure to read the Bible. Expect others to do it for us. Let Dr. Johnson tell us what the Bible has to say. No. If it depended on me, somewhere you’d go wrong because I’d go wrong somewhere. But read the Bible.

So, no, tithing was a national tax in the OT, rendered to support the temple upkeep and support the priests. It is not a NT mandate. Don’t let anyone pressure you otherwise.

Another little gem from SL Johnson’s sermon,

Lord Bacon, who was not a religious man to my knowledge, authored an aphorism regarding the interpretation of legal documents that bears directly on the interpretation of the Biblical records as well. He said, “Interpretation that departs from the letter of the text is not interpretation but divination.” That’s precisely what it is. It’s you adding things to the text as if you are an authority like the Lord God in heaven, the divine being.

EPrata photo

I really enjoyed this article from Answers in Genesis about the reality of spiritual warfare. If one peeve of mine is that the wrath is hardly preached, the reality of the spiritual war is even less so.

The Reality of Spiritual Warfare in the Home
by Dr. Robert H. Carpenter on December 13, 2007

One of the sad realities within the local church today centers on the fact that numerous born-again Christians have little or no knowledge of the spiritual warfare that takes place all around us. The Bible is crystal clear in proclaiming that there is a battle raging in the heavenlies as the forces of evil continue to wage war against not only the Creator, but also against all who trust in Christ Jesus as Savior and Lord.

Look at what our Creator has done! Just look at it!

Visit Hubble’s 25th anniversary website to see the curated collection of Hubble’s anniversary images. In contrast, this Flickr set contains one image from each year that Hubble has been in orbit.

Explore beautiful Hubble Space Telescope images from each year the telescope has been in orbit

“Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Yours is the dominion, O LORD, and You exalt Yourself as head over all”. (1 Chronicles 29:11)

Posted in glory, idols, jesus, nepal, repent, wrath

Everest/Nepal quake: "I don’t know where somewhere else is"

Posted on by elizabethprata

On Saturday, April 25, a powerful “7.9 magnitude earthquake struck Nepal,” reports the UK Guardian. The latest update states that the-

“death toll has risen to more than 2,500. More than 5,000 people have been injured. Powerful aftershocks today between Kathmandu and Everest unleashed more avalanches in the Himalayas and caused panic in the capital, where hospital workers stretchered patients out into the street as it was too dangerous treat them indoors.”

O Nepal, your Buddha cannot help you.
Repent and turn to the Living God: Jesus the Christ. Source.

Videos of the quake occurring at Base Camp Mt. Everest are starting to surface. This video appears to show the quake and avalanche as it is occurring. Warning: The video contains strong language. The videographer says the “F-word” numerous times. At the beginning he emerges from his tent, saying, “The ground is shaking!” Then he sees the white wall of ice and snow coming and the chaos (and profanity) begins.

The UK Guardian reports: At least 17 people believed to have been killed on Everest, and 61 injured, by an avalanche which left mountaineers calling for helicopter assistance to evacuate the most badly wounded.

In this report, the computerized news reader quotes a witness, who said,

Everybody [the climbers] are pretty much in rescue mode. But this is different from an independent climbing accident where people can be rescued and taken somewhere else. I don’t know where somewhere else is.”

And that is what broke my heart. The widespread devastation in Nepal due to the quake is terrible and it will take the country some time to recover. I watched another video of the immediate aftermath in Katmandu and the people were screaming and terrified, rubble all around and nowhere to go for safety. Worse is the man’s surprised and terrified reaction on Base Camp Everest, the world’s tallest and mightiest mountain, when he perceived the ground under him was shaking. A strong and massive mountain like Everest, just shaking like a bowl of jello.

This video below really is shocking. It shows an aftershock, in neighboring Tibet. It is not the original quake and it is not in Nepal, so you can imagine the shaking that went on there. It is footage from CCTV-

But worst of all is…The Tribulation. Plagues, war, famine, chaos, meteors, and earthquakes and more will be common. Common. By the grace of God, the humanitarian organization World Vision is already on scene in Nepal. In the Tribulation, no one will know where “somewhere else” is. No one will be flying in with medical kits and compassion, for sin will be running rampant, and even if they could fly in, resources will be too scarce…and then another disaster will hit and that will be that.

