Posted in Uncategorized

Weird news: a variety of news of the weird

Posted on by elizabethprata

About 60 power poles have spontaneously combusted in three Texas counties, causing residents across the three counties to lose power. Officials say it is due to heavy fog. “I can’t even say career – not in my lifetime have I heard of this,” said DPS Trooper D. L. Wilson. One witness said it was “Like having our own Olympic torch.”

Fire and ice mix as Russian volcano erupts for first time in 36 years
“Plosky Tolbachik volcano erupted in Russia’s Far Eastern Kamchatka Peninsula on Nov. 29. The volcano, located on the peninsula’s eastern coast, is erupting for the first time in 36 years, according to The Associated Press.”

Earlier in November I’d asked “Is the New Madrid fault zone waking up?” It seems the answer is…yes. This article asks, Monster Sinkholes Indication Major Earth Changes on The New Madrid Fault? They report, “According to Bloomberg, there has been “a sixfold increase in the number of earthquakes that have shaken the central part of the U.S. from 2000 to 2011″.

The article also talks about monster sinkholes, such as the one in Ohio
Ohio Sinkhole Devours Four Football Fields Of Land, Stretch Of State Highway 516 Near Dover

Or the sinkhole in Bayou Corne, Louisiana, which keeps on getting bigger and more gassy.

The strange booms are now being reported in 6 states in the last day

Arizona: Residents in communities in and around Verde Valley and as far as Flagstaff called 911 or their police and fire departments to report the strange booming sounds. “It sounded like thunder, but underground,” Swesey said. “Like muffled thunder. And all the dogs in the neighborhood, all of them that were outside all started barking at once.”

Texas/Oklahoma: Loud Booms Heard Across Texoma Has Confirmed Cause: sonic booms from military jets are the reported cause, but residents say they know the sound of sonic booms and this wasn’t it.

Rhode Island: While authorities still do not know the source, residents are sticking to their story saying they heard a large explosion coming from Narragansett Bay Monday night.  Reports of the phantom boom kept crews busy in both Barrington and Warwick after residents reported hearing the strange disruption around 11:30 p.m.

Alabama: Mysterious loud noise baffles residents, police

Georgia: Several Loud Booms Reported In Columbia County… Columbia County EMA director Pam Tucker tells WJBF News Channel 6, that quarry blasting and earthquakes have been ruled out as causes of loud booms and rumblings in Columbia County. Tucker tells us no blasting or quakes were going on at the times the booms and rumblings were reported.  A seismologist Tucker talked to checked all of his equipment and said that he sees no indication of earthquakes around any of the times he was provided.

The demand for exorcists is more than the Catholic Church can handle. So they set up a hotline. “Exorcist Hotline Created By Catholic Church In Milan, More Priests Available To Drive ‘Demons’ Out’

Posted in apocalypse, doomsday, gillard

Aussie PM delivers mock Apocalypse message

Posted on by elizabethprata

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard recorded a mock, tongue in cheek  doomsday message as a stunt for a radio show, Australian news is reporting,

“Julia Gillard has recorded a tongue-in-cheek video address to the nation warning the world is about to come to an apocalyptic end, as predicted in the Mayan calendar. In the 55-second spoof clip, recorded for Triple J radio, Ms Gillard addresses her “remaining fellow Australians” warning of zombies, hell beasts and a K-pop armageddon. With an emotionless delivery, the prime minister says the end of the world is coming not because of Y2K, or even the carbon tax, but “it turns out the Mayan calendar was true” “Whether the final blow comes from flesh-eating zombies, demonic hell beasts or from the total triumph of K-pop, if you know one thing about me it is this: I will always fight for you until the very end,” Ms Gillard says. “And at least this means I won’t have to do Q&A again.” The message was recorded to promote Tom and Alex’s “End of the World” radio show, which is set to air at 6am AEDT on Friday morning.”

Ms Gillard revealed during her campaign before she was elected that she is an atheist. The UK Daily Mail had reported back then that Gillard stated “I don’t believe in God.”

Two thoughts about this come quickly to mind. First, the world’s leaders are increasingly having a party rather than being the dignified and sober leaders we would wish them to be. Are they quietly and diligently attending to their people’s problems and leading with grace and ingenuity? No. They appear on late-night comedy shows and make jokes at the very problems their people are experiencing and which they are supposed to be solving. Or they use The People’s House to host celebrity-studded awards night and mingle among the 54 Christmas Trees. Leadership as an institution is dying.

