It looks like conservative politics has suffered another set-back, this time to our north where Canada has dethroned their Conservative Party to put their Liberal Party into power. I should have made a prediction about this because that is the outcome I would have expected. If we are close to the return of Christ as so many signs indicate, we should expect to see political sentiments aligning with the spirit of the coming Antichrist.
The new Canadian Prime Minister elect, Justin Trudeau, wasted no time in making it clear Canada would no longer assist in the war against ISIS in a call to President Obama soon after the election results were in. Why should we try to stop a militant religious group that has been so effective in purging the Mid-East of Christians, has caused a massive migration of Muslims to Europe, and wants to return the land of Israel to Islamic rule? In the Liberal mind, all war is inherently wrong and all cultures are to be valued so we should just step aside and let the Islamists have their way. Besides, how does allowing an Islamic caliphate to form in the Mid-East impact us here in North America?
It never ceases to amaze me that Leftists are so supportive of Islam, a religion that puts into violent practice the very things they falsely accuse conservative Christians of. Secular humanist activists don't bother to ask Islamic bakers if they would bake a cake for a gay wedding, they only target Christians. Leftists look the other way when Muslims hunt down to kill homosexuals but attack Christians just because we refuse to embrace their immoral lifestyle. This only serves to reveal that Leftist ideology is spiritually aligned with Islam. Both have the same god who is opposed to Christ.
Conservative values are under assault in our world because God is removing His restraint of evil to prepare the way for the Antichrist to have his day (see 2 Thessalonians 2:1-10). This means that "progressives" will see their power in the world grow winning more elections than conservatives. The label "progressive" is just a spin-doctored term that seeks to put lipstick on the pig of Leftist ideology which is at its core opposed to God. Political Liberals are those who seek to "take counsel together, against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, 'Let us break Their bonds in pieces and cast away Their cords from us'" (Psalm 2:2-23, NKJV). Since political Liberals in this country are so persistent in seeing their ideology prevail, they are best described as Leftists who are associated with revolutionary change.
As God removes His restraint of evil in this world, He is giving mankind over to an illogical, debased mind (Romans 1:28). The stew of anti-God issues that Liberals rally around reveal their insanity. They insist that a woman has the right to kill her unborn child just so she can live an immoral lifestyle of having sex outside of marriage. Then when we find that we have a population growth crisis, they try to fix that by opening our borders without any regard for whether the influx of people will make a positive contribution to our society. Those who oppose illegal immigration are labeled racist and haters which has proven to be effective in squelching the opposition.
Progressives celebrate casting off the constraints our Creator established for our benefit making those who want to follow God into enemies of the state. It is politically incorrect not to embrace homosexuality as being a healthy, normal lifestyle in the midst of so much contradictory evidence. Now that the Supreme Court has made gay marriage the law of the land, it is just a matter of time before Bible-believing churches are targeted to remove their tax exempt status. The war on Christians is just beginning to heat up in this country.
Conservatives are ostracized as being backward and unscientific because they are skeptical of human-caused global warming. It doesn't take a science wizard to recognize that there have been warming and cooling cycles in the history of the world that have had nothing to do with human activity. But this is conveniently forgotten because the ultimate climate change objective of spreading the wealth around globally is too important to allow any opposition. Climate Change is more than just politically correct, it has become a powerful religion of the state that is used as a litmus test to determine who is for and against "progress."
In the mind of the typical progressive, the reason why we have violent gun crimes is because it is too easy for people to get their hands on a gun. So our constitutional right for law abiding citizens to defend themselves is under attack. It doesn't even occur to the progressives that criminals will get their hands on guns even when they are outlawed; that is what criminals do, they break the law. Indeed, statistics make it abundantly clear that there are more gun crimes in places where gun control is the most restrictive. But don't confuse progressives with any facts that contradict their worldview, their debased minds will not be able to process them.
Progressives claim to be looking out for the disadvantaged of our society with their ever-growing social programs but these only serve to burden-down the tax paying productive segment of society and enslave beneficiaries to the state. Our free enterprise economy is maligned as being unfair and cronyism produces regulations designed to keep competition from threatening the government-protected big corporations. Progressives love central planning and will not be satisfied until the state has totalitarian control over everyone. That is when they expect real progress to be made toward their utopian secular vision.
Since we are living in the era of God removing His restraint of evil, we can confidently predict that the most evil ideologies will generally prevail whenever there is an election. This is not to say that in the United States the Democrats are pure evil and the Republicans are not. There is very little difference between the establishment Republicans and the Democrats. Both want to grow the power of the government over the public and will say what they need to say to get elected then govern as a liberal once they're in power. Since we're now entering a political season with presidential elections scheduled in 2016, it is time for a prediction:
PREDICTION:
The next president of the United States will not be a conservative.
This prediction of course assumes there really will be another presidential election in this country. President Obama has been making it clear that he'd love to serve a third term and in this age of Tribulation birth pangs, the potential for a crisis sufficient to justify a state of emergency is great.
We have tried a very liberal president so you'd think that it is time for the pendulum to swing back to the conservative side but such a cycle no longer applies this close to the Tribulation. Yes, there is a lot of interest in the Republican presidential candidates particularly because several of them are not part of the traditional ruling elite. But we've had government outsiders run before and one thing we can learn from the trend is that only establishment Republicans will get the nomination.
It will be interesting to watch what happens with Trump because he is an outsider who knows how to be a populist and is wealthy enough that he doesn't need the support of the establishment Republican donors. It is also pretty clear from his independent, politically incorrect ideas that the ruling elite will not be able to allow a Trump presidency. So something will have to happen to prevent him from getting the Republican nomination. And when that happens, Trump will run as a third party candidate despite his agreeing not to. Trump is the front-runner so if the Republican ruling elite defaults on their side of the agreement by not giving him the nomination, we can expect Trump to go the third party route. While this is the most likely scenario insuring that a Democrat will win the next presidential election, there are many other ways that could happen as well. This country did reelect Barack Obama even after it was very clear what he was all about.
One consolation for realizing the inevitability of a Hillary Clinton presidency is that we have to be very close to the Tribulation. And we know the Church Age will end prior to the Antichrist coming to power so it is unlikely we will have to endure under another progressive, anti-Christian globalist for very long. "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory" (2 Corinthians 4:17).
Monday, October 26, 2015
Monday, October 19, 2015
Full of Grace
The grace of God is a wonderful thing. Given our human propensity to think and act selfishly, God's unmerited favor is the only way people can be saved. Jesus Christ paid our sin penalty on the cross so that our sins may be forgiven. God's provision of the cross makes it possible for us to spend eternity with Him. While our rightly motivated good works builds up treasure for us in heaven, it is not possible to earn God's favor for salvation. "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9, NKJV).
One of the greatest statements of the Bible addressing the deity of Christ is John 1:14, "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." The Son of God has the same nature as the Father and is characterized by grace and truth. In this Age of Grace, the Church certainly understands and has fully embraced the grace of God as His plan of salvation for His people. The more we consider God's grace, the more we can stand amazed by it. But, at the same time, the Church in general is increasingly falling short in embracing the truth about God. Thus the full gospel of Jesus Christ is being neglected in this final phase of the Church Age.
An increasing number of churches today are taking a "gospel-lite" approach that promotes a seeker-friendly, easy-belivism avoiding conviction of sin and our responsibility to live holy lives. Such an approach produces followers of Christ who are full of grace but deficient in truth. The neglect for the full counsel of Scripture is what you'd expect for the Church in the Laodicean era where people are lukewarm toward Christ. While it is admirable for churches to be seeker friendly, such a focus opens the door to compromise with a culture that hates the gospel of Christ. Taking such compromise to an extreme has given rise to what is referred to as the Emerging Church movement which embraces the heresy that people can be saved apart from Christ.
Heretical departures from the pure doctrine of God's Word among professing Christian churches is a sign of the soon return of Jesus. 1 Timothy 4:1 says, "the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons." The most common heresy is that there are multiple ways to heaven and that all faiths worship the same God. "Jesus said, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me'" (John 14:6). People can claim to be Christians but if they don't believe God's Word, they are only kidding themselves that they are really a follower of Christ.
