Today's landmark Supreme Court ruling declaring the Federal law known as "D.O.M.A.",(Defense of Marriage Act) is just another tick in the time bomb of America's ultimate judgment by God. We as a nation and people largely descended from "God-fearing", and God-loving generations, ought to be collectively ashamed of the perverse degradation we have allowed this nation to descend into. For hundreds of years there has always been a collective presumption of faithful belief that the principals of the Bible were the best way to guide our nation's daily and future behavior. Even those whose personal values, and behavior more closely resembled unabashed paganism would tend to feel that Biblical standards were important for most of society, even if they didn't wish to be constrained by those values themselves, and even if they didn't recognize that those values came from the Bible.
Now, our society is quickly approaching a state of nearly complete reversal of those values. There was a time, some fifty or sixty years ago when Academic Historians stated fairly universally that sexual promiscuity ( especially homosexual), and other forms of personal debauchery on an overwhelming level of social acceptance was the main ingredient in the decline and eventual destruction of some of the greatest empires throughout History. Persia, most notably Greece, and also Rome were all morally declining, and even decadent societies well before their empires were eventually overthrown, or absorbed into the control of subsequent empirical powers. Some historians even made the case that the growth of homosexuality, and the promiscuity that prevails within their communities (whether they vociferously deny it, or not) is the most consistently obvious characteristic of a culture, and Nation that is in an imminent state of decline. Frequently, that decline is culminated in some degree of bloody conquest by their enemies who covet economic, and military control over their population, or at least the elimination of their competition, or threat.
We Americans would be sadly remiss if we considered ourselves to be exempt from suffering the same fate as God's judgment for allowing our society to collapse into the same level of social debauchery as we've seen destroy the great empires of the past. I believe it was the philosopher, George Santayana who once said, " Those who fail to remember the past are condemned to relive it." Those whose entire existence is wrapped-up in the practice, and promotion of perverse forms of sexual activities as an acceptable lifestyle, have become so obsessed with the present that they consider the lessons of the past to be irrelevant. The first seven verses of II Timothy, chapter 3, describe a time in our future when very perverse men/(people) will bear a striking resemblance to those who are in the forefront of dragging America down the road to our destruction today! It describes these men as residing in, "perilous times" of , "the last days" ( or the "End Times", which we may well be entering!)
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
God Defeats The Enemies Of Israel
Up till now I have been mixing a lot of Biblical prophecy with some basic knowledge of modern technology, topped off with a hefty dose of imagination in order to explain my "vision" of what may be soon to occur in the middle-east. I make no pretense of direct divine inspiration, as I am certainly no "modern-day prophet". Yet I can't feel that what I've written so far is not at all inspired by God, to some extent. If I have been reasonably accurate in describing what is prophesied in Ezekiel 38, and 39, then at least to that extent I have been divinely inspired, for the prophecies are God's Word spoken directly to mankind. But the "jigsaw puzzle" effect of that which God has given us in His prophecies leaves gaps in the pictures He reveals to us. It's when we try to fill those gaps using our imagination, based upon technological "educated guesses" that we run the risk of making false assumptions, which can cause the picture to become distorted in our minds.
I don't feel that God is offended when we do this. I believe He wants us to meditate on the possibilities of how He will actually fulfill His prophecies, and discuss our opinions openly, as many who listen will be encouraged by it, and even some will be saved by it as well.
That said, it is important that we stress the points where we cross the line between stating the prophetic Word of God, and begin to imagine the smaller details that logically seem to follow what He says, though He has not actually said them. Sometimes, an educated guess can be made based upon various factors; the mental image that the prophecy creates can sometimes be similar to something we are familiar with in modern-day technology. Or, a Bible translation may choose an English definition for a Hebrew, or Greek word that has several different translations. In choosing one translation, someone 50, or a hundred years ago may have thought it fit the context best according to the technological limitations of their day. But with the advance in modern technology, another translation of the same original word might conjure up a completely different picture.
I'm stepping out by faith to go a bit further in stating that I believe the scriptural verse Ezekiel 38: 9 may not mean exactly what it's English translation implies. Here God is describing the appearance of the invasion force of the Gog/Magog war when He says, "Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land...". He doesn't say, " thou shalt look like a cloud", but, "thou shalt be like a cloud". Based on recent happenings in the revolt in Syria where intelligence sources have reported that the Syrian government forces have used the poison gas called Sarin to kill at least 100 to 150 people, I'm wondering if this same toxic gas will not be employed against Israel by Russian/Syrian elements before invading. As this will cross the line from conventional warfare tactics, it will logically relieve Israel of the international prohibition for using their own "weapons of mass destruction" in retaliation. It won't relieve them of the international condemnation for doing so, but at least the honest and sane people of the world will sympathize with their need to do what it takes to protect their people.
The fact that the Israeli government has been issuing gas masks to their people for years tells me there is at least some concern that my suspicions might be shared by many in the government. Biblically speaking, Matthew 24: 16 &17 says, "Then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains: Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house." A characteristic of Sarin gas is that it is heavier than air, and will immediately sink to the lowest point available upon deployment. Therefore, gas masks would be necessary for survival along with the immediate evacuation to whatever high ground is available.
I believe that Israel will retaliate with some form of "Tactical Nuclear" artillery, or Air Force bombing that will destroy a large segment of the Russian/Muslim invasion force, including many of their top officers, as there seems to be an all-out panic in response, along with an immediate retreat. Ezekiel 38: 19 says, "...in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel (Neutron Nuclear devises detonating, perhaps by the thousands)". Again, God doesn't need to rely on Israel's armaments to save them, but since this does not speak of the earth opening up to swallow an army, and then closing over them like at mount Sinai, I think this might reasonably happen. Remember American scientists developed the Neutron Nuclear bomb, which can be fired as artillery shells, as well. It was designed to effectively kill large numbers of enemy personnel without significantly damaging material objects, like buildings, tanks and trucks, etc. America supposedly decided that this was too immoral of a weapon so we discontinued it's production. But what if it was quietly given to the Israelis to develop for just such a need as this. Israel has long said it would approach an overwhelming invasion force not as David faced Goliath, but rather as Sampson when he was willing to die in the process of wiping out a large amount of the enemy. Fortunately, it appears that this is so effective that it turns the survivors into a panicked retreat, in which some appear to try futilely to restore order only to be met with resistance described as, "...every man's sword (or any weapon) shall be against his brother." That's apparently how the retreaters finish each other off to the tune of 83% of the invasion force being killed.
Well, I admit I am making some assumptions here based upon slim Biblical evidence, but it all seems plausible to me. What do you think?
I don't feel that God is offended when we do this. I believe He wants us to meditate on the possibilities of how He will actually fulfill His prophecies, and discuss our opinions openly, as many who listen will be encouraged by it, and even some will be saved by it as well.
That said, it is important that we stress the points where we cross the line between stating the prophetic Word of God, and begin to imagine the smaller details that logically seem to follow what He says, though He has not actually said them. Sometimes, an educated guess can be made based upon various factors; the mental image that the prophecy creates can sometimes be similar to something we are familiar with in modern-day technology. Or, a Bible translation may choose an English definition for a Hebrew, or Greek word that has several different translations. In choosing one translation, someone 50, or a hundred years ago may have thought it fit the context best according to the technological limitations of their day. But with the advance in modern technology, another translation of the same original word might conjure up a completely different picture.
I'm stepping out by faith to go a bit further in stating that I believe the scriptural verse Ezekiel 38: 9 may not mean exactly what it's English translation implies. Here God is describing the appearance of the invasion force of the Gog/Magog war when He says, "Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land...". He doesn't say, " thou shalt look like a cloud", but, "thou shalt be like a cloud". Based on recent happenings in the revolt in Syria where intelligence sources have reported that the Syrian government forces have used the poison gas called Sarin to kill at least 100 to 150 people, I'm wondering if this same toxic gas will not be employed against Israel by Russian/Syrian elements before invading. As this will cross the line from conventional warfare tactics, it will logically relieve Israel of the international prohibition for using their own "weapons of mass destruction" in retaliation. It won't relieve them of the international condemnation for doing so, but at least the honest and sane people of the world will sympathize with their need to do what it takes to protect their people.
The fact that the Israeli government has been issuing gas masks to their people for years tells me there is at least some concern that my suspicions might be shared by many in the government. Biblically speaking, Matthew 24: 16 &17 says, "Then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains: Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house." A characteristic of Sarin gas is that it is heavier than air, and will immediately sink to the lowest point available upon deployment. Therefore, gas masks would be necessary for survival along with the immediate evacuation to whatever high ground is available.
I believe that Israel will retaliate with some form of "Tactical Nuclear" artillery, or Air Force bombing that will destroy a large segment of the Russian/Muslim invasion force, including many of their top officers, as there seems to be an all-out panic in response, along with an immediate retreat. Ezekiel 38: 19 says, "...in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel (Neutron Nuclear devises detonating, perhaps by the thousands)". Again, God doesn't need to rely on Israel's armaments to save them, but since this does not speak of the earth opening up to swallow an army, and then closing over them like at mount Sinai, I think this might reasonably happen. Remember American scientists developed the Neutron Nuclear bomb, which can be fired as artillery shells, as well. It was designed to effectively kill large numbers of enemy personnel without significantly damaging material objects, like buildings, tanks and trucks, etc. America supposedly decided that this was too immoral of a weapon so we discontinued it's production. But what if it was quietly given to the Israelis to develop for just such a need as this. Israel has long said it would approach an overwhelming invasion force not as David faced Goliath, but rather as Sampson when he was willing to die in the process of wiping out a large amount of the enemy. Fortunately, it appears that this is so effective that it turns the survivors into a panicked retreat, in which some appear to try futilely to restore order only to be met with resistance described as, "...every man's sword (or any weapon) shall be against his brother." That's apparently how the retreaters finish each other off to the tune of 83% of the invasion force being killed.
Well, I admit I am making some assumptions here based upon slim Biblical evidence, but it all seems plausible to me. What do you think?
Saturday, June 22, 2013
World War III: Aftermath
Admittedly, what follows must be considered conjecture, though I think I may honestly say that it is reasonable from a Biblical perspective in so far as we may be humanly capable of understanding God's plans for our future. It is the nature of His prophecy to reveal that future in a rather "jigsaw puzzle" fashion, obviously intended to give us just enough information so as to give us comfort that He is clearly in control of future developments that would otherwise cause us to become fearful, and indeed will cause the unsaved to become so fearful that they may actually listen when we explain His intentions, and desire to be saved themselves. We call this "evangelism", and He has no greater purpose for us on earth, as long as it is not too late for anyone to be saved.
The reason I call this Biblical conjecture is because it is the result of decades of meditative reflection from one perspective that may, or may not be an accurate reflection of God's intentions. If I am correct, I hope it will add some insight into some rather obscure prophecies. If not, I extend my sincere apologies as I do not wish to mislead anyone. However, nothing I write will in any way effect someone's salvation, because I am never arguing that various prophecies will not happen, I am merely speculating on precisely how God is planning to bring them to pass, or in what chronological order.