There will be nowhere else to seek healing, refuge, comfort. The disasters that will plunge the world into darkness, chaos and sin will be occurring one after another. If you can horrifyingly imagine the Nepal Quake on Saturday and the Banda Aceh tsunami the next day and meteors fly in on Monday and a plague ramping up on Tuesday…that is what it will be like for the people left behind to face God’s wrath during that period. Where will they go? To whom will they turn?

Jesus.

He certainly offers salvation  now, in the Age of Grace. In the Tribulation, God’s wrath will be poured out but He will have mercy on those who repent and give Him glory. (Revelation 11:13). He will offer salvation then in His Day of Wrath just as He does now. His compassion will be still evident in the Tribulation when He sends an angel to fly at mid-heaven during the Tribulation to proclaim to the people,
And he said with a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”
Revelation 14:7.

It is good advice we can take now. You do not want your worst enemy to go through it.

Share the Gospel with someone today, so they will hear and perhaps believe. The time coming, soon many think, will be horrific beyond belief, a thousand Nepal quakes all at once… and no one will know where “somewhere else is.”

But those who turn to the Living God will always have refuge in Him and a home in heaven.

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

Further Reading

Nepal earthquake: Traumatized nation copes with a panorama of devastation

Posted in grace, love, salvation, wrath

I was not saved by a loving Jesus wooing me

Posted on by elizabethprata

I wasn’t saved by love. The Gospel was not attractive to me. It was not made attractive to me by smiling Christians. I was saved by wrath.

This is NOT my Jesus

Glorious Jesus who was and is and is to come did not woo me to the cross. No one fulfilled my felt needs. No one befriended me and cajoled me into loving Jesus. He battered my head with a 2X4, dragging me kicking and screaming to the cross, where He made me face my sin. Once I saw my sin, I saw His coming wrath for it.

I repented.

THEN I loved Him. After He opened my eyes I saw all His loveliness and grace and mercy and long-suffering and patience and grief over sin and sinners. But I was not wooed, nor was I loved onto Mt Moriah. It is not true that “Jesus won’t come where He isn’t welcome”. It is not true that “Jesus won’t force Himself on anybody.” He is sovereign God! He goes where He pleases! (Psalm 24:1). He drop kicked Saul/Paul to the ground AND blinded him! He didn’t ASK Mary if she’d like to become pregnant and an object of ridicule and rumor the rest of her life. No, He sent an angel to TELL her how it was going to be. (Luke 1:30-37)

He isn’t wringing His hands in heaven hoping that Jane or Tom or Mary will believe in Him, and maybe they will, if he just sends the Spirit to soften the pew cushions … or energizes the preacher with a louder “WOO!” … or if the musician plays one more verse of “Just As I Am.” Maybe if He can make church “exciting” then Harry will repent and believe. No.

It was the sovereign wrath that convicted me and convinced me. It is why I love passages like this.

The Judgment at Christ’s Coming
The Great Day of His Wrath, John Martin ~1853

This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering— since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed. (2 Thessalonians 1:5-10)

Let us begin the marveling now. Marvel at a Savior who saves by His sovereign election, will, purpose, and plan! Marvel at He who is wrath and judgment and holiness and fierce anger! Be afeared of His anger over your sin. Marvel that El Shaddai… El Elyon …sent His Son to take on all anger for sin. Marvel that He is also Jehovah Rapha, and Jehovah Jireh, the LORD that heals, the LORD will provide. Marvel at the wrath. It makes marveling at the grace all the more sweet.

Posted in hell, jonathan edwards, judgment, wrath

The holiness of the everlasting wrath: Jonathan Edwards

Posted on by elizabethprata
You spurn all who go astray from your statutes,
for their cunning is in vain.
All the wicked of the earth you discard like dross,
therefore I love your testimonies.
My flesh trembles for fear of you,
and I am afraid of your judgments.
My eyes shed streams of tears,
because people do not keep your law.

(Psalm 119: 118-120, 136)

EPrata photo

Your wickedness makes you as it were heavy as lead, and to tend downwards with great weight and pressure towards hell; and if God should let you go, you would immediately sink and swiftly descend and plunge into the bottomless gulf, and your healthy constitution, and your own care and prudence, and best contrivance, and all your righteousness, would have no more influence to uphold you and keep you out of hell, than a spider’s web would have to stop a falling rock.

