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Ezekiel 38-39: The War of Gog and Magog (Part 3) – A.V. Rauf - https://bibleprophecyfortoday.com/2024/05/15/ezekiel-38-39-the-war-of-gog-and-magog-part-3/
Let us now focus on the very reason for this invasion…. Ezekiel 38:7-16—Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them. 8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them. 9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee. 10 Thus saith the Lord God; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought: 11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates, 12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land. 13 Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil? 14 Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord God; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it? 15 And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army: 16 And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and 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. Why is this invasion going to take place? Let me give to you 4 possible reasons: 1) The Prophetic Reason: (Ezekiel 38:1 says, And the Word of the Lord came unto me. It’s a prophetic reason. It’s God’s word being fulfilled. By the way the phrase, “The Word of the Lord came unto me..” is used 92 times in the entire Bible. Out of those 92 references, over half (47) are in the Book of Ezekiel alone! Also, the phrase “Thus saith the Lord…” appears 415 times in the Bible. 127 of them are in the Book of Ezekiel alone! There is no prophet that who so establishes the fact that this is God’s Word; a direct Word from the Almighty God, a revelation from God. So there is obviously the PROPHETIC reason. 2) The Personal Reason (verses 10-13): The personal reason for this invasion is to receive a material and financial reward. Notice that the opportunity to invade comes when Israel has a false sense of peace and security. (verse 11 says that they dwell safely.) Interestingly, in all the peace negotiations that is the major issue, at least from the Israeli side. The Israelis have said that over and over again recently that they have never had more security then they have now, yet they are well aware that there are 27 Islamic countries currently that are calling for their destruction! Again the media paints this picture as if the nation of Israel is a war zone and that there is so much turmoil taking place there. Ezekiel said that there will be prophets and leaders in Israel who will seduce the people into believing that there is peace when there really is no peace. (Ezekiel 13:16). So the opportunity to invade comes when Israel has a false sense of peace and security. Is there anything in Israel worth taking? ABSOLUTELY! Currently Israel has become a major player in the foreign markets. There wealth is well-known. There ability is well-known. Israel is on the verge of becoming the next “Silicon Valley” of the world. There is a common –used joke in Israel: “When you put on your clothes, make sure you put on your cell-phone!” There are more cell-phones per person in Israel than anywhere in the world. They of course, have a security reason for that. Even the little children take cell-phones with them to school. In Ezekiel 38:13, we see something very interesting regarding any opposition to this invasion. We see some nations questioning this invasion. (Sheba and Dedan) Genesis 10:7—And the sons of Cush; Seba, and Havilah, and Sabtah, and Raamah, and Sabtechah: and the sons of Raamah; Sheba, and Dedan. According to Genesis 10:7, Sheba and Dedan are the grandsons of Cush. But they are also the same names used of the grandsons of Abraham by his second wife Keturah. And they are the fathers of Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is not necessarily from the lineage of Ishmael. They come from Sheba and Dedan who were the sons of Keturah, the 2nd wife of Abraham. Genesis 25:1-3—Then again Abraham took a wife, and her name was Keturah. 2 And she bare him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah. 3 And Jokshan begat Sheba, and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, and Letushim, and Leummim. Haven’t you noticed recently that there seems to have been a sort of drift or separation between Saudi Arabia and the more fundamentalist Islamic countries? There are reports indicating that Saudi Arabia is very concerned about Isis making their way towards Saudi Arabia as well. Most Muslims are divided into two major camps with many side issues. The two sides are Shiite, who are more fundamentalist and the Sunni, who are not as radical. The Saudi Arabians are Sunni and they control the holy sites of Mecca & Medina. There is another sect which is based in Arabia (Wahabi) which we won’t discuss now. According to verse 13, they are merely questioning this invasion and not confronting it militarily. Now we are about to enter some touchy territory: 13 …and the merchants of Tarsish, with all the young lions thereof,… Actually it’s the the word means to plant. As in planting villages. Let me explain. Hebraically speaking, it means the