My perspective on viewing prophecy is not the most common view. Most people accept that when God says "I will cause" something to happen, it just miraculously and instantaneously comes to pass. Frequently this is truly the case. But it seems logical to me that when God causes some great and apparently tragic development which at least initially brings about an evil result, if man has the utter foolish capacity to cause it to happen himself, either by mistake, or by sheer evil intent, it seems more logical that He causes it to happen by placing an evil thought in the minds of evil people who have the capacity to bring it about (see Ezekiel 38: 10, 11 &12). This way those evil people bear the blame for causing it to happen, though it serves God's purpose eventually, through hopefully offending others to the point where they will turn away from the evil and seek Jesus, in repentance. This way God's judgment for a sinful, and rebellious world comes to pass while creating good results simultaneously. ("All things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are the called according to his purpose". Romans 8:28)
Therefore, it is my view that when God prophecies some disaster is going to happen, especially when He shows it happening in a vision to some old testament prophet ( who can't be expected to understand the technological capacity of people who will be alive in thousands of years to the future) he generally allows them to describe what they see in their own words, presuming that these things could only happen by God's miracles and not by man's technology. Thus we have the apostle John describing a vision of what he called Locusts (in Revelation 9:3), which could easily have been a vision of an Apache helicopter, or more likely its Russian counterpart, some 2000 years in his future. The distinction changes the prophecy not a bit, but it does make it less obscure to today's readers. My point is not that it has to be true, but that it may well be true, without violating the prophecy one bit.
It is with this perspective in mind that I have drawn my conclusions concerning the end of the Gog/Magog war, which I believe might lead to a nuclear exchange between Russia and America, with the "Rapture" of the believers in Jesus occurring before the missiles detonate. ( see my post of June 10th, "Revelation 6, & 7" for my explanation).
The reason I call this Biblical conjecture is because it is the result of decades of meditative reflection from one perspective that may, or may not be an accurate reflection of God's intentions. If I am correct, I hope it will add some insight into some rather obscure prophecies. If not, I extend my sincere apologies as I do not wish to mislead anyone. However, nothing I write will in any way effect someone's salvation, because I am never arguing that various prophecies will not happen, I am merely speculating on precisely how God is planning to bring them to pass, or in what chronological order.
My perspective on viewing prophecy is not the most common view. Most people accept that when God says "I will cause" something to happen, it just miraculously and instantaneously comes to pass. Frequently this is truly the case. But it seems logical to me that when God causes some great and apparently tragic development which at least initially brings about an evil result, if man has the utter foolish capacity to cause it to happen himself, either by mistake, or by sheer evil intent, it seems more logical that He causes it to happen by placing an evil thought in the minds of evil people who have the capacity to bring it about (see Ezekiel 38: 10, 11 &12). This way those evil people bear the blame for causing it to happen, though it serves God's purpose eventually, through hopefully offending others to the point where they will turn away from the evil and seek Jesus, in repentance. This way God's judgment for a sinful, and rebellious world comes to pass while creating good results simultaneously. ("All things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are the called according to his purpose". Romans 8:28)
Therefore, it is my view that when God prophecies some disaster is going to happen, especially when He shows it happening in a vision to some old testament prophet ( who can't be expected to understand the technological capacity of people who will be alive in thousands of years to the future) he generally allows them to describe what they see in their own words, presuming that these things could only happen by God's miracles and not by man's technology. Thus we have the apostle John describing a vision of what he called Locusts (in Revelation 9:3), which could easily have been a vision of an Apache helicopter, or more likely its Russian counterpart, some 2000 years in his future. The distinction changes the prophecy not a bit, but it does make it less obscure to today's readers. My point is not that it has to be true, but that it may well be true, without violating the prophecy one bit.
It is with this perspective in mind that I have drawn my conclusions concerning the end of the Gog/Magog war, which I believe might lead to a nuclear exchange between Russia and America, with the "Rapture" of the believers in Jesus occurring before the missiles detonate. ( see my post of June 10th, "Revelation 6, & 7" for my explanation).
Friday, June 21, 2013
Muslims' Last Chance?
In checking out the Overview Statistics for this blog the other day I was struck by the breakdown of which nations have been represented statistically for it's Pageviews. After all I've written about what appears to be the rapidly advancing buildup to the Gog/Magog Invasion, I didn't consider all the times I have written the names of the countries that are prophecied to be the main participants in the attack against God's chosen people, Israel. Then I read the statistical breakdown nationally and discovered that there were 8 pageviews from Russia, (update: now 33; which is half as much as from America!) and one from Iran. I have to wonder if my frequent writing of the words "Russia", and "Muslim" have not created the foreign equivalent of Google results sending readers to my posts warning them of what seems to be the imminent invasion of Northern Israel, which will amount to nothing more than a suicidal effort on the part of 83% of the invasion forces, and apparently little, or no harm to the people of Israel. If so I would be remiss if I did not make one ( possibly) last effort to reason with any likely Russian, or Muslim potential soldiers who might consider volunteering for this invasion, or might already have been conscripted into an army that may force them into participation. The God of the Judaeo/Christian Bible is warning you not to participate in this Suicidal effort, lest you become one of the 83% that He has promised from thousands of years ago that He will destroy you upon the "Mountains of Israel".
As for the Russian Bible-believing Christians, of which I understand there are many, and those in Iran as well ( who are enduring persecution on a first-century-Christianity scale), we must all pray that God will provide "a way of escape" so they won't be forced into participating in a Biblically doomed slaughter, because of the narcissistic greed for power of their countries' political, or false-religious leaders. Or, if God will's it He is capable of protecting them even if they are forced to participate against their will. After all, if God has promised to destroy 83% of their armies, who is going to comprise the 17% that survives to return home as His witnesses?
Still, I can't help wondering who are those 33 Russian readers of this blog, and what is their perspective? Are they 33 individuals who will grab their Bibles to verify that what I'm writing is either true, or at least plausible even if my speculations turn out not to be completely accurate? Or, is it one person who is rereading it 33 times to make sure he, or she has got it right? Or even could it be some paranoid present-day equivalent of the K.G.B. ( or the Military's G.R.U.), that might be horrified to think I'm some kind of spy who has hacked into records of their most secret plans for the up-coming invasion? If so, let me warn any Russian official espionage Hackers who might try to cause my computer to explode in my face, that I am not the source of their problems. Destroy me at your own peril, 'cause I've got an older "brother" whose name is Jesus, and you don't want to mess with Him!!!
That is literally "the crux of the problem" facing the Gog/Magog forces. They are not attacking Israel, they are fighting with God Almighty, and as I've said before, their "arms are too short to box with God". It will be too late to repent then ( in most cases), but it's not too late to repent now. Those Russians who might otherwise be drawn into the battle have easy access to Bibles and can read Ezekiel 38, and 39 to see if there might be any credibility in what I've written. But I'm more concerned for the Muslims who might be duped into thinking that they are doing God a favor by trying to rid the world of the "despised" Jews in Israel. They probably will have a more difficult time finding a Bible to confirm what I'm writing. They might be able to Google a Bible web-site, or a simpler way to test the truth of what I'm saying is to go to the Source. I am not that "Source"; that would be Jesus, Himself. You don't even have to believe He's real; just take a chance that He might be the Son of God, and ask him to reveal Himself to you, and He will in some unexpected manner. And then He will confirm what I've been writing about in Ezekiel 38, & 39, at least to the extent that I am correct, which I believe is mostly so. If you will ask Jesus to come into your heart, forgive you of all your sins ( for we are all sinners, in need of God's forgiveness), and become your Lord and Savior, you can have a personal relationship with Jesus in which He will lead you, and guide you for the rest of your life. So, as I say, if you don't believe what I'm telling you, go to the Source and ask Him to confirm the truth of my words! God bless all who read these words. Amen!!!
As for the Russian Bible-believing Christians, of which I understand there are many, and those in Iran as well ( who are enduring persecution on a first-century-Christianity scale), we must all pray that God will provide "a way of escape" so they won't be forced into participating in a Biblically doomed slaughter, because of the narcissistic greed for power of their countries' political, or false-religious leaders. Or, if God will's it He is capable of protecting them even if they are forced to participate against their will. After all, if God has promised to destroy 83% of their armies, who is going to comprise the 17% that survives to return home as His witnesses?
Still, I can't help wondering who are those 33 Russian readers of this blog, and what is their perspective? Are they 33 individuals who will grab their Bibles to verify that what I'm writing is either true, or at least plausible even if my speculations turn out not to be completely accurate? Or, is it one person who is rereading it 33 times to make sure he, or she has got it right? Or even could it be some paranoid present-day equivalent of the K.G.B. ( or the Military's G.R.U.), that might be horrified to think I'm some kind of spy who has hacked into records of their most secret plans for the up-coming invasion? If so, let me warn any Russian official espionage Hackers who might try to cause my computer to explode in my face, that I am not the source of their problems. Destroy me at your own peril, 'cause I've got an older "brother" whose name is Jesus, and you don't want to mess with Him!!!
That is literally "the crux of the problem" facing the Gog/Magog forces. They are not attacking Israel, they are fighting with God Almighty, and as I've said before, their "arms are too short to box with God". It will be too late to repent then ( in most cases), but it's not too late to repent now. Those Russians who might otherwise be drawn into the battle have easy access to Bibles and can read Ezekiel 38, and 39 to see if there might be any credibility in what I've written. But I'm more concerned for the Muslims who might be duped into thinking that they are doing God a favor by trying to rid the world of the "despised" Jews in Israel. They probably will have a more difficult time finding a Bible to confirm what I'm writing. They might be able to Google a Bible web-site, or a simpler way to test the truth of what I'm saying is to go to the Source. I am not that "Source"; that would be Jesus, Himself. You don't even have to believe He's real; just take a chance that He might be the Son of God, and ask him to reveal Himself to you, and He will in some unexpected manner. And then He will confirm what I've been writing about in Ezekiel 38, & 39, at least to the extent that I am correct, which I believe is mostly so. If you will ask Jesus to come into your heart, forgive you of all your sins ( for we are all sinners, in need of God's forgiveness), and become your Lord and Savior, you can have a personal relationship with Jesus in which He will lead you, and guide you for the rest of your life. So, as I say, if you don't believe what I'm telling you, go to the Source and ask Him to confirm the truth of my words! God bless all who read these words. Amen!!!
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Is Obama a closet Muslim?
I recognize that I am treading on dangerous ground here, but having avoided this issue for five years I feel it is time to address it openly. It is not my intent to slander President Obama, who forthrightly claims to be a Christian, but Our Lord Himself expressed the rightness of doubting a person's sincerity if their behavior does not consistently agree with their profession of faith.
In Matthew 7, verses 15 through 20, Jesus discusses this very issue with His disciples, in reference to their ability to recognize true prophets of God, verses those who merely pretend to be. In recognizing that we are all held to this same standard, let me say up front that I am no prophet, nor do I ever make any pretense to be so. The next time God uses me to speak His prophetic word will be the first, and I'll let the reader decide for themselves when that happens. Until then, all I'm doing is expounding on His recorded prophecies from the Bible, and trying to see if there might be a genuine connection to current events happening around us. My concern here is that the Bible-believing student of prophecy might simply not recognize little bits of developing prophecy fulfillment until it culminates in the inescapable conclusion. While their ignorance will certainly not effect their safety, through God's protection, they may miss the fascinating story of how God is bringing His various prophecies to pass.