It is everlasting wrath. It would be dreadful to suffer this fierceness and wrath of Almighty God one moment; but you must suffer it to all eternity. There will be no end to this exquisite horrible misery. When you look forward, you shall see a long for ever, a boundless duration before you, which will swallow up your thoughts, and amaze your soul; and you will absolutely despair of ever having any deliverance, any end, any mitigation, any rest at all. You will know certainly that you must wear out long ages, millions of millions of ages, in wrestling and conflicting with this almighty merciless vengeance; and then when you have so done, when so many ages have actually been spent by you in this manner, you will know that all is but a point to what remains. So that your punishment will indeed be infinite. Oh, who can express what the state of a soul in such circumstances is! All that we can possibly say about it, gives but a very feeble, faint representation of it; it is inexpressible and inconceivable: For “who knows the power of God’s anger?”

Jonathan Edwards, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Further Reading:

Jonathan Edwards on Heaven, part of a 16-sermon series, Heaven, A World of Love

Posted in forgiveness, free grace, irresistible grace, justification, robe of righteousness, salvation, witness, wrath

Mr Lamb’s Robe Store

Posted on by elizabethprata

Scene, busy shopping mall. It’s so large that many people are lost. They look at the map in the central courtyard with the dot “you are here,” but many still don’t know which way to go. Others become distracted by the many choices. Still others sit in the courtyard just lazing away the day.

In a nearby clothing shop, two people browse the racks of robes on a rounder. They are called Sinner and Saved. Saved is a salesperson, trained and ready to explain any aspect of anything about the robes on display.

Saved: May I help you?
I think I would like one of these robes, they’re so white and beautiful. Are they silk?
They’re fine flax, plus other threads extremely rare and unique because they’re imported from a remote location.
It looks shimmery…
That’s because the Light reflects on it, through it, and off it. Some call this garment “Woven Moonlight” from the Grace line. It comes with a lifetime guarantee. It will never wear out.
That would be something, I hate going to the store to buy robe after robe. No robe I buy ever seems to last and I always end up cold and chilly in my house.
So, would you like one?
I don’t think I can afford it.
You can. It’s free.
No way! You mean just get one, put it on and walk out of here?
Yes, but there is something you need to do first before it can be put on.
I knew there would be a catch. You’re probably going to tell me I have to work for you for fifty years or something, like an indentured servant.
No, there’s no works involved.
Where are the lawyers, you’ll have me arrested if I take one for free.
The owner of this store has plenty of robes and is perfectly willing to give them away. There is no Legalism here.
I’ll get back to the robe in a minute, but I want to know this. Who in his right mind would give away his inventory? How does he stay in business? This is crazy!
I agree, it is unusual. There is no other store in the world which does this. This is certainly an exclusive shop.
But how can the owner stay in business?
He is extremely wealthy. And he wants to share his wealth. Again this is unusual. No other store owner in the world gives freely and doesn’t take.
Wait, I thought you said there was a catch. What is it?
No catch, but you do have to say you’re sorry before you can put on one of these exclusive robes.
Say I’m sorry for what???
For all your crimes against the owner of this store.
Whatchoo you talking about? I never done nothing to this guy!
Well, you have. If you ever even took a paperclip home from work, you’ve been stealing.
What does that have to do with the owner of this store?
He owns the paper clip. He owns everything. I told you he is very wealthy.
I knew this was too good to be true, I’m leaving.

Sinner leaves and walks to the next store. He is gone for hours. Eventually, he returns.