The apostasy we are seeing in the Church today is the fruit of an ages-long assault on God's Word. You'd expect unbelievers to dismiss the Bible as not being true but increasingly the attacks are coming from so-called Christian scholars who are seeding doubt about the veracity of God's Word. A whole generation of Church leaders have been indoctrinated to embrace the view that the Bible is flawed as the story of man's search for God rather than being inspired and preserved by our Almighty Creator-God. It is significant that this questioning of God's Word was the very first deception recorded in Scripture that Satan used on Eve in the Garden tempting her to disobey God... "Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1).
Most of Christendom no longer has an orthodox view of Scripture. A consistent literal hermeneutics of God's Word is no longer used by most Christian Bible teachers. Instead, the Bible is often spiritualized to mean something other than what it actually says. Such practice leads to wildly divergent interpretations of God's Word which only reinforces those who claim that the Bible is not from God. Not believing what the Bible says has given rise to the false doctrines of Amillennialism and theistic evolution resulting in believers ignoring huge portions of Scripture. Why study Bible prophecy if virtually everything has been already fulfilled in history? And if the Bible does not mean what it says about our origins, how can you trust what it says about other matters?
When people have doubts about God's Word, they will not accept it as having any authority in their lives. Why bother to spend much time studying the Bible if it is just another book written by flawed men? Yes, the Bible was scribed by flawed men but it was inspired by our Creator God who is Almighty enough to have accurately brought us His Word (2 Timothy 3:16). The dumbing-down of Christians by not knowing the truth of God's Word has led to the Church embracing false doctrines and in general becoming lukewarm toward Christ.
The problem of neglecting God's Word is not new. The Apostle Paul addressed this issue in the Corinthian Church when he said, "I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal" (1 Corinthians 3:1-3). The average church goer has no desire to be fed with solid food by digging into the deeper things of God's Word. They are content with remaining a babe in Christ only being fed with superficial doctrines of Scripture. The difference between now and during Paul's day is that carnal Christians are becoming more the norm rather than the exception among professing Christians.
The danger in raising up a generation of carnal Christians who only know the grace of God but are ignorant of His truth is that many of these are likely kidding themselves that they really have a relationship with the Savior. Jesus Christ personifies the Truth (John 14:6) and anyone who has not embraced God's Word for what it is doesn't really know the Savior. "If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead" (Luke 16:31).
The best thing we can do for fellow believers who have embraced false doctrine is to confront them with the Truth. Some will respond because the Truth resonates with those who know Him (John 10:27). In this day of growing apostasy it is increasingly important to be well grounded in God's Word in order to, "always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear" (1 Peter 3:15).
One of the greatest statements of the Bible addressing the deity of Christ is John 1:14, "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." The Son of God has the same nature as the Father and is characterized by grace and truth. In this Age of Grace, the Church certainly understands and has fully embraced the grace of God as His plan of salvation for His people. The more we consider God's grace, the more we can stand amazed by it. But, at the same time, the Church in general is increasingly falling short in embracing the truth about God. Thus the full gospel of Jesus Christ is being neglected in this final phase of the Church Age.
An increasing number of churches today are taking a "gospel-lite" approach that promotes a seeker-friendly, easy-belivism avoiding conviction of sin and our responsibility to live holy lives. Such an approach produces followers of Christ who are full of grace but deficient in truth. The neglect for the full counsel of Scripture is what you'd expect for the Church in the Laodicean era where people are lukewarm toward Christ. While it is admirable for churches to be seeker friendly, such a focus opens the door to compromise with a culture that hates the gospel of Christ. Taking such compromise to an extreme has given rise to what is referred to as the Emerging Church movement which embraces the heresy that people can be saved apart from Christ.
Heretical departures from the pure doctrine of God's Word among professing Christian churches is a sign of the soon return of Jesus. 1 Timothy 4:1 says, "the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons." The most common heresy is that there are multiple ways to heaven and that all faiths worship the same God. "Jesus said, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me'" (John 14:6). People can claim to be Christians but if they don't believe God's Word, they are only kidding themselves that they are really a follower of Christ.
The apostasy we are seeing in the Church today is the fruit of an ages-long assault on God's Word. You'd expect unbelievers to dismiss the Bible as not being true but increasingly the attacks are coming from so-called Christian scholars who are seeding doubt about the veracity of God's Word. A whole generation of Church leaders have been indoctrinated to embrace the view that the Bible is flawed as the story of man's search for God rather than being inspired and preserved by our Almighty Creator-God. It is significant that this questioning of God's Word was the very first deception recorded in Scripture that Satan used on Eve in the Garden tempting her to disobey God... "Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1).
Most of Christendom no longer has an orthodox view of Scripture. A consistent literal hermeneutics of God's Word is no longer used by most Christian Bible teachers. Instead, the Bible is often spiritualized to mean something other than what it actually says. Such practice leads to wildly divergent interpretations of God's Word which only reinforces those who claim that the Bible is not from God. Not believing what the Bible says has given rise to the false doctrines of Amillennialism and theistic evolution resulting in believers ignoring huge portions of Scripture. Why study Bible prophecy if virtually everything has been already fulfilled in history? And if the Bible does not mean what it says about our origins, how can you trust what it says about other matters?
When people have doubts about God's Word, they will not accept it as having any authority in their lives. Why bother to spend much time studying the Bible if it is just another book written by flawed men? Yes, the Bible was scribed by flawed men but it was inspired by our Creator God who is Almighty enough to have accurately brought us His Word (2 Timothy 3:16). The dumbing-down of Christians by not knowing the truth of God's Word has led to the Church embracing false doctrines and in general becoming lukewarm toward Christ.
The problem of neglecting God's Word is not new. The Apostle Paul addressed this issue in the Corinthian Church when he said, "I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal" (1 Corinthians 3:1-3). The average church goer has no desire to be fed with solid food by digging into the deeper things of God's Word. They are content with remaining a babe in Christ only being fed with superficial doctrines of Scripture. The difference between now and during Paul's day is that carnal Christians are becoming more the norm rather than the exception among professing Christians.
The danger in raising up a generation of carnal Christians who only know the grace of God but are ignorant of His truth is that many of these are likely kidding themselves that they really have a relationship with the Savior. Jesus Christ personifies the Truth (John 14:6) and anyone who has not embraced God's Word for what it is doesn't really know the Savior. "If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead" (Luke 16:31).
The best thing we can do for fellow believers who have embraced false doctrine is to confront them with the Truth. Some will respond because the Truth resonates with those who know Him (John 10:27). In this day of growing apostasy it is increasingly important to be well grounded in God's Word in order to, "always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear" (1 Peter 3:15).
Monday, October 12, 2015
End of the American Era
What is to be made of the U.S. impotence against ISIS in light of Russia's success in Syria? Could it be that Russia really wants to put an end to the reign of ISIS in Syria whereas the U.S. only gave that lip-service? Maybe our inability to stop ISIS had something to do with the formation of ISIS being a direct result of U.S. policy pulling us out of Iraq. Our weakness in dealing with ISIS may also have something to do with President Obama preferring Islamic theocracies over secular dictatorships.
U.S. foreign policy in Syria has conflicting objectives in opposing both Assad's Syrian regime and ISIS. We are supporting "moderate" Islamic rebels trying to overthrow Assad but these combatants are apparently easily confused with the radical extremist ISIS insurgents who also threaten Assad. The potential is great for ISIS operatives or even sympathizers to present themselves to the U.S. as "moderates" in order to obtain weapons and supplies from us. Such confusion should be expected because Muslims routinely use religious deception called "taqiyya" to further their cause. This is what happens when political correctness drives foreign policy, we set ourselves up to be duped. U.S. policy officials so want to believe there is such a thing as "moderate" Islamic combatants that they will look the other way to entertain that fantasy.
Related to the U.S. apparent impotence against ISIS is that we have not been faring well in the war against Islamic terrorism even in Afghanistan where we bombed a Doctors Without Borders hospital. How can that happen? Yes, there are accidents in warfare but this development does not bode well to the U.S. being welcome in Afghanistan. It may well be the event that precipitates the U.S. accelerating plans to abandon Afghanistan just as we did Iraq. (So maybe that is why we bombed the hospital.) While many will applaud the U.S. getting out of Afghanistan because they don't want the U.S. involved in any wars, allowing yet another haven for jihadists will not improve our security.