That said, I have been troubled since President Obama's first election campaign that our nation might be about to elect the first Muslim President in our history. It is my opinion (politically correct, or not) that this would automatically disqualify him from holding office. (I can just hear the thunderous sound of the entire liberal body-politic smacking their foreheads simultaneously, as they break out into uproarious politically-correct guffaws. I recognize that any liberal who becomes aware of my position would immediately begin to ridicule me as being either a bigot, a racist, a right -wing facist, or simply an idiot. That is always the liberal response; when they have no convincing argument to the contrary, their last resort is to ridicule the opposition. But these are not my words but Jesus' words when I quote, " by their fruits ye shall know them." Matthew 7: 20.) The word "fruits" here means a combination of their actions, and their words; or, "do they just talk the talk, or do they walk the walk as well?"
It is also my opinion, though unfortunately the Supreme Court does not agree, that the "establishment clause" of the first amendment to the Constitution has been misinterpreted completely out of the cultural context of the founding fathers who framed it. It reads, "Congress shall pass no law respecting an establishment of religion". In the context of the day, since there was essentially only one religion in America, I believe that the true present-day meaning of this clause should read, "an establishment of denomination" (which implies Christianity), as the concern was for prohibiting the spreading of the "Church of England's" persecution of every other denomination that did not agree with their tenants. But as the word "denomination" was not yet applied to the various divergent faiths of Christian belief, they were referred to as different "religions". It is my belief that this clause was intentionally exclusive of all other non-Bible believing faiths (and Muslims believe the Bible to be a corruption of God's true Word, making it therefore irrelevant, as opposed to the Koran which they esteem to be God's true revelation), by our founding fathers, and without apology, as the thought of a president not directing the policies of our country in a manner that was at least not in direct violation of Biblical principles would have been completely anathema to them, whether they were confirmed Christians, or not.
Yet as I understand Islam, there is an implied, if not expressed prohibition against fighting with other Muslims, though certainly there are many Muslims who seem to feel this is not absolute. I believe that President Obama was slow to offer help to the rebels in Lybia, and is reluctant to offer significant assistance to the rebels in Syria because of this Islamic restriction, and that he didn't want to be guilty of killing any innocent Muslims, even collaterally. As President he does not have the luxury of this kind of personal restraint, when acting according to our national interests. I'm afraid that this kind of indecision will be the reason for our apparent wishy-washy response to the Gog/Magog invasion, when Ezekiel 38:13 has the nations of, "Sheba, and Dedan, (Saudi Arabia?), and the merchants of Tarshish(thought to be England), with all the young lions thereof (thought to be America, with England's other colonies) shall say unto thee(Gog), art thou come to take a spoil?" (DUH!!!) This could be the end of American support for the defense of Israel, against their enemies, who will be predominantly Russian, with her Muslim allies. Who knows if Obama will still be in office when this happens; I'm just saying that it all seems to fit, whenever it does.
For those who still wish to argue that Obama professes to be a Christian, let's refer back to the original campaign charge to the contrary. Any Christian who attends a church that preaches contrary to his Biblical beliefs will soon find another church that preaches more in line with his faith. No Bible-believing Christian could stand to listen to the hate-mongering rants of the "Reverend" Jeremiah Wright against Jews, Israel, white Americans, and corporate Capitalism for twenty years, unless he agreed wholeheartedly with what he was hearing. Only the politically correct fools on the left could swallow that lie. Unfortunately, this country seems to be over-run with their kind!!!
Let's be clear on this, I mean no disrespect for President Obama as a person. He seems to be a fine man with an intelligent mind, and a lot of personable traits. Truthfulness does not seem to be one of them, as we are recently becoming painfully aware with all the cover-ups and stone-walling going on over the I.R.S. discrimination practices, the N.S.A. eaves-dropping, and the refusal to be open about the betrayal of the Lybian Embassy's security when under terrorist attack in Benghazi. It seems like lying is the official plan of action with this White House, and I suspect it begins in the Oval Office. It just goes to show that an intelligent mind and personable traits do not measure up to that of a man of wisdom, and character, and honesty( which are apparently not traits taught at Harvard), which is what we sorely need in the role of President today.
In Matthew 7, verses 15 through 20, Jesus discusses this very issue with His disciples, in reference to their ability to recognize true prophets of God, verses those who merely pretend to be. In recognizing that we are all held to this same standard, let me say up front that I am no prophet, nor do I ever make any pretense to be so. The next time God uses me to speak His prophetic word will be the first, and I'll let the reader decide for themselves when that happens. Until then, all I'm doing is expounding on His recorded prophecies from the Bible, and trying to see if there might be a genuine connection to current events happening around us. My concern here is that the Bible-believing student of prophecy might simply not recognize little bits of developing prophecy fulfillment until it culminates in the inescapable conclusion. While their ignorance will certainly not effect their safety, through God's protection, they may miss the fascinating story of how God is bringing His various prophecies to pass.
That said, I have been troubled since President Obama's first election campaign that our nation might be about to elect the first Muslim President in our history. It is my opinion (politically correct, or not) that this would automatically disqualify him from holding office. (I can just hear the thunderous sound of the entire liberal body-politic smacking their foreheads simultaneously, as they break out into uproarious politically-correct guffaws. I recognize that any liberal who becomes aware of my position would immediately begin to ridicule me as being either a bigot, a racist, a right -wing facist, or simply an idiot. That is always the liberal response; when they have no convincing argument to the contrary, their last resort is to ridicule the opposition. But these are not my words but Jesus' words when I quote, " by their fruits ye shall know them." Matthew 7: 20.) The word "fruits" here means a combination of their actions, and their words; or, "do they just talk the talk, or do they walk the walk as well?"
It is also my opinion, though unfortunately the Supreme Court does not agree, that the "establishment clause" of the first amendment to the Constitution has been misinterpreted completely out of the cultural context of the founding fathers who framed it. It reads, "Congress shall pass no law respecting an establishment of religion". In the context of the day, since there was essentially only one religion in America, I believe that the true present-day meaning of this clause should read, "an establishment of denomination" (which implies Christianity), as the concern was for prohibiting the spreading of the "Church of England's" persecution of every other denomination that did not agree with their tenants. But as the word "denomination" was not yet applied to the various divergent faiths of Christian belief, they were referred to as different "religions". It is my belief that this clause was intentionally exclusive of all other non-Bible believing faiths (and Muslims believe the Bible to be a corruption of God's true Word, making it therefore irrelevant, as opposed to the Koran which they esteem to be God's true revelation), by our founding fathers, and without apology, as the thought of a president not directing the policies of our country in a manner that was at least not in direct violation of Biblical principles would have been completely anathema to them, whether they were confirmed Christians, or not.
Yet as I understand Islam, there is an implied, if not expressed prohibition against fighting with other Muslims, though certainly there are many Muslims who seem to feel this is not absolute. I believe that President Obama was slow to offer help to the rebels in Lybia, and is reluctant to offer significant assistance to the rebels in Syria because of this Islamic restriction, and that he didn't want to be guilty of killing any innocent Muslims, even collaterally. As President he does not have the luxury of this kind of personal restraint, when acting according to our national interests. I'm afraid that this kind of indecision will be the reason for our apparent wishy-washy response to the Gog/Magog invasion, when Ezekiel 38:13 has the nations of, "Sheba, and Dedan, (Saudi Arabia?), and the merchants of Tarshish(thought to be England), with all the young lions thereof (thought to be America, with England's other colonies) shall say unto thee(Gog), art thou come to take a spoil?" (DUH!!!) This could be the end of American support for the defense of Israel, against their enemies, who will be predominantly Russian, with her Muslim allies. Who knows if Obama will still be in office when this happens; I'm just saying that it all seems to fit, whenever it does.
For those who still wish to argue that Obama professes to be a Christian, let's refer back to the original campaign charge to the contrary. Any Christian who attends a church that preaches contrary to his Biblical beliefs will soon find another church that preaches more in line with his faith. No Bible-believing Christian could stand to listen to the hate-mongering rants of the "Reverend" Jeremiah Wright against Jews, Israel, white Americans, and corporate Capitalism for twenty years, unless he agreed wholeheartedly with what he was hearing. Only the politically correct fools on the left could swallow that lie. Unfortunately, this country seems to be over-run with their kind!!!
Let's be clear on this, I mean no disrespect for President Obama as a person. He seems to be a fine man with an intelligent mind, and a lot of personable traits. Truthfulness does not seem to be one of them, as we are recently becoming painfully aware with all the cover-ups and stone-walling going on over the I.R.S. discrimination practices, the N.S.A. eaves-dropping, and the refusal to be open about the betrayal of the Lybian Embassy's security when under terrorist attack in Benghazi. It seems like lying is the official plan of action with this White House, and I suspect it begins in the Oval Office. It just goes to show that an intelligent mind and personable traits do not measure up to that of a man of wisdom, and character, and honesty( which are apparently not traits taught at Harvard), which is what we sorely need in the role of President today.
Monday, June 17, 2013
Putin's Thuggery
While watching world events point increasingly toward the imminent approach of World War III, or as the Bible calls it, the Gog/Magog invasion of Israel, it would be very easy to proclaim Vladimere Putin to be the Russian leader that God refers to as "Gog". The present Russian Premier (and former president; and former Premier; and de facto totalitarian tyrant) has been personally steering the conflict in Syria in a manner that seems to be setting us up for the prophetic showdown, like it or not.
But while Putin certainly is responsible for the bellicose belligerence on the part of the Russian support of Bashir Assad's Syrian regime, he doesn't seem to fit the bill as the leader of the future invasion that God describes in Ezekiel 38, & 39. In Ezekiel 39:4, & 5, God is speaking directly to the leader of Russia's armies when He prophesies that He will cause him to, "fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou and all thy bands, and the people that is with thee"..."thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God." Can Putin really be so egomaniacal that he would personally lead his invasion forces upon Israel himself? It seems too incredible to think so, in an age when all other nations' leaders leave the fighting up to their generals, while they remain safely at home. But if he is still in power when this comes to pass that seems to be what is going to happen. I wonder if he will be wearing the Super Bowl victory ring that he blatantly stole from the New England Patriots owner, Robert Kraft, while proclaiming, "I could kill with this." One has to wonder how much help that will be for him when he faces up against God Almighty!!!
But while Putin certainly is responsible for the bellicose belligerence on the part of the Russian support of Bashir Assad's Syrian regime, he doesn't seem to fit the bill as the leader of the future invasion that God describes in Ezekiel 38, & 39. In Ezekiel 39:4, & 5, God is speaking directly to the leader of Russia's armies when He prophesies that He will cause him to, "fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou and all thy bands, and the people that is with thee"..."thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God." Can Putin really be so egomaniacal that he would personally lead his invasion forces upon Israel himself? It seems too incredible to think so, in an age when all other nations' leaders leave the fighting up to their generals, while they remain safely at home. But if he is still in power when this comes to pass that seems to be what is going to happen. I wonder if he will be wearing the Super Bowl victory ring that he blatantly stole from the New England Patriots owner, Robert Kraft, while proclaiming, "I could kill with this." One has to wonder how much help that will be for him when he faces up against God Almighty!!!
Friday, June 14, 2013
Syrian Escalation ?
It seems that the plot is thickening in Syria, which could spread easily into Turkey as well. The White House is confirming today that Syria's Assad government has used Sarin Gas to poison to death approximately 100 to 150 people, in their battles with the rebel forces. There has been no speculation as to how many of these deaths can be called against enemy combatants, versus "collateral damage" fatalities of non-combatants living in the areas of dispute.