Ah, sir, so glad to see you again. What brings you back into our exclusive store?
I looked at every other robe in the mall. None are as good as this one. Once I saw the white gossamer shimmering threads, so delicate but so strong, I knew that no other could compare. Tell me more about this garment being free but having to be sorry first…
Well, you have committed crimes against the owner of this store, Mr Lamb, who owns the inventory of White Robes. Every time you stole, cheated, lied, even unknowingly, you sinned against Him. He owns all that is on the earth.
I’ve gotta know, who is this man?
He’s God.
God?! Like the Man Upstairs?
He is not a man, and though he is in heaven he is also on earth, in the form of His Spirit.
I think this God talk is kind of crazy but I admit His robes look different from all the others.
I’m wearing one.
You? You’re wearing regular clothes.
Yes but have you ever heard of layaway? My robe is on deposit, the Spirit is the deposit of the guarantee of being given one when we get to heaven. You will inherit His wealth, and the robe comes with it. (Ephesians 1:14)
Doesn’t a dad have to die in order for the kids to inherit?
He already died. He sent His Son to die on the cross for our sins, paying the debt you racked up, and the debt of all mankind. (John 3:16). In addition, He endured all the Father’s wrath for these sins, poured out onto the Son. I mean didn’t your dad get angry when you messed up? (Romans 1:18)
LOL, he sure did. When I was a kid I took his keys and drove the car, and I crashed it. Cost him a lot of money. He was so mad he used his belt on me for the first and only time. It hurt. I still have the scar from one of the welts.
Well, imagine how angry the Father is over your crimes against Him, and though His anger is controlled, it is there and poured out on the Son on behalf of you. He bore your stripes so you can live right. (1 Peter 2:24). The Son died. He sure did. However the good news is, He didn’t stay dead. Satisfied with His Son’s sacrifice, God resurrected the Son to eternal life.
Who is the Son?
Jesus.
I knew it, you’re a Jesus freak!
That I am, proclaiming His excellencies to call you from darkness to his wonderful light. (1 Peter 2:9).
When I was looking at all the other robes I was thinking about the paper clip. You know, um, I have done worse than taking a paper clip. A lot worse. When I committed them I didn’t know he was the owner of all the earth. (Psalm 24:1).
Well, you did. Just looking at the creation makes you know He created it. (Romans 1:19)
OK, you got me. I guess I lied again just then. I am surely without excuse. (Romans 1:20). What a miserable human being I am. I thought I felt bad before looking at the other robes, which suddenly looked like filthy rags next to this one, (Isaiah 64:6) but now I feel terrible seeing myself next to it. (Isaiah 6:5). I’m hopeless.
Yes, you are- out there. (Amos 5:20). In here, you have the deposit guaranteed, the robe of righteousness, the Spirit in you to strengthen you, Jesus to look forward to, and all hope and all wealth. As a matter of fact, all things will be yours, including eternal life. (Romans 8:24).

A rotten tomato splats against the store window, dripping down, with some youth running away shouting, “Your store is stupid and so are you!”

A few women wander in, but they stop only inches inside the threshold. One says, “This place smells horrible! Like garbage! And the clothes are all weird and shiny. Let’s go, Myrtle. We can check out the store that has grey robes. I hear they’ve got 50 shades of them!” They hustle out.

Sinner says,
Why’d they do that? You’re just standing here, minding your own business!

That happens a lot. Pay no mind. We don’t bother to fight against flesh and blood, but fight against what drives them. It’s their conscience. “For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.” (Romans 2:14-16). With you, your thoughts are accusing. With them, they are trying to defend themselves and so they lash out.
Accuse is a good word. I feel a great heaviness on me because of all the wrong I’ve done. The more I look at the robe the more I see myself as a sinful man. (Luke 5:8). I couldn’t get it out of my mind these past few hours. (Romans 2:15). As much as I didn’t want to come back in here, I felt like I had to. (Ephesians 2:1–10).
You’re almost ready for a robe, I think. I’ll go get one in your size. While I’m gone, why don’t you speak with the Owner, and tell Him how you feel?
You mean on the phone? Or an intercom?
Just speak with your mouth, He will hear you. (Romans 10:9).

A few minutes go by. When the salesman returns, the Sinner is beaming.
I talked with Mr Lamb! He heard me, I know He did. He said He forgives me of my crimes against Him. There were a lot. Once I got going I hadn’t realized how many times I broke Mr Lamb’s law. But He said He would throw my sins away as far as the east is from the west. He said I’d receive a robe when I get there. He said I might have to pay for my past sins, endure the consequences you know, but He would always be with me and never forsake me. I believe Him I believe it down to my bones.
That’s wonderful! I’m so pleased!
You know, this is so weird. This place is right in the mall but I’d never seen it before today. I come here every week but I never saw it. And the owner is rich but wiling to give it all to us. He doesn’t make money, he gives it. He covers us with his garment which was made at great expense and gives it away free. All we have to do is be sorry for our sins and believe in His death, burial and resurrection. I can’t believe my whole life I thought Mr Lamb as a jerk.
That’s because you’re a new creation now. The Spirit is already inside you, helping you. He is the Helper. He’ll strengthen you in faith, change you from the woeful man you were into the righteous man you are now and will become. (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Hey I’ve got to tell this news to my family. I’ll come back and we’ll talk more, OK?
Sure, Godspeed!

