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The Message of Hurricanes and The Unheeded Calls For National Repentance – By David Reagan - https://harbingersdaily.com/in-depth-the-message-of-hurricanes-and-the-unheeded-call-for-national-repentance/
Luke 21:11 KJV – “And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.“ There are many spiritual lessons to be learned from the hurricanes we are experiencing. One of the most important is the way the storms have shown the importance of life over things. Life is precious. Things—all the material items we collect and become so attached to—are disposable. The storms also have driven home the fact that life can be very tenuous, and we, therefore, need to live with an eternal perspective. I could go on and on about the spiritual lessons of the hurricane, but as a person who has been given the gift of understanding and preaching prophecy, I feel my responsibility is to focus on the prophetic implications of the storm. The Signs of the Times The Bible provides us with many signs we are to watch for that will signal the soon return of Jesus. As I have studied them, I have found it useful to put them into categories. They naturally seem to fall into six groups: 1) The Signs of Nature 2) The Signs of Society 3) Spiritual Signs 4) The Signs of World Politics 5) The Signs of Technology 6) The Signs of Israel A Category Held in Contempt The category of signs that receives the least respect is the signs of nature. There are two reasons for this, one that is conceptual and another that is philosophical. The conceptual problem resides in the fact that there have always been signs of nature. So, when confronted with the prophesied signs of nature, many people shrug their shoulders and ask, “What else is new? There have always been tornados, hurricanes, and earthquakes.” What they overlook is that Jesus said these signs would be like “birth pangs” (Matthew 24:8), which means they will increase in frequency and intensity the closer we get to the Lord’s return. And that is exactly what appears to be happening today. The philosophical problem many people have with the signs of nature is due to the fact that we have been brainwashed by Western scientific rationalism into believing that for something to exist, you must be able to see it, measure it, weigh it, and dissect it. In contrast, the Bible teaches there is a whole realm of the supernatural that cannot normally be perceived by the senses. This realm includes angels, demons, and the operation of the Holy Spirit. It also includes God’s intervention from time to time through natural disasters. God and Signs of Nature Sometimes, God uses signs of nature to underline the importance of major events. Thus, at the birth of Jesus, God placed a special light in the heavens, probably a manifestation of His Shekinah glory. When Jesus was crucified, the earth experienced three hours of darkness and a major earthquake. And the Bible says that when Jesus returns, the world will experience the greatest earthquake in its history. Every island will be moved, valleys will be lifted, mountains will be lowered, and the city of Jerusalem will be lifted up like a jewel, possibly becoming the highest place on earth (Revelation 16:18-21 and Isaiah 40:3-5). More often, God uses signs of nature as remedial judgments to call nations to repentance. Both the Bible and history attest to the fact that God has a pattern of dealing with nations. To begin with, He is the one who establishes nations, and He is the one who takes them down (Daniel 2:20-21). When a nation rebels against God, He responds first by raising up prophetic voices to call the nation to repentance—these are not people with supernatural knowledge of the future; they simply have the gift of discernment to see where a nation is missing God’s mark. To put it another way, they know how to apply the Scriptures to contemporary events. If a nation refuses to listen to the prophetic voices, God will then send remedial judgments. These can take many forms. Deuteronomy 28 mentions economic failure, rebellion of youth, an epidemic of divorce, confusion in government, foreign domination, and military defeat. The chapter also mentions natural disasters like drought, crop failure, and pestilence. Biblical history indicates that rulers can be remedial judgments. In other words, God often judges nations by giving them the kind of leaders they deserve. Finally, if a nation digs in against God and sets its jaw against His calls to repentance, a point of no return will be reached — often referred to as “when the wound becomes incurable” (Nahum 3:19, Jeremiah 30:12, and Micah 1:9). At this point, the Lord will deliver the nation from judgment to destruction. That destruction may occur quickly, as with Babylon and the Soviet Union, or it may occur gradually over a period of time, as with the Roman Empire and the United States today. Examples of Remedial Judgments There are many examples of remedial judgments in the Bible that involve natural disasters. Take, for example, the plagues with which God afflicted Egypt in order to convince Pharaoh that he should release the children of Israel from captivity. The Lord sent plagues of frogs, gnats, flies, and locusts. In addition, He contaminated the nation’s water, afflicted the livestock with pestilence, struck the people with sores and boils, engulfed the land in a thick darkness, and finally took the lives of the firstborn of both men and livestock. When King Ahab led the Israelites into the worship of a pagan god, the Lord raised up the prophet Elijah to call the king and his people to repentance. When they ignored Elijah, the Lord then