Secondly, Ms Gillard is in spiritual pain. She does not know it because she has a reprobate mind. However, she mocks God in a dangerous way. No, the Mayan calendar is false, and does not predict anything except people’s gullibility in holding to false beliefs. But God is very real and He weeps over His people and their lost ways. For a world leader to mock the fact of coming doom and joke about an issue which her Christian constituents take very seriously (end of the world via God’s wrath) is just heart-breaking. Unfortunately, we know that unless she repents, she will discover the truth all too eternally.

I laughed at the clip. It is funny. Bu the end of the world is not. If our world’s leaders are not mocking the global situation, they are scurrying to and fro in vain attempts to try and solve it. Neither will come to anything more than wisps and smoke.

Posted in syria, wmd

Report: Syria has loaded nerve gas into bombs

Posted on by elizabethprata

“NBC News reports that Syria’s military has loaded nerve-gas chemicals into bombs and is awaiting final orders from President Bashar Assad. U.S. officials confirmed Wednesday to NBC that bombs had been filled with precursors for deadly sarin but that they had yet been loaded onto planes. Fox News cites a senior U.S. official as saying the bombs must be used within 60 days or the chemical expires and must be destroyed. At least three Syrian facilities produce chemical weapons, according to Global Security. They are located near Damascus, Hama, and Safira, near Aleppo, the heart of the opposition.”

Wikipedia explains that sarin gas “is estimated to be over 500 times more toxic than cyanide. Sarin has a high volatility relative to similar nerve agents. Inhalation and absorption through the skin pose a great threat. Even vapor concentrations immediately penetrate the skin. People who absorb a non-lethal dose but do not receive immediate appropriate medical treatment may suffer permanent neurological damage. Even at very low concentrations, sarin can be fatal. Death may follow in one minute after direct ingestion of a lethal dose…”

NPR: “Activists Tell Damascus Residents To Prepare For The ‘Zero Hour‘ “
“With increased fighting in and around Damascus in recent weeks, Syrian activists have posted a video that calls on residents of the capital to prepare for what they say is a looming collapse of President Bashar Assad’s regime. The YouTube video, called “Zero Hour, Your Final Chance,” promises an imminent battle in Damascus aimed at ousting Assad. It is filled with instructions on what to do to prepare for and survive such a battle.”

Pray, people. Isaiah 17 says Damascus will be destroyed and the cities of Aroer will be a wasteland. Will desperate dictator Assad, who reportedly is looking for an escape country to flee to in South America, lay Damascus to waste in an attitude of ‘if I can’t have it no one will have it’? Or will the rebels mishandle the weaponry and loose devastation upon the city themselves? Or will Israel finally go ahead and raze Damascus’s chemical sites as they have been itching to do for two months? Will the US go in and take Syria?

It is devastatingly unsettling times.

Posted in peace

Resting in Christ, confident in His work, & attaining peace

Posted on by elizabethprata

Paul wrote to the Philippian church,

“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6)

How did Paul know this for sure? Because of what he wrote six verses later in the same chapter-

The Advance of the Gospel
“I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, 13 so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. 14 And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.” (Philippians 1:12-14)

When Paul wrote that he was sure, the word is confident, and confident as it’s used here is defined in the Greek, “The Lord persuades the yielded believer to be confident in His preferred-will (Gal 5:10; 2 Tim 1:12). The Greek word used here (peíthō) involves “obedience, but it is properly the result of (God’s) persuasion.”

Paul would know about direct persuasion from Jesus, wouldn’t he? (Road to Damascus anyone?) His subsequent confidence was born of an intimate fellowship with Jesus, combined with Godly submission in applying what Paul had learned from the Word. Confidence of the good work of Jesus to be completed in us isn’t a head knowledge. It isn’t an intellectual game. It comes from direct experience of living the submitted life for the glory of Jesus and seeing Him work through us. We read and study the bible and we live out what it says. It is the evidence of the regeneration the Holy Spirit works in us, to be completed at the Day of the Lord. That is the radical change the Good News does to us and through us.

