P4CM presents Rhetoric 2012, the largest Christian Poetry event. Featured P4CM Poet Jackie Hill delivered her poem “Jig-A-Boo” in front of an audience of nearly 3,000 people. It’s about complacent Christians who tolerate false teachers, and it is powerful stuff. Powerful, powerful. I found it at Erin Benzinger’s Do not Be Surprised blog, and also at Tim Challies
Gnosticism is alive and well…and gaining. Introduction
In studying Colossians it occurred to me that an exploration of Gnosticism would be a good idea. We started studying the book last night at church, and I get so worked up over the Gnostic doctrines that influenced and polluted the church at Colossae, and affect us today, that I became almost inarticulate with anger. I hate Gnosticism. HATE. IT.
I get very upset because I see so much Gnosticism in this day coming in through many of the most popular teachers, and I’m not talking about the slick, money-grubber false preachers we can easily identify on TV as cranks, but teachers and preachers even in the Southern Baptist Convention who have huge followings. It hurts me so much to see precious brethren drawn away, because it is all so unnecessary.
In his essay, “Gospels, Gospels Everywhere? Gnosticism and the New Testament Canon”, Mark A. Pierson wrote, “For once Christians fail to defend their faith effectively, the new Gnosticism pounces, equipped with convoluted responses that many lay people are incapable of dismantling.”
Irenaeus wrote in “Against Heresies, Book 1, which was a detailed attack on Gnosticism: “Error, indeed, is never set forth in its naked deformity, lest, being thus exposed, it should at once be detected. But it is craftily decked out in an attractive dress, so as, by its outward form, to make it appear to the inexperienced (ridiculous as the expression may seem) more true than the truth itself.”
So true! Gnosticism is difficult to dismantle it because it is so subtle, it sounds Christianese because scriptures are used (though not correctly), and there is no one smoking gun statement or creed one can point to and say ‘AHA! False!” If it was so easy to dismantle, I suppose the first century Christians at Colossae under Epahras and Paul’s preaching would have spotted it!
So I decided to write a 7-part series. The first part is this one, the introduction. I’ll define Gnosticism and list 6 elements that comprise this false doctrine. Then each succeeding part will individually explore each of the 6 elements in more detail. I’ll also name names, share book titles, and provide quotes from modern day Gnostics, so you know who they are and we can uncover their works of darkness.
So, in Colossians Paul wrote from jail to the believers at Colossae about man-made doctrines that were taking them away from their sure foundation of the faith: Jesus alone. Colossians 1-2 are especially poignant. Paul dealt with Gnosticism again in Galatians, and it is believed 1 John 4 was addressing the problem of Gnosticism, also. There is another mention in 2 Timothy 3 and again in 1 Timothy 6. It was a huge problem for the first-century church. It is a huge problem for us today.
What is Gnosticism?
Strong’s Concordance defines Gnosticism as “Gnosticism” is literally, “the cult based on having special, personal knowledge”.
It is seeking of knowledge apart from God, secret knowledge that will provide salvation to those few who found the secret. Gnosticism (the ‘g’ is silent), is from the word Gnosis. Wikipedia defines “Gnosis as the common Greek noun for knowledge. In the context of the English language gnosis generally refers to the word’s meaning within the spheres of Christian mysticism, Mystery religions and Gnosticism where it signifies ‘spiritual knowledge’ in the sense of mystical enlightenment.”
In other words, Gnostics seek spiritual enlightenment apart from God’s word. Gnostics seek enlightenment from visions, dreams, experiences, traditions of men, rituals, and philosophies. (Col 2:8). They believe they have the power or insight or luck to find and draw out mysterious knowledge that will put them on a better path or a higher path or a more spiritual path to heaven, and thus get closer to God.
They could not be more wrong.
Gnosticism has been around since the Garden, and is directly one of the reasons for the Fall from grace. Genesis 3:1-6 has the story.
“Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.”
Satan said, ‘if you eat the fruit, you will KNOW’ (be wise, have insights, Gen 3:4-5). Yet Eve already had the word of God as delivered through Adam. She had the direct Presence of God as she walked and talked with Him. But people fall for satan’s trick every day; saying, if you do this – read this – listen to this, you will KNOW.
Satan melded the truth and lies when he conversed with Eve. He said that if she ate, she would not die. He was right- she did not die … physically. But she did die spiritually. Satan said to Eve that she would know good and evil, and this was true, but not profitable for her. He omitted the penalty for disobedience. And the entire conversation was one where satan intimated that God was holding out on the humans, but satan had the key to the good stuff.
Gnostics in Pauls’ day used the same tactics to draw away the Colossians. Gnostics use the same tactics today. Gnostics will mention scriptures, refer to scriptures, twist scriptures, but Gnosticism’s foundation is not ON scriptures. The Forerunner Commentary explains, “more than what was contained in Scripture, Gnostics valued what they experienced, what elders told them, or what they learned from “angels,” astrology, or chemistry (alchemy).”
In Colossians 1:9, Paul wrote:
“And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,”
His use of the word ‘knowledge’ is “epígnōsis (from Strong’s 1909 /epí, “on, fitting” which intensifies 1108 /gnosis, “knowledge gained through first-hand relationship.”
An intense first-hand relationship is where the knowledge comes, and that relationship between the penitent/disciple/ servant of Christ and Christ is the foundation of Christianity. Christianity is not an institution, it is a relationship.
A first-hand relationship with Jesus is such a wonderful basis for knowledge. That word ‘know’ in Colossians 1:9 is different from the word “know” (gnosis) as applied to Gnostics. Strong’s again-
1108 /gnṓsis (“applied-knowledge”) is only as accurate (reliable) as the relationship it derives from. For example, the Gnostics boasted of their “applied knowledge” gained by their personal spiritual experiences – and it was (is) disastrous!”
In 1 Timothy 6:20, Paul wrote, “O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called “knowledge,”’ and Paul here used the word pseudōnumou gnoseos, meaning, what is falsely called knowledge.
Not all knowledge is good. Just knowing stuff doesn’t make a person more spiritual or better than the next guy, if the knowledge is from personal experience, man-made doctrines, or other sources apart from God’s revelation to us through the bible and His creation. (Special revelation, and general revelation.)
Another major part of Gnosticism is the Gnostics’ abhorrence of flesh, or actually, matter. They hated the material so much they disbelieved Jesus came in the flesh, was not actual matter. Forerunner Commentary explains, “Gnostic Christians borrowed the idea of redemption through Christ, but rather than believing that He redeemed them from sin, they believed that He would redeem them from matter – that is, from the flesh, which they considered to be inherently evil. At the core of Gnosticism is the belief that knowledge, typically secret knowledge – knowledge from angels, from the stars and planets, from the ancients – was the path to holiness and salvation. They believed that the path of redemption was through knowledge, and that the worst evil was ignorance. Thus, they did not endeavor to overcome sin, but ignorance.”
Zondervan’s NIV bible lists 6 elements that comprise Gnosticism. They are:
1. secret knowledge,
2. asceticism,
3. depreciation of Christ (lowering Him in name and in glory),
4. strict rule-keeping, ceremonies, or rituals
5. worship of angels,
6. and reliance on human wisdom and tradition.
Tomorrow, God willing, I’ll write on the secret knowledge, a main element of Gnosticism, and who among those teachers and preachers and writers today is promoting it.
The best knowledge is from God. As Proverbs 2:5-7 tells us
“then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding; he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity,”
Blessings!
Gnosticism series
Introduction
Part 1: Secret Knowledge
Part 2: Asceticism
Part 3: Depreciation of Jesus
Part 4: Ceremonies & Rituals
Part 5: Worship of Angels
Part 6: Human traditions
Conclusion
A time of encouragement
What a day. There was a 7.9 earthquake at Costa Rica (later reduced to a 7.6) which sparked a Caribbean-wide tsunami warning for a while.
There is a report of propaganda artwork from street vendors at the Democratic National Convention directly likening Obama to Jesus.
There is the DNC’s floor fight using God as a political football to keep the term God-given in their party platform and to keep pro-Jerusalem language in it too.
There is a report of 100 Muslim delegates at the DNC, a quadrupling in number since 2004.