merchants of Tarsish planted villages somewhere in the world. In your Bible, the merchants of Tarsish are mentioned 24 times. Several of those passages connect them with ships. Thus, they are a seafaring people. Psalm 72:10—The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. Psalm 72:10, refers to the kings of Tarsish and of the islands. Ezekiel 27:12-–Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of all kind of riches; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded in thy fairs. Ezekiel 27:12 refers to a multitude of riches that they have including silver, iron, tin and lead. Kind of interesting that the name Brittania, from which Great Britain gets its name, means a land of tin, and it is an island beyond Tarsish. Now in the ancient world, Tarsish was thought of being at the tip of Spain. The area we know as Gibraltar. Recent archaeological finds inspired the book, America, B.C., by Professor Barry Fell of Harvard University. With an estimated date of 700-600 B.C., the findings suggest that voyagers were probably not explorers but rather merchants trading with the New England Celts who, by that dates, were already well established fur trappers and very likely also mining precious metals from those sites where ancient workings have been discovered. If the findings of Professor Fell are accurate, large colonies of Celts had been brought by ship from Tarshish, Spain, to mine for ore and trap for furs and thus to establish trading posts deep within the American continent. They must surely be recognized as belonging to Ezekiel’s “merchants of Tarshish.” Now the Book of Ezekiel was written around 500 B.C., during Babylonian captivity. 300 years prior to that we have evidence that there were people here in America. All the way in Iowa as well as all over in New England they have found inscriptions. These have now been deciphered. And guess what, there in glowing terms unmistakable, we have the name merchants of Tarsish, who were here in America. Apparently as a seafaring people , they had planted themselves in “the islands far away from Europe.” And these people, may have been apparently as far away as the British Isles. They had a vast network of economy and shipping that was taking place hundreds of years before Jesus Christ walked the face of the earth. This means that when Ezekiel wrote this, he would have known about them! This is not a new revelatory “prophecy point.” There is accurate evidence that can prove its authenticity. You can do the research yourself. But we have an even greater accurate and authentic proof and that is the Bible itself. So then this reference to merchants of Tarsish could not only refer to the British Isles, but it may also allude to The Unites States of America! And if that is true, then all we are doing is the same thing that Saudi Arabia is doing, which is not intervening in this war. Recently , it seems as if we have been doing a lot of work with Saudi Arabia, who apparently have been very friendly with us. Nonetheless, it seems as if even the U.S. is just questioning about this invasion and not doing anything about it. This seems to indicate that there will be no deliberate military action engaged by any of these nations in opposition to Russia. Note that Ezekiel refers not just to Tarshish, but to “the merchants of Tarshish with all its young lions” (KJV). This phrase is a Hebrew idiom meaning nations that have come out of Tarshish. The young lions of Tarshish are a reference to the colonies that emerged from Britain and Europe – including the USA. Out of the Merchants of Tarshish came the colonial Empires. The most successful of these was Great Britain. The symbol of Great Britain is a lion. That symbol exists to this day and no other empire had more young lions than Great Britain. The present young lions are the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the Commonwealth. These young lion nations that came out of the British Empire have generally been pro-Israel. Therefore, ‘the young lions of Tarshish’ describes the USA in the last days joining in with her European and Saudi allies to lodge a formal protest against the Russian-Islamic aggressors. My concern is when the U.S., who currently seems to be the only ally of Israel, ever decides to turn its back on Israel and side with the Arabs due to the Arab oil, watch out! It is very possible that the stage is being set for this to happen. Only time will tell. However, I gauge my view based on the Word of God. Jerusalem will a trembling cup to ALL nations. ALL nations will gather to fight against Jerusalem. We do know that the personal reason for this attack on Israel will be for material and financial rewards. Ezekiel 38:17–Ezekiel 39:9 —Thus saith the Lord God; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee against them? 18 And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord God, that my fury shall come up in my face. 19 For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel; 20 So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground. 21 And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord God: every man’s sword shall be against his brother. 