Meanwhile, Russia is demonstrating shock and awe against ISIS in Syria. They even used cruise missiles launched from 900 miles away in the Caspian Sea to hit Syrian targets. Since the cruise missile has been a favorite U.S. weapon in our recent foreign wars, it sends a message that there is now a new superpower in the 'hood. Vladimir Putin is clearly taking advantage of the times filling the vacuum of the U.S. backing away from supporting our anti-terrorist allies in the Mid-East. Even Iraq is now calling on Russia to help them with their ISIS problem.
The question we should ask about Russia purging ISIS from Syria is what really is driving them to do that? Are they just supporting their friend Assad who is mutually allied with Iran or are they out to plunder Mid-East oil? The anti-war crowd loved to cry "no blood for oil" when the U.S. was in Iraq despite our having no intentions of taking the oil. But Vladimir Putin would have no problems with such a move. Oil is power in this world and Russia is making it clear they are now the superpower to be reckoned with. It looks like the Obama Administration is content for the U.S. to be just another member-state of the United Nations.
Many people ridiculed Jonathan Cahn for his book, "The Mystery of the Shemitah" which made it look like the U.S. would suffer a big economic crash this past September. But the pattern of the Shemitah is not always to produce big one-day stock market crashes as Cahn discussed in his book and was summarized in this article. The bigger pattern of the Shemitah has to do with the rise and fall of world powers. Economic power is just a facet of a nation's capacity to impose its will on the world. In light of recent developments in the Mid-East, it certainly looks like the baton of world superpower leadership has been passed from the United States to Russia.
The change of command in the Mid-East is not a revival of the Cold War as some are saying because the U.S. has no stomach to oppose Russia militarily. In order to reign in the new world superpower, the United States as just another nation of the world will need to double-down on efforts to organize the nations of the world into a more powerful global union. President Obama always has been more of a global union visionary than an advocate for American power in the world. He set out to change the status quo and it does now look like he has been successful. This is all necessary to set the stage for the coming global ruler when, "authority [will be] given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation" (Revelation 13:7, NKJV).
We can expect Russia, Iran and Turkey to continue setting the stage for the fulfillment of Ezekiel 38. We know that at some point, this new superpower alliance will turn its interests to Israel because that is what Ezekiel 38 says will happen. Thus, it is very interesting that Israel has just announced the discovery of a major oil field in the Golan Heights. And this is on the heels of huge natural gas deposits already being developed by Israel. These new-found energy riches will likely constitute the "hooks in the jaws" of Vladimir Putin (or "Gog" in Ezekiel 38) that causes Russia to threaten Israel.
The pace of stage-setting for prophetic fulfillment is accelerating. There are more developments daily revealing that we have to be very close to the return of Jesus. This is not a time to be on the fence about Him. "Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near" (Luke 21:28).
U.S. foreign policy in Syria has conflicting objectives in opposing both Assad's Syrian regime and ISIS. We are supporting "moderate" Islamic rebels trying to overthrow Assad but these combatants are apparently easily confused with the radical extremist ISIS insurgents who also threaten Assad. The potential is great for ISIS operatives or even sympathizers to present themselves to the U.S. as "moderates" in order to obtain weapons and supplies from us. Such confusion should be expected because Muslims routinely use religious deception called "taqiyya" to further their cause. This is what happens when political correctness drives foreign policy, we set ourselves up to be duped. U.S. policy officials so want to believe there is such a thing as "moderate" Islamic combatants that they will look the other way to entertain that fantasy.
Related to the U.S. apparent impotence against ISIS is that we have not been faring well in the war against Islamic terrorism even in Afghanistan where we bombed a Doctors Without Borders hospital. How can that happen? Yes, there are accidents in warfare but this development does not bode well to the U.S. being welcome in Afghanistan. It may well be the event that precipitates the U.S. accelerating plans to abandon Afghanistan just as we did Iraq. (So maybe that is why we bombed the hospital.) While many will applaud the U.S. getting out of Afghanistan because they don't want the U.S. involved in any wars, allowing yet another haven for jihadists will not improve our security.
Meanwhile, Russia is demonstrating shock and awe against ISIS in Syria. They even used cruise missiles launched from 900 miles away in the Caspian Sea to hit Syrian targets. Since the cruise missile has been a favorite U.S. weapon in our recent foreign wars, it sends a message that there is now a new superpower in the 'hood. Vladimir Putin is clearly taking advantage of the times filling the vacuum of the U.S. backing away from supporting our anti-terrorist allies in the Mid-East. Even Iraq is now calling on Russia to help them with their ISIS problem.
The question we should ask about Russia purging ISIS from Syria is what really is driving them to do that? Are they just supporting their friend Assad who is mutually allied with Iran or are they out to plunder Mid-East oil? The anti-war crowd loved to cry "no blood for oil" when the U.S. was in Iraq despite our having no intentions of taking the oil. But Vladimir Putin would have no problems with such a move. Oil is power in this world and Russia is making it clear they are now the superpower to be reckoned with. It looks like the Obama Administration is content for the U.S. to be just another member-state of the United Nations.
Many people ridiculed Jonathan Cahn for his book, "The Mystery of the Shemitah" which made it look like the U.S. would suffer a big economic crash this past September. But the pattern of the Shemitah is not always to produce big one-day stock market crashes as Cahn discussed in his book and was summarized in this article. The bigger pattern of the Shemitah has to do with the rise and fall of world powers. Economic power is just a facet of a nation's capacity to impose its will on the world. In light of recent developments in the Mid-East, it certainly looks like the baton of world superpower leadership has been passed from the United States to Russia.
The change of command in the Mid-East is not a revival of the Cold War as some are saying because the U.S. has no stomach to oppose Russia militarily. In order to reign in the new world superpower, the United States as just another nation of the world will need to double-down on efforts to organize the nations of the world into a more powerful global union. President Obama always has been more of a global union visionary than an advocate for American power in the world. He set out to change the status quo and it does now look like he has been successful. This is all necessary to set the stage for the coming global ruler when, "authority [will be] given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation" (Revelation 13:7, NKJV).
We can expect Russia, Iran and Turkey to continue setting the stage for the fulfillment of Ezekiel 38. We know that at some point, this new superpower alliance will turn its interests to Israel because that is what Ezekiel 38 says will happen. Thus, it is very interesting that Israel has just announced the discovery of a major oil field in the Golan Heights. And this is on the heels of huge natural gas deposits already being developed by Israel. These new-found energy riches will likely constitute the "hooks in the jaws" of Vladimir Putin (or "Gog" in Ezekiel 38) that causes Russia to threaten Israel.
The pace of stage-setting for prophetic fulfillment is accelerating. There are more developments daily revealing that we have to be very close to the return of Jesus. This is not a time to be on the fence about Him. "Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near" (Luke 21:28).
Monday, October 5, 2015
Perilous Times
It is pretty predictable that the president as a global government visionary would immediately politicize the Oregon community college shooting calling for gun control as the solution to prevent such tragedies. But none of the gun control measures on the books would have made a difference in this case. Oregon has among the strictest gun control legislation in the country and this shooter still managed to legally obtain multiple weapons. What the gun control crowd really want to do is get rid of the Second Amendment making having any guns illegal. It is much harder to impose tyranny when the citizenry is armed.
The real story behind the Oregon shooter is that he specifically targeted Christians reminiscent of the Columbine shooting in 1999. Why would this shooter hate Christians so much that he would put them on his kill list? This can only be attributed to spiritual warfare manifesting itself in the physical world. Indeed there is evidence that the shooter was into the occult and witchcraft. People meddling in the occult attract the attention of demons and thus put themselves at risk of being possessed by them. So it is very likely that the Oregon shooter was demon-possessed.
God condemns those who “conjure spells” (NKJV) in the practice of witchcraft and sorcery. Scripture says anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord (Deuteronomy 18:10-12; 2 Kings 21:6; Micah 5:12; Isaiah 47:12; Ezekiel 13:18, 20; Acts 8:11-24; Leviticus 20:27; Exodus 7:11; Revelation 9:21, 22:15). One would expect there to be more incidents of demon-possession as we near the time of the Antichrist who will be possessed by Satan himself.
In one sense, it was a relief to hear that there wasn't an Islamic connection to the Oregon shooting. But if the Oregon shooter was being influenced by demons, he actually had a lot in common with Islamists who are serious about their religion. As the Oregon shooter did, radical Muslims also have Christians on their kill list as demonstrated by ISIS. There is no other religion in the world that is more inspired by demons than Islam which is clearly the biggest, most oppressive, and bloodiest religion in the world. What other world religion kills so many people in the course of worshiping their own god? This past September 1,100 people died in a stampede near Mecca where devout Muslims go in a pilgrimage required by their religion.