There is a video of a FL DNC Jewish Chairman who says any friendship with Christians is a false friendship, because the fundamentalist Christians only want Jews converted and slaughtered so the Second Coming can be ushered in.
I would include links but I really want to personally avoid this news and I don’t want to promote it. If you’re interested, google the terms and you’ll find plenty. These news items were from today.
I find this news sickening, upsetting, and an omen of how close we are to the rapture. So rather than go into detail about the news, which should be obvious in its import, I’ll go straight to the blessed Hope, which is Jesus, His Spirit who inspired the Word, and our Holy Father who providentially holds us in His hand.
‘Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’ (Isaiah 41:10).
Is there any better place to be than His righteous right hand?? No.
“for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” (2 Timothy 1:7)
Is there any better way to act than that? No. And the best part is that acting that way is not up to us, but we have the Spirit to help us in His power be loving and self-controlled!
“The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.” (Zephaniah 3:17)
If you are in Jesus, the Lord God loves you! Did your read that verse slowly? He is in our midst! He saves! He rejoices over His children! He calms and quiets us by His love! And He sings exultantly over His people. I have a hard time visualizing God singing loudly over His people but the bible says He does, so there ya go. This is not because we are so great, but before the foundation of the world He loves us whilst we were still sinners. His glory is shown through His salvation to sinners.
Be encouraged. God, Jesus, The Spirit who are our Triune God is at work in every corner of the earth and every point of heaven. And in that work, He is mindful of you and me, down to the hairs on our head and our innermost thoughts. His Day will right all wrongs. Meanwhile, all we have to do is love Him and walk in His ways, praying ceaselessly for strength and love, and He will give it.
Jordan has a great role to play in the end times
Jordan has a very interesting and important role to play in end times prophecy. We often focus on Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, etc because of they’re always in the secular news and because their prophetic ends are easier to determine, being for the most part contained in one book of the bible. The prophecies about Jordan are scattered between the Old Testament and the New, and piecing together what is in store for them is takes more study. But it is worth it.
Now, I know I will not do it justice here, there is a lot and I’ve only scratched the surface. But isn’t that the great thing about the bible? There are always more pieces to study! New revelations the Spirit will deliver and more wisdom of the word He will supply. And as always, be sure to study these things yourself, to see if they are true.
Jordan is a pretty new country. It was created in 1922 as a UK protectorate after WW1 when the British carved up parts of the Middle East as spoils of war from the losing Ottoman Empire. The Balfour Declaration of 1917 decreed that the UK recognized the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine. However at the last moment, Britain reneged on their promise and only a fraction of the bounded land that was supposed to go to a new Zionist state actually went to it, most of it going to create the new state of Trans-jordan in 1922. And it was 31 years later and after a bunch of Arab uprisings that Israel finally declared herself a state in 1948. After capturing the West Bank area of Trans-jordan during the 1948–49 war with Israel, Abdullah took the title King of Jordan, and he officially changed the country’s name to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in April 1949. The following year he annexed the West Bank.
The Jordan of today can be said to be three biblical nations. From north to south we have Ammon, Moab, and Edom. If you remember, in Genesis 19 when Sodom was smote with brimstone for its homosexuality, and Lot and his two daughters fled to Zoar, the daughters thought the three of them were the only living beings left in the world. They got their father drunk and lay with him, incestuously and wrongfully. They each got pregnant, and the result was Ben-Ammi, the father of the Ammonites, and Moab. (Gen 19:37-38). Esau is Edom (Genesis 36:1). Edom also became known as Idumea in the Greek.
Amman is the capital of Jordan and is the largest city. Like Damascus, it is considered one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world. That is why, when we read Jeremiah 49:2 the prophecy calling for Amman to become a desolate heap, we know it is a prophecy that has not yet been fulfilled.
“Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will cause an alarm of war to be heard in Rabbah of the Ammonites; and it shall be a desolate heap, and her daughters shall be burned with fire: then shall Israel be heir unto them that were his heirs, saith the LORD.” [note that the ancient name for Amman was Rabbah]
Ezekiel 25:1-7 also contains a prophecy against Ammon-
“The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, set your face toward the Ammonites and prophesy against them. Say to the Ammonites, Hear the word of the Lord God: Thus says the Lord God, Because you said, ‘Aha!’ over my sanctuary when it was profaned, and over the land of Israel when it was made desolate, and over the house of Judah when they went into exile, therefore behold, I am handing you over to the people of the East for a possession, and they shall set their encampments among you and make their dwellings in your midst. They shall eat your fruit, and they shall drink your milk. I will make Rabbah a pasture for camels and Ammon a fold for flocks. Then you will know that I am the Lord. For thus says the Lord God: Because you have clapped your hands and stamped your feet and rejoiced with all the malice within your soul against the land of Israel, therefore, behold, I have stretched out my hand against you, and will hand you over as plunder to the nations. And I will cut you off from the peoples and will make you perish out of the countries; I will destroy you. Then you will know that I am the Lord.”
The prophecy continues with a judgment against Moab, and a judgment against Edom. So from north (Ammon) to central (Moab) to the south (Edom) the nation that is currently called Jordan will be no more, and given to Israel. This is re-stated in Jeremiah 49:1-3:
“Has Israel no sons? Has he no heir? Why then has Milcom dispossessed Gad, and his people settled in its cities? Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will cause the battle cry to be heard against Rabbah of the Ammonites; it shall become a desolate mound, and its villages shall be burned with fire; then Israel shall dispossess those who dispossessed him, says the Lord. Wail, O Heshbon, for Ai is laid waste! Cry out, O daughters of Rabbah! Put on sackcloth, lament, and run to and fro among the hedges! For Milcom shall go into exile, with his priests and his officials.”
This prophecy is especially exciting. First, note that the King of Jordan and the Hashemite Kingdom is Abdullah, who is a 41st generation direct descendant of Mohammad. Jordan is 92% Muslim, and with the King claiming to be direct descendant of the false “prophet” Mohammad, it is false god central! Secondly, note the the mention of Milcom in the Jeremiah 49:3 verse. Milcom is another name for the false god the people worshiped at that time, AKA Molech. Molech is the false god the people sacrificed their children to, the one whom God called the “detestable god of the Ammonites” (1 Kings 11:7). The child sacrifice of Molech-Allah continues- Are not Muslim boys trained as suicide bombers? Are not Muslim girls sacrificed into marriages while still children? Molech-Allah is still claiming his children in this day and age, isn’t he?!
Verse 3 of the Jeremiah verse contains a promise from God that when Ammon is reduced to a heap (Jeremiah 49:2) Molech (Milcom) “will go into captivity with all his priests and officials”. Does that mean we can interpret that Allah will be defeated and Islam come to an end in the last days before Jesus returns? I hope so!! In any case, it is exciting to think of the day when God will be acknowledged as the only God!
Another interesting prophetic piece is that Jordan is prophesied to be the only nation to escape the conquering of the antichrist. (Daniel 11:41-42). Perhaps this is because when the abomination of desolation comes upon the Jews, and Jesus had told them to flee, He said to flee to the mountains. (Matthew 24:16). The mountains near to Judea are the mountains at Petra, the rock city where the Jewish remnant will be nourished for the remaining three and a half years of the Tribulation.
Revelation 12:14 tell us that “the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time.”
Scholars believe that place the remnant will flee to over the mountains and in the wilderness is Petra, the practically impregnable fortress at the southern end of Jordan, in old Edom. (See map). They believe this because at the last day, when Jesus finally returns, He comes from Bozrah. Bozrah means sheep fold. Bozrah is mentioned in this verse from Isaiah 63:1 as being in Edom:
“Who is this who comes from Edom, in crimsoned garments from Bozrah, he who is splendid in his apparel, marching in the greatness of his strength? “It is I, speaking in righteousness, mighty to save.”