Sinner Child of God knew exactly what to do and exactly where to go before he headed home. The bible store …

Posted in dallas, disease, ebola, God, hazmat, wrath

Daily Mail: Man without a hazmat suit helps second Ebola nurse board plane; "Who’s the idiot with the clipboard?"

Posted on by elizabethprata

UK Daily Mail reports,

Disbelief and panic as mystery man WITHOUT a hazmat suit helps second Ebola nurse board her plane to Atlanta, disposes waste and then climbs aboard

As news helicopters swarmed over Dallas’ Love Field this evening to watch the second U.S. nurse to contract Ebola board a private plane bound for Atlanta, one lone mysterious man stood out from the pack. Holding a clipboard and directing the transfer, the unidentified man seemed to be the only person on the tarmac without protective clothing, wearing just a button down shirt and trousers.

While Ebola is not an airborne disease, his presence so close to patient Amber Vinson’s medical team sparked fears after he was seen grabbing a container and hazmat trash bag from one of the workers’ in full-protective gear and later boarding the flight. It is believed he flew with Vinson and the other hazmat-suited medical staff to Atlanta and local television crews spotted him with the stricken nurse as she disembarked at the airport in Georgia to be transferred to Emory University Hospital. When the plane landed in Atlanta, the man had still not donned any protective clothing and was seen openly interacting with Vinson and the other medical professionals caring for the nurse

.

Clipboard man appears to have flown on the same flight as infected Miss Vinson,
as he is seen in footage of her getting into an ambulance at an airport in Atlanta

Video at link.

CDC has been telling us that ‘extra margins of safety’ have been followed, yet we learn that the first patient in Dallas was turned away from the hospital, even after reporting he had just returned from Liberia.

We’re told that the CDC is on it, but then we learn that 2nd Dallas nurse Amber Vinson had a fever when she flew, but was allowed to fly by the CDC (whom she called) because the fever was 99.5 and not 100.4, putting her into the ‘low risk’ category.

We are told that an ‘abundance of caution’ is the watchword, yet our border and inbound air flights are wide open to all comers.

We are told that Ebola is not and can’t be caught through the air, yet this doctor says it can be

We can go on and on pointing out the inconsistencies the Government and other Authoritative Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) tell us, but one fact remains, we cannot control disease and it goes where God wills or allows.

God’s goal in pandemic diseases is always restoration and repentance. He did before and He still does display His wrath through disease to show His power and might and holiness. As Ebola has instilled fear in the world population, one would hope that the fear of the disease would turn to fear of God accompanied by repentance. A repentant person with God will live forever. An unrepentant person fearing only the disease will die and die forever, over and over and over throughout all eternity.

This ongoing Ebola fear also shows us another thing, the only One we can fully trust is God.

God showed His love through Jesus, and through illnesses such as devastating pandemics, (which Ebola is not yet) God also shows His wrath and His power. Please read the following essay.

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

Further Reading

What Does The Bible Say about Pandemic Diseases?

Posted in Lamb, winepress, wrath

The Wrath of the Lamb

Posted on by elizabethprata
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Put in the sickle,
for the harvest is ripe.
Go in, tread,
for the winepress is full.
The vats overflow,
for their evil is great.
Nicolas Bataille, tapestry, Angers Apocalypse, 1377
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Multitudes, multitudes,

in the valley of decision!
For the day of the Lord is near
in the valley of decision.
The sun and the moon are darkened,
and the stars withdraw their shining.
The Lord roars from Zion,
and utters his voice from Jerusalem,
and the heavens and the earth quake.
But the Lord is a refuge to his people,
a stronghold to the people of Israel. (Joel 3:13-16)

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

Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, 
 and seated on the cloud one like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, 
and a sharp sickle in his hand. 
And another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud,
“Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.” So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, 
and the earth was reaped. 
(Revelation 14:14-16)

The happiest words to me in the bible are “He is not here. He is risen!” (Matthew 28:6). O, what joy to proclaim our Savior perfect and ascended!