President Obama has gone on record previously to say that any use of Sarin, or any other form of chemical weapons in the fighting (of which the Syrian government forces are known to have large stockpiles) would be considered a significant escalation on their part, and would cause the U.S. to reconsider our position of not offering the rebel forces more advanced, and powerful military aid, in retaliation. In other words, "your escalation will force our escalation, so what are you going to do about that?" DUH!!!
It occurs to me that this could be exactly what Russia wants to have happen. One of the options the White House has said would be considered would be the establishment of a "No-Fly Zone" over the areas controlled by the rebels (which Putin has vowed that he "will not allow this to happen"). This could be accomplished by pressuring any NATO ally to send planes into the area to take out the Syrian jets that try to attack, relieving America of the appearance of direct intervention. Now, if only we could think of a NATO ally that might be pressured into doing so. Hmmmm..., a NATO ally, with muslim sympathies close to Syria,... Hmmmm, who could that be? Wait! I think I've got it! How about Turkey!!! That's perfect; I don't know why I didn't think of that before!
Of course, Russia has already escalated in anticipation of our escalation by sending Syria some advanced Surface To Air ("SAM") missiles capable of shooting down sophisticated jet fighters. It seems like they were setting us up to draw us into the conflict, the only thing necessary was to pressure Assad into using the Sarin gas, knowing that Obama was already committed to respond by escalating, which they could use as an excuse to escalate some more. The Russians are famous chess players, and tend to view warfare in a tit-for-tat form of strategy. Therefore it serves their purposes to draw America slowly into the war at a time when we are sick of the wars in Iraq and Afganistan. First we pressure Turkey into being our proxy in Syria, while sending more and more costly weapons to the rebel forces. If Russia can defeat, or even stalemate our efforts long enough, they know the American people will grow tired of paying for the war effort and will force the administration to abandon it, and pull out. Then a negotiated peace movement could draw the rebel forces into a tenuous alliance, and perhaps a Russian sponsored destabilization effort against Turkey could bring about a Shiite, or Al-Quaida dominated regime, and a subsequent alliance with Syria, Russia and all the other Gog/Magog allies to try and invade Israel. Russia's armed forces could be slowly built up in Syria over years of conflict, so that all they would need to do would be to turn around and point their weapons south, toward Israel, and the "invasion" would already be on "the Mountains of Israel", as God said they would in Ezekiel 38:8 (remember that Syria was conquered by King David 3000 years ago, so their mountains could be what God is referring to here) where God has prophesied to bring them so He can destroy 83% of their armies. Their wouldn't need to be any massive armed invasion travelling south through Iran and Iraq, they could be flown in, a little at a time.
Amazing to see just how clever the Russians can be at setting this all up! If all this happens the way I'm suggesting that it might, this would have to be the most complex effort of any armed invasion force in history, to effectively commit suicide by thumbing their noses at God Almighty!!!
President Obama has gone on record previously to say that any use of Sarin, or any other form of chemical weapons in the fighting (of which the Syrian government forces are known to have large stockpiles) would be considered a significant escalation on their part, and would cause the U.S. to reconsider our position of not offering the rebel forces more advanced, and powerful military aid, in retaliation. In other words, "your escalation will force our escalation, so what are you going to do about that?" DUH!!!
It occurs to me that this could be exactly what Russia wants to have happen. One of the options the White House has said would be considered would be the establishment of a "No-Fly Zone" over the areas controlled by the rebels (which Putin has vowed that he "will not allow this to happen"). This could be accomplished by pressuring any NATO ally to send planes into the area to take out the Syrian jets that try to attack, relieving America of the appearance of direct intervention. Now, if only we could think of a NATO ally that might be pressured into doing so. Hmmmm..., a NATO ally, with muslim sympathies close to Syria,... Hmmmm, who could that be? Wait! I think I've got it! How about Turkey!!! That's perfect; I don't know why I didn't think of that before!
Of course, Russia has already escalated in anticipation of our escalation by sending Syria some advanced Surface To Air ("SAM") missiles capable of shooting down sophisticated jet fighters. It seems like they were setting us up to draw us into the conflict, the only thing necessary was to pressure Assad into using the Sarin gas, knowing that Obama was already committed to respond by escalating, which they could use as an excuse to escalate some more. The Russians are famous chess players, and tend to view warfare in a tit-for-tat form of strategy. Therefore it serves their purposes to draw America slowly into the war at a time when we are sick of the wars in Iraq and Afganistan. First we pressure Turkey into being our proxy in Syria, while sending more and more costly weapons to the rebel forces. If Russia can defeat, or even stalemate our efforts long enough, they know the American people will grow tired of paying for the war effort and will force the administration to abandon it, and pull out. Then a negotiated peace movement could draw the rebel forces into a tenuous alliance, and perhaps a Russian sponsored destabilization effort against Turkey could bring about a Shiite, or Al-Quaida dominated regime, and a subsequent alliance with Syria, Russia and all the other Gog/Magog allies to try and invade Israel. Russia's armed forces could be slowly built up in Syria over years of conflict, so that all they would need to do would be to turn around and point their weapons south, toward Israel, and the "invasion" would already be on "the Mountains of Israel", as God said they would in Ezekiel 38:8 (remember that Syria was conquered by King David 3000 years ago, so their mountains could be what God is referring to here) where God has prophesied to bring them so He can destroy 83% of their armies. Their wouldn't need to be any massive armed invasion travelling south through Iran and Iraq, they could be flown in, a little at a time.
Amazing to see just how clever the Russians can be at setting this all up! If all this happens the way I'm suggesting that it might, this would have to be the most complex effort of any armed invasion force in history, to effectively commit suicide by thumbing their noses at God Almighty!!!
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Europe--Still Gasping!
Pardon the interruption, but I ran out of "paper" for my last post. I'm still getting familiar with this blog site, and adjustments may take a while.
I left off with a scenario that I imagine may well be used by the Antichrist to slowly rob America of it's dominant economic power in the world, without most of us realizing it until it's too late. In a world that is already addicted to economic bailouts of basket-case economies, by the wealthier countries, I wouldn't be surprised to see the failing European economy turn to the U.S. for a series of bailouts of their debts, which we try to inflate away into the thin air. Eventually it will catch up to us, and the worthless dollar will most likely be cancelled in favor of a more stable currency. This will probably be some form of Gold-denominated electronic currency that Europe will be slowly establishing over the years, while it is simultaneously begging us to bail-out their indebtedness. This would all have to happen slowly, so the average American doesn't realize what the international bankers are trying to pull off.
If this all sounds like the proverbial boiling of a live frog, you're right! It's the issue of throwing a frog into a pot of boiling water, from which he immediately jumps out. Alternatively, if you put the same frog in a pot of cool water, he'll just swim around as you slowly turn up the heat under the pot until he eventually boils to death. That's what America is probably looking forward to, economically, in the not too distant future. And we're in the early stages of it now!
In the mean time, between now and the "Rapture" of the Church, if we can't stop this from happening, we can certainly resist it to slow it's progress. But if I'm right, and God is going to allow it in order to bring about His "Last Days" confrontation between the forces of good and evil, then at least we can rest assured that it will not be sinful for Christians to reluctantly participate in the European-based economy that will be developed from all this. Remember that the only sin in this will be receiving the "Mark of the Beast" in our right hand, or forehead. I can't see the Antichrist forcing this on a world that is comprised of perhaps hundreds of millions of Christians, most of whom would revolt at this obvious evil, and many of whom are well armed! Plus, we know that the first three years of the Antichrist's seven-year reign will be peaceful enough to solidify his power. But after the Church is "Raptured" to Heaven few will object to receiving the "Mark", if that's the only way to buy food for their families. Therefore it seems to me that the introduction of the new European currency will not be sinful for Christians to use, as the necessity of the "Mark" will not be forced on anyone until we are safely in Heaven with Jesus.
But, since I could be mistaken about all this, don't anyone receive anything that "smacks" of a "mark", or subcutaneous electronic implant in their right hand, or forehead anytime soon! At least not on my account, thank you very much!!!
I left off with a scenario that I imagine may well be used by the Antichrist to slowly rob America of it's dominant economic power in the world, without most of us realizing it until it's too late. In a world that is already addicted to economic bailouts of basket-case economies, by the wealthier countries, I wouldn't be surprised to see the failing European economy turn to the U.S. for a series of bailouts of their debts, which we try to inflate away into the thin air. Eventually it will catch up to us, and the worthless dollar will most likely be cancelled in favor of a more stable currency. This will probably be some form of Gold-denominated electronic currency that Europe will be slowly establishing over the years, while it is simultaneously begging us to bail-out their indebtedness. This would all have to happen slowly, so the average American doesn't realize what the international bankers are trying to pull off.
If this all sounds like the proverbial boiling of a live frog, you're right! It's the issue of throwing a frog into a pot of boiling water, from which he immediately jumps out. Alternatively, if you put the same frog in a pot of cool water, he'll just swim around as you slowly turn up the heat under the pot until he eventually boils to death. That's what America is probably looking forward to, economically, in the not too distant future. And we're in the early stages of it now!
In the mean time, between now and the "Rapture" of the Church, if we can't stop this from happening, we can certainly resist it to slow it's progress. But if I'm right, and God is going to allow it in order to bring about His "Last Days" confrontation between the forces of good and evil, then at least we can rest assured that it will not be sinful for Christians to reluctantly participate in the European-based economy that will be developed from all this. Remember that the only sin in this will be receiving the "Mark of the Beast" in our right hand, or forehead. I can't see the Antichrist forcing this on a world that is comprised of perhaps hundreds of millions of Christians, most of whom would revolt at this obvious evil, and many of whom are well armed! Plus, we know that the first three years of the Antichrist's seven-year reign will be peaceful enough to solidify his power. But after the Church is "Raptured" to Heaven few will object to receiving the "Mark", if that's the only way to buy food for their families. Therefore it seems to me that the introduction of the new European currency will not be sinful for Christians to use, as the necessity of the "Mark" will not be forced on anyone until we are safely in Heaven with Jesus.
But, since I could be mistaken about all this, don't anyone receive anything that "smacks" of a "mark", or subcutaneous electronic implant in their right hand, or forehead anytime soon! At least not on my account, thank you very much!!!
European Financial Markets Last Gasp?
While the American stock markets seem to be in the early stages of recovery from "the worst recession since the Great Depression" (as it is frequently referred to), their counterparts in Europe are showing signs of near panic at the "horror" of the American Fed even considering the timing of a slowing of the "Quantitative Easing" of America's economy, which some prefer to call the hyperinflation of the economy. The thought that we might actually have to pay for all that profligate money printing has got the Socialists in Europe positively hyperventilating. If we start tightening the flow of money here because our economy is improving, the prices of American products sold in Europe will increase at a time when Europeans are struggling with their own pathetic attempts at belt tightening. Apparently, it's easier to get a heroin addict to quit "cold turkey" then it is to teach a Socialist how to live within their means. Socialists prefer to borrow endlessly on credit, until they can't any more, and then expect someone else to pay off their debts. Clearly the European nations are desperately holding out hope that America's Fed will be their "Bail-Out of Last Resort", and we will simply tire of all their foot-dragging at really tightening their profligate inflationary spending, and will simply pay off their debts for them. This may well happen; I believe the Fed would just love to, if they could do it without the people realizing it. But that would necessitate such a jump in our inflation that it would probably destroy our economy. However, the truth of this realization just might not stop them from doing it.