22 And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. 23 Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the Lord. Chapter 39: Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: 2 And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts, and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel: 3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand. 4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands, and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured. 5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God. 6 And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the Lord. 7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel. 8 Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord God; this is the day whereof I have spoken. As you read the above passages, this brings me to the next reason for this wars and that is: 3) The Providential Reason: “Providence,” refers to the control of God behind everything. The providential reason is to see that the Lord’s hand is behind it all. God Himself states, “I will turn thee back,” “I will bring thee forth,” etc. The same thing is said about Armageddon, by all the Hebrew prophets that it is God who will bring the nations against Israel and will unleash His judgments and fulfill His plans Ezekiel 39:10-21—So that they shall take no wood out of the field, neither cut down any out of the forests; for they shall burn the weapons with fire: and they shall spoil those that spoiled them, and rob those that robbed them, saith the Lord God. 11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog and all his multitude: and they shall call it The valley of Hamongog. 12 And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land. 13 Yea, all the people of the land shall bury them; and it shall be to them a renown the day that I shall be glorified, saith the Lord God. 14 And they shall sever out men of continual employment, passing through the land to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search. 15 And the passengers that pass through the land, when any seeth a man’s bone, then shall he set up a sign by it, till the buriers have buried it in the valley of Hamongog. 16 And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land. 17 And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord God; Speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood. 18 Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan. 19 And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you. 20 Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord God. 21 And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them. You see, there is a providential reason, that we would see the hand of the Lord behind it all. Now I know Jesus said that when you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars, be not troubled. Again if one is not reading their Bible, or living right, they may panic when hearing this. (The conclusion to this series will be in the next post….) Are Worse ‘Pandemics’ Looming Just Over the Horizon? – By Mark Hitchcock - https://harbingersdaily.com/are-worse-pandemics-looming-just-over-the-horizon/ I was surprised this week while reading our local newspaper, the Daily Oklahoman, at breakfast. I saw a major headline about the rising fears of a bird flu pandemic. Now, this is something that seems to be flying under the radar. I talked to my wife later, and she hadn’t heard anything about it—most people haven’t. As I searched online, here’s a sample of the headlines I found:
Could Avian Influenza Be The Next Covid-19? Now, over the last decade, bird flu cases in mammals have been on the rise, and that’s the real concern. When it comes to humans, the Associated Press reports in their article: Since 2020, the virus has been spreading among more animal species — including dogs, cats, skunks, bears and even seals and porpoises — in scores of countries. In the U.S., this version of the bird flu has been detected in wild birds in every state, as well as commercial poultry operations and backyard flocks. Nationwide, tens of millions of chickens have died from the virus or been killed to stop outbreaks from spreading. This bird flu, avian flu, or H5N1, is not new. According to Forbes, “The highly pathogenic avian influenza subtype H5N1 was first identified in Southern China in 1996 during an outbreak in domestic waterfowl, and it resulted in more than 850 human infections with a mortality rate greater than 50%.” That is sobering. This isn’t like COVID, which carried a very low death rate; the H5N1 reportedly carries a rate of 50%. There was an outbreak of this bird flu in Hong Kong in 1997. From 2003 to 2018, human cases were reported from 16 countries, resulting in hundreds of deaths. Now, these diseases that come from animals to humans are called “spillover diseases” or “Zoonotic Diseases,” and about 70% of the new diseases in the world are of this variety. One article I read this week said, “61% of the 1,415 pathogens known to infect humans originate with animals. These include Asian flu, dengue