In this situation when Paul was writing, Paul was in jail. The common understanding is that this was his Roman imprisonment. In the Roman jail, Paul had some latitude- he could receive visitors and he could preach the Gospel. But … it was still prison. He was chained, limited in movement, under direct penal restriction. How or where could a good work go out from circumstances as limiting as that? Ha ha, Jesus is not limited by anything. Paul preached the Gospel and the hopeful Good News changed the guards’ hearts, which in turn changed the hearts of their households…and so on.

Be of good cheer that no matter what or where your circumstances, Jesus IS completing a good work in you. You might wonder, “Li’l ole me? I’m jobless…homeless…single…dying of cancer…living in a yurt on the Mongolian steppes…’ but it does not matter. Jesus is using you and will continue to use you until He completes His work in you on the day of Jesus Christ.

Here are two wonderful short essays by John MacArthur on maintaining peace in whatever your circumstance,

Having Peace in Every Circumstance, Part 1
“Any anxious Christian would love to have this prayer offered on his behalf: “May the Lord of peace Himself continually grant you peace in every circumstance. . . . The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.” Those powerful, encouraging words come from the apostle Paul at the end of his second letter to the Thessalonian church (2 Thessalonians 3:16, 18). They serve as a potent reminder of where we can and should turn when anxiety threatens—to “the Lord of peace Himself.”

Having Peace in Every Circumstance, Part 2
“It’s only through God’s grace that believers can face every circumstance with calm, assured peace. Anxiety does not have to reign in our hearts—we can hold fast to God’s peace and provision through any of life’s storms. We’ve been looking at the nature of the peace God grants to believers, as explained in Paul’s prayer from the church at Thessalonica in 2 Thessalonians 3:16, 18. Not only is that peace divine in origin, but it is also a…”

Earlier today I’d re-posted a quote from J.C. Philpot about how and why God wearies us, called, The Weary Christian Must Rest Upon Christ. Sometimes our circumstances weary us as well as worry us. Jesus has a great reason for wearying us. Do not become worried when circumstances tire you out. Paul was in jail and was confident Jesus was still working through Him, perfecting Paul for the Day.

This quote from part 2 of the MacArthur essay continues the thought:

“If you understand that God is using all the difficulties you face to perfect you, you’ll be at peace. It is not all for nothing. You may not always know why you’re going through this or that, but be encouraged that there is a good reason. “

May those essays bless you. Cling to the verses about peace and about His good work in you no matter where you are and no matter what your circumstances. He saved you, He justified you, and He is sanctifying you.

As MacArthur reaches his conclusion in part 2 of his blog essay about peace through every circumstance,

“If you’ve lost God’s peace in your life, you can find it again. Retrace your steps by trusting God in everything, turning from sin and walking in obedience, enduring His refining work in your life, doing what is good, and living by His Word in a righteous way. As Paul said, God’s peace is continually available to you. Avail yourself of it.”

Posted in encouragement

The Weary Christian Must Rest Upon Christ

Posted on by elizabethprata

Erin Benziger posted this yesterday and it is encouraging in the extreme. I re-post it in hopes that you will also be encouraged in these weary times.

Then Jesus said, “Come to Me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)
 

J.C. Philpot

The Lord’s purpose in laying burdens upon us is to weary us out. We cannot learn our religion in any other way. We cannot learn it from the Bible, nor from the experience of others. It must be a personal work, wrought in the heart of each; and we must be brought, all of us, if ever we are to find rest in Christ, to be absolutely wearied out of sin and self, and to have no righteousness, goodness, or holiness of our own.

The effect, then, of all spiritual labor is to bring us to this point: to be weary of the world, for we feel it, for the most part, to be a valley of tears; to be weary of self, for it is our greatest plague; weary of professors, for we cannot see in them the grace of God, which alone we prize and value; weary of the profane, for their ungodly conversation only hurts our minds; weary of our bodies, for they are often full of sickness and pain, and always clogs to our soul; and weary of life, for we see the emptiness of those things which to most people make life so agreeable.

By this painful experience we come to this point: to be worn out and wearied; and there we must come, before we can rest entirely on Christ.

As long as we can rest in the world, we shall rest in it. As long as the things of time and sense can gratify us, we shall be gratified in them. As long as we can find anything pleasing in self, we shall be pleased with it. As long as anything visible and tangible can satisfy us, we shall be satisfied with them.