When the Lord returns, He lands at the Mount of Olives. His feet touch down and the mount is split in two. (Zech 14:4). He also goes to the Valley of Har Megiddo, where the battle of Armageddon is taking place. (Rev 16:16; Rev 19:19). But He also goes to Bozrah to rescue His remnant. I don’t know where He goes first and second and third, but by the time He comes from Bozrah, His clothes are stained red with blood. (Isaiah 63:1)
Barnes Notes says of the Isaiah-Bozrah verse:
“Who is this – The language of the people who see Yahweh returning as a triumphant conqueror from Idumea. Struck with his stately bearing as a warrior; with his gorgeous apparel; and with the blood on his raiment, they ask who he could be? This is a striking instance of the bold and abrupt manner of Isaiah. He does not describe him as going forth to war nor the preparation for battle; nor the battle itself, nor the conquests of cities and armies; but he introduces at once the returning conqueror having gained the victory – here represented as a solitary warrior, moving along with majestic gait from Idumea to his own capital, Jerusalem.”
Our Jesus is a solitary warrior, solitary because there is no other! He returns victorious to conquer the enemies and restore His remnant to their place! He has been aiming toward this moment since before the foundation of the world! And Jordan is one nation that He uses mightily, first as a judgment for the sin of cursing His people and their land, second as a place saved out of the antichrist’s hand so that Israel will no longer have a malicious neighbor pricking them as thorns (Ez 28:24), third as the place where He will finally dispense with Molech, the “detestable god of the Ammonites” and his clerics and priests, and fourth as the nestling place where His people are nourished and saved during the holocaust of the Great Tribulation!
Keep your eyes on Jordan. That nation figures prominently in God’s glorious plan!
Is it sinful to create or use art images of God, Jesus, and the Dove?
Yesterday I’d posted an essay titled “Back to Basics: The Importance of Prophecy“. I like to use ancient art to illustrate a point, to fire the imagination, or to break up the text so readers see something visual. The essay drew some comments, including this admonition from a commenter. It was a good admonition, and I’ve been studying and thinking about it ever since.
I enjoy reading your blog very much. However, the first illustration set my teeth on edge and I feel like I really must address it’s usage.
The Bible is very clear about making images of God – it is forbidden.
Exodus 20:4 “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.”Matthew Henry: “The second commandment refers to the worship we are to render to the Lord our God. It is forbidden to make any image or picture of the Deity, in any form, or for any purpose; or to worship any creature, image, or picture.” http://www.christnotes.org/commentary.php?b=2&c=20&com=mhc
Numbers 23:19 begins “God is not a man” and John 4:24 begins “God is spirit”. If we want to illustrate God according to scriptural reference, we would have to add wings and feathers, among other things – like roving eyes!
I personally use pictures of Jesus when teaching young children because Jesus was both man and God, fully human and fully God, he lived and died and rose again here on earth and ascended back into heaven with a human body (glorified). Jesus also appeared on earth in the Old Testament several times as theophanies, in form as a human being. But I ALWAYS remind children that we do NOT know what Jesus looked like and that the pictures I use are just to help us understand the story. I’ve even talked to my young Grandson about John’s description of Jesus in Revelation 1 which is not at all what most people think Jesus looks like.
Although I’ve used a dove to represent Holy Spirit, again, I always tell children it is just a representation, as described in Luke 3:22 ” the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove” NIV. other translations say “as” or “in the form of” – but NEVER that Holy Spirit IS a dove – He just descended like a dove would.
I cannot do that with God the Father. God is a spirit and just as we cannot see our spirits, we cannot see God, and the Bible says we cannot see God and live! Pictures like the illustration you used just make God seem to be an angry old man, totally destroying His magnificence and “otherness”.
I encourage you, humbly, to rethink your use of images of God the Father. Study it out. Art is beautiful many times, but that does not mean it is good.
I took the comment seriously. I’ve been researching from my favorite authoritative sources. I have not arrived a clear-cut decision but the preponderance of evidence had led me to decide on one particular way. But first, I want to go through my thought-process and ask some meandering questions. I’m thinking out loud in this one, rather than delivering my usual definitive explanation, lol.
The commenter wrote, “The Bible is very clear about making images of God – it is forbidden. Exodus 20:4 “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.”
Technically the Commandment does not forbid any image of God. It forbids graven images, or making an idol out of the image. There is a difference. You can read that verse in all the standard bible translations, here. I acknowledge it is splitting hairs, but I want to make note of the what the Commandment actually says in its truest form. Got Questions explains what a graven image is, and does it very well. I’ll get back to this notion and explain my thinking further, in the part discussing drinking wine, below.
There is no doubt that art which illustrates the great bible scenes is moving and inspiring. I am lately finding that Annie Vallotton’s simple line drawings which illustrate the Good News Bible especially moving. I also love the old Renaissance art and William Blake’s watercolors. I saw Michaelangelo’s David at the Gallery in Florence and deemed it the most beautiful man-made thing I’d ever seen.
God delivers to the believer the gift of the Holy Spirit. In using that gift we honor the Lord in all we do (or we should). This includes the making of hymns and songs. (Ephesians 5:19). Does this also include the making of art? According to Exodus 35:30-33, it does. Bezalel was gifted with the Spirit in order to honor the Lord by assisting the people in the construction of the Tabernacle.
Bezalel was not directed to make images of God, I am sure. However, “the God who created us, and who knows how deeply we are affected by sin, understands our desire to condense Him into a form we can see and understand”, the writer at GotQuestions relates.
So where does that leave us? Let’s go directly to the Word and look at the Second Commandment.
“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. (Exodus 20:4-6).
On first read, it seems that God is prohibiting any representational art at all. Is He really saying, don’t make an image of a tree or a fish or of a goat? That cannot be right because God later told Moses to make the cherubim for the ark, the serpent for the purpose of lifting up sin. Solomon was directed to make an image of palm trees and olive trees for the Temple doors. (1 Ki 6:32) and so on. So it cannot be that we are prohibited from making any representational art.
So what is the deal here, anyway? The Second Commandment prohibits worship of the above. God clearly prohibited bowing down before any image of any kind at all when the image represents someone or something the one to whom one is praying, like and Ashereh pole or a totem pole. In 1 Samuel 5:3 the people brought the man-fish idol Dagon and put it next to the Ark of the Covenant. “And when the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, behold, Dagon had fallen face downward on the ground before the ark of the LORD. So they took Dagon and put him back in his place.” The next day Dagon was in much worse shape, and the people got rid of the idol, the point having been made.
Installing Dagon was a violation of both the first and second commandments. Dagon was a competing earthly, representational object which had been formed with the purpose of receiving prayer and representing a false God. God is God and there is no other. Therefore Dagon had to go.
So it is OK to create an image of God if the purpose is not to worship it? Maybe, but likely not. I would say no, for two reasons. First because I personally believe that the 2nd Commandment is in place because becomes too easy to imbue the representation of God with spiritual qualities, pray to it, make a shrine or otherwise violate the commandment. It happens quickly and without one being aware of it, even. “The golden ephod, which Gideon had made and even the brazen serpent, became a snare to Israel, distracting them from the worship of their God, as they, “…changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.” (Romans 1:25), wrote pastor G.D. Buss of the Old Baptist Chapel in Chippenham.
Even though the prohibition not to become drunk is not a commandment, I liken it to the second commandment in execution. The bible doesn’t say not to drink. It says not to get drunk. (1 Tim 3;3, 3;8; Titus 1:7; Ephesians 5:18). So on one particular day if I am drinking a glass of wine slowly and with food, I may not get drunk. On another day, if I drink it a bit too quickly and have no food in my stomach, two glasses of alcohol may may get me insensible- and I have sinned. If the line is THAT close, then why tempt myself to sin? I want to err on the side of caution, and NOT drink at all.
It is the same with an image of God. In my opinion we are not prohibited from making any image at all, but in making one that becomes an idol. However if it is so easy to sin in idol worship, as the bible repeatedly shows us, then why tempt myself and use a representation of God casually or spiritually disrespectfully- and thus to sin? I want to err on the side of caution and NOT make or use an image of God at all.
God is invisible. (1 Timothy 1:17, Hebrews 11:27). Another scripture says “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24) therefore “Our religious worship must be governed by the power of faith, not by the power of imagination.” (source)
Ultimately, if God is invisible, can we make Him visible? We dare not! Ultimately, if He is Creator, can man create him? We dare not! If an image can become graven so easily, should we make one? We dare not! So the commenter’s wise admonition to me is well taken and I’ll stop using artistic representations of God on the blog. Thank you for the correction!