fever, Ebola, bird flu, HIV, West Nile fever, yellow fever, and the more recent COVID-19 pandemic.” The Guardian made some astonishing statements in an article they published earlier this week: Last week, the World Health Organization raised fears about the alarming spread of the H5N1 strain of influenza that is causing millions of cases of avian flu across the globe. This outbreak began in 2020 and has led to the deaths or killing of tens of millions of poultry and has also wiped out millions of wild birds. Most recently, the virus has spread to mammal species, including domestic cattle which are now infected in 12 states in the US, further increasing fears about the risks to humans. “It means that the risks of the virus getting into more and more farm animals, and then from farm animals into humans just gets higher and higher. The more the virus spreads, then the chances of it mutating so it can spread into humans goes up and up. Basically, we are rolling the dice with this virus.” What really caught my eye as I was reading the paper a couple of days ago was this statement: “The US Food and Drug Administration has identified genetic traces of the virus in one in five commercial milk samples tested.” I was sitting, eating breakfast, having milk as I read this—my attention was immediately grabbed. However, the virus fragments, the paper said, are not actually capable of causing an infection because of the process of pasteurization. So that relieved my fears! The fact that it’s in one of five commercial milk samples tested is an alarming statistic, showing how prevalent this virus is in cows. Now, no one knows what will happen with this bird flu. But we do know that the Bible predicts in the end times that deadly plagues and pestilence are going to be catastrophic and sweep the globe. Jesus, in Luke’s account of the prophetic sermon He gave two days before His crucifixion, says: “Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them. But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by… Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences [plagues]; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven” (Luke 21:8-11). Jesus said during the end times, these plagues are going to escalate and rise. In chapter six of Revelation, the fourth Horsemen of the Apocalypse, the pale rider, talks about plagues in the end times. Revelation 6:7-8 KJV – “And when He had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death [plagues], and with the beasts of the earth.” 25% of the people left behind after the rapture in the Tribulation will die in this one judgment. It mentions four means by which this death will occur: By sword (war), famine, plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth. Now, that statement, “wild beasts of the earth,” is taken by some to mean that animals will become ferocious and kill people. Others believe these are world rulers in the end times. The Antichrist is called “the beast,” and it’s the same word that is used here. However, since it occurs right after plagues, it could also refer to “spillover diseases” that come from animals to humans. Modern travel and commerce have made the spread of these viruses much more deadly. COVID went quickly from China to Europe and around the world in an unbelievably short time. COVID was the first major pandemic in recent decades, but more of these are sure to come, and we’re constantly being warned about them. Plagues and pestilence create deep fear because they’re silent, invisible killers; you can’t see them. We can also be sure that the slightest threat of a new pandemic will be seized upon by global elites to gain greater control over citizens. We saw a dress rehearsal with COVID, which almost served as a warm-up. We saw demands for vaccinations, track and trace technology, and global passports with all kinds of conditions put on them for international travel. Each pandemic will bring greater control from global groups like the World Health Organization (WHO). What we see today are harbingers of greater plagues to come in the future. What Jesus talked about in Luke 21 and what the apostle John wrote about in Revelation 6 are looming just over the horizon. This is another sign for us that the coming of Christ is drawing near and the end times stage is being set. DOWNLOAD THE PROPHECY UPDATE APP Prophecy Update Videos Must Watch Videos! Videos You Can Trust