But when we get weary of all things visible, tangible, and sensible–weary of ourselves, and of all things here below–then we want to rest upon Christ, and Christ alone.

— J.C. Philpot, “The Laborer’s Rest”

Posted in prophets, school for prophets, tel aviv

Israel’s new ‘School for Prophets’

Posted on by elizabethprata

Well, this is pretty interesting. Times of Israel reports,

Prophecy 101: Now in Tel Aviv
School in Tel Aviv aims to teach anyone to be a prophet
“Isaiah, Jeremiah and Amos were naturals to the world of prophesy, but today’s budding conduits to the heavens will soon be able to learn the art of forecasting in the classroom, at a new school opening up in Tel Aviv. Named after Cain and Abel, the new institute’s goal is to “give the young generation of prophets” tools and guidance on their way to the truth. Set in the heart of Tel Aviv, Shmuel Portman Hapartzi — a self-named messianic Chabad follower — hopes to teach people all they need to know to become prophets of the Jewish people, Yedioth Ahronoth reported on Monday. Official Chabad has criticized the initiative.”

Yedioth Net also reports,

School of prophets opens in Tel Aviv
New course aims to train next generation of Jewish prophets for first time since days of Second Temple
“In biblical times they could be found on every street corner, preaching God’s word to sinners in a rumbling voice and shining eyes. A new course opening this week aims to restore passed glory and train the next generations of Jewish prophets – for the first time since the days of the Second Temple.”

The article continues and several paragraphs later I found a very telling paragraph. There are two statements in it that are at odds with each other but are each interesting in their own way. First,

“But Rabbi Shmuel Portman Hapartzi, founder of the school of prophets, who says he is affiliated with Chabad’s messianic stream, believes that the generation of redemption has already arrived and that prophecies are permitted again. … “Our generation has been declared by many as the first generation taking part in the experience of redemption,” Hapartzi explains in an introduction to his curriculum.”

I believe this is a true feeling. Many people around the world feel that we are the last generation. They feel this is the imminent time prior to Jesus returning, or if not a believer in Jesus, the last moments before something happens. What they DO with the information is another thing entirely. See this next sentence from the article:

“The Cain and Abel School of Prophets aims to provide the generation of young prophets with authorized sources to direct their spiritual experiences to way of truth and honesty. So what does one need to know to become a modern prophet? According to the course’s syllabus, the future prophets will learn about face reading, dream interpretation and ways to achieve divine spirit.”

Oy vey.

Man cannot achieve the divine spirit unless he repents, and believes on Jesus Christ as the resurrected lamb slain for our sins. And no one can become a prophet. God calls them. Each prophet in the Old Testament and John the Baptist who spanned the last moments before the New Testament came in, was called by God.

Amos, for example, wrote, “But the LORD took me from following the flock and the LORD said to me, ‘Go prophesy to My people Israel.'” (Amos 7:15). Amos was not a professional prophet, like so many were in his day. The professionals would proclaim oracles “from God” for profit, or claim to divine the future- for a fee. Most were false prophets who just proclaimed what the people wanted to hear (Jeremiah 6:13-14). The School for Prophets in Tel Aviv sounds like a breeding ground for the professional prophets who go around saying stuff for a fee. Unless any of them are called by God and taught by God, they will be false prophets.

“Then the LORD said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart.” (Jeremiah 14:14).

However I want to go back to the burden the rabbi had to create a school for prophets in the first place. He felt we are the last generation, and wanted to get ready. His preparatory methods are wayward, to be sure. However, many people feel the same pull. They feel the time is near and are beginning to prepare. There is another news article in Israel out today that speaks to this very thing.

Likud hopeful prays on Temple Mount, breaking taboo
“Likud politician Moshe Feiglin on Monday violated the unwritten rule that prohibits Jews from practicing religion on the Temple Mount, as he prayed at the holy site. … Though there is no law against Jews praying on the Temple Mount, for years both Israeli officials and the Islamic Wakf — the religious group in charge of managing the site — have told Jews not to carry out religious ceremonies or prayers at the site, for fear of violence and a potential outbreak of riots.”