The saddest words to me are “the earth was reaped.” The simplicity of the words are startling, he put in his sickle…and the earth was reaped. Just. Like. That. Wow.

Our Jesus is holy and loving. But He is just. He will bring justice to the earth one day, and soon, I think, and take vengeance on those who mocked, scoffed, persecuted, and blasphemed HIS HOLY NAME.

It is all well and good to focus on the love of Jesus. But not to the exclusion of His Righteousness, His Justice, His Holiness…and His Wrath. This essay is my part in reminding us all of some of the attributes fellow Christians seldom focus upon. But in failing to ponder them, we result in a skewed view of Jesus, and fail to appreciate the love He has for us all the more. We also fail to have urgency in speaking of Him and in being living Ambassadors for His name to the lost.

So think about wrath and justice for a while. It does a heart good.

Will that day be tomorrow? Will that day be today? Will that day be next week? Only God knows when He will tell His Son to get His Bride so the wrath can begin. Only He knows after that when the Tribulation will begin the vengeance and wrath. But our Jesus is not only love. He is wrath. Never forget it.

Posted in anti-semitism, satan, signs, tribulation, wrath

Anti-Semitic incidents worse than they’ve been in decades- "Something’s changed"

Posted on by elizabethprata

In the news article excerpt below (from Breitbart) you will read that attitudes toward Jewish people are taking a horrific turn for the worse.

South African Union Leader Calls for Attacks on Jews ‘Everywhere’

In a posting on his personal Facebook page Wednesday, Tony Ehrenreich, the leader of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) in the Western Cape province, called for “an Eye for an Eye against Zionist aggression” and warned that “if a woman or child is killed in Gaza,” then Jews who support Israel must face an equivalent fate. … Ehrenreich is one of South Africa’s more important political voices. He was the Cape Town mayoral nominee in 2011 for the country’s major political party, the African National Congress (ANC), and still leads the opposition in the city council. He has strong anti-Israel views, and recently called for boycotts of Jewish businesses in South Africa if the Jewish community’s leadership, the Board of Deputies, refused to stop supporting Israel. Now, Ehrenreich has apparently taken his campaign one step further–to possible incitement. … Last month, another member of the ANC in the Western Cape province posted an antisemitic statement to her personal Facebook page–an image of Hitler with the comment, “Yes man, you were right!” and the caption: “I could have killed all the Jews, but I left some of them to tell you why I was killing them.”

That a person could even hold this attitude but speak it out loud, or write it for the world to see, is depraved. That a leader of men is doing it is even worse.

Yet sadly, this attitude toward Jews is not silently contained in one man’s heart, or posted on an obscure man’s Facebook page, but is becoming widespread among the world’s nations. See this interesting news piece. Here is the art from it. Click to enlarge-

Anti-Semitism In Europe: A Crisis

Two weeks ago, a secret emergency meeting was held in Jerusalem, chaired jointly by Economy Minister Naftali Bennett, whose cabinet portfolio includes the relationship between Israel and the Jewish Diaspora, and Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky. On the agenda was the outbreak of anti-Semitic attacks on Jews across Europe in the wake of the Gaza conflict. The meeting was attended by representatives of government departments and major Jewish organizations operating in Europe. They heard assessments from the leadership and security bodies of some of the European communities, and from experts in Israeli agencies who have a brief to monitor the physical safety of Jews around the world and discreetly assist communities at risk.

No conclusions were reached at the meeting. As of now there is little Israel can or perhaps should do. The rash of attacks on Jews, vandalism of synagogues and homes, and virulent anti-Semitic rhetoric is being confronted energetically by police, local authorities and national governments. The level of violence, while unprecedented in decades, is not yet causing a scared exodus – no-one is chartering planes for an airlift. But something has changed.

Those who have been monitoring levels of anti-Semitism in Europe for years are struggling to put their finger on what exactly has changed in recent weeks. Looking back at the last 15 years, the current wave of attacks is just the latest in a series beginning with the outbreak of the second intifada in 2000, and repeating itself with each round of violence in Gaza, the West Bank or Lebanon. So what is different this time?