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DONATE HERE Your can also mail your support to: Prophecy Update PO Box 40516 Bakersfield, CA 93384 The Sun Is Not Done Yet – Another Absolutely Gigantic “Warning Shot” Was Just Sent Our Way – Michael Snyder - https://endoftheamericandream.com/the-sun-is-not-done-yet-another-absolutely-gigantic-warning-shot-was-just-sent-our-way/ The sun just unleashed a monstrous X-class flare, and hardly anyone noticed. The X8.7 solar flare that we just witnessed was the largest one of this entire solar cycle. The good news is that it wasn’t a threat to our planet at all. Radio activity was affected in some areas of the globe for a while, but other than that there was no danger. But that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be paying attention. As I have been warning my readers, the giant ball of fire that we revolve around has been behaving very erratically in recent years. If solar activity continues to increase, it is just a matter of time before our planet gets hit really hard. According to CBS News, the X8.7 flare that the sun unleashed on Tuesday “peaked just before 1 p.m. ET”… The giant solar explosions of energy and light aren’t over yet. Officials said on Tuesday that the sun just emitted another major solar flare – and that it’s the strongest one so far in the current solar cycle. The latest flare peaked just before 1 p.m. ET, NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center said, with an X-class rating of X8.7. X-class solar flares are the strongest of solar flares, which are described by NASA as “giant explosions on the sun that send energy, light and high speed particles into space.” The center said the flare was an R3 or “strong” flare, meaning it could have caused wide area blackouts of high-frequency radio communications for about an hour on the sunlit side of Earth. It also may have caused low-frequency navigation signal issues for the same period of time. We had not seen a solar flare of this magnitude in a long time. Is there a possibility that even stronger solar flares could be coming? The X8.7 flare originated from sunspot AR3664. At one point that sunspot was roughly 124,000 miles across and could actually be seen from Earth. Last week, the NOAA warned that sunspot AR3664 continued “to grow and increase in magnetic complexity”… The flare came out of the sunspot dubbed 3664. That spot, combined with region 3663, makes up a cluster “much larger than Earth,” NOAA said last week. And as of last Thursday, 3664 was only continuing “to grow and increase in magnetic complexity and has evolved into a higher threat of increased solar flare risk.” I have not been able to find any news source that says that it is still growing. Coming into Tuesday, officials had issued a G2 geomagnetic storm watch… The SWPC had issued a G2 “moderate” Geomagnetic Storm Watch for Tuesday, but said watches at that level are not uncommon. To compare, Friday’s geomagnetic storms reached the top G5 “extreme” level. A G2 geomagnetic storm, if lasting long enough, could potentially impact power grids, like transformer damage, and could force corrective actions on spacecraft. But they usually do nothing more than trigger a round of Northern Lights that could stretch as far south as some northern and Upper Midwest states from New York to Idaho. Thankfully, the threat has passed and we are no longer in any danger. For now. Personally, I consider this to be another “warning shot” that was sent in our direction. But unless there is some sort of major disaster, most people simply do not care. Sadly, most people are just going to keep doing what they are doing no matter how many “warning shots” we get. Earlier today, I was saddened to learn that a new Pew Research survey has found that the percentage of Americans that believe that abortion should be legal in most cases has actually gone up by 4 points since 2021… Nearly two years after the Supreme Court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision guaranteeing a national right to abortion, a majority of Americans continue to express support for abortion access. About six-in-ten (63%) say abortion should be legal in all or most cases. This share has grown 4 percentage points since 2021 – the year prior to the 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that overturned Roe. America is not becoming more pro-life. The truth is that we are becoming more pro-abortion, and voters in state after state have shown us exactly how they feel since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022. How long will it be before we are completely out of chances to turn things around? We are entering the most chaotic period in all of human history, and two of the three major wars that the U.S. will eventually be directly involved in have already started. In the Middle East, IDF tanks are advancing deep into Rafah… Israeli tanks have been seen plunging deeper into the southern Gaza city of Rafah amid reports that some 500,000 people have fled amid the escalating ground offensive. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have initially focused their operation on the eastern section of the city, having seized a key roadway that essentially cuts Rafah in half. “The tanks advanced this morning west of Salahuddin Road into the Brzail and Jneina neighborhoods. They are in the streets inside the built-up area and there are clashes,” one resident told Reuters via a messaging app. Regional media also reports that “Video on social media showed one tank on George Street in Al-Jneina neighborhood.” And in Ukraine, the Russians continue to take more territory north of Kharkiv… In the Slobozhanske direction, Russian troops are advancing towards Lyptsi right past the summer houses. So far, the fighting looks more like a battlefield reconnaissance. There