There is among many secular humanists an irrational fear that Christians are holding back our society from where it wants to go. It is too bad that fear is not channeled into what Islam wants to do to Western Civilization. Contrary to the current politically correct conventional wisdom, all cultures are not equal. Our multicultural philosophy is the fruit of an anti-God spirit that will result in the demise of Western Civilization more effectively than anything else.
It continues to be amazing that it is so politically correct to embrace Islam as a religion of peace. This is simply more evidence that God is giving us over to a debased mind (Romans 1:28). One possible explanation for this irrationality is that the world secretly hates Jesus Christ and supporting Islam is a subtle way to bolster those who are doing the most to get rid of Christians. Iraq used to be 20% Christian, it is now less than 2%. Maybe President Obama's foreign policy is not as inept as it appears to be. It could be that his foreign policy is working very well to install Christian-hating Muslim theocracies everywhere he can. The deceptive wicked-shrewdness of our president shows that he is probably being inspired by the same Anti-Christ spirit as Islamists and the Oregon shooter.
We err in giving President Obama too much credit for the amazing changes we are seeing in this world, there is a lot of support for him and his policies revealing the scope of the spiritual warfare front we are facing. But God has revealed that the time of Satan and his followers will be limited and the Church will not even be here for the worst of it. We can also be encouraged in the knowledge that God has equipped His followers to be able to stand against the attacks of Satan. "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil" (Ephesians 6:10-11).
All indications are that we don't have long to persevere.
The real story behind the Oregon shooter is that he specifically targeted Christians reminiscent of the Columbine shooting in 1999. Why would this shooter hate Christians so much that he would put them on his kill list? This can only be attributed to spiritual warfare manifesting itself in the physical world. Indeed there is evidence that the shooter was into the occult and witchcraft. People meddling in the occult attract the attention of demons and thus put themselves at risk of being possessed by them. So it is very likely that the Oregon shooter was demon-possessed.
God condemns those who “conjure spells” (NKJV) in the practice of witchcraft and sorcery. Scripture says anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord (Deuteronomy 18:10-12; 2 Kings 21:6; Micah 5:12; Isaiah 47:12; Ezekiel 13:18, 20; Acts 8:11-24; Leviticus 20:27; Exodus 7:11; Revelation 9:21, 22:15). One would expect there to be more incidents of demon-possession as we near the time of the Antichrist who will be possessed by Satan himself.
In one sense, it was a relief to hear that there wasn't an Islamic connection to the Oregon shooting. But if the Oregon shooter was being influenced by demons, he actually had a lot in common with Islamists who are serious about their religion. As the Oregon shooter did, radical Muslims also have Christians on their kill list as demonstrated by ISIS. There is no other religion in the world that is more inspired by demons than Islam which is clearly the biggest, most oppressive, and bloodiest religion in the world. What other world religion kills so many people in the course of worshiping their own god? This past September 1,100 people died in a stampede near Mecca where devout Muslims go in a pilgrimage required by their religion.
There is among many secular humanists an irrational fear that Christians are holding back our society from where it wants to go. It is too bad that fear is not channeled into what Islam wants to do to Western Civilization. Contrary to the current politically correct conventional wisdom, all cultures are not equal. Our multicultural philosophy is the fruit of an anti-God spirit that will result in the demise of Western Civilization more effectively than anything else.
It continues to be amazing that it is so politically correct to embrace Islam as a religion of peace. This is simply more evidence that God is giving us over to a debased mind (Romans 1:28). One possible explanation for this irrationality is that the world secretly hates Jesus Christ and supporting Islam is a subtle way to bolster those who are doing the most to get rid of Christians. Iraq used to be 20% Christian, it is now less than 2%. Maybe President Obama's foreign policy is not as inept as it appears to be. It could be that his foreign policy is working very well to install Christian-hating Muslim theocracies everywhere he can. The deceptive wicked-shrewdness of our president shows that he is probably being inspired by the same Anti-Christ spirit as Islamists and the Oregon shooter.
We err in giving President Obama too much credit for the amazing changes we are seeing in this world, there is a lot of support for him and his policies revealing the scope of the spiritual warfare front we are facing. But God has revealed that the time of Satan and his followers will be limited and the Church will not even be here for the worst of it. We can also be encouraged in the knowledge that God has equipped His followers to be able to stand against the attacks of Satan. "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil" (Ephesians 6:10-11).
All indications are that we don't have long to persevere.
Monday, September 28, 2015
Orthodox Hermeneutics
In the book of Revelation, Jesus dictated letters to seven churches that existed at that time. Scholars have marveled at the order these churches were addressed because the characteristics of these churches mirror church history. Thus it is instructive to take a good look at the letter to the Laodicean church because it describes the state of Christendom in the time leading up to the end of the Church Age. Since the Laodicean error is the spirit of the Age, it would be to our advantage to really understand it so as not to contribute to it. We may be in the Laodicean church but we don't have to be Laodicean believers.
The letter to the church at Laodicea is found in Revelation 3:14-22. Jesus rebuked the church for their being lukewarm toward Him and thinking they were wealthy due to their worldly things when in fact they were very poor spiritually. Jesus admonishes the church to purchase from Him true spiritual wealth that only comes from growing in our relationship with Him along with "white garments" which represent righteous acts per Revelation 19:8 and "eye salve" so that we may see the truth with the help of the Holy Spirit per 1 Corinthians 2:14.
Clues as to the root cause of the Laodicean lukewarm-ness can be found in other passages about the final phase of the Church Age. The error of the Laodicean Church is represented by 1 Timothy 3:1-5, "But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money... having a form of godliness but denying its power" (NKJV). The end of the Church Age will be characterized by the practice of religion but being on fire in a relationship with the Creator will be lacking. The remedy for this that the Apostle Paul goes on to tell Timothy about is the need to follow true doctrine: "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work" (1 Timothy 3:16-17).
Thus, the Apostle Paul says that not correctly recognizing the authority of Scripture will be a problem in the last days. He reinforces this issue in 1 Timothy 4:3-4, "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables." Bad doctrine from misinterpreting Scripture is what contributes to people being lukewarm toward Jesus. Truth resonates with people but falsehoods to support a personal agenda does not. The more people get the idea that the Bible is just a collection of sayings to support the latest wind of doctrine, the more they will ignore it and the God who inspired it.
The alternative to seeing the Bible as being inspired by God is to see it as being the story of man's search for God. People who deny the supernatural inspiration of God's Word expect the Bible to be subject to errors and contradictions since it was written by flawed men. So when they force Scripture to support their pet ideology, they ignore the contradictions pointed out to them because such discrepancies are to be expected if the Bible was authored by flawed men. But if the Bible is truly God's Word, there will be no contradictions in Scripture, only gaps in our understanding.
There is a plethora of doctrinal errors that people fall into if they don't see Scripture as being inspired by God. Some of these include salvation by works, the idea that once born again a person can lose their salvation, and the view that all people will go to heaven regardless their relationship to the Lord. Playing fast and loose with what Scripture actually says has lead to a proliferation of denominations that have divided over disputable matters and also cults that promote fundamental heresies. Among the errors that the Laodicean church has embraced in this end-phase of the Church Age is related to beginning things and end things, theistic evolution and amillennialism.
Theistic evolution is nothing more than a compromise with an anti-Christ worldview that sows doubt about the veracity of God's Word. If God really did use an evolutionary process, why didn't He make that more clear in His Word rather than force us to just accept contradictions in order to fit the human theory of evolution into Scripture? If we can't trust the Bible to be true then we end up having to trust in human authority as the final arbiter of what is true, a very dangerous practice. Indeed, the Lord warned us about this in Luke 16:31: "If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead."
We are told in 2 Peter 3:3 that the end times would be characterized by scoffing about the return of Jesus. Such scoffing is growing in the church due to the the pervasiveness of of amillennialism. It is interesting to note that those who adopt this superficial, lazy approach to eschatology generally also embrace theistic evolution. The false doctrine of amillennialism effectively says Jesus will not return until He comes back to usher in the Eternal State. But proponents of this view don't believe the Eternal State will be any time soon because if it took Jesus millions of years from the beginning of creation to come the first time then it could be millions of years before He returns. This means amillennialists generally have no sense of urgency to get on with what God is calling us to do, hence their lukewarm-ness.