But, not to worry...the fed is probably not serious about replacing money printing with cash- burning any time soon, if ever. If my suspicions are correct, this last recession may soon resume , and perhaps be extended for a couple decades, or so. This is another of my outlandish statements, at least from an economist's point of view (and I certainly am not one). But the scale of world-wide indebtedness today, both public and private, is so massive that I can't see it being significantly reduced by a brief spurt of Fed-stimulated economic resurgence, here in America.
The economy is not inflating, it's deflating. We just don't realize it because of all the Fed's "Q.E." spending which has hidden it fairly well. But as soon as interest rates start rising, and the Fed's bond purchasing starts to pinch, then the natural deflationary principles will take over, and the Fed won't be able to stand that, so they'll change course and try to print our way out of the inevitable, once again. And each subsequent inflationary stimulus must be exponentially larger than the previous one in order to have even a noticeable effect, until eventually our currency is worthless, and no one will accept it as payment for anything.
My unapologetic arrogance in challenging the wisdom of the brilliant economists who got us all into this mess in the first place is based upon two Biblically-based presumptions. One, that we are drawing close to the return of Jesus Christ--which we refer to as the "End Times", or the "Last Days"-- and two, the Bible prophecies tell us that before He returns the geo-political, and especially the economic power of the world will be centered briefly in a confederation of European nations, controlled by the Antichrist and his One-World government. Since we have today a European confederation that is struggling to hold itself together, it seems that all it needs is a "brilliant" and "charismatic" leader to rise from comparative obscurity, just as Hitler did during the 1920's when their hyperinflationary economy was in a shambles, to take charge and "restore order" to their lives. The price that they will pay for this "new order" will be a totalitarian state that would have left Hitler green with envy, if he could have seen it.
What I see happening to the world's economy over the next decade, or two, is a gradual shifting of the economic power base away from America, and towards Europe. I have described this before as a kind of perversion of John the Baptist's statement that Jesus, "must increase, but I must decrease", in order for Christ's ministry to spread. Similarly, though for evil ends, America's prosperity must decrease along with our economic influence, so that the Antichrist's power can increase. I'm convinced that this must happen for the prophecies to be fulfilled, therefore it is indirectly God's will in the last days. He will give all this power to the Antichrist, for a little while, and therefore we must surrender it. It cannot be that America will remain the economic Superpower, while the Antichrist runs roughshod over the whole world.
The problem for the Antichrist is we don't want to give it up, so he must steal it from us. And the best way to do that without our realizing it is with years, or even decades of slow, exponentially increasing hyperinflation, until our currency is worthless to the point where it is no longer acceptable in exchange for goods and services. If another currency becomes more stable in the mean time, then everyone else will demand that as a replacement currency.
The thing is that if interest rates rise, that means that the economy is rebounding, and therefor there is no need for massive "Q.E.", or hyperinflationary spending. So, the Fed will need some other excuse to keep printing massive amounts of worthless dollars, such as ... oh... I dunno... how about quietly "loaning" European governments the money to pay off their massive debts, and when they can't re-pay the loans we'll simply "forgive" the loans, and eat the inflationary dollars ourselves, until our own currency becomes worthless. This will help the Euro to stabilize and then they can attach it's value to the Gold Standard, through Gold-denominated computer banking ( that perhaps will not even need the actual purchasing of gold to back it up, because transactions by computer are much more convenient than actually converting electronic "cash" into gold first). Of course this will all necessitate the eventual receiving of the "Mark of the Beast" in one's right hand, or forehead to complete transactions. But I don't foresee this as happening before the "Rapture", as it must be brought on slowly, and quietly in order to be accepted world-wide, and the body of Christ would raise too much of an objection to that. Since the world-wide slaughter of hundreds of millions of uncooperative Christians would be bad publicity, and would certainly be God's vehicle for causing millions more to receive Christ in their place, I think that the Antichrist would prefer to simply wait for the Rapture to rid him of all those pesky Christians ( he'll be able to read the Bible too, in a "know your enemy" sort of way), while explaining that the martians came and spirited us away for their food supply. Then he can make refusing the "Mark" a capital offense, without much objection.
But, not to worry...the fed is probably not serious about replacing money printing with cash- burning any time soon, if ever. If my suspicions are correct, this last recession may soon resume , and perhaps be extended for a couple decades, or so. This is another of my outlandish statements, at least from an economist's point of view (and I certainly am not one). But the scale of world-wide indebtedness today, both public and private, is so massive that I can't see it being significantly reduced by a brief spurt of Fed-stimulated economic resurgence, here in America.
The economy is not inflating, it's deflating. We just don't realize it because of all the Fed's "Q.E." spending which has hidden it fairly well. But as soon as interest rates start rising, and the Fed's bond purchasing starts to pinch, then the natural deflationary principles will take over, and the Fed won't be able to stand that, so they'll change course and try to print our way out of the inevitable, once again. And each subsequent inflationary stimulus must be exponentially larger than the previous one in order to have even a noticeable effect, until eventually our currency is worthless, and no one will accept it as payment for anything.
My unapologetic arrogance in challenging the wisdom of the brilliant economists who got us all into this mess in the first place is based upon two Biblically-based presumptions. One, that we are drawing close to the return of Jesus Christ--which we refer to as the "End Times", or the "Last Days"-- and two, the Bible prophecies tell us that before He returns the geo-political, and especially the economic power of the world will be centered briefly in a confederation of European nations, controlled by the Antichrist and his One-World government. Since we have today a European confederation that is struggling to hold itself together, it seems that all it needs is a "brilliant" and "charismatic" leader to rise from comparative obscurity, just as Hitler did during the 1920's when their hyperinflationary economy was in a shambles, to take charge and "restore order" to their lives. The price that they will pay for this "new order" will be a totalitarian state that would have left Hitler green with envy, if he could have seen it.
What I see happening to the world's economy over the next decade, or two, is a gradual shifting of the economic power base away from America, and towards Europe. I have described this before as a kind of perversion of John the Baptist's statement that Jesus, "must increase, but I must decrease", in order for Christ's ministry to spread. Similarly, though for evil ends, America's prosperity must decrease along with our economic influence, so that the Antichrist's power can increase. I'm convinced that this must happen for the prophecies to be fulfilled, therefore it is indirectly God's will in the last days. He will give all this power to the Antichrist, for a little while, and therefore we must surrender it. It cannot be that America will remain the economic Superpower, while the Antichrist runs roughshod over the whole world.
The problem for the Antichrist is we don't want to give it up, so he must steal it from us. And the best way to do that without our realizing it is with years, or even decades of slow, exponentially increasing hyperinflation, until our currency is worthless to the point where it is no longer acceptable in exchange for goods and services. If another currency becomes more stable in the mean time, then everyone else will demand that as a replacement currency.
The thing is that if interest rates rise, that means that the economy is rebounding, and therefor there is no need for massive "Q.E.", or hyperinflationary spending. So, the Fed will need some other excuse to keep printing massive amounts of worthless dollars, such as ... oh... I dunno... how about quietly "loaning" European governments the money to pay off their massive debts, and when they can't re-pay the loans we'll simply "forgive" the loans, and eat the inflationary dollars ourselves, until our own currency becomes worthless. This will help the Euro to stabilize and then they can attach it's value to the Gold Standard, through Gold-denominated computer banking ( that perhaps will not even need the actual purchasing of gold to back it up, because transactions by computer are much more convenient than actually converting electronic "cash" into gold first). Of course this will all necessitate the eventual receiving of the "Mark of the Beast" in one's right hand, or forehead to complete transactions. But I don't foresee this as happening before the "Rapture", as it must be brought on slowly, and quietly in order to be accepted world-wide, and the body of Christ would raise too much of an objection to that. Since the world-wide slaughter of hundreds of millions of uncooperative Christians would be bad publicity, and would certainly be God's vehicle for causing millions more to receive Christ in their place, I think that the Antichrist would prefer to simply wait for the Rapture to rid him of all those pesky Christians ( he'll be able to read the Bible too, in a "know your enemy" sort of way), while explaining that the martians came and spirited us away for their food supply. Then he can make refusing the "Mark" a capital offense, without much objection.
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
The Abomination of Desolation
Having exhaustively developed my perspective on the possible chronology of the coming Gog/Magog invasion of Israel, and the possible nuclear attack upon America by a vengeful Russia, and how all this might well lead up to the Rapture of the church, I now must present a disclaimer for the apparent (but not certain) flaw in my biblical reasoning. It all centers around the juxtaposition of Jesus' warning about the Abomination of Desolation in the various accounts of His Olivet Discourse, and how he gives that first, and later expounds on what is obviously the rapture of the believers. While it all confirms the correctness of my belief that the rapture will occur immediately after the phenomenon of, "the sun (will) be darkened, and the moon will not give her light" (Matthew 24: 29), followed immediately by, "And then shall appear the SIGN of the Son of man in heaven...", which is obviously when He will rapture His church. I also explained that I believe that "the SIGN of the Son of man..." is different from the second coming of Christ to earth, when He will first stand upon the Mount of Olives near Jerusalem. There is no mention of His actually landing on earth in His Olivet Discourse; merely that He would be seen coming in the clouds. The emphasis here is certainly the gathering of His elect (the church) to meet Him in the air, so there is no need for Him to actually touch down. And there is much more prophecy to be fulfilled before we see Him landing on the Mount of Olives (in Zechariah 14: 4), so it makes sense that we will go away with Jesus, (presumably to Heaven?) to await His real second coming at the end, when we will return with Him. Also, the place where Jesus intervenes to save His people from total destruction is "surrounding Jerusalem". Whereas the place where God destroys the Gog/Magog armies is on "the mountains of Israel", which extend all the way through central Israel, north, deep into Syria, and Lebanon. It is reasonable to me that these "mountains" are those north of Israel proper, in present-day Syria, (remember that King David conquered Syria about 1000 A.D., and it was considered part of Israel thereafter). But I get no sense from Ezekiel's account that the invasion force actually crosses the border into Israel proper because there is no mention of any harm to the Israeli people in the Gog/Magog war, whereas there is considerable violence to them immediately before Jesus returns to rescue the remnant of His people.
But the timing of His warning of the Abomination of Desolation clearly before all this is admittedly troubling to me, since we know that this will occur "in the midst of..." the seven year tribulation, yet I've already expounded on my reasons for believing that the Gog/Magog war concludes with what seems like a nuclear exchange between Russia and America ( with a brief angelic interruption that seems to be the rapture), and the likelihood that the seven year Tribulation will follow all this. Clearly there is an irreconcilable discrepancy here, as both can not be correct. At this point all I can do is throw up my hands, and shout, "Mia culpa!" you've caught me in my humanity. I'm not too proud to admit my human frailty: I simply don't get it. If someone out there can resolve this logically, I'd appreciate the comment. Otherwise, it'll be the first thing I'll ask Jesus when He comes for us. You'll please pardon me for not bothering to explain it in another post, when He answers me. I'll be somewhat distracted then!!!