are artillery and air strikes on the enemy forces pulled to the village. In the area of Luk’yantsi, Russian assault groups have reached the outskirts of the village and entered the territory of the settlement. Whether or not they managed to completely liberate the settlement is still unclear. On the eastern flank, the Russian Armed Forces have established control over Buhruvatka, while fighting has been reported in neighboring Starytsya. Most people do not understand what is happening. Most people just assume that life will continue to go on just as it always has. But those that have eyes to see understand precisely what is taking place. We are literally racing into a nightmare, and the vast majority of the population has become completely deaf to the warnings. The Same Pagan ‘gods’ Are Fooling Millions Today… Just Under Different Names – By Tim Moore - https://harbingersdaily.com/the-same-pagan-gods-are-fooling-millions-today-just-under-different-names/ In ancient times, false religion took the form of pagan practices and idol worship. Abram, the revered patriarch from Ur, believed God and left his family of idol worshippers to journey westward to a land of promise. When he arrived there, the Amorite people were also steeped in idol worship. Simply put, idol worship involves any religious practice that elevates a false god. Since the only true and living God is Yahweh—revealed as three Persons in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—all other gods are, by definition, false. Men frequently craft idols of wood or stone or precious metals (Isaiah 44:10-20), but at times the gods are recognized as spirit beings who inhabit another realm altogether. The Canaanite gods included the bloodthirsty Molech, Ashtoreth, and Baal. In Egypt, the sun was revered as a god and given the name Ra. Eventually, the pharaohs were elevated to godlike status—although that label did not prevent them from succumbing to death like every other mortal being. When the Romans ruled over the Mediterranean basin, they simply adopted the Greeks’ array of gods and gave them distinctively Roman names. Beginning with Julius Caesar in 42 BC, the Roman Senate began “deifying” their rulers—as if the pronouncement of man could elevate another mere mortal. There is no record that the false gods ever spoke audibly in the manner that God did. (Indeed, except for Satan, Scripture implies that demons are only capable of audible communication through the medium of a possessed human being.) But they still convey their insatiable desire for sacrifice—often consisting of human sacrifice, including children. In fact, the most detestable of the offenses recorded in scripture is the practice of making children “walk through the fire,” a euphemism for being burned alive (Deuteronomy 18:9-12). The pagan peoples of the land of Canaan (and all of the ancient world) believed such religious devotion would confer blessings of prosperity and fertility. Tellingly, the false gods were quite willing to let pagan people worship a variety of similar deities. In fact, while they were envisioned as occasionally in competition or often provoked to jealousy and anger, the false gods were believed to frequently consort together—even bearing offspring. What is clear from the entirety of God’s Word is that the false gods were representative of spiritual forces and demonic beings. They craved worship the same way Satan wants to be elevated above God in heaven (Isaiah 14:13-14). They also rejoice when an image-bearer of the living God is led astray and joins them in open rebellion against the Almighty. Demonic spirits take sadistic joy in seeing people suffer and die and join them in everlasting damnation. Almighty God was unequivocable about the dangers of false gods and split loyalties. The first of His Ten Commandments was: “You shall have no other gods before Me” (Exodus 20:3). Even then, His point was not that He should merely be first in a lineup of deities; He is the only true and living God. All other false gods lead inevitably to destruction. The Road to Perdition While Christians should not fear Satan and his demons, neither should we dismiss them as irrelevant. The demonic being assigned to Persia was able to detain God’s emissary from reaching the prophet Daniel for 3 weeks. Only when Michael, one of the highest-ranking angels, came to help was the messenger finally able to fulfill his mission (Daniel 10:11-13). As an aside, the same demonic spirit seems to still hold great sway over modern-day Persia—Iran. We may wonder about the persistent poverty (material and spiritual) of places like Haiti and Afghanistan. But past leaders consciously welcomed demonic forces to have authority in their territory—resulting in continuing desperation and despair for their beleaguered people. The consequence of rejecting light and embracing darkness is obvious. In America, a great moral and spiritual shift has occurred. What was once anathema is now embraced. This shift is evident even in music. In 1974, the funk band Ohio Players released Running From the Devil. Just 4 years later, hard rock band Van Halen would receive far more acclaim and popularity with their version, Running With the Devil. Just one year later, the Australian band AC/DC, would joyfully sing, “I’m on the Highway to Hell.” But one line in Van Halen’s lyrics captures the inevitable nihilism and despair of every person who anticipates dwelling with demons: “I got no love, no love you’d call real.” Desperately sad, but eternally true. Anathema = something vehemently denounced and abhored Changing a Nation’s Gods The LORD revealed the tragedy of Judah’s rejection: “Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit. Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the Lord. For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water” (Jeremiah 2:11-13). In modern times, few people may swear loyalty to false gods like Molech, Ashtoreth, and Baal, but demonic forces are still at work. Some—including Jonathan Cahn—have asserted that the same demons who were active in the ancient world are being welcomed with open arms to lord over our own culture today. Their methods have become more sophisticated, but their end goal is still the same: human suffering, death, and damnation. The names they go by have changed as well. The spiritual forces of darkness are quite content to let people think they are devoted to personal autonomy, choice, and unfettered liberty. The demon gods realize that unbounded by the laws God has established for human flourishing, people will embrace the same lies that condemned ancient societies in the eyes of God. And they will be given over to destruction. Even now, many of our leaders celebrate wickedness, perversion, and the murder of innocent life—just like the high priests of Molech and Baal did thousands of years ago. In the 2024 election cycle here in the United States, the Democratic Party has loudly proclaimed its intention to fixate on abortion as the touch stone of its political identity. And it is aggressively promoting the LGBTQI+ agenda. Why? Because it believes a majority of Americans will harken to a message that promotes unfettered personal autonomy and choice—even at the expense of millions of innocent unborn children and moral sanity. Some will take offense at the characterization that they are doing the bidding of demons—intentionally or unwittingly. But Jesus said of those who rejected Him and embraced deception, “you are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father” (John 8:44). Satan, the lord of the demonic world, loves when people reject the order of creation, deny the Creator, and murder the innocent—because “he was a murderer from the beginning.” To paraphrase Peter Townshend of The Who, “meet the new gods, same as the old gods.” Sadly, millions are getting fooled again. And they are rushing headlong into paganism, the occult, and rampant wickedness. Satan and the ancient gods (demonic beings, all) are raging today, because they know their time is short. Satan also knows Bible prophecy, although he has deluded himself into hoping that he can somehow defeat Almighty God. Choose Wisely God will not be mocked. His righteous indignation burned against the sin of the Amorites as they followed false gods and reveled in wickedness. Still, He delayed His righteous judgment for four hundred years (Genesis 15:14). Then, and now, He is patient, not wishing for any to perish. But His patience will not last forever. Someday soon, “every knee will bow… and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:10-11). Satan and his demonic hordes and every person whose name is not found written in the book of life will be thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:10-15). Do not wait! Reject the false gods and their false religion. Call on the Name of Jesus Christ today and be saved. Daily Jot: Stupidocrisy: Biden’s doubleminded Israel Conundrum - Bill Wilson – www.dailyjot.com On May 7, Joe Biden addressed an audience of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum Remembrance Ceremony with extremely supportive words for America’s Jewish community. He recalled the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, saying, “Driven by ancient desire to wipeout the Jewish people off the face of the Earth, over 1,200 innocent people—babies, parents, grandparents—slaughtered in their kibbutz, massacred at a musical festival, brutally raped, mutilated, and sexually assaulted.” Biden said that antisemitism in America and around the world is “absolutely despicable, and it must stop.” At the same time he was making these remarks, his ambassadors were negotiating a secret deal with Hamas. Hours before Israel was to begin its attack to root out remnants of the terrorist Hamas in Rafah, Hamas announced it had agreed to a ceasefire. During a Monday briefing, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby played the “sensitive process” card to justify not answering questions about the ceasefire. Then Axios.com and The Times of Israel confirmed that the Biden Administration was involved in the Hamas negotiations, but didn’t tell Israel about the details it had negotiated on behalf of Israel. In