That leaves us with a murkier question though, both for me and for the commenter. I’d really like all people to weigh in on this. What about artistic representations of Jesus and the Dove, which are also God? The commenter said he or she uses them with caution and gave reasons. Yet, J.I Packer said, “If paintings, drawings and statues of Jesus, the incarnate Son, were always viewed as symbols of human perfection within the culture that produced them (white–faced Anglo–Saxon, black–faced African, yellow–faced Chinese or whatever), rather than as suggesting what Jesus actually looked like, no harm would be done. But since neither children nor unsophisticated adults view them in this way we shall in my opinion be wiser to do without them.”
So I would in turn ask the commenter to humbly study the use of Jesus and the Dove in imagery with children…as I will do myself.
For us adults, is representing Jesus also a violation of the Second Commandment if we understand in our maturity that it is only a symbol? Jesus is God. Whoever has seen Him has seen the Father. (John 14:9). But if Jesus is the image of God and walked the earth to be seen by men, is it now wrong to represent Him in likeness?
Maybe so. After all, the apostles were with Jesus for three and a half years, saw Him every day, and never once made mention of how He looked in the scriptural writings. If it was important for us to know, wouldn’t they have said so, somewhere? As a matter of fact, the only writing we have on how He looked was that He had no likeness to commend him, no beauty or majesty. (Isaiah 52:2b).
Jesus did not reveal Himself to the two on the Road to Emmaus visibly first, He revealed Himself by the Word first. As a matter of fact, he deliberately kept them from recognizing Him initially (Luke 24:16). He didn’t say, “Hey look at Me,” He said, “Hey, listen to Me.” (Luke 24:27).
Therefore is it wrong to have stained glass windows at church with images of the Dove or of Jesus? Bible illustrations? Representational art of Jesus or the Dove? Is it wrong to watch movies that show Jesus, hiring actors who “look” like Jesus, to ‘be’ Jesus, such as The Passion of the Christ or Jesus Christ Superstar or the Jesus Movie? Are they violations of the Commandment also?
As J.I. Packer explained, “Accordingly, we take the second commandment as in fact it has always been taken as pointing us to the principle that (to quote Charles Hodge) “idolatry consists not only in the worship of false gods, but also in the worship of the true God by images.” In its Christian application, this means that we are not to make use of visual or pictorial representations of the triune God, or of any person of the Trinity, for the purposes of Christian worship. The commandment thus deals not with the object of our worship, but with the manner of it; what it tells us is that statues and pictures of the One whom we worship are not to be used as an aid to worshiping him.”
Adhering to this definition would indicate that NO image of Jesus, as presented to children or any other person, and NO dove, as represented in art or any other way, would be acceptable- if it is used for worship. .
What are your thoughts on art depicting Jesus and the Spirit? If they are not used for worship?
This is all food for thought, open for discussion. What do you think?
Back to Basics: The Importance of Prophecy
As the time draws nigh, people less and less look to prophecy as a legitimate study of the bible. They dismiss the prophetic, are skeptical of it, or simply ignore it. The silence of the pulpits is resounding, and the ignorance of the people is disheartening.
I’d like to spend a bit of time in encouraging us all to study the word, and not to ignore the prophetic. Lambert Dolphin wrote,
“A major portion of both the Old and New Testament is devoted to prophecy- nearly one third of the Scripture. Only four of the 66 books of the Bible are without prophecy-Ruth, the Song of Solomon, Philemon, and 3 John. Even the shortest book of the Bible mentions prophecy (Jude 14, 17-18, which refers to Enoch and the second coming of the Lord). Out of the Old Testament’s 23,210 verses, 6,641 contain predictive material, over twenty eight percent. Out of the New Testament’s 7,914 verses, 1,711 contain predictive material, over 21 percent.”
Joel C. Rosenberg wrote an essay this weekend titled Rediscovering The Power and Purpose of Prophecy. He makes four main points,
“Unfortunately, many pastors, priests and ministry leaders here in the U.S. and around the world are not teaching Bible prophecy — as I see it, there are four major reasons for this.”
–First, many pastors don’t teach prophecy because they have a lack of belief in the power of God’s Word.
–Second, many pastors don’t teach prophecy because they have a lack of knowledge of — and sound training in — Bible prophecy.
–Third, many pastors don’t teach prophecy because they have a fear of being lumped in with “prophecy nuts” and those who peddle sensationalism.
–Fourth, many pastors don’t teach prophecy because they have a lack of understanding of the times in which we live and the increasingly close return of Christ.
Illustration above, “God judging Adam” Genesis 3, William Blake, C. 1795
Rosenberg fleshes out each of the points, and promises that a second part to the essay will be posted soon.
Prophecy is the very Word of God, spoken by His mouth to His servants. (Revelation 1:1, Luke 1:70). Before the Word was written, He spoke it. The first prophecy was given to Adam and Eve in the Garden as He related to them the curse of the Fall from Grace, but promised a Messiah. (Genesis 3:15).
Then the Prophets came, as they had since the beginning, (Luke 1:70), and God told them to write down the words. (Habakkuk 2:2, Exodus 17:14, Jeremiah 30:1 & 2 for example).
Poor Jeremiah. God spoke to Him and Jeremiah spoke to the people. Then God told Jeremiah to write the words down. Jeremiah did. However, Jeremiah’s words from God were so ill-received that King Jehoiakim burned the scroll of everything that had been written. The King burned it bit by bit as Baruch read it. The LORD then told Jeremiah to write it all over again, a monumental work, and this time God added words that cursed the king. (Jeremiah 30). God’s word will not be denied.
So prophecy was and is the word of the Lord, whether spoken as it was in the Old Testament or written as it was then and it is now. It will be spoken again, in the Tribulation, when God sends His Two Witnesses to prophesy for 1,260 days. (Revelation 11:3). Illustration, James Shaw Crompton, of Habakkuk 2:2, “I will stand upon my watch”
Prophecy is extremely important, we are told many times. 1 Thessalonians 5:20 warns us not to despise prophesyings. For example, in 2 Peter 1:19 we are told it is “a sure word.” This is because almost nothing else illustrates His sovereignty more than prophecy. How so?
“And the LORD said to Moses, “Is the LORD’s hand shortened? Now you shall see whether my word will come true for you or not.” (Numbers 11:23). He delivers His word and tells us to test it, watch for it. This is because His Word is sure and God knows it will come true.
Pastor Jim McClarty discussed the Irresistibility of God in his 2009 sermon delivered at the Sovereign Grace Bible Conference. He made several wonderful points during his exciting 1 hour sermon, but his second point is the one I’d like to bring to you now. He said,
“God’s irrestibility is demonstrated in prophecy. Prophecy is a risky venture. There are no other major religious pieces of literature in the world that contain the amount of prophecy that the bible does. It’s one of the most unique characteristics of the bible, and it is chock full of prophecy. The reason it’s risky is, you can check it.” (Numbers 11:23, Deuteronomy 18:22).
People often think that the Old Testament times were heavily prophetic all the time. They believe that miracles happened every day and that God talked to the prophets every minute. It is not so. The miracles we read about in the Old Testament were spaced far apart, years, decades, centuries, even. After Micah, there were no prophets for 400 years, until John the Baptist came, and John performed no miracles as Elijah or Moses did. For most of the generations in the OT, they read the scrolls, listened to the priests, and lived lives in submission to Holy God and were waiting for their Messiah to come.
Illustration, Jeremiah, “The Lord’s word came to me again” Annie Vallotton.
In our day, we read the pages of the bible, listen to the pastors, and live lives in submission to the Messiah who has come- and will soon come again!
I love prophecy. The LORD put me here during one of the most heavily prophetic times in the history of the world, to be part of the generation that will be raptured. I see it unrolling before my eyes. Now, people can get carried away. Mr Rosenberg was right that there are nuts who run away with prophecy predictions and claim to hear a word from the Lord as Jeremiah or Elijah did. Fortunately, as Jim McClarty said, we can check the prophecies in the bible. We can rejoice that our Holy God not only is the creator of the universe and the author and architect and finisher of our faith, but His word is sure. He is sovereign and that means, according to Rev. Matt Slick at CARM,
“Sovereignty in relation to God means that God has the absolute right to do with His creation as He desires. Some verses that support this are as follows: Psalm 115:3, “But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases.” Isaiah 46:10, “Declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying, My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure;”
Faith in God is always trustworthy, even when answers to life’s issues and traumas do not always arrive. We must trust God in spite of what we see. But when we do see, as in prophecy coming true as written in the pages of His word, we rejoice that He is in control and our faith will prosper us.