But the timing of His warning of the Abomination of Desolation clearly before all this is admittedly troubling to me, since we know that this will occur "in the midst of..." the seven year tribulation, yet I've already expounded on my reasons for believing that the Gog/Magog war concludes with what seems like a nuclear exchange between Russia and America ( with a brief angelic interruption that seems to be the rapture), and the likelihood that the seven year Tribulation will follow all this. Clearly there is an irreconcilable discrepancy here, as both can not be correct. At this point all I can do is throw up my hands, and shout, "Mia culpa!" you've caught me in my humanity. I'm not too proud to admit my human frailty: I simply don't get it. If someone out there can resolve this logically, I'd appreciate the comment. Otherwise, it'll be the first thing I'll ask Jesus when He comes for us. You'll please pardon me for not bothering to explain it in another post, when He answers me. I'll be somewhat distracted then!!!
Monday, June 10, 2013
Revelation's Sixth and Seventh Seals
My last post said that I believed the end of the Russian/Muslim Nations' war (referred to as the Gog/Magog invasion) might well precipitate a partial nuclear holocaust, between Russia and America. In order to support my theory it is necessary to take pieces of prophecy from different sources of the Bible and combine them, as long as the contexts seem to be consistent, and I think I am not doing violence to the truth of the prophetic word here. But I leave it to the reader to prayerfully judge whether they agree, or not with my reasoning, and I will appreciate any comments, pro or con, to that purpose.
In Revelation 6:12 the apostle John describes his heavenly vision thusly: "And I beheld when he ( the Angel who was revealing the vision to John) had opened the sixth seal, and lo there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;... "Likewise Joel 2: 20 speaks similarly of God promising to, "remove far off from you the northern army" (at least the 17% of it that survives God's wrath). Afterwards he says in verses 30, and 31: "And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come." Notice God said He would show "'wonders' in the heavens and in the earth", not necessarily miracles. All he has to do is place the thought in the minds of those in power and it will be done, and the international "shock and awe" effect will be "wondrous", indeed. Also, He states here that these things will happen "before the...day of the Lord come" (a term that is generally associated with Jesus second coming, when He will touch down on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, which apparently doesn't happen at this time (Zechariah 14: 3,& 4).
Here we have similar descriptions of a vision that seems to take place after God destroys most of the invading "northern army", led by "Gog's" Russian forces. This doesn't seem to be the battle of Armageddon that comes later because there is no mention of either the antichrist's European nations, or the forces of the "Kings of the East" (China, Japan, Korea, etc.) participating in it.
Also, the vision of pillars of smoke and fire conjures up images of nuclear mushroom clouds, along with the reference to blood, which may not mean only the obvious blood of the dead, and wounded; but the old testament use of the term "blood" sometimes was used to describe a general pestilence, like a disease that became a deadly plague. Other prophecies describe the pillars of smoke and fire as the heaven (or "the first heaven", the sky) being, "rolled back like a scroll" ( perhaps a description of dust clouds spreading between the mushroom clouds, until they hit the "pillars", and are rolled back on themselves?). If the term "blood" here means a deadly plague, what better way to describe the effects of an overflowing wave of toxic radiation poisoning that would follow a nuclear attack, to someone like John who could have no concept of the effects of modern technology.
As for the image of the sun being darkened and the moon turning into blood, consider the following: Scientists tell us that after a massive nuclear attack we would find a massive radioactive cloud cover spreading over the earth roughly on the latitudinal lines of the detonations. This would blot out sunlight significantly for as long as it took the radioactive dust to settle, which would bring on the so-called "nuclear winter" effect. The image of the moon turning to blood could mean turning into a blood-red color. Another account describes this as "the moon will not shed it's light". Could this mean that the light flash of the nuclear detonations, on the night-side of the planet will flash brilliantly enough to darken all minimal sunlight on that side of the earth, simply by outshining the sunlight ( similar to that of a camera flash bulb temporarily blinding the subjects by flashing more brilliantly than the surrounding light), and causing a blood red reflection to shine off of the moon? Since the source of the moon's natural light is from the sun, this would be the moon "not shedding it's light", but that of another source. (For some alternative reasoning, check out the post titled, "Blood Moons By Gog", posted on January 17th of 2014.)
The only protection from all this would be to lock oneself inside an underground shelter until the radiation diminished...in about five hundred years! Revelation 6 describes just this in verse 15, "And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bond man, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks 'Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him...For the great day of His wrath is come...'" Close but not quite! As far as they're concerned it is the end, though there's more for the rest of the world before Jesus' final judgment. For those in the fallout shelters, there remains the slow starvation after they run out of supplies; or if Russia's leaders have indeed planned a way to feed millions of people indefinitely, their offspring may indeed be the ones released after Jesus' thousand year reign, as Satan and his minions make one final desperate effort to overthrow Christ, before God casts them all into the lake of fire.
[Update: A recent investigative Cable T.V. show disclosed a similar massive tunneling and building project going on somewhere in the Ozark Mountains, where large caverns have already begun the work. This is on a scale so large that clearly only the Federal government could be behind it. Thank God for the Rapture, because I don't think there will be enough room for any Born-Again Christians, no matter how big they build it!!!]
But let's back up a little bit, to the beginning of what I feel is the nuclear attack on America, caused by a vengeful Russia whose leaders have just witnessed 83% of their armed forces being destroyed by God, whom they don't believe exists (so they retaliate against America, for having given Israel the arms necessary to defeat their enemies). America would have no choice but to respond with our own nuclear retaliation. But wait! Revelation 7 seems to describe something that might be God's merciful intervention in order to save those of His people who are facing certain nuclear vaporization. Could this be describing the "Rapture of the church worldwide"??? I believe so, though I'll grant that the evidence is slim. But God wants us to trust in Him by faith, and if He told us everything that will happen in the future we would just sit around and wait for Him to do it. Still, I believe He's given us enough prophecy to reason-out that what follows may well be true.
Revelation 7 opens with the vision of , "four angels...holding the four winds of the earth ( north, south, east, and west), that the wind should not blow on the earth..."
[UPDATE: 1/30/2019--
An alternative thought, that might explain the above description: Perhaps the reason that America does not seem to respond to the invasion of Israel, our best ally in the Middle-East, might be because Russia may have blasted an atomic missile at a high altitude over the U.S., creating an E.M.T. pulse that is powerful enough to "fry" our entire electric grid. maybe even long enough that we can not communicate with our armed forces worldwide, leaving Israel to go it alone (except for God!). This might be Russia's way of keeping us from helping Israel, and they probably feel that Israel couldn't defeat them alone. Guess again folks!!!
Perhaps the entire "Gog/Magog" war is finished before we recover enough to retaliate. If we could conclusively prove that it was Russia that did it, a nuclear retaliation might be plausible! Then perhaps China might retaliate against us, not because they care about Russia, but because they would remain the only great power in the world! That might explain the wind being stopped briefly; as the earth rotates from east to west, creating the flow of wind predominately moving west to east. Perhaps a nuclear attack from the east (China) might be enough to cause the earth's rotation to pause, when the missiles explode on America. That doesn't worry me because I expect to be raptured before this!!!]
"...Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads." After this the angels seal twelve thousand servants of God from each of the twelve tribes of Israel ( sorry Jehovah's Witnesses, this does not mean you; only God knows who they are), followed in Revelation 8:7 by the releasing of "hail and fire mingled with blood" ( the nuclear detonations?). These are to be God's witnesses in the seven year tribulation. But what's interesting is what is not said here. First, why are there only 144,000 of God's servants that are so protected. Perhaps because the Church has just been raptured and doesn't need earthly protection? If so, these would not be 144,000 additional witnesses along with the whole body of Christ on Earth, because the Church would no longer be on Earth! Therefore these 144,000 may be the only witnesses God has left on Earth, a time when His ultimate judgment is coming soon, hense the necessity for them to be protected by the seals in their foreheads. Or, they may be the only witnesses left whom God will protect from the horrible fate of being a believer in the days of the Great Tribulation, when believing will apparently cause one to lose his head, literally! There might be many others who heard the Gospel and almost believed it, but did not act upon it until the undeniable proof of Christ's Rapture of His Church convinced them. At that point, they could still become Born-Again believers, but the Rapture would not be available for them, nor would they be protected with the 144,000 on Mount Zion. Their fate would be unbelievable persecution, and eventually death ( by starvation, murder, or arrest and beheading, as described in the "fifth seal" of Revelation 6: 9 through 11).
Does the image of the angels holding back the wind really mean that the earth is being held still of it's rotation while these servants are being sealed? Remember, angels are eternal beings that God occasionally sends back to earth to perform some heavenly mission, meaning that they can move freely between Eternity, and Time. So, it's entirely possible that this sealing of the servants will take place in an instant too brief to be measured by earthly time. In other words the angels are given the power to freeze time briefly, until these servants are sealed. If so, what else could happen in that moment that God simply chose not to mention because He wants us to reason scripturally that this sealing would not be necessary as long as the Church is on the earth. Plus, these servants are Israelites, who probably were not convinced that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah, or the Son of God, until they witness "the sign of His (Jesus') coming". I am convinced that the "Rapture" is the "SIGN of the Son Of Man coming in the clouds", (specifically, that "SIGN" will be the complete and instantaneous disappearance of all the born-again Christians of the world, in the "twinkling of an eye") rather than the actual sighting of Him returning, since there is no mention of Jesus touching down on earth, as is the case in Zechariah 14: 4, which precipitates Armageddon's conclusion. The very fact that all the known born-again believers have just disappeared, and only those who are known believers are gone, would certainly shock the rest of the world. And they would be forced to accept that there was only one possible explanation for it, the "SIGN of His coming", which many of them would have heard about, without believing it was true. ( They might well have preferred to believe the Hollywood perception that the apocalypse was survivable on earth, but only for those who are expert at slaughtering all the Zombies, Vampires, Werewolves, and all the other goolies, and goblins, who have invaded Earth, in order to take the Christians back to Mars to cannibalize for food). But after the Rapture they would "see" Jesus, in that His rapture of believers was the only logical explanation; not necessarily actually seeing Him coming ( but mentally envisioning it, and understanding it to be true).
Of course, my best guess here doesn't have to be correct. Jesus may well be literally "seen" in the clouds, it just doesn't say that He actually lands on Earth at this time.
So, it seems logical to me that the Gog/Magog war precedes the seven year tribulation which culminates in Armageddon. Further evidence of this can be construed from Ezekiel 39:9 and 10, where God says that after the war is over the Isrealites will gather all the weapons of the enemy (which seem to be flammable, as in certain forms of hyper-pressurized composite wood, that is stronger and more flexible than steel) and will burn them for fuel for seven years. After Jesus sets up His kingdom of heaven on earth following Armageddon, there will be no need for fuel as Jesus will shelter us all from excessive heat (and by logical inference, from cold as well). (See Revelation 7:16). And since they will collect these weapons, and use them for fuel for seven years, this could mean that the Gog/Magog war and the final battle of Armageddon might be separated exactly by the seven-year Tribulation period before Jesus returns.
What do you think of my Biblical reasoning; does it sound plausible, or lunatic?
In Revelation 6:12 the apostle John describes his heavenly vision thusly: "And I beheld when he ( the Angel who was revealing the vision to John) had opened the sixth seal, and lo there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;... "Likewise Joel 2: 20 speaks similarly of God promising to, "remove far off from you the northern army" (at least the 17% of it that survives God's wrath). Afterwards he says in verses 30, and 31: "And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come." Notice God said He would show "'wonders' in the heavens and in the earth", not necessarily miracles. All he has to do is place the thought in the minds of those in power and it will be done, and the international "shock and awe" effect will be "wondrous", indeed. Also, He states here that these things will happen "before the...day of the Lord come" (a term that is generally associated with Jesus second coming, when He will touch down on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, which apparently doesn't happen at this time (Zechariah 14: 3,& 4).