“It’s worse than any previous period we can remember. Worse than the waves after Operation Cast Lead and the Marmara incident,” says Richard Goldstein, operations director at the Institute for Jewish Policy Research in London, where he closely follows the situation of Jewish communities in Europe. “Intimidating demonstrations in numerous places in Europe, often leading to attacks on Jewish businesses and synagogues – we haven’t seen things like this for decades. On the other hand, there have been sudden waves like this in the past and afterwards things went back to normal. It’s hard now to predict how things will look once Gaza calms down. But it looks like a red line has been crossed where many don’t make the distinction between Israel and Jews anymore.”

The reason that the world is turning against the Jews is because of God.

“Behold, I am about to make Jerusalem a cup of staggering to all the surrounding peoples. The siege of Jerusalem will also be against Judah. (Zechariah 12:2)

Therefore hear this, you who are afflicted, who are drunk, but not with wine: Thus says your Lord, the Lord, your God who pleads the cause of his people: “Behold, I have taken from your hand the cup of staggering; the bowl of my wrath you shall drink no more; and I will put it into the hand of your tormentors, who have said to you, ‘Bow down, that we may pass over’; and you have made your back like the ground and like the street for them to pass over.” (Isaiah 51:21-23)

Gill’s Exposition says of the Isaiah verse:

Behold, I have taken out of thy hand the cup of trembling; which he himself had put there, Isaiah 51:17, and which none but himself could take out; not she herself, nor any of her sons, nor indeed could they give her any relief; but when the Lord’s time is come to favour his people, he himself will remove it:

So God will render His wrath upon His rebellious people Israel. When He determines the time is finished for His cup of wrath to be poured out upon her, He will remove the cup of staggering and put it in other nations’ hands and pour out His wrath on them, for tormenting His people.

The Tribulation as defined here says,

“The Tribulation, as taught by most Bible scholars, encompasses a future seven year period when God will complete his discipline of Israel and final judgment upon the unbelieving citizens of the world.”

At some level, just as the world’s peoples know that God exists, (Romans 1:19-20), they know that the reason for the world’s anti-Semitism is also God, because He loves the Jews. Here is an example of a person’s secular opinion in answer to the question of why the world hates the Jews, illustrating  they know religion is at the root:

Religion: The root cause of the crises in the Middle East

Sunni vs. Shia, Muslim Brotherhood vs. other religions, especially Coptic Christians and the secular state in Egypt, Muslims vs. Christians in Lebanon, Jews vs. Muslims in the Israel-Arab conflicts, and Sunnis and radical Islamist groups vs. Alawites (and President Bashar) in Syria.

The more I investigated all of this, the more I found that much of the terrible turmoil can, in fact, be traced to the fundamental beliefs of different groups that they are right and righteous. These groups cling to ancient stories and teachings that define their identity, their morals and their politics. These traditions also pinpoint the geographic space to which they believe they are entitled — their homeland and holy land

But his answer is only the beginning of the answer. Here is the rest of it, and the truth:

What is the cause of all the anti-Semitism in the world?

This brings us to the real reason by the world hates the Jews. The apostle Paul tells us, “For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised!” (Romans 9:3-5).

The truth is that the world hates the Jews because the world hates God. The Jews were God’s firstborn, His chosen people (Deuteronomy 14:2). Through the Jewish patriarchs, the prophets, and the temple, God used the Jews to bring forth His Word, the Law, and morality to a world of sin. He sent forth His son, Jesus the Christ, in a Jewish body to redeem the world of sin. Satan, the prince of the earth (John 14:30; Ephesians 2:2), has poisoned the minds of men with his hated of the Jews.

May the Lord have mercy upon those who torment the people who are the apple of His eye. May He have mercy on His own People…for the Lord’s wrath is very great. The hatred of the Jews will only increase as we slide ever closer to the Tribulation, when both satan’s hatred and God’s wrath will be poured out in full measure. I personally believe that when officials at the high levels, who are in-the-know, say that something’s changed, that thee level of hatred and the number of incidents are inexplicably increasing, it is because we see the Lord’s hand directly at work.

I believe it also is a sign. I believe that it means we are closer than ever to the rapture, because the Tribulation shortly follows that event, when literally all hell will break loose against the Jews. Come soon Lord Jesus, we long for Your manifold mercies, in rapturing your Bride before it gets to that point. You, dear reader, can be part of the Bride too, if you repent and believe on the Son.

Maranatha!

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Further Reading

Baker’s Evangelical Dictionary: The Wrath of God

What is the Tribulation?