“And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.” (2 Chronicles 20:20).
News blurbs: US scales back military exercises with Israel, supervolcano found under Hong Kong, lake turns blood red
Some news blurbs for you.
Why don’t today’s pastors teach or preach bible prophecy? Joel C. Rosenberg looks at 4 reasons. (The bible says that in the latter days, men will not want to hear solid bible preaching or God’s word in any form. 2 Timothy 4:4; Isaiah 30:10 are two examples.)
Lake in France turns blood red, excessive salt said to be the cause. This Daily Mail article has lots of photos. The red lake sure does look eerie. (Rev 16:4 shows us that in the Tribulation all the world’s rivers, lakes and streams will turn blood red, either because of “natural causes” like excessive salt, or literally with blood, or simply as a miracle of God.)
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| Stennis departing for deployment as seen from Fort Casey. Photo courtesy of Barbara Johnson. Stennis FB page |
USS Stennis has shore leave cut short, is sent back to the Persian Gulf four months early, due to rising tensions. Stennis is taking the Mobile Bay and Carrier Air Wing 9. (Jesus said in Matthew 24:6 that wars and rumors of wars will characterize the last days. Even so, the end is not yet.)
The Times of Israel reports that the long-planned and once delayed massive military drill with Israel, due to start this October, has been vastly reduced by the US. Time Magazine first reported this, and quotes an Israeli military official, “Basically what the Americans are saying is, “We don’t trust you,” a senior Israeli military official is quoted by Time as saying.” (In the last days, Jerusalem would be a burden to the entire world. Zech 12:2-3. In the very end, all nations will come against Israel. Zech 14:2).
Yikes. Super-volcano found under Hong Kong
Krakatau a mere firecracker compared to thankfully-dormant discovery
“Hong Kong geologists have revealed for the first time the full extent of an ancient supervolcano with a diameter of 18km sitting beneath the former British colony. The giant ash monster is thought to be of the same collapse caldera type as the infamous Krakatau volcano which killed tens of thousands and literally rocked the world when it blasted open near the Indonesian islands of Java and Sumatra in 1883. The discovery … is one of only around 50 such volcanoes in the world…”
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| People stand on large hexagonal columns of volcanic rock, southeast of Hong Kong in this handout photo released August 30, 2012. |
(Revelation 6:12 says that in the Tribulation, the sun will be darkened and look like sackcloth. This is similar to when the sun turned dim and looked like bloody sackcloth when Iceland’s volcano Laki erupted in 1784 and again in 1815 when Mt Tambora erupted. Tambora was an explosion that was actually more devastating than 1883’s more famous Krakatau eruption. Tambora is in the Indian Ocean, and its explosion caused the weather in 1816 to turn bizarre. “Spring came but then everything seemed to turn backward, as cold temperatures returned. The sky seemed permanently overcast. The lack of sunlight became so severe that farmers lost their crops and food shortages were reported in Ireland, France, England, and the United States.” (source).
Krakataoa’s volcanic dust thrown into the atmosphere affected the weather around the world for at least two years. Note that Laki, Tambora, and Krakatau are not even super-volcanoes. A super-volcano is a volcano capable of producing a volcanic eruption with an ejecta volume greater than 1,000 km3 (240 cu mi). This is thousands of times larger than most historic volcanic eruptions. For example, Krakatau’s eruption emitted ‘only’ 25 km3.
Though scientists are still finding supervolcanoes and various lists differ, this one seems to be the most stable. Interesting that three of the world’s 6 or 7 supervolcanoes are in the US
US – The Yellowstone Caldera
US – The Long Valley Caldera in east central California
US – Valles Caldera in northern New Mexico
Sumatra – Lake Toba
New Zealand – Taupo Caldera
Japan – Aira Caldera
Imagine in the Tribulation when the super-volcanoes go off and all of Hong Kong is vaporized in a moment. This news from the Krakatoa eruption is sobering. “Weeks after the eruption large pieces began drifting in with the tides along the coast of Madagascar, an island off the east coast of Africa. Some of the large pieces of volcanic rock had animal and human skeletons embedded in them. They were grisly relics of Krakatoa.”
This NOVA article says, “A supereruption is to all eruptions that have ever occurred in recorded history like a bolt of lightning is to a static spark in your sweater.”
One can begin to see how the prophesied Tribulation death toll of first a quarter of the earth and then a third of the earth will rack up quickly.
Hal Lindsey reports tonight of the four global spheres of power that are integral to last days prophecy.
1. Eurozone/Revived Roman Empire (Dan 2 & 11)
2. Gog-Magog/ Russia (Ezekiel 38-39)
3. King of the East/Asian world power (Revelation 9 & 16).
4. King of the South/ Muslim nations along 10-40 belt. (Daniel 11:40-45).
5. United States- is the 5th sphere of power currently in play which is rapidly declining into oblivion and will play no role in coming prophetic events. Our distancing from Jerusalem and treasonous acts against Israel along with the rising terror attacks in the US, increased natural disasters, monetary issues and famines/drought are part of the prophecy itself. We curse Israel, we are cursed. All who try to lift Jerusalem from its place will be dealt with. (Genesis 12:3; Zechariah 12:3). It is NOT a coincidence that our acts against Israel are causing the woes upon the nation now.
Here is Hal Lindsey this week:
First polygamous marriage in Brazil sparks outrage
First this:
In an article from June 2012 in the UK, we read that, “A lobby group against gay marriage, formed by Ministers of Parliament and bishops, is embroiled in a row after one of its leaflets claimed that the logical argument for reforming the law would be equally applicable to the legalisation of incest and polygamy. The eight-page document, produced by the Keep Marriage Special campaign, whose supporters include the former bishop of Rochester, the Rt Rev Michael Nazir Ali, warns of the “consequential impact” of the reform. The leaflet claims: “If the only basis for marriage is the desire of the parties to get married then there is, according to the logic of this proposal, no reason not to open up marriage to more than just same-sex couples. Polygamy, polyandry and incest would all be permissible.”
Conservatives and Christians have long predicted that if a government allows the basic definition of marriage to be redefined, it would lead to a downward slide of not only marriage itself but society as a whole. We are mocked for this position, but we see it coming true today in many countries and in many ways.
On National Public Radio a few months ago, a discussion was held between opponents of homosexual marriage and defenders of it. Speaking against gay marriage was Austin Nimocks, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative Christian legal consulting group. Mr Nimocks said,
“[O]ne of the reasons that proponents of marriage and maintaining marriage between a man and a woman believe that is because by so doing it stays as a child-centered institution and not one that’s concentrated on the desires of adults. And if marriage is redefined to be about any two adults who are in love or committed to each other and it’s about adults and not the kids that flow from procreative relationships, then from a policy standpoint you have to ask the question, then why can’t three or more adults be just as loving and committed to each other?”
The people who would wish to redefine marriage would indeed ask that question, and they already have.
The debate moderator followed up to that by asking, “In a number of countries in the world where Islam is the dominant religion polygamy is permitted. So why wouldn’t just on First Amendment grounds, the freedom of religion, polygamy then be something that people would pursue?”
After all, The “prophet” Mohammad married the 6-year-old ‘Aisha. According to the Sahih Bukhari, Volume 7, Book 62, Number 65, “Narrated ‘Aisha: that the Prophet married her when she was six years old and he consummated his marriage with her while she was nine years old.”
What IS marriage anymore? If it is for procreation then how can a 6 year old conceive? If it is for pedophilia, then Islam has it covered well, don’t you think? This was reported a few days ago in the UK Telegraph:
“Alarm as hundreds of children under age of 10 married in Iran”
“Iran has experienced a dramatic growth in under-age marriages that has seen the number of girls being wed before the age of 10 double in the space of a year, officially-compiled figures have revealed.”