Here we have similar descriptions of a vision that seems to take place after God destroys most of the invading "northern army", led by "Gog's" Russian forces. This doesn't seem to be the battle of Armageddon that comes later because there is no mention of either the antichrist's European nations, or the forces of the "Kings of the East" (China, Japan, Korea, etc.) participating in it.
Also, the vision of pillars of smoke and fire conjures up images of nuclear mushroom clouds, along with the reference to blood, which may not mean only the obvious blood of the dead, and wounded; but the old testament use of the term "blood" sometimes was used to describe a general pestilence, like a disease that became a deadly plague. Other prophecies describe the pillars of smoke and fire as the heaven (or "the first heaven", the sky) being, "rolled back like a scroll" ( perhaps a description of dust clouds spreading between the mushroom clouds, until they hit the "pillars", and are rolled back on themselves?). If the term "blood" here means a deadly plague, what better way to describe the effects of an overflowing wave of toxic radiation poisoning that would follow a nuclear attack, to someone like John who could have no concept of the effects of modern technology.
As for the image of the sun being darkened and the moon turning into blood, consider the following: Scientists tell us that after a massive nuclear attack we would find a massive radioactive cloud cover spreading over the earth roughly on the latitudinal lines of the detonations. This would blot out sunlight significantly for as long as it took the radioactive dust to settle, which would bring on the so-called "nuclear winter" effect. The image of the moon turning to blood could mean turning into a blood-red color. Another account describes this as "the moon will not shed it's light". Could this mean that the light flash of the nuclear detonations, on the night-side of the planet will flash brilliantly enough to darken all minimal sunlight on that side of the earth, simply by outshining the sunlight ( similar to that of a camera flash bulb temporarily blinding the subjects by flashing more brilliantly than the surrounding light), and causing a blood red reflection to shine off of the moon? Since the source of the moon's natural light is from the sun, this would be the moon "not shedding it's light", but that of another source. (For some alternative reasoning, check out the post titled, "Blood Moons By Gog", posted on January 17th of 2014.)
The only protection from all this would be to lock oneself inside an underground shelter until the radiation diminished...in about five hundred years! Revelation 6 describes just this in verse 15, "And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bond man, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks 'Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him...For the great day of His wrath is come...'" Close but not quite! As far as they're concerned it is the end, though there's more for the rest of the world before Jesus' final judgment. For those in the fallout shelters, there remains the slow starvation after they run out of supplies; or if Russia's leaders have indeed planned a way to feed millions of people indefinitely, their offspring may indeed be the ones released after Jesus' thousand year reign, as Satan and his minions make one final desperate effort to overthrow Christ, before God casts them all into the lake of fire.
[Update: A recent investigative Cable T.V. show disclosed a similar massive tunneling and building project going on somewhere in the Ozark Mountains, where large caverns have already begun the work. This is on a scale so large that clearly only the Federal government could be behind it. Thank God for the Rapture, because I don't think there will be enough room for any Born-Again Christians, no matter how big they build it!!!]
But let's back up a little bit, to the beginning of what I feel is the nuclear attack on America, caused by a vengeful Russia whose leaders have just witnessed 83% of their armed forces being destroyed by God, whom they don't believe exists (so they retaliate against America, for having given Israel the arms necessary to defeat their enemies). America would have no choice but to respond with our own nuclear retaliation. But wait! Revelation 7 seems to describe something that might be God's merciful intervention in order to save those of His people who are facing certain nuclear vaporization. Could this be describing the "Rapture of the church worldwide"??? I believe so, though I'll grant that the evidence is slim. But God wants us to trust in Him by faith, and if He told us everything that will happen in the future we would just sit around and wait for Him to do it. Still, I believe He's given us enough prophecy to reason-out that what follows may well be true.
Revelation 7 opens with the vision of , "four angels...holding the four winds of the earth ( north, south, east, and west), that the wind should not blow on the earth..."
[UPDATE: 1/30/2019--
An alternative thought, that might explain the above description: Perhaps the reason that America does not seem to respond to the invasion of Israel, our best ally in the Middle-East, might be because Russia may have blasted an atomic missile at a high altitude over the U.S., creating an E.M.T. pulse that is powerful enough to "fry" our entire electric grid. maybe even long enough that we can not communicate with our armed forces worldwide, leaving Israel to go it alone (except for God!). This might be Russia's way of keeping us from helping Israel, and they probably feel that Israel couldn't defeat them alone. Guess again folks!!!
Perhaps the entire "Gog/Magog" war is finished before we recover enough to retaliate. If we could conclusively prove that it was Russia that did it, a nuclear retaliation might be plausible! Then perhaps China might retaliate against us, not because they care about Russia, but because they would remain the only great power in the world! That might explain the wind being stopped briefly; as the earth rotates from east to west, creating the flow of wind predominately moving west to east. Perhaps a nuclear attack from the east (China) might be enough to cause the earth's rotation to pause, when the missiles explode on America. That doesn't worry me because I expect to be raptured before this!!!]
"...Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads." After this the angels seal twelve thousand servants of God from each of the twelve tribes of Israel ( sorry Jehovah's Witnesses, this does not mean you; only God knows who they are), followed in Revelation 8:7 by the releasing of "hail and fire mingled with blood" ( the nuclear detonations?). These are to be God's witnesses in the seven year tribulation. But what's interesting is what is not said here. First, why are there only 144,000 of God's servants that are so protected. Perhaps because the Church has just been raptured and doesn't need earthly protection? If so, these would not be 144,000 additional witnesses along with the whole body of Christ on Earth, because the Church would no longer be on Earth! Therefore these 144,000 may be the only witnesses God has left on Earth, a time when His ultimate judgment is coming soon, hense the necessity for them to be protected by the seals in their foreheads. Or, they may be the only witnesses left whom God will protect from the horrible fate of being a believer in the days of the Great Tribulation, when believing will apparently cause one to lose his head, literally! There might be many others who heard the Gospel and almost believed it, but did not act upon it until the undeniable proof of Christ's Rapture of His Church convinced them. At that point, they could still become Born-Again believers, but the Rapture would not be available for them, nor would they be protected with the 144,000 on Mount Zion. Their fate would be unbelievable persecution, and eventually death ( by starvation, murder, or arrest and beheading, as described in the "fifth seal" of Revelation 6: 9 through 11).
Does the image of the angels holding back the wind really mean that the earth is being held still of it's rotation while these servants are being sealed? Remember, angels are eternal beings that God occasionally sends back to earth to perform some heavenly mission, meaning that they can move freely between Eternity, and Time. So, it's entirely possible that this sealing of the servants will take place in an instant too brief to be measured by earthly time. In other words the angels are given the power to freeze time briefly, until these servants are sealed. If so, what else could happen in that moment that God simply chose not to mention because He wants us to reason scripturally that this sealing would not be necessary as long as the Church is on the earth. Plus, these servants are Israelites, who probably were not convinced that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah, or the Son of God, until they witness "the sign of His (Jesus') coming". I am convinced that the "Rapture" is the "SIGN of the Son Of Man coming in the clouds", (specifically, that "SIGN" will be the complete and instantaneous disappearance of all the born-again Christians of the world, in the "twinkling of an eye") rather than the actual sighting of Him returning, since there is no mention of Jesus touching down on earth, as is the case in Zechariah 14: 4, which precipitates Armageddon's conclusion. The very fact that all the known born-again believers have just disappeared, and only those who are known believers are gone, would certainly shock the rest of the world. And they would be forced to accept that there was only one possible explanation for it, the "SIGN of His coming", which many of them would have heard about, without believing it was true. ( They might well have preferred to believe the Hollywood perception that the apocalypse was survivable on earth, but only for those who are expert at slaughtering all the Zombies, Vampires, Werewolves, and all the other goolies, and goblins, who have invaded Earth, in order to take the Christians back to Mars to cannibalize for food). But after the Rapture they would "see" Jesus, in that His rapture of believers was the only logical explanation; not necessarily actually seeing Him coming ( but mentally envisioning it, and understanding it to be true).
Of course, my best guess here doesn't have to be correct. Jesus may well be literally "seen" in the clouds, it just doesn't say that He actually lands on Earth at this time.
So, it seems logical to me that the Gog/Magog war precedes the seven year tribulation which culminates in Armageddon. Further evidence of this can be construed from Ezekiel 39:9 and 10, where God says that after the war is over the Isrealites will gather all the weapons of the enemy (which seem to be flammable, as in certain forms of hyper-pressurized composite wood, that is stronger and more flexible than steel) and will burn them for fuel for seven years. After Jesus sets up His kingdom of heaven on earth following Armageddon, there will be no need for fuel as Jesus will shelter us all from excessive heat (and by logical inference, from cold as well). (See Revelation 7:16). And since they will collect these weapons, and use them for fuel for seven years, this could mean that the Gog/Magog war and the final battle of Armageddon might be separated exactly by the seven-year Tribulation period before Jesus returns.
What do you think of my Biblical reasoning; does it sound plausible, or lunatic?
Thursday, June 6, 2013
World War III (cont).
In Ezekiel 38:5 God speaks of the Middle-eastern allies of Russia in His prophecy of the Gog/Magog invasion of Israel, referring to them as Persia, Cush, and Put. Modern translations consider "Cush" to mean Ethiopia, and "Put" to be Lybia, while Persia is present-day Iran. "Cush" is the Hebrew word meaning "black", which was the name of Noah's grandson who is presumed to be the father of the dark-skinned peoples of the world; whose father, Ham apparently had taken a black wife along on their famous cruise. If we are drawing very near to the prophecied Gog/Magog invasion, it seems more logical that this ally might be Sudan, or a joint force of predominantly Sudanese soldiers along with volunteers from Somalia, and Ethiopia. Since Somalia is predominantly Muslim they would be eager to join forces in the "holy" jihad against Israel, but Ethiopia has a very large Coptic Christian population, and any effort to conscript them into a Muslim invasion force would surely create a civil war that their government might well lose. Of course if my presumption that the invasion is drawing near is incorrect, things could change dramatically in a few decades, and it may well be literally Ethiopia that God is referring to.
Ezekiel 38:6 refers to other allies as "Gomer" and "Togarmah of the north quarters", which some scholars believe to mean Turkey, and perhaps Lebanon, and Syria which are to the north of Israel. So, it would seem that any degree of radicalization of Turkey, and Syria would fit perfectly into God's scenario, setting these nations up (along with a Russian led coalition) to become so over-confident of an easy victory in destroying Israel that they would use any trumped-up excuse to invade.
Bear in mind, God's purpose in bringing this to pass is always to glorify Himself, and He has made it clear that: 1) He delights in confounding the wisdom of the wise (the "smart money" would obviously bet against Israel, but guess again!), and that: 2)God has promised that He "will have mercy upon whom I will have mercy" (therefore there is no need to feel sorry for the 83% of the invasion force that God assures us He will destroy, as He knows their hearts and has already judged them, except of course for any soldiers who were forced to invade, even after they became born-again believers). God will provide a way of escape for them, either in this life, or in Heaven. For the jihadists, He has provided another place for them where they can search for their "72 virgins", among all the flames. Ezekiel 38:16 states God's reason for bringing this to pass when He says, "I will bring thee against My land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes." So the atheistic Russians, and the Muslim jihadists have had several centuries to read God's warning and to repent of this foolish invasion. Oops..., I forgot that Muslims believe the Bible is a corruption of God's Word (and that the Koran is His perfect word, which doesn't warn of His judgment about to befall them). And the atheists don't believe He exists, so why should they place any credibility in such prophecies? Oh well, I guess they'll find out soon enough!!!