The practice of doubting God's Word began early in history. "Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1). This was the tactic Satan used to tempt Eve in the Garden and this tried-and-true approach is still being used today. The Enemy of God takes advantage of our human propensity to apply our own meaning to what God has clearly told us.
We can trust that the Bible is true because of the nature of God: He is Almighty enough to have accurately given mankind His Word and preserved it through time even using His flawed subjects. We can also trust the Bible is true because of the love of God: He has provided us a way that we can know Him and know what is of Him and what is not. And there is plenty of evidence that the Bible really is from God in its fulfilled prophecy; only God can declare the end from the beginning per Isaiah 46:10.
Given that we can trust the Bible to really be God's Word, we should interpret it then using a proper orthodox exegesis. Hermeneutics is the theory and methodology of text interpretation. The terms "hermeneutics" and "exegesis" are sometimes used interchangeably. While hermeneutics includes written, verbal, and nonverbal communication, the term exegesis focuses on just the text. The word exegesis means “to lead out of” and that means the interpreter is led to make conclusions by what the text actually says.
There is another approach to interpreting Scripture known as eisegesis which is the interpretation of a passage based on a subjective, non-analytical reading. Eisegesis means “to lead into” and results in the interpreter injecting his own ideas into the text effectively making it mean whatever he wants. Obviously, all the bad doctrines of our age come from eisegesis. We are commanded in 2 Timothy 2:15 to use exegetical methods: “Present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” An honest student of the Bible will be an exegete, allowing the text to speak for itself.
Among the ways people eisegete Scripture to make it support their favored ideology is to ignore its textual and historical context. They also ignore its literal meaning and instead apply some spiritual truth to it. This practice of spiritualization forces a text to mean something that it does not say and is the most common form of eisegesis.
The best approach to avoid eisegesis is to apply a consistent literal exegesis. This means seeing the text in a normal or plain sense first along with applying the ordinary meaning of words that are used. Yes, there is symbolism in Scripture that is typical of any good literature but it is generally easily recognized by the context and often even explained by the text itself. The Golden Rule of interpretation is this: when the plain sense of Scripture makes common sense, seek no other sense or you'll end up with nonsense.
There is good news in the orthodox hermeneutics of literal interpretation: we can allow Scripture to interpret itself. We don't need to see the Bible as some mystical code book requiring a special decoding ring to figure out. Neither do we need some scholarly intermediary to tell us what the Bible really says. We can allow God to speak directly to us through the plan sense meaning of the Bible. Having this perspective is powerful medicine against the Laodicean spirit of lukewarm-ness because it will energize our personal Bible study and help us grow closer to the Lord.
The great error of our Age is not believing the Bible is in-errantly God's Word. But we don't have to be sucked into this dangerous doctrine. The more we appreciate the Bible as being inspired by God by studying it to know the Truth, the closer we'll grow to our Savior. And this is getting increasingly important as deception and other birth pangs of the Tribulation get more frequent and intense.
The letter to the church at Laodicea is found in Revelation 3:14-22. Jesus rebuked the church for their being lukewarm toward Him and thinking they were wealthy due to their worldly things when in fact they were very poor spiritually. Jesus admonishes the church to purchase from Him true spiritual wealth that only comes from growing in our relationship with Him along with "white garments" which represent righteous acts per Revelation 19:8 and "eye salve" so that we may see the truth with the help of the Holy Spirit per 1 Corinthians 2:14.
Clues as to the root cause of the Laodicean lukewarm-ness can be found in other passages about the final phase of the Church Age. The error of the Laodicean Church is represented by 1 Timothy 3:1-5, "But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money... having a form of godliness but denying its power" (NKJV). The end of the Church Age will be characterized by the practice of religion but being on fire in a relationship with the Creator will be lacking. The remedy for this that the Apostle Paul goes on to tell Timothy about is the need to follow true doctrine: "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work" (1 Timothy 3:16-17).
Thus, the Apostle Paul says that not correctly recognizing the authority of Scripture will be a problem in the last days. He reinforces this issue in 1 Timothy 4:3-4, "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables." Bad doctrine from misinterpreting Scripture is what contributes to people being lukewarm toward Jesus. Truth resonates with people but falsehoods to support a personal agenda does not. The more people get the idea that the Bible is just a collection of sayings to support the latest wind of doctrine, the more they will ignore it and the God who inspired it.
The alternative to seeing the Bible as being inspired by God is to see it as being the story of man's search for God. People who deny the supernatural inspiration of God's Word expect the Bible to be subject to errors and contradictions since it was written by flawed men. So when they force Scripture to support their pet ideology, they ignore the contradictions pointed out to them because such discrepancies are to be expected if the Bible was authored by flawed men. But if the Bible is truly God's Word, there will be no contradictions in Scripture, only gaps in our understanding.
There is a plethora of doctrinal errors that people fall into if they don't see Scripture as being inspired by God. Some of these include salvation by works, the idea that once born again a person can lose their salvation, and the view that all people will go to heaven regardless their relationship to the Lord. Playing fast and loose with what Scripture actually says has lead to a proliferation of denominations that have divided over disputable matters and also cults that promote fundamental heresies. Among the errors that the Laodicean church has embraced in this end-phase of the Church Age is related to beginning things and end things, theistic evolution and amillennialism.
Theistic evolution is nothing more than a compromise with an anti-Christ worldview that sows doubt about the veracity of God's Word. If God really did use an evolutionary process, why didn't He make that more clear in His Word rather than force us to just accept contradictions in order to fit the human theory of evolution into Scripture? If we can't trust the Bible to be true then we end up having to trust in human authority as the final arbiter of what is true, a very dangerous practice. Indeed, the Lord warned us about this in Luke 16:31: "If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead."
We are told in 2 Peter 3:3 that the end times would be characterized by scoffing about the return of Jesus. Such scoffing is growing in the church due to the the pervasiveness of of amillennialism. It is interesting to note that those who adopt this superficial, lazy approach to eschatology generally also embrace theistic evolution. The false doctrine of amillennialism effectively says Jesus will not return until He comes back to usher in the Eternal State. But proponents of this view don't believe the Eternal State will be any time soon because if it took Jesus millions of years from the beginning of creation to come the first time then it could be millions of years before He returns. This means amillennialists generally have no sense of urgency to get on with what God is calling us to do, hence their lukewarm-ness.
The practice of doubting God's Word began early in history. "Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1). This was the tactic Satan used to tempt Eve in the Garden and this tried-and-true approach is still being used today. The Enemy of God takes advantage of our human propensity to apply our own meaning to what God has clearly told us.
We can trust that the Bible is true because of the nature of God: He is Almighty enough to have accurately given mankind His Word and preserved it through time even using His flawed subjects. We can also trust the Bible is true because of the love of God: He has provided us a way that we can know Him and know what is of Him and what is not. And there is plenty of evidence that the Bible really is from God in its fulfilled prophecy; only God can declare the end from the beginning per Isaiah 46:10.
Given that we can trust the Bible to really be God's Word, we should interpret it then using a proper orthodox exegesis. Hermeneutics is the theory and methodology of text interpretation. The terms "hermeneutics" and "exegesis" are sometimes used interchangeably. While hermeneutics includes written, verbal, and nonverbal communication, the term exegesis focuses on just the text. The word exegesis means “to lead out of” and that means the interpreter is led to make conclusions by what the text actually says.
There is another approach to interpreting Scripture known as eisegesis which is the interpretation of a passage based on a subjective, non-analytical reading. Eisegesis means “to lead into” and results in the interpreter injecting his own ideas into the text effectively making it mean whatever he wants. Obviously, all the bad doctrines of our age come from eisegesis. We are commanded in 2 Timothy 2:15 to use exegetical methods: “Present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” An honest student of the Bible will be an exegete, allowing the text to speak for itself.
Among the ways people eisegete Scripture to make it support their favored ideology is to ignore its textual and historical context. They also ignore its literal meaning and instead apply some spiritual truth to it. This practice of spiritualization forces a text to mean something that it does not say and is the most common form of eisegesis.