Defenders of homosexual marriage say that child-marriage (AKA legislated pedophilia) would not happen because gay marriage is not predicated on a religious liberty, but public policy and a civil “right.” But that very redefinition is happening.
It is increasingly obvious that marriage is being redefined, and with it, fidelity, morality, family, and parenting. The California State Assembly has put forward a bill allowing a child to have more than two parents.
Christians are mocked and scorned for stating that such a redefinition not only pokes God in the eye, but that moving the God-given lines of His intended foundational block of society releases sinful man to include all sorts of heinous configurations into ‘marriage’. Skeptical? Shariah Law has led to the legislation of child marriage in 6 countries. (source). Christians warned that homosexual redefinitions of marriage would also lead to polygamy and bestiality but of course we were soundly pooh-poohed. Yet, “comedian” Sarah Silverman’s season finale of her television show featured her own marriage to her dog. This British woman married a dolphin. And we even have people marrying themselves, as documented in China and in the US!
So if marriage between one man and one woman is suspended, so as to include two men or two women, the self, or an animal, what is to stop the next minority group to challenge THAT definition, and advocate for codification of any number of participants, of any age, or between any species? Nothing. Indeed, South Africa is the only nation in Africa to constitutionally recognize homosexual marriage and SA also recognizes polygamy, too. Are these two redefinitions of traditional marriage linked? Of course they are.
So today we discover that conservative Brazil has allowed its first registered and official polygamous marriage.
Controversy in Brazil as first three-partner marriage is unveiled
“Controversy has been sparked as the first civil union between three separate partners was registered in Tupã, in the Northwestern region of Sao Paulo state, Brazil last week. The three-person union has shocked religious groups in the country, and sparked further concerns that the traditional family unit is being further eroded by the current day society. The actual declaration of the union between the man and two women was in fact made three months ago, but it finally became public this week.” [HT Do Not Be Surprised]
The article continues, reporting, “Notary officer, Claudia do Nascimento Domingues, has explained that the three partners lived together and wanted to publicly declare their status in order to guarantee their rights. Checks were conducted to see if there was any legal impediment to the unions and the notary office has confirmed that none were found. Attorney Nathaniel Batista dos Santos Junior oversaw the legal process of creating the three-way declaration.”
No legal definition had been previously necessary because who would have thought even a few years ago that marriage definitions would be under such attack? But such an attack makes logical sense. According to this excerpt from Focus on the Family’s essay “The Divine Order to Marriage,”
“And the spark, the power of that union is meant to gloriously reveal the very image of God to angels and archangels and all the company of heaven and earth. That is why Satan fights tooth and nail to pervert and distort rightly ordered human sexuality, holy matrimony, the family, and fatherhood in particular. In fact, the amount of time and effort that Satan expends to destroy the image of God reflected in marriage, fatherhood and human sexuality is a barometer of just how incredibly important it is to God’s plan and the expression of His glory.”
His glory is the main point of the world, our lives, and the plan of salvation. His glory is exhibited in His name, His majesty, His holiness, His works, His power, and His ordinances. (Deuteronomy 28; Nehemiah 9:5; Job 37:22; Psalms 93; Psalms 104:1; Psalms 145:5; Psalms 145; Exodus 15:1; Exodus 15; Psalms 19; Psalms 111; Exodus 15; Jude 1:7).
“Yea, they shall sing in the ways of the LORD: for great is the glory of the LORD.” (Psalms 138:5). His glory is expressed through a traditional marriage, united under covenant with Him and persevering in love and submission throughout the decades. Stay true to your spouse, for in so doing you are at once showing God’s glory and striking a blow against satan!
Will Israel launch an EMP over Iran? And what is NAM, anyway?
What a week! Can I just say that I work with the nicest and most thoughtful and fun bunch of people, ever? Thank you everyone for your kindness over the week, to me and others. I am a lucky gal.
Someone is praying for me. I can feel it. I am a blessed gal. Thank you prayer warrior, whoever you are!
I drove to work this morning under a brightening late summer sky, fog laying gently on the low fields, the grass glistening brightly on the higher hummocks. The cows were grazing and the sky was pink. I really wanted to get out and take photos, but the route to work has no shoulders along the road’s edge and it would have been dangerous to stop. I think that was best in the long run. That way, I had to stay in my car and simply…enjoy.
Our God bequeathed peace to us through Christ. “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:27).
Here is the news. As you read it, let your heart not be troubled. His peace He bequeathed us.
Khamenei: Time for new world order
“The world,” Khamenei said, “Is in transition towards a new international order and the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) can and should play a new role.”
Khamenei is Iran’s highest Muslim cleric, the Supreme Leader of Iran. He is a Twelver Shi’a marja. He had also served as the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran from 1981 to 1989. In 2010, Forbes selected him 26th in the list of ‘World’s Most Powerful People’. So do not think for a moment that he is an out of date, tottering old guy in some backward, desert sands Third World nation. He is not only powerful, he is the real leader of a nation that has a heavy prophetic role to play in the last days, as per Ezekiel 38-39 regarding ‘Persia’.
Now, you might have heard of the Non-Aligned Movement Khamenei mentioned. Here is what it’s about, according to Wikipedia.
“The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is a group of states considering themselves not aligned formally with or against any major power bloc. As of 2012, the movement has 120 members and 17 observer countries. “The national independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and security of non-aligned countries” in their “struggle against imperialism, colonialism, neo-colonialism, racism, and all forms of foreign aggression, occupation, domination, interference or hegemony as well as against great power and bloc politics”. The countries of the Non-Aligned Movement represent nearly two-thirds of the United Nations’ members and contain 55% of the world population. Membership is particularly concentrated in countries considered to be developing or part of the Third World. The current chair is Chair is…wait for it… Iran, and the Secretary-General is Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Iran took over from Egypt at the NAM summit concluding today, and will hold the chairmanship through 2015.
At the NAM summit, attendance at the highest level included 27 presidents, 2 kings and emirs, 7 prime ministers, 9 vice presidents, 2 parliament spokesmen and 5 special envoys. It is not something to sneeze at. While American citizens are squabbling over Clint Eastwood’s speech and picking on Honey Boo Boo, 120 nations got together and talked about a new world order.
The NAM is pretty funny considering that Iran is prophesied to ally with (by then) the world’s only superpower- Russia, and with Turkey, which has the world’s second largest army in NATO with 402,000 personnel, for the purpose of attacking Israel in the prophesied Gog-Magog war.
The Official motto of the NAM is below. Nice use of the Dove. It goes with NAM’s motto:
“Lasting peace through joint global governance”
Hmmm, sounds like something an antichrist would say.
Remember the earthquake swarm down in southern California, central portion of Imperial Valley at the Salton Sea? That last weekend there were 100 quakes in the same day, some reaching 4 and 5 point magnitudes? Well the town that is in the middle of the swarm and is most affected, declared an emergency.
Brawley quake swarm, declares emergency
“The southern California town of Brawley has taken the unusual step of declaring a state of emergency after a swarm of earthquakes rattled nearly 20 mobile homes off their blocks and forced a slaughterhouse to close, the mayor said on Wednesday. It is uncommon for quake-hardy California cities to declare emergencies due to tremors, but Brawley mayor George Nava said the earthquake swarm is a unique case because it has lasted for days and caused millions of dollars in damage. The cluster of relatively small quakes, which are caused by water and other fluids moving around in the Earth’s crust, began on Saturday evening and climaxed the next day with a 5.5 temblor, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.”
Hurricane Isaac, New Orleans gays decadence festival, is it chance?
“The arrival of Hurricane Isaac exactly seven years after Hurricane Katrina blasted New Orleans has some people wondering if there’s more to it than random chance, and suggesting the popular homosexual festival Southern Decadence may be part of a judgment from God. “A hurricane hitting a celebration of decadence … twice in seven years. What are the odds?” asks Robin Cox, a lifelong Gulf Coast resident. “Does it seem God has it in for New Orleans?” adds Mary Starkey. “Just contemplating why this has happened twice in seven years at exact same time of year.”
And…the inevitable mocking ensues-
God Too Lazy To Destroy New Orleans Homosexualistas A Second Time
I don’t recommend you read the article. It is lowest, rankest blasphemy. The author obviously does not believe 2 Peter 2:6, “and if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly lives thereafter;” … then the Lord knows “to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge the flesh in its corrupt desires and despise authority.” (2 Peter 2:6, 9b-10).