At this point I must caution the reader that what you are about to read may be hazardous to your digestion, or at least hard to stomach, as I speculate on why I'm becoming convinced of the likelihood that this war may culminate in a partial Nuclear Holocaust between a defeated, but not destroyed Russia, and another nation that did not participate in the war, but which Russia may ultimately blame for their defeat. Guess Who!!! There is even significant Biblical evidence to support the theory that the Rapture might occur while the missiles are in flight, but before they can detonate. I guess this makes me a "Pre-millenialist" believer; sorry, Pat Robertson, thanks for leading me to the Lord, but this is one area in which we must disagree.
In Ezekiel 39:5, and 6, God speaks prophetically to Gog, the Russian leader of this invasion who won't be born yet for thousands of years in the future. He says, speaking as if a parent is explaining to a rebellious child why he had to be punished, "Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God. And I will send fire upon Magog (the ancient tribe believed to have settled in the area around Moscow), and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles (or, "coastlands"; a term that many scholars have traditionally thought might refer to America): and they shall know that I am the Lord."
Now, does it make more sense that God would arbitrarily and miraculously cause the "spontaneous combustion" of the entire nations of Russia, and America as punishment for this invasion, especially since America was not a participant (but is merely to blame for arming Israel with weapons capable of defeating their enemies [I guess the Israelis should be ashamed of themselves for wanting to protect their people from a murderous holocaust, at the hands of their "friendly, neighborhood Muslim Jihadists', and their Russian allies]). He certainly has the power to do it, but does this fit with the character of God that we see throughout the rest of the Bible? He has already severely punished the guilty parties, why would He wreak vengeance upon their women and children, let alone America?
Or does it seem more logical that Russia, whose Army has just been nearly wiped out, but still retains a massive nuclear arsenal, and can't imagine that America would not take advantage of their weakness by invading (as they would us, if the roles were reversed) would send a massive part of their population under ground into shelters and subway tunnels. Western intelligence sources have speculated that they (Russia) believe a large percentage of their population could survive a nuclear attack. They would then launch a "retaliatory" nuclear attack on us, because they blame us as de-facto "aggressors" for providing Israel with the weapons they needed to defeat the invading forces. Remember, the Politburo of today is likely as atheistic as it was in the days of Lenin, and Stalin, and they would find it easier to blame us than a God that they don't believe exists. Besides, as it's been said, "their arms are too short to box with God!!!"
Now that I've scared the pants off many of you, and convinced others that I'm a raving lunatic, I'll pause to let it all sink in a bit. Come back later, to find out why I believe the Rapture may occur just before the nuclear missiles detonate. Don't worry, the old looney who predicted the end of the world in 2012 is not sitting here whispering in my ear. Everything I'm saying is verifiable in the Word of God ( the Bible); check it out for yourselves and make up your own minds. And then call me a lunatic, if you're still unconvinced! But if I'm right, your decision to believe what I've written, or not, may be the most important decision you will ever make, not only in your life but for your entire eternity!!!
Ezekiel 38:6 refers to other allies as "Gomer" and "Togarmah of the north quarters", which some scholars believe to mean Turkey, and perhaps Lebanon, and Syria which are to the north of Israel. So, it would seem that any degree of radicalization of Turkey, and Syria would fit perfectly into God's scenario, setting these nations up (along with a Russian led coalition) to become so over-confident of an easy victory in destroying Israel that they would use any trumped-up excuse to invade.
Bear in mind, God's purpose in bringing this to pass is always to glorify Himself, and He has made it clear that: 1) He delights in confounding the wisdom of the wise (the "smart money" would obviously bet against Israel, but guess again!), and that: 2)God has promised that He "will have mercy upon whom I will have mercy" (therefore there is no need to feel sorry for the 83% of the invasion force that God assures us He will destroy, as He knows their hearts and has already judged them, except of course for any soldiers who were forced to invade, even after they became born-again believers). God will provide a way of escape for them, either in this life, or in Heaven. For the jihadists, He has provided another place for them where they can search for their "72 virgins", among all the flames. Ezekiel 38:16 states God's reason for bringing this to pass when He says, "I will bring thee against My land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes." So the atheistic Russians, and the Muslim jihadists have had several centuries to read God's warning and to repent of this foolish invasion. Oops..., I forgot that Muslims believe the Bible is a corruption of God's Word (and that the Koran is His perfect word, which doesn't warn of His judgment about to befall them). And the atheists don't believe He exists, so why should they place any credibility in such prophecies? Oh well, I guess they'll find out soon enough!!!
At this point I must caution the reader that what you are about to read may be hazardous to your digestion, or at least hard to stomach, as I speculate on why I'm becoming convinced of the likelihood that this war may culminate in a partial Nuclear Holocaust between a defeated, but not destroyed Russia, and another nation that did not participate in the war, but which Russia may ultimately blame for their defeat. Guess Who!!! There is even significant Biblical evidence to support the theory that the Rapture might occur while the missiles are in flight, but before they can detonate. I guess this makes me a "Pre-millenialist" believer; sorry, Pat Robertson, thanks for leading me to the Lord, but this is one area in which we must disagree.
In Ezekiel 39:5, and 6, God speaks prophetically to Gog, the Russian leader of this invasion who won't be born yet for thousands of years in the future. He says, speaking as if a parent is explaining to a rebellious child why he had to be punished, "Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God. And I will send fire upon Magog (the ancient tribe believed to have settled in the area around Moscow), and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles (or, "coastlands"; a term that many scholars have traditionally thought might refer to America): and they shall know that I am the Lord."
Now, does it make more sense that God would arbitrarily and miraculously cause the "spontaneous combustion" of the entire nations of Russia, and America as punishment for this invasion, especially since America was not a participant (but is merely to blame for arming Israel with weapons capable of defeating their enemies [I guess the Israelis should be ashamed of themselves for wanting to protect their people from a murderous holocaust, at the hands of their "friendly, neighborhood Muslim Jihadists', and their Russian allies]). He certainly has the power to do it, but does this fit with the character of God that we see throughout the rest of the Bible? He has already severely punished the guilty parties, why would He wreak vengeance upon their women and children, let alone America?
Or does it seem more logical that Russia, whose Army has just been nearly wiped out, but still retains a massive nuclear arsenal, and can't imagine that America would not take advantage of their weakness by invading (as they would us, if the roles were reversed) would send a massive part of their population under ground into shelters and subway tunnels. Western intelligence sources have speculated that they (Russia) believe a large percentage of their population could survive a nuclear attack. They would then launch a "retaliatory" nuclear attack on us, because they blame us as de-facto "aggressors" for providing Israel with the weapons they needed to defeat the invading forces. Remember, the Politburo of today is likely as atheistic as it was in the days of Lenin, and Stalin, and they would find it easier to blame us than a God that they don't believe exists. Besides, as it's been said, "their arms are too short to box with God!!!"
Now that I've scared the pants off many of you, and convinced others that I'm a raving lunatic, I'll pause to let it all sink in a bit. Come back later, to find out why I believe the Rapture may occur just before the nuclear missiles detonate. Don't worry, the old looney who predicted the end of the world in 2012 is not sitting here whispering in my ear. Everything I'm saying is verifiable in the Word of God ( the Bible); check it out for yourselves and make up your own minds. And then call me a lunatic, if you're still unconvinced! But if I'm right, your decision to believe what I've written, or not, may be the most important decision you will ever make, not only in your life but for your entire eternity!!!
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
World War Three: The Gog/Magog Invasion Of Israel
The stage is increasingly being set for what will probably be called World War Three, though it will not be played out in any way resembling the first two. The movement that the media refers to as Arab Spring is continuing to spread throughout the middle-east, and is gaining momentum with each successful rebellion. It seems likely that the missing pieces of the Al-Quaida dominated movement are Syria, and Turkey, along with the slowly developing Egyptian civil war.
The fighting in Syria looks like a stalemate, due to the arms support of the Assad regime from Russia (with love?), while the "Rebels" are seeming to be struggling with factional in-fighting between those who merely wish to overthrow the Assad government, and the efforts of both the Al-Quaida-in-Iraq subversives to take control of the movement, and that of the Iranian-supported Lebanese Hesbollah terrorist fighters to do the same. Al Quaida and the Iranian-supported Hesbollah forces hate each other almost as much as they both hate the Jewish state of Israel. Almost, but not quite! It seems probable that any western orchestrated efforts to bring about a cease-fire agreement will serve to increase the influence of both these terrorist groups, while perhaps leaving Assad in place as the figurehead leader. In any case, it will be bad news for Israel as both of these groups want nothing more than the absolute destruction of their nation, and the genocidal massacre of their population.
Turkey is quite different. It has been traditionally a secular-government controlled nation that has prospered due to its friendly trade practices with the western nations, while being respectful of the dominant Muslim faith of it's people, yet not controlled by it. In recent years, the present leader and his government have been slowly changing their laws to be more in tune with the fundamental values of the Islamic extremists, which the more western-friendly people are just beginning to wake up to, and resist. If the recent rioting develops into wholesale revolution, we can expect that it will result in a more radical Islamic government, that has much more friendly ties with Russia. Thus, the stage will be set for the Russian/Islamic invasion of Israel, referred to as the Gog/Magog invasion explained in detail in Ezekiel 38, and 39. This will be a suicidal effort on the part of the invaders, whom God has promised to destroy up to 83% of their armies.
The fighting in Syria looks like a stalemate, due to the arms support of the Assad regime from Russia (with love?), while the "Rebels" are seeming to be struggling with factional in-fighting between those who merely wish to overthrow the Assad government, and the efforts of both the Al-Quaida-in-Iraq subversives to take control of the movement, and that of the Iranian-supported Lebanese Hesbollah terrorist fighters to do the same. Al Quaida and the Iranian-supported Hesbollah forces hate each other almost as much as they both hate the Jewish state of Israel. Almost, but not quite! It seems probable that any western orchestrated efforts to bring about a cease-fire agreement will serve to increase the influence of both these terrorist groups, while perhaps leaving Assad in place as the figurehead leader. In any case, it will be bad news for Israel as both of these groups want nothing more than the absolute destruction of their nation, and the genocidal massacre of their population.
Turkey is quite different. It has been traditionally a secular-government controlled nation that has prospered due to its friendly trade practices with the western nations, while being respectful of the dominant Muslim faith of it's people, yet not controlled by it. In recent years, the present leader and his government have been slowly changing their laws to be more in tune with the fundamental values of the Islamic extremists, which the more western-friendly people are just beginning to wake up to, and resist. If the recent rioting develops into wholesale revolution, we can expect that it will result in a more radical Islamic government, that has much more friendly ties with Russia. Thus, the stage will be set for the Russian/Islamic invasion of Israel, referred to as the Gog/Magog invasion explained in detail in Ezekiel 38, and 39. This will be a suicidal effort on the part of the invaders, whom God has promised to destroy up to 83% of their armies.
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