Moshe Feiglin (in black jacket, second from right) prays on the Temple Mount, Monday (photo credit: screen capture/Channel 10)
Moshe Feiglin (in black jacket, second from right) prays on the Temple Mount
(photo credit: screen capture/Channel 10)

I wrote about this guy Feiglin a few days ago. He is the one who said the Jews should be building the third temple: “This is just the beginning,’ says Feiglin. ‘Eventually, we will build the temple and fulfill our purpose in this land.’

Did you know that God has partially hardened the hearts of the Jews?

“Lest you be wise in your own sight, I want you to understand this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”; “and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.” (Romans 11:25-17)

He did this to make them jealous that he was using the Gentiles to bring the Good News of salvation to the world. (Romans 11:7; Ephesians 3:9; Romans 11:11). He is also doing this because he is building His church. At or after the rapture, He will unharden their heart and they will clamor to renew their covenant with him again. (Ezekiel 39:22, 25-29). This will happen at the conclusion of the Gog Magog war when He supernaturally saves the Jews.

So my question is, is this blip of a heartbeat of wanting their prophets and wanting their temple and wanting to pray the beginning of the unhardening? Could be. Hard telling, not knowing, as the saying goes.

We are blessed to be able to watch these events and ponder our placement here at the last generation. We are even more blessed to be able to watch for the coming of Messiah. If He comes today or next year or if some of us fall asleep in death prior to His coming, it doesn’t matter really. He will come.

“Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:58)

Posted in egypt, morsi, syria

Egypt erupts: protests, President flees palace; Syria reportedly readying chemical weapons

Posted on by elizabethprata

This is an excellent article analyzing what is happening in Egypt. It covers President Morsi’s power grab, the constitutional amendments and changes, why Al-Azhar is important, why the omission of the ban on slavery portents ill for the Egyptians in the context of conservative Shariah, and what lay ahead for the Egyptians. It is called ” Egypt and the Death of the Arab Spring“. I highly recommend the article. It begins this way:

“Nearly two years after the “Arab Spring”  began in Egypt, the nation’s Muslim Brotherhood president has arrogated to himself dictatorial powers, and is ramming through a new constitution that will effectively extinguish the last vestiges of Egyptian democracy and establish Egypt as a Sharia state. Just as I said back in January 2011, when the uprisings against Mubarak began, for the people in Egypt who had real power to affect change, the “Arab Spring” was never about democracy and pluralism, despite the ululations of the Western press; it was always about imposing Islamic law upon Egypt. And now, with the new constitution, here we are.”

There are reports today that the protests in Egypt are getting more violent and larger. Crowds surrounded the Presidential Palace and even breached the fence to reach the perimeter wall. Egyptians are furious at Morsi’ power grab and the sudden and not-representative changes to the Constitution. Reportedly, Morsi fled the palace but is not backing down on his power grab nor the extreme conservative changes to the constitution. There will supposedly be a referendum on these changes on December 15. I wrote about the changes yesterday, here. Remember the Isaiah 19 prophecy that Egyptians will be against each other:

“I will stir up Egyptian against Egyptian— brother will fight against brother, neighbor against neighbor, city against city, kingdom against kingdom.” (Isaiah 19:2)

In Syria, it seems that the intelligence reports show Bashar Al Assad is moving chemical weapons. Not moving as in moving across country to get them out of the way, and not moving as in getting them over to Hezbollah in Lebanon, but moving within their compounds as in getting ready to USE.

Huffington Post reports
“The White House and its allies are weighing military options to secure Syria’s chemical and biological weapons, after U.S. intelligence reports show the Syrian regime may be readying those weapons and may be desperate enough to use them, U.S. officials said Monday.”

Fox News Reports in video:

Isaiah prophesied:
An oracle concerning Damascus.

“Behold, Damascus will cease to be a city
and will become a heap of ruins.
The cities of Aroer are deserted;
they will be for flocks,
which will lie down, and none will make them afraid.
The fortress will disappear from Ephraim,
and the kingdom from Damascus;”
Isaiah 17:1-3a

Posted in bushehr, iran, israel, nuclear, un

UN Resolution calling for Israeli nuclear transparency passes handily

Posted on by elizabethprata

Israel is the only nuclear power in the immediate region (further away, India Pakistan, of course, possess nukes). Israel has always maintained a political a military stance of “nuclear ambiguity.” They do not deny they have them nor do they admit it. The nation has not signed any pacts, like the Nuclear Non-Proliferation treaty, for example. It is a well-known secret that Israel has nukes. They just don’t talk about it. And until this week, no one else has very much, either.