Praise the Lord, though, that people are making connections between these “coincidences.” As in this next article, regarding the 7.6 quake that struck today off the Philippines.
“A 7.6-magnitude earthquake struck off the Philippines’ eastern coast late Friday, killing one person in a house collapse, knocking out power in several towns and spurring panic about a tsunami that ended up generating only tiny waves. … “It was very strong. My house was making sounds,” Bemruel Noel, a member of the Philippine House of Representatives, said in a telephone interview from Tacloban city on the eastern coast of Leyte island, where the quake set off a small stampede of residents. “You talk to God with an earthquake that strong,” he said.”
Yes, talk to God, and in that talk, repent!
In last week’s Hal Lindsey Report, Hal made a comment that he thinks Israel may indeed use an electro-magnetic pulse to wipe out Iran’s nuclear program. Hal said it was a way to bloodlessly solve the problem, and prophetically it keeps Iran in the game to ally with Russia to come back at Israel in the Ezekiel 38-39 war. I thought that was a sharp assessment and a good guess as to what may happen soon. And it would be soon, Iran’s nuclear program is far along and the top officials are serious about using a nuke to wipe out Israel. Now here is other expert analysis that indicates the same, that it seems that Israel may be getting ready to launch an EMP (which is a nuclear missile detonated 100 feet in the atmosphere, instantly wiping out all electricity, chips, computers, and solid state appliances.)
Report: Possible EMP Strike on Iran?
U.S. sees signs Israel could use nuclear EMP attack against Iran
“U.S. intelligence agencies recently reported growing concerns that Israel will conduct a strike on Iran using a high-altitude nuclear burst aimed at disrupting all electronics in the country. The intelligence worries were triggered by recent publication of an article in the Israeli press suggesting the Jewish state should carry out an electromagnetic pulse, or EMP, attack. U.S. officials said the article likely reflects official Israeli government thinking about a possible preemptive response to Iran’s expected emergence as a nuclear weapons state in the near future. Asked about the EMP report, an Israeli government spokesman declined to comment. A U.S. intelligence community spokesman also declined comment. A U.S. official said the article in question appeared Aug. 6 in the news outlet Israel National News. The article stated that an Israeli nuclear burst over Iran could “send Iran back to the Stone Age.”
That has an interesting ring to it, sending them back to the Stone Age. It should be noted that when Ezekiel spoke of God putting bits in the horses and bringing them out, ‘all your army your horses and horsemen’ that it could actually be literal horses, if an EMP has been launched and all computer chips are wiped dead.
It should also be noted that Russia went with older, vacuum tube (valve) based equipment because it is generally much less vulnerable to EMP than newer solid state equipment. Soviet Cold War–era military aircraft often had avionics based on vacuum tubes due to both limitations in Soviet solid-state capabilities and a belief that the vacuum-tube gear would survive better. Hmmm.
In this 2006 article, a Russian WWII tank was pulled from a lake, and the people recovering the piece of old equipment were surprised to find that despite it being at a lake bottom for 56 years, there was no rust and all systems (except the engine) in working condition.
Or how about the 2010 UK Telegraph article that revealed that 200 abandoned Russian tanks were found in a a forest, compete with everything except the keys? “There are tanks all over the forest, abandoned,” an unnamed reporter on the video says. “If you need one, come and get it.” Locals in a nearby village said the tanks had been sitting there for almost four months covered in snow. The armoured vehicles were identified as a mixture of T-80 and T-72 battle tanks, the workhorses of the Russian army. “We were shocked,” Pavel L, a local, told Russian media. “It is like you can sit behind the wheel, start up the engine and drive off and nobody would notice!”
Do a google search for “tank graveyard” and you’ll be shocked at how many of these old vehicles are laying around, many of them useful after an EMP. Alternately, it could be that the next war will be a Stone Age war, with shields and swords and horses. It doesn’t take much imagination to see the bind that Israel is in with respect to imminent obliteration and her desire to both save her nation yet refrain from much bloodshed. An EMP over Iran would do it. It doesn’t take much imagination after that to see that Iran would make good on her threats to come after Great Satan if Little Satan acts up, and an EMP launched from an anchored cargo ship over the US would send us back to the Stone Age, too. And then it’s on like Donkey Kong.
The Free Beacon article I’d linked to above isn’t the only media outlet wondering if Israel will launch an EMP. The New English Review wondered the same thing 8 months ago when Israel launched a Jericho missile capable of reaching Iran.
“The Jericho III ICBM equipped with a nuclear warhead provides Israel with a powerful deterrent against a nuclear Iran. It gives Israel a credible Electronic Magnetic Pulse (EMP) capability to loft a low kiloton yield warhead to an apogee over Iran that upon detonation would destroy the country’s industrial infrastructure, frying motherboards of hundreds of thousands of computers, disabling telecommunications, transportation and industrial systems. Doubtless an Israeli EMP attack would cause thousands of whirling centrifuges enriching uranium at the Natanz cascade hall and the Bushehr nuclear plant producing plutonium to be shut down. It might spare Iran’s vital oil and natural gas producing region in the Gulf. It would free Iran’s restive people from the nuclear nightmare of the Mullahs. If the EMP apogee was low enough, then according to Timmerman, it would largely spare Iran’s agrarian rural areas and the country’s bread basket.”
Something to consider. I hadn’t really thought about the kind of wars Jesus prophesied would come (Matthew 24:6). Einstein said, “I do not know what weapons World War III will be fought with, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.”
Back to the Stone Age, indeed.
As terrible as it is, war has its time. It is written in Ecclesiastes 3:8 “A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.”
I’m looking forward to the time of peace. We believers already have spiritual peace, with Jesus, because through repentance and His blood, we believers are no longer in rebellion with God. The earthly wars will continue to come, and then will be a great time of peace, for 1000 years. Then, “And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”
Hallelujah!
How does "For such a time as this" have meaning for us today?
I’m just in awe of the Lord these days. I sit stunned, day after day, at the prophetic news coming alive. There is no doubt that we are living in the last days, the end of time. There is no doubt that the events we are seeing are the very ones that were prophesied to occur just prior to the second return of Jesus Christ.
Therefore in addition to studying the prophesies and watching for His return as we are commanded, we also should ponder His plan and providence of His decision to station us here, now, for such a time as this.
Mordecai said to Esther, “For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14).
Now, we do not all have the terrible privilege of being the vehicle from which and through which God Himself brings deliverance to an entire people, as Esther was, but we do need to be mindful of the weight of time and the fact that God deliberately chose to put us here in this time, now. Do we take the time to thank Him? To ponder our role in these last days? To ask and seek His face as to why and what it is He wants us to do that is particular to this time, as opposed to other centuries He could have elected us to dwell in?
Gill’s Exposition of the Bible explains of the Esther verse, “and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this? he intimates that he believed that the providence of God had raised her to that dignity, that she might be an instrument of saving his people in the time of their distress; and this he said to encourage her to make the experiment.”
Isn’t that phrase, “God raised her to that dignity” a wonderful and at the same time, a terrifying thing to consider? We each have a dignity to perform in His name and for His name.
Wesley’s Notes goes further:
“We should every one of us consider, for what end God has put us in the place where we are? And when an opportunity offers of serving God and our generation, we must take care not to let it slip.”
For what end, my Lord and my God? For what end do you seek to have me serve in these last days?
And my favorite, Matthew Henry’s Commentary punctuates the Esther verse with this comment:
“We are prone to shrink from services that are attended with peril or loss. But when the cause of Christ and his people demand it, we must take up our cross, and follow him. When Christians are disposed to consult their own ease or safety, rather than the public good, they should be blamed. The law was express, all knew it. It is not thus in the court of the King of kings: to the footstool of his throne of grace we may always come boldly, and may be sure of an answer of peace to the prayer of faith. We are welcome, even into the holiest, through the blood of Jesus. Providence so ordered it, that, just then, the king’s affections had cooled toward Esther; her faith and courage thereby were the more tried; and God’s goodness in the favour she now found with the king, thereby shone the brighter.”
