"...The Terrible Day Of The Lord..."

I'll admit to the typical level of confusion when I re-read the prophecy of Joel, especially in the second chapter. There are aspects of which that seem as though they can only refer to the final battle of Armageddon, and then there are aspects that seem to fit the "Gog/Magog" invasion of Israel, and I guess we'll never know for sure which is for which, until they happen, when we as believers will be in heaven, and won't much care.

But, an interesting clue as to God's timetable I noticed in Joel 2:31. The previous prophetic occurrences are followed by the 31st verse, "The Sun shall be turned into darkness, and the Moon into blood BEFORE the great and the terrible day of the lord come."(emphasis added) Well, we have already explained that the "Blood Moons" that appeared twice last year, coinciding with Passover of 2014, and again in the Fall, coinciding with Yom Kippur, (when God traditionally forgave His people, Israel, for their sins of the past year) and are set to repeat the same this year (as it did last month) could be a sign from God that He is about to do something astounding that will glorify himself in a manner that even the "heathen" will have to admit that He is in charge of the world, and that He will protect His people. That seems to me to indicate a reference to the "Gog/Magog" invasion, which certainly has not happened yet, though all the necessary pieces seem to be ready. But, the really interesting point that struck me as I re-read this passage was the word, "before" which I emphasized above.

If both the Sun and the Moon have eclipses before whatever is to occur, then that would make it easier to know the approximate time when we can expect the other events to soon follow. So, I checked, and sure enough there occurred a full eclipse of the Sun on the Vernal Equinox (or the first day of Spring), or March 20th, this year, followed in April by the third of the four "Blood Moons" right on schedule. So, if I'm reading the prophecy correctly' we are all set for the Russian invasion of the Middle-East, along with their Muslim allies, and as I wrote previously, the summer months have been traditionally the best time of year for Middle-Eastern countries to trump up some excuse to go to war with their neighbors. Since a war may take months to reach a point of advantage, for one side or the other, I think it's reasonable to expect some sort of movement in that direction soon.

Don't be surprised if it seems that Israel is about to be overrun by their enemies, long about August. God seems to delight in saving the "winners" after they are nearly defeated, then He steps in to bring the final victory. Case in point, all three of America's most important wars, the Revolution, the Civil War, and World War II, looked to be on the verge of defeat, until He turned them into glorious victories, and only a fool thinks we did it by our great military superiority. Obviously, He caused the French to enter the war on our side to defeat the English at Yorktown, and He gave us the victory at Gettysburg, and protected our troops on the beaches of Normandy, on "D-Day", and again during the "Battle Of The Bulge". We could easily been defeated each of those times, " but God...".

Also, if I am reading things correctly, that means the "Rapture" may soon follow. So, as I never get tired of quoting the Lord's encouragement, "look up, for your redemption draweth nigh". And for those who aren't sure of their salvation, look up to the sinner's prayer that I've written below the Blog's title, and pray that to Jesus now, or else just plain "LOOK OUT!"