The best approach to avoid eisegesis is to apply a consistent literal exegesis. This means seeing the text in a normal or plain sense first along with applying the ordinary meaning of words that are used. Yes, there is symbolism in Scripture that is typical of any good literature but it is generally easily recognized by the context and often even explained by the text itself. The Golden Rule of interpretation is this: when the plain sense of Scripture makes common sense, seek no other sense or you'll end up with nonsense.
There is good news in the orthodox hermeneutics of literal interpretation: we can allow Scripture to interpret itself. We don't need to see the Bible as some mystical code book requiring a special decoding ring to figure out. Neither do we need some scholarly intermediary to tell us what the Bible really says. We can allow God to speak directly to us through the plan sense meaning of the Bible. Having this perspective is powerful medicine against the Laodicean spirit of lukewarm-ness because it will energize our personal Bible study and help us grow closer to the Lord.
The great error of our Age is not believing the Bible is in-errantly God's Word. But we don't have to be sucked into this dangerous doctrine. The more we appreciate the Bible as being inspired by God by studying it to know the Truth, the closer we'll grow to our Savior. And this is getting increasingly important as deception and other birth pangs of the Tribulation get more frequent and intense.
Monday, September 21, 2015
Stage Setting
If you haven't noticed, Syria is a mess. ISIS has taken over large swaths of the country in order to kill Christians and anyone else who does not embrace their brand of radical Sunni Islam. Syria's president, Bashar Hafez al-Assad is being supported by Russia who is showing their commitment to him by building a base there and putting boots on the ground. ISIS is fighting against the Syrian regime and there are also apparently non-ISIS-aligned rebels fighting against Assad with U.S. support.
There are also Kurds in Northern Syria and Iraq that are fighting ISIS. While the Kurds are fighting ISIS, the U.S. has not been very helpful in that effort and even blocked Arab allies wanting to fly heavy weapons to aid in their fight. Our whole effort against ISIS has been lackadaisical launching a few air strikes just to say that we are dealing with the problem. The U.S. program to train rebel Syrians to fight ISIS has been a dismal failure spending $500 million to train 54 fighters of which only 4 or 5 have stayed in the fight.
You have to wonder if the U.S. really wants ISIS to be defeated. When the U.S. military pulled completely out of Iraq, a power vacuum was left that gave rise to ISIS. And President Obama no-doubt likes the fact that ISIS is fighting against the Assad regime because he still thinks Assad needs to go. Since President Obama praised the "Arab Spring" movement where Arab dictators were replaced by Muslim Brotherhood Theocracies, he must be disappointed that has not worked out in Syria. President Obama for some inexplicable reason favors the Muslim Brotherhood referring to them as a moderate alternative to more violent Islamist groups like al Qaeda and the Islamic State. Egyptian scholars have explained that while ISIS is publicly hostile to the Muslim Brotherhood, they share identical goals and support radical jihad.
Turkey has reluctantly entered the fight against ISIS but this is complicated because they are also fighting the Kurdistan Workers Party which has been calling for Kurdish autonomy. So far, the Kurds are the only group that has held their own against ISIS despite the U.S. and Turkey trying to impede their efforts. It is interesting to note that the Kurds are likely descendants of the Medes who where aligned with the Persians when they defeated ancient Babylon. Since history does repeat itself (Ecclesiastes 1:9), look for the Kurds to align themselves with Iran, they already have a common enemy in ISIS.
The Shiite Islamic Mullahs of Iran also support the Assad regime and has arranged Hezbollah to help him battle ISIS. Hezbollah, based in neighboring Lebanon is effectively the Iranian Foreign Legion. This anti-ISIS effort has no-doubt distracted Hezbollah from their mission to prepare for the inevitable war against Israel. It is likely that the Iran has pressured Russia to get involved in supporting Assad against ISIS so that Hezbollah may go back to their primary mission.
All these groups fighting in Syria has resulted in a massive flight of refugees into Europe. It also looks like ISIS is taking advantage of the refugee migration to embed more jihadists in Europe. And as you'd expect, the Obama administration wants to help Europe out by taking tens of thousands of the Syrian "migrants" into this country. It is a sign of the times that we have no problem bringing multitudes of Islamists into this country of which many are certainly ISIS jihadists while we refuse asylum for Christians fleeing the ISIS genocide.
Certainly the refugees fleeing Syria is a tragedy that the U.S. had a hand in causing through our inept foreign policy. Or maybe this was all calculated by the Obama Administration to facilitate Islam being spread throughout the Western world. The Syrian refugee crisis does show how prophecy is being fulfilled in our day... "The end of it shall be with a flood, And till the end of the war desolations are determined" (Daniel 9:26, NKJV). There are no-doubt many villages that are now desolate in Syria due to ISIS.
It is also clear that recent developments are setting the stage for fulfillment of other end-times prophecy. Russia going into Syria shows how easily the Ezekiel 38 war against Israel will develop. And the alignment of the nations involved in the Ezekiel 38 war against Israel are already in place, principally Russia (Magog), Iran (Persia) and Turkey (Gomer and Beth Togarmah).
More stage setting is seen in the growing enclaves of Muslims in Western nations. In Daniel 2 Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon had a dream that the Prophet Daniel interpreted for him describing all the Gentile governments that would rule over Jerusalem until the Messiah established His kingdom. The vision in Nebuchadnezzar's dream was of a statue made up of different materials each representing a different Gentile government. The last government before the Messiah will come is described as being "iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay" (Daniel 2:43). The iron represents the modern-day vestiges of the Roman Empire which is Western Civilization today, and the clay represents the progeny of the Ottoman Empire which are the Muslims seeking a revival of the Islamic caliphate.
There are Westerners living in their own enclaves within Islamic countries to help them with technology, security, and to develop their oil. There have also been Muslims migrating to Western nations mostly as refugees. The Muslim communities do not assimilate into the culture of the Western nations where they live and the Westerners in their enclaves in Islamic nations do assimilate either. This is just as the Daniel 2:43 prophecy indicates, the "iron does not mix with clay."
It doesn't take a political scientist to see that Syria is a powder keg; it is just a matter of time before it explodes which means there will soon be another Mid-East war involving Israel. What better way to unite the competing Shiite-Sunni Islamic interests than to direct it against their common enemy Israel. It is likely this next war probably described in Psalm 83 will resolve the Palestinian claims on Israel once and for all. This means that Israel will be able to be at peace enough to build a temple in Jerusalem as prophesied in Daniel 9:27. This false peace is also the key condition necessary to precipitate the Ezekiel 38 war which is already being staged.
End time developments will happen faster than all of us think possible. As the Prophet Daniel indicated in Daniel 9:26, "the end of it shall be with a flood." That means we don't have long to persevere in this fallen world. The Rapture of the Church will occur prior to the Tribulation which will begin with Israel entering into a seven-year peace confirmed by the emerging world ruler (Daniel 9:27). This peace will turn out to be a false, temporary peace. With all the stage setting going on, the Tribulation period can't be far off. As Jesus told us in Revelation four times, "behold, I am coming quickly!"
There are also Kurds in Northern Syria and Iraq that are fighting ISIS. While the Kurds are fighting ISIS, the U.S. has not been very helpful in that effort and even blocked Arab allies wanting to fly heavy weapons to aid in their fight. Our whole effort against ISIS has been lackadaisical launching a few air strikes just to say that we are dealing with the problem. The U.S. program to train rebel Syrians to fight ISIS has been a dismal failure spending $500 million to train 54 fighters of which only 4 or 5 have stayed in the fight.
You have to wonder if the U.S. really wants ISIS to be defeated. When the U.S. military pulled completely out of Iraq, a power vacuum was left that gave rise to ISIS. And President Obama no-doubt likes the fact that ISIS is fighting against the Assad regime because he still thinks Assad needs to go. Since President Obama praised the "Arab Spring" movement where Arab dictators were replaced by Muslim Brotherhood Theocracies, he must be disappointed that has not worked out in Syria. President Obama for some inexplicable reason favors the Muslim Brotherhood referring to them as a moderate alternative to more violent Islamist groups like al Qaeda and the Islamic State. Egyptian scholars have explained that while ISIS is publicly hostile to the Muslim Brotherhood, they share identical goals and support radical jihad.