Yes, we are prone to shrink from service that carries with it dishonor, persecution, or even death. But shrink we must not do! We are put here for a service to Him that will allow Him to shine His goodness all the brighter.
There is no doubt that we are enduring terrible pressures of the days. Sometimes it feels that our shoulders seem unequal to the task of carrying them. But then,we do not have to carry these pressures! The Lord’s yoke is easy and His burden is light, if we but cast our cares upon Him. His shoulders will carry the world’s government (Isaiah 9:6). He carried the cross on His shoulders on the way to Calvary, and He placed all the sins of the people on His shoulders while He was ON that cross. He seeks and finds one lost sheep whilst the other 99 are grazing on the hill, and when He finds the lost one, puts it on His shoulders and carries it home to much rejoicing. (Luke 15:3). He can bear all things. And through Him, we can bear the days, too.
And what days they are! Let’s take a look at some news:
MIDDLE EAST
Egypt broadens Sinai campaign to root out terror
“Egypt’s military said on Wednesday it would broaden its offensive against militants in the Sinai Peninsula, a campaign that has raised concerns in Israel about the movement of heavy armor into the area near its border. Disorder has spread in Sinai since President Hosni Mubarak’s overthrow last year. Analysts say Islamists with possible links to al-Qaeda have gained a foothold. This has alarmed Israel.”
Israelis to ‘lose’ 300 meters to Sinai security
The IDF is set to issue orders that would convert an area of 300 meters within the Sinai border into a closed military zone
“Israelis will soon be banned from approaching too close to the Sinai border. A report on Army Radio Thursday morning said that the IDF was set to issue orders that would convert an area of 300 meters within the Sinai border into a closed military zone, which only soldiers and security personnel would be able to enter. The order would apply even to areas where the Sinai border fence is in place. The fence, much of which contains electronic sensors to detect intruders, is about three quarters complete.”
Iran doubled capacity of bunker enrichment plant, ‘significantly’ hampers inspection, IAEA charges
“Iran has effectively shut down a probe of a site suspected of being used for work on nuclear weapons development while doubling the number of machines it could use to make the core of nuclear warheads at an underground bunker safe from airborne attack, the UN nuclear agency said in a report Thursday.”
An IAEA report said the Fordo [nuclear] plant has around 2,000 centrifuges installed, compared with around 1,000 in May. This is terrible news. Joel Rosenberg has an essay tonight titled,
Iran has repeatedly said they plan to wipe Israel off the earth. Iran’s top officials and its theocratic clerics believe with all their heart that doing so is an Allah-given right, duty, and responsibility to show Allah their seriousness in preparing the way for the final Imam to arrive.
Israel has repeatedly said “Never again,” this is their national motto. Yesterday Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu said, “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Iran a “disgrace” to humanity, during a meeting Wednesday evening with the Prime Minister of Lower Saxony, Germany, David McAllister. “Seventy years ago, six million of our people were destroyed in an act of genocide. The world pledged ‘never again’ . . . It appears that many among the international community haven’t learned anything.” Netanyahu said that the Iranian “regime denies the Holocaust and is working to destroy the Jewish state. This regime oppresses its people, takes part in the butchering of innocent Syrians, and calls for death toAmerica, death to Israel.”
So sadly, “Never Again” will prove to be a hollow motto. Jesus said regarding the abomination of desolation, and as for the Jews in Jerusalem, “For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again. If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.” (Matthew 24:21-22).
Prophecy students know that ‘Never Again’ will soon change to “Not again!!”
PESTILENCE
Great rampaging diseases are prophesied to occur in the Tribulation. Disease will be one of the methods Jesus uses to judge the world and bring widespread death. (Luke 21:11; Revelation 6:8).
Right now, did you know that one of the worst outbreaks of West Nile virus to ever hit the United States is happening, and is continuing to expand?
4 dead so far as West Nile disease becomes epidemic in Michigan
“West Nile disease — a mosquito-borne illness — has reached epidemic proportions in Michigan, particularly in older suburbs that ring metro Detroit and Grand Rapids, state health officials warned Wednesday. Michigan’s 80 cases this summer, including four deaths, rank the state as the sixth highest in the nation with the problem, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”
West Nile Virus Cases Hit 1,590; Death Toll at 66
“Reports of West Nile virus infection in the country now total 1,590, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Wednesday – an increase of more than 40 percent in one week alone. CDC officials also reported during a Wednesday afternoon teleconference that 66 people have died from the disease so far. Of all of the cases reported thus far, 889 – or 56 percent – are classified as neuroinvasive, meaning patients develop meningitis, encephalitis or paralysis. These figures represent a striking increase from last week’s report of 1,118 cases”
2,900 Yosemite visitors warned about possible exposure to deadly hantavirus
“About 2,900 Yosemite National Park visitors from around the world who stayed in Curry Village this summer have been notified about possible exposure to hantavirus, a mouse-borne illness that can develop into severe and often-fatal respiratory disease. People who stayed in the cabins from June 10 through Aug. 24 have been notified by e-mail or letter about possible infection, Yosemite National Park spokeswoman Kari Cobb told CBSNews.com. In addition, visitors who were planning on staying in the tent cabins in Curry Village at Yosemite have been re-booked in other locations, while the 91 cabins undergo sanitation and retrofitting.”
John MacArthur believes that the prophecy will be fulfilled via rodents. He preached on “The Grim Reality of the Last Days,” saying “Luke 21 also adds there will be plagues, terrors and great signs from heaven. You want plagues, how about the black death, 1300’s in Europe, carried by rats, killed 60 percent of the population of Europe in excess of a hundred million people. How about 40 million plus in the great influenza, the early twentieth century. Great signs from heaven, terrors, fires, diseases, heat, cold, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, drought.”
Well, we have all that now, including diseases, and in the Tribulation diseases will run away from being managed through medicine and bring death along for the ride.
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DROUGHT
Isaac rain may bring some drought relief
Praise the Lord, I hope it does!!!
“As Hurricane Isaac continues to pound the Gulf Coast with rain and wind, meteorologists say the storm could provide some much-needed hydration in parts of the country hit hard by drought. Isaac will bring “soaking downpours” to parts of Arkansas, Missouri and other Central states into the weekend, according to AccuWeather. The rain will arrive too late for summer crops, such as corn and soybeans, which were damaged by the hottest July on record. But the moisture could reach far enough westward to benefit some of the upcoming winter wheat crop, according to Dale Mohler, a meteorologist at AccuWeather.”
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CULTURE
Girl, 10, charged with manslaughter in Maine
What a horrible thing!! Society has surely degeneration’s too far when children are [allegedly] killing babies!
“PORTLAND, MAINE (AP) –— A 10-year-old girl was charged Thursday with manslaughter in the death of an infant whose mother said had ingested medication and been suffocated. The girl, who is not being identified, is the youngest person to be charged with manslaughter in Maine in at least 25 years. The infant, Brooklyn Foss-Greenaway, of Clinton in central Maine, had been left overnight with an adult baby sitter in nearby Fairfield.”
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Back to Esther. When Mordecai tells Esther she may have been put here for such a time as this, what Mordecai is really doing is affirming Divine sovereignty. “He affirms divine sovereignty. He affirms his confidence in the revelation of God that he would preserve his people. But he also understands that Esther can perish and he can perish and many other Jews can perish if she doesn’t act. … The invisible hand of God is evident everywhere” in the Book of Esther and His invisible hand is everywhere in the world today. No one, no matter how they attempt to destroy the people of God and the purpose of God, can succeed because God’s covenant love for Israel will be fulfilled, is being fulfilled. And the message for you is this. While you’re going through life and trying to make sure you fix all the little pieces of your life, understand this: that there is over and in, above and below your life a divine architect ordering every detail. And if you belong to Him and are in the covenant of His love, He is accomplishing His perfect will. And you can rest in that, you can rest in that.”
“The Lord is still on the throne. These are challenging times, challenging days to live in. You can become pretty distressed about the way things are going, the way things are going in the world is chaotic, disconcerting, troubling, disturbing, distressing, some ways frightening. Not so in the kingdom. The divine architect is ordering our lives, those of us who belong to Him and are in covenant love with Him. He is ordering our lives to His eternal glory, every part. How wonderful to live in that confidence” (source)