other words, Biden was speaking to the American Jewish community about remembering the Holocaust and the atrocities of Hamas at the same time his people were selling out Israel in ceasefire negotiations. But that’s not all. In an effort to thwart an Israeli attack on Hamas in Rafah, the Biden Administration withheld ammunition and bombs from Israel, according to two anonymous Israeli officials speaking with Axios. Then ABC News quoted a senior Biden administration official saying that a shipment of some 3.500 bombs to Israel was paused because of concerns they could be used in Rafah. ABC News noted “The decision to pause the shipment and consider slow-walking others is a major shift in policy for the Biden administration and the first known case of the U.S. denying its close ally military aid since the Israel-Hamas war began.” In a White House briefing Kirby refused to confirm or deny the withholding of the munitions. Later, Biden, himself, said he would withhold weapons shipments if the Israel military went into Rafah. In the news briefing about Hamas announcing it had accepted a ceasefire, Kirby and White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre implied that Israel was involved. But Israel was not aware of the deal. It appears that Biden wanted the Hamas ceasefire so badly that he tried to bully Israel into accepting it without knowing what was negotiated. Yet, Biden is telling Jews around the world that Hamas was driven by an ancient desire to wipeout the Jewish people, while he is negotiating with the terrorists behind Israel’s back and withholding munitions to fight Hamas. James 1:8 says, “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” Biden is playing with strange fire and cunning intrigue against Israel and the Jewish people. His double minded conundrum is extremely dangerous to us all. It’s, say it with me…Stupidocrisy. Daily Devotion: How to Kill a Conscience - by Greg Laurie – www.harvest.org Let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. —Hebrews 10:22 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/how-to-kill-a-conscience/ - Listen King Herod had a decision to make, and it was troubling him. Although he saw John as a threat, he admired him at the same time. Mark’s Gospel says, “Herod respected John; and knowing that he was a good and holy man, he protected him. Herod was greatly disturbed whenever he talked with John, but even so, he liked to listen to him” (6:20 NLT). This is amazing, considering the fact that John had called out Herod on his sin. John was fearless. He didn’t care who people were or what their positions were. And Herod put up with this because he admired the great prophet. What was the sin that Herod was involved in? The Bible simply says that he was married to Herodias, his brother’s wife. And history tells us that, indeed, Herod married his brother Philip’s wife. But it gets even worse because Herodias was the daughter of Philips’s half brother, which also made her Herod’s niece. What’s more, Herodias had a daughter named Salome, whom Herod looked at lustfully. So, he not only married his brother’s wife, who happened to be his niece, but he also had a lustful eye for the daughter of Herodias. But unlike her husband, Herodias wasn’t impressed by John. In fact, she hated him. The Bible tells us that “Herodias bore a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But without Herod’s approval she was powerless” (Mark 6:19 NLT). As a result, Herodias found another way to deal with John. She had Salome perform a little dance for Herod at his birthday party. And when Herod got worked up and offered to give Salome anything she wanted, Herodias instructed her to ask for the head of John the Baptist. So she did. Matthew tells us, “Then the king regretted what he had said; but because of the vow he had made in front of his guests, he issued the necessary orders” (14:9 NLT). Herod was concerned about impressing people. He made the offer, and he felt that he had to honor it to save face. The king should have said, “What was I thinking? I retract that statement. I’m not going to follow through.” But he didn’t care about principles or doing what was right. Instead, he did what he thought others expected him to do. This decision tormented Herod, and it troubled what was left of his conscience. And unbeknownst to the king, his conscience was dying. How do you kill a conscience? You do it a little at a time. You know something is wrong, your conscience troubles you about it, and you try to ignore it. Then as time passes, your conscience becomes harder and harder to hear. The best way to deal with a troubled conscience is to get rid of what produced it, and that is sin. Only Jesus Christ can forgive sin and resensitize the conscience. He died on Calvary’s cross and shed His blood for us. We must call our sin what it is and stop making excuses for it. PROPHECY UPDATE NEWS HEADLINES Yesterday's Prophecies - Today's Headlines HEADLINES IN PARTNERSHIP WITH TRACKING BIBLE PROPHECY 5/15/24 http://trackingbibleprophecy.org/birthpangs.php
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