All that changed when Hamas and the Palestinian Authority gained what they perceive to be an upper hand, when the UN voted them a state. Note the following article comes from Iran’s state press, for what that’s worth.

UN resolution calls for Israeli nuclear transparency
“The UN passes a resolution, calling on the Israeli regime to quickly open its nuclear program to inspection and join the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) “without further delay.” The 193-member UN General Assembly on Monday passed the resolution 174 to six with six abstentions, urging Tel Aviv to allow the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to have access to its nuclear facilities. Only the US, Canada, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, and Palau voted against the resolution that reflects international concern about suspicious Israeli nuclear activities. Israel, the only possessor of nuclear weapons in the Middle East, is widely known to have between 200 and 400 nuclear warheads. The Israeli regime rejects all the regulatory international nuclear agreements — the NPT in particular — and refuses to allow its nuclear facilities to come under international regulatory inspections.”

Canada’s Globe & Mail also reported on the UN Resolution-
“Canada was on the losing side of the vote Monday as the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly approved a resolution Monday calling on Israel to quickly open its nuclear program for inspection and backing a high-level conference to ban nuclear weapons from the Middle East which was just cancelled.”

Now, the UN passes Resolutions against Israel practically every day, so this one is not major news in the same sense that the PA Statehood was major news. But added to the cadre of news articles coming fast and furious against Israel, it is telling that once again, the news is about Israel, Israel, Israel. Just as Zechariah 12 said it would be in the last days. Note how the world’s attention is increasingly shifting to Israel in the news, and staying there.

Meanwhile, Israel’s Arutz Sheva reports the US is sending more drones to spy on Iran’s nuke plant. “US intelligence agencies have significantly stepped up spying operations on Iran’s Bushehr nuclear reactor prompted by concerns about the security of weapons-grade plutonium there, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.”

Which Iran promptly says it captured.

Iran says captures U.S. drone in its airspace
“Iran captured a U.S. intelligence-gathering drone that entered its airspace over the Gulf, its armed forces said on Tuesday, the latest in a recent succession of alleged U.S. violations of Iranian territory.”

I guess we place this in the ‘wars and rumors of wars’ department. Doesn’t it feel like the world is on a hamster wheel sometimes? The wheel is going faster and faster though. It feels like it it reaching its capacity. I’m grateful to our Holy and compassionate Jesus that He will remove us soon, in His timing, to be blessedly at peace with Him forever in His kingdom. No matter what happens to you today, it is nothing that you and the Lord can’t handle. Not with the assured future you have if you are in Christ. He is our all in all. Rest in Him, because–

“And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” (Colossians 1:17)

And if you are in Him, He will hold you together, too.

Posted in egypt, morsi, revelation, slavery

Egypt’s cruel leader and Revelation’s prophecy on slavery

Posted on by elizabethprata

Isaiah 19 forecasts that a cruel leader and a harsh master will rule Egypt, even while Egyptians are at each other’s throats in a civil rebellion. That sounds like what is happening now. It is hard to tell if the prophecy means the same man or two different men. It is in Isaiah 19:4

“and I will give over the Egyptians
into the hand of a hard master,
and a fierce king will rule over them,
declares the Lord God of hosts.”

We already know that the newly elected President of Egypt, Mohammad Morsi declared himself above all constitutional rule, effectively becoming a Pharaoh. This woke up all those watchmen who were on the lookout for developments in Egypt. “is he the cruel master’? they wondered. I wondered too. It could mean the antichrist, or it could mean a harsh man who will rule until the antichrist comes.

In addition to that prophecy moving into the spotlight, another one has been on my mind for a long time. It is in Revelation 18. When the LORD destroys the worldwide economic system, the merchants stand by and weep and moan for all the cargoes that are no more. One of those cargoes they weep over, lamenting the loss of such prized items in a wealthy trade, is slaves.

“The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her because no one buys their cargoes any more— 12cargoes of gold, silver, precious stones and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet cloth; every sort of citron wood, and articles of every kind made of ivory, costly wood, bronze, iron and marble; 13cargoes of cinnamon and spice, of incense, myrrh and frankincense, of wine and olive oil, of fine flour and wheat; cattle and sheep; horses and carriages; and bodies and souls of men. (Revelation 18:11-13)

They cry because they can’t buy and sell men any more.