Turkey has reluctantly entered the fight against ISIS but this is complicated because they are also fighting the Kurdistan Workers Party which has been calling for Kurdish autonomy. So far, the Kurds are the only group that has held their own against ISIS despite the U.S. and Turkey trying to impede their efforts. It is interesting to note that the Kurds are likely descendants of the Medes who where aligned with the Persians when they defeated ancient Babylon. Since history does repeat itself (Ecclesiastes 1:9), look for the Kurds to align themselves with Iran, they already have a common enemy in ISIS.
The Shiite Islamic Mullahs of Iran also support the Assad regime and has arranged Hezbollah to help him battle ISIS. Hezbollah, based in neighboring Lebanon is effectively the Iranian Foreign Legion. This anti-ISIS effort has no-doubt distracted Hezbollah from their mission to prepare for the inevitable war against Israel. It is likely that the Iran has pressured Russia to get involved in supporting Assad against ISIS so that Hezbollah may go back to their primary mission.
All these groups fighting in Syria has resulted in a massive flight of refugees into Europe. It also looks like ISIS is taking advantage of the refugee migration to embed more jihadists in Europe. And as you'd expect, the Obama administration wants to help Europe out by taking tens of thousands of the Syrian "migrants" into this country. It is a sign of the times that we have no problem bringing multitudes of Islamists into this country of which many are certainly ISIS jihadists while we refuse asylum for Christians fleeing the ISIS genocide.
Certainly the refugees fleeing Syria is a tragedy that the U.S. had a hand in causing through our inept foreign policy. Or maybe this was all calculated by the Obama Administration to facilitate Islam being spread throughout the Western world. The Syrian refugee crisis does show how prophecy is being fulfilled in our day... "The end of it shall be with a flood, And till the end of the war desolations are determined" (Daniel 9:26, NKJV). There are no-doubt many villages that are now desolate in Syria due to ISIS.
It is also clear that recent developments are setting the stage for fulfillment of other end-times prophecy. Russia going into Syria shows how easily the Ezekiel 38 war against Israel will develop. And the alignment of the nations involved in the Ezekiel 38 war against Israel are already in place, principally Russia (Magog), Iran (Persia) and Turkey (Gomer and Beth Togarmah).
More stage setting is seen in the growing enclaves of Muslims in Western nations. In Daniel 2 Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon had a dream that the Prophet Daniel interpreted for him describing all the Gentile governments that would rule over Jerusalem until the Messiah established His kingdom. The vision in Nebuchadnezzar's dream was of a statue made up of different materials each representing a different Gentile government. The last government before the Messiah will come is described as being "iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay" (Daniel 2:43). The iron represents the modern-day vestiges of the Roman Empire which is Western Civilization today, and the clay represents the progeny of the Ottoman Empire which are the Muslims seeking a revival of the Islamic caliphate.
There are Westerners living in their own enclaves within Islamic countries to help them with technology, security, and to develop their oil. There have also been Muslims migrating to Western nations mostly as refugees. The Muslim communities do not assimilate into the culture of the Western nations where they live and the Westerners in their enclaves in Islamic nations do assimilate either. This is just as the Daniel 2:43 prophecy indicates, the "iron does not mix with clay."
It doesn't take a political scientist to see that Syria is a powder keg; it is just a matter of time before it explodes which means there will soon be another Mid-East war involving Israel. What better way to unite the competing Shiite-Sunni Islamic interests than to direct it against their common enemy Israel. It is likely this next war probably described in Psalm 83 will resolve the Palestinian claims on Israel once and for all. This means that Israel will be able to be at peace enough to build a temple in Jerusalem as prophesied in Daniel 9:27. This false peace is also the key condition necessary to precipitate the Ezekiel 38 war which is already being staged.
End time developments will happen faster than all of us think possible. As the Prophet Daniel indicated in Daniel 9:26, "the end of it shall be with a flood." That means we don't have long to persevere in this fallen world. The Rapture of the Church will occur prior to the Tribulation which will begin with Israel entering into a seven-year peace confirmed by the emerging world ruler (Daniel 9:27). This peace will turn out to be a false, temporary peace. With all the stage setting going on, the Tribulation period can't be far off. As Jesus told us in Revelation four times, "behold, I am coming quickly!"
Monday, September 14, 2015
Dear Left Behind
Indications are that the Blessed Hope of Christians will occur soon. That is why I am moved to post an article directed to those who are left behind. My hope is that people who did not accept Jesus as their Savior during the Church Age will read this and accept Him now despite all the deception seeking to explain away the Rapture.
The term "Rapture" is derived from the Latin word "rapturo" which is translated "caught up" in English where it is found in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air" (NKJV). God revealed this amazing supernatural event to First Century Christians: "Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed" (1 Corinthians 15:51-52).
The idea that the Creator-God would resurrect His Church when it is complete translating living mortal people into immortal bodies is pretty fantastic. But that is what He told us He would do and if you have heard that millions of people have instantly disappeared worldwide, the Rapture is what has happened. No-doubt, this has those who are left behind scrambling to explain what has happened. Given the incredible nature of this event, the explanations will be pretty incredible as well. The question is, will you believe what you are being told by your trusted media and government officials, or will you believe what the Holy Bible has said for centuries?
Among the things the Lord Jesus Christ revealed to us when He walked the earth is that the time preceding His return would be characterized by great deception (Matthew 24:4, 11, 24). Scripture says that God Himself will provide for a "strong delusion" to help unbelievers "believe the lie" that explains away the Rapture (2 Thessalonians 2:1-12). God will do this for the same reason that Jesus spoke in parables when He was on earth, so that unbelievers determined to remain so will be able to justify their unbelief (Matthew 13:10-17).
Since this article was written prior to the Rapture, I can only speculate what the deception will be that seeks to explain away this supernatural event. But I have observed the set-up for some of the deception that will take place in the eager expectation that has been built up for contact with extraterrestrials. People who do not want to accept the Bible's explanation of human origins will be quick to embrace the news that extraterrestrials have taken an interest in the affairs of earth. If evolution happened on earth, then it could have happened anywhere in the universe and discovering that there is extraterrestrial life only corroborates the theory of evolution.
But don't fall for the lie that extraterrestrials caused the Rapture using their technology. The beings representing themselves as extraterrestrials are indeed not from this world but the Bible refers to them as fallen angels or demons. They are beings from the spiritual realm that God has allowed to have access to our physical universe to serve His purpose in deceiving those who have rejected Him.
Another possible lie that may be used to explain away the Rapture not necessarily involving aliens is that the Large Hadron Collider at CERN opened a portal which resulted in some people being thrust into another dimension or some such nonsense. Whatever explanation is used to represent the sudden disappearance of millions of people as being anything other than a supernatural act of God, know that you are being prepared for even more deception during a terrible time which Jesus called the Tribulation in Matthew 24.
The Tribulation is addressed in various places among the Old Testament prophets but is most completely described in the book of Revelation. It is a seven-year period if time when God pours out His wrath on the earth in judgment of those who have opposed Him. But even though you find yourself in this terrible period of history, you don't have to suffer the eternal consequences of rejecting God. You can accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior right now and be assured of spending eternity with Him after you die; "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved" (Acts 16:31). Death is not the worst thing that can happen to a person; everyone will exist into eternity but only those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior during this mortal life will see heaven (John 14:6); all who have rejected Jesus will be separated from Him in hell (John 5:28-30).
There may be some time between the Rapture of the Church and the Tribulation though the Bible is silent as to how much time there will be if any. The seven-year Tribulation officially begins when a world leader who emerges from a coalition of ten world rulers confirms a peace treaty with Israel (Daniel 9:27). This "covenant" enables Israel to build a temple in Jerusalem which the world ruler will enter at the midpoint of the Tribulation to declare himself god (Matthew 24:15, Daniel 8:11, 9:27, 11:31, 2 Thessalonians 2:4).
Don't allow yourself to be deceived by the man who is emerging as the world ruler. This ruler is referred to as the man of sin, son of perdition and lawless one in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-8; he is called the Beast throughout Revelation and the Antichrist in 1 John 2:18, 4:3. He will be charismatic and eloquent speaker (Daniel 7:8). But he will blaspheme our Creator-God and persecute the followers of Christ (Daniel 7:25). He will be the smoothest, most invincible political operative to ever come on the world scene (Daniel 11:21, Revelation 13:4). Most people in the world will love and follow him (Revelation 13:3). But this man is bad news; he is represented by the first horse of the Apocalypse (Revelation 6:1-2) and will preside over the destruction of many people (Daniel 8:25).