I wrote about this prophecy before, and I was mocked for suggesting that such an uncivil thing as slavery could revive. I was told that Britain and the US got rid of slavery a long time ago, and that most other nations don’t trade in slaves any more either.

It isn’t true that slavery doesn’t exist. It does. It just doesn’t exist in countries we think of or in a way that we remember as being similar to the black slave trade in the US in the 1800s. Ever heard of child trafficking? Debtor-servants, concubines, carpet slaves, cane cutters? Slavery exists.

Anyway, according to Anti-Slavery International, the world’s oldest human rights organization, there are currently over 20 million people in bondage.

It seems that Egypt pops up in the news-AGAIN. This time the issue is slavery. The shariah-constitution the Muslim Brotherhood is writing in this draft has dropped the ban on slavery. Read this from Jihad Watch via the AP–

Egypt: New constitution denies freedom of speech and equality of rights for women, omits ban on slavery
“CAIRO (AP) — An Islamist-dominated panel is voting on Egypt’s draft constitution, the country’s first charter after the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak. The draft largely reflects the conservative vision of the Islamists, with articles that rights activists, liberals and Christians fear will lead to restrictions on the rights of women and minorities and civil liberties in general. Omissions of certain articles, such as bans on slavery or promises to adhere to international rights treaties, were equally worrying to critics of the new draft, who pulled out from the panel before the vote.”

This is big. A nation in the spotlight that is brazen enough to outright omit a ban on slavery when drafting the new constitution while everyone is watching is brazen indeed. The Washington Examiner asks, “Will Egypt embrace the dark side?” NPR asks, “Is Morsi morphing into the authoritarian he opposed?” and I think according to what the bible shows is ahead for Egypt, the answer to both questions is … yes.

Posted in israel, jerusalem, jesus, syria

Israel wants to bomb Syria’s chemical sites

Posted on by elizabethprata

Israel has repeatedly asked Jordan for permission to bomb Syria’s WMD sites. Apparently some of the sites are very close to the Jordanian border. Up until today, Jordan has repeatedly answered “the time is not yet right.” But that all may change. Here are two news articles for you:

‘Israel sought Jordan’s permission to bomb Syria‘
‘The Atlantic’ reports Jordan rebuffed Israeli requests to hit chemical stockpiles; Israel: We reserve right to preemptive action.
“Israel asked Jordan on a number of occasions “permission” to bomb Syrian chemical weapons sites, The Atlantic reported Monday, citing intelligence sources in both countries. According to the report, Jordan turned down requests a number of times in the past two months, saying “the time was not right.” Jordan is reportedly wary of allowing Israel to bomb the sites in Syria, fearing a military response on Jordanian territory. “A number of sites are not far from the border,” the report quoted a foreign source as saying.”

The subhead above says Israel reserves the right to take preemptive action:

“The source said Israel has been saying for months that it was concerned about the possible transfer of Syria’s stockpile of chemical weapons – the third largest in the world – to “unsavory actors” such as Hezbollah, Hamas or al-Qaida. He said Israel “reserves the right to preempt” if this is done.”

This article from Haaretz says the same as the Jerusalem Post article, except that the Jordanian foreign minister is talking with other neighbors in the region-

Report: Israel requested Jordan’s ‘permission’ to attack Syria chemical weapons sites
“Jordan’s Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh declined to comment on the report that Israel had sought Jordanian permission to strike Syrian WMD sites, but did say his country was monitoring the situation closely and that his government was talking to countries in the region. “We have to be prepared for different scenarios,” he said at a press conference Monday, adding that the Syrian regime is currently in control of these weapons and understands that using them would be a “game changer.” The New York Times reported Sunday that western intelligence officials said they have been seeing new signs of activity at Syrian sites used to hold chemical weapons.”

The concern is huge. Syria is unstable, and getting worse by the day. The statehood given to the PA by the United Nations emboldened them, and it emboldened Hezbollah in Lebanon as well. The entire “epicenter” as Joel Rosenberg says, is one big tinderbox. Near-use of chemical weapons may be the fuse to the final Armageddon. Remember, Damascus will be destroyed… (Isaiah 17:1).