At some point during the Tribulation, the world ruler institutes an economic system that will require all users to swear allegiance to the state so that they may receive some kind of identification on their right hand or forehead. This is called the "mark of the beast" in the Bible, see Revelation 13:16-18. Taking the mark of the beast will guarantee that you will spend eternity separated from our Creator-God (Revelation 14:11). Sure, not taking the mark of the beast will force you underground and make you an enemy of the state but condemning your soul to hell for eternity will be far worse.
I will not sugar-coat your situation... most people who accept Jesus Christ as their Savior after the Rapture of the Church will be hunted down and killed as enemies of the state (Revelation 7:9-17). Remember, physical death is not the worst that can happen to you and you have a great opportunity to help others escape separation from God in hell by helping them to also see the need to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior before they succumb to taking the mark of the beast.
There will be some followers of Christ from all nations who will survive the seven years of the Tribulation. Jesus will come back at the end of the Tribulation to establish His Kingdom on earth. If you survive the Tribulation, you will be blessed to be part of the Lord's glorious Millennial Kingdom. But you shouldn't make surviving the Tribulation your goal, "for whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it" (Matthew 16:25). Instead, work to "lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven" (Matthew 6:20) by helping other yield their life to Jesus before it is too late.
If you haven't yet yielded your life to Jesus yourself, you can and should take care of that right now. Pray that God would open your Heart to Him and help you to trust in Him for your salvation. Ask God to forgive you for your sin and for help to believe that Jesus paid your sin debt when He died on the cross. Acknowledge that you believe Jesus is the only Son of God and that He rose from the dead as the Bible testifies. Ask the Lord to give you strength, courage and wisdom to survive the days ahead along with His help in being a powerful witness for Him.
I recommend studying your Bible as you have time starting first with the Gospel of John, then Revelation, and the rest of the New Testament. Following that, you should read the books of the prophets and then the rest of the Old Testament. Trust in the Holy Spirit to help you understand what you need to know to help others believe God's Word. I look forward to seeing you in heaven and hearing about your grand adventure representing Jesus Christ during the most amazing time in history.
Yours in Christ,
Scott Huckaby
The term "Rapture" is derived from the Latin word "rapturo" which is translated "caught up" in English where it is found in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air" (NKJV). God revealed this amazing supernatural event to First Century Christians: "Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed" (1 Corinthians 15:51-52).
The idea that the Creator-God would resurrect His Church when it is complete translating living mortal people into immortal bodies is pretty fantastic. But that is what He told us He would do and if you have heard that millions of people have instantly disappeared worldwide, the Rapture is what has happened. No-doubt, this has those who are left behind scrambling to explain what has happened. Given the incredible nature of this event, the explanations will be pretty incredible as well. The question is, will you believe what you are being told by your trusted media and government officials, or will you believe what the Holy Bible has said for centuries?
Among the things the Lord Jesus Christ revealed to us when He walked the earth is that the time preceding His return would be characterized by great deception (Matthew 24:4, 11, 24). Scripture says that God Himself will provide for a "strong delusion" to help unbelievers "believe the lie" that explains away the Rapture (2 Thessalonians 2:1-12). God will do this for the same reason that Jesus spoke in parables when He was on earth, so that unbelievers determined to remain so will be able to justify their unbelief (Matthew 13:10-17).
Since this article was written prior to the Rapture, I can only speculate what the deception will be that seeks to explain away this supernatural event. But I have observed the set-up for some of the deception that will take place in the eager expectation that has been built up for contact with extraterrestrials. People who do not want to accept the Bible's explanation of human origins will be quick to embrace the news that extraterrestrials have taken an interest in the affairs of earth. If evolution happened on earth, then it could have happened anywhere in the universe and discovering that there is extraterrestrial life only corroborates the theory of evolution.
But don't fall for the lie that extraterrestrials caused the Rapture using their technology. The beings representing themselves as extraterrestrials are indeed not from this world but the Bible refers to them as fallen angels or demons. They are beings from the spiritual realm that God has allowed to have access to our physical universe to serve His purpose in deceiving those who have rejected Him.
Another possible lie that may be used to explain away the Rapture not necessarily involving aliens is that the Large Hadron Collider at CERN opened a portal which resulted in some people being thrust into another dimension or some such nonsense. Whatever explanation is used to represent the sudden disappearance of millions of people as being anything other than a supernatural act of God, know that you are being prepared for even more deception during a terrible time which Jesus called the Tribulation in Matthew 24.
The Tribulation is addressed in various places among the Old Testament prophets but is most completely described in the book of Revelation. It is a seven-year period if time when God pours out His wrath on the earth in judgment of those who have opposed Him. But even though you find yourself in this terrible period of history, you don't have to suffer the eternal consequences of rejecting God. You can accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior right now and be assured of spending eternity with Him after you die; "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved" (Acts 16:31). Death is not the worst thing that can happen to a person; everyone will exist into eternity but only those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior during this mortal life will see heaven (John 14:6); all who have rejected Jesus will be separated from Him in hell (John 5:28-30).
There may be some time between the Rapture of the Church and the Tribulation though the Bible is silent as to how much time there will be if any. The seven-year Tribulation officially begins when a world leader who emerges from a coalition of ten world rulers confirms a peace treaty with Israel (Daniel 9:27). This "covenant" enables Israel to build a temple in Jerusalem which the world ruler will enter at the midpoint of the Tribulation to declare himself god (Matthew 24:15, Daniel 8:11, 9:27, 11:31, 2 Thessalonians 2:4).
Don't allow yourself to be deceived by the man who is emerging as the world ruler. This ruler is referred to as the man of sin, son of perdition and lawless one in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-8; he is called the Beast throughout Revelation and the Antichrist in 1 John 2:18, 4:3. He will be charismatic and eloquent speaker (Daniel 7:8). But he will blaspheme our Creator-God and persecute the followers of Christ (Daniel 7:25). He will be the smoothest, most invincible political operative to ever come on the world scene (Daniel 11:21, Revelation 13:4). Most people in the world will love and follow him (Revelation 13:3). But this man is bad news; he is represented by the first horse of the Apocalypse (Revelation 6:1-2) and will preside over the destruction of many people (Daniel 8:25).
At some point during the Tribulation, the world ruler institutes an economic system that will require all users to swear allegiance to the state so that they may receive some kind of identification on their right hand or forehead. This is called the "mark of the beast" in the Bible, see Revelation 13:16-18. Taking the mark of the beast will guarantee that you will spend eternity separated from our Creator-God (Revelation 14:11). Sure, not taking the mark of the beast will force you underground and make you an enemy of the state but condemning your soul to hell for eternity will be far worse.
I will not sugar-coat your situation... most people who accept Jesus Christ as their Savior after the Rapture of the Church will be hunted down and killed as enemies of the state (Revelation 7:9-17). Remember, physical death is not the worst that can happen to you and you have a great opportunity to help others escape separation from God in hell by helping them to also see the need to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior before they succumb to taking the mark of the beast.
There will be some followers of Christ from all nations who will survive the seven years of the Tribulation. Jesus will come back at the end of the Tribulation to establish His Kingdom on earth. If you survive the Tribulation, you will be blessed to be part of the Lord's glorious Millennial Kingdom. But you shouldn't make surviving the Tribulation your goal, "for whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it" (Matthew 16:25). Instead, work to "lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven" (Matthew 6:20) by helping other yield their life to Jesus before it is too late.
If you haven't yet yielded your life to Jesus yourself, you can and should take care of that right now. Pray that God would open your Heart to Him and help you to trust in Him for your salvation. Ask God to forgive you for your sin and for help to believe that Jesus paid your sin debt when He died on the cross. Acknowledge that you believe Jesus is the only Son of God and that He rose from the dead as the Bible testifies. Ask the Lord to give you strength, courage and wisdom to survive the days ahead along with His help in being a powerful witness for Him.
I recommend studying your Bible as you have time starting first with the Gospel of John, then Revelation, and the rest of the New Testament. Following that, you should read the books of the prophets and then the rest of the Old Testament. Trust in the Holy Spirit to help you understand what you need to know to help others believe God's Word. I look forward to seeing you in heaven and hearing about your grand adventure representing Jesus Christ during the most amazing time in history.
Yours in Christ,
Scott Huckaby
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