put a remedial judgment on the land in the form of a severe three and a half year drought (1 Kings 17 and 18). The book of Joel tells about a locust invasion that afflicted Judah. This was one of the worst calamities that could befall an agricultural society. It appears that people began bemoaning their “bad luck.” That’s when God sent the prophet Joel to inform them that the disaster had nothing to do with luck. Joel boldly proclaimed that the locusts had been sent by God to call the people to repentance. He warned that if they did not repent, the Lord would send something even worse—an enemy army. The people ignored Joel and the prophets who followed him, and God ultimately sent the army, delivering them from judgment to destruction. Seventy years later, when the Babylonian captivity ended, the Jews who returned to Judah laid the foundation for a new temple and then quickly lost interest in the project. They turned their attention instead to the building of their personal homes. For 14 years, the foundation of the temple stood vacant. Finally, God raised up an elderly, tough-talking prophet named Haggai. He confronted the people by asking them: “Have you noticed that when you plant your crops, they are destroyed by root rot? And when you replant them, they are destroyed again by hail? And when you replant, a wind storm comes? God is speaking to you! He is calling you to repent of your misplaced priorities and give attention to the rebuilding of His temple.” For once, the people listened, obeyed, and were blessed. The Nature of God God has continued throughout history to use signs of nature to call nations to repentance. Some people say, “Oh no, God doesn’t do that anymore because this is the ‘Age of Grace.'” Well, the first problem with that statement is that it implies there was a previous time of no grace. The fact of the matter is that there is only one way of salvation that has ever existed: namely, grace through faith (Joel 2:32). Furthermore, the Bible says God is “the same yesterday, today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). There is no such thing as the Old Testament God of wrath and the New Testament God of grace. God does not change (Malachi 3:6). The Old Testament God of wrath is the one who showed grace toward the wicked city of Ninevah when its people repented in response to the message of Jonah. The New Testament God of grace is the one who warned the church at Thyatira that if it continued to tolerate a false prophetess, He would “cast her upon a bed of sickness and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation.” Further, He threatened to “kill her children with pestilence” (Revelation 2:22-23). Our God is a God of grace, mercy, and love. But He is also a God of holiness, righteousness, and justice. The balanced view of God is presented by the prophet Nahum. Speaking of God’s grace, he wrote: “The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble, and He knows those who take refuge in Him” (Nahum 1:7). But Nahum warned that the same God of grace is the one who is righteous and holy and who will not tolerate sin. Nahum 1:2-3 states: “God is jealous, and the Lord revengeth; the Lord revengeth, and is furious; the Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies. The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the Lord hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.” The Role of Satan Some counter by trying to argue that natural calamities come from Satan and not God. But the Bible teaches that God is sovereign. Satan is not free to do anything he pleases. When he wanted to torment Job, he had to ask God’s permission, and when he was granted permission, God laid down rules about what he could and could not do (Job 1:6-12). The Bible says God does not tempt us (James 1:13). Yet Jesus taught us to pray, “Lead us not into temptation” (Matthew 6:13). How can these statements be reconciled? The answer is that although Satan is the tempter, he cannot do so unless God allows it. Again, God is sovereign, and nothing happens that He does not allow, either in His perfect will or His permissive will. That is the reason the Bible attributes all natural disasters to God. Crucial Questions Are all natural calamities a product of Man’s sin? Yes, absolutely. The original creation was perfect. Natural calamities are a result of the curse that God placed on the creation in response to Man’s sin. When Jesus returns, the curse will be lifted, and natural calamities will cease. Do all natural calamities represent remedial judgments of God? No, most are products of the natural processes of our weather systems. How, then, can we determine when a natural calamity is a remedial judgment? One important factor is the timing of the event as it relates to the sins of the nation. Another factor is the magnitude of the event. Remedial judgments are designed to have great shock value in order to capture people’s attention and force them to think with an eternal perspective. The most important factor is God’s Spirit witnessing to the spirits of those to whom He has given the gift of prophetic discernment. They will be motivated to speak forth with a united voice. The Example of the United States We can see all these principles operating in the history of our own nation. We were founded as a Christian nation, committed to Christian values, and God greatly blessed us. But in the 1960s, we began to thumb our nose at God as a cultural revolution was launched. Our society quickly descended into a cesspool of sexual promiscuity, drug abuse, abortion on demand, legalized gambling, rampant blasphemy, and a flood of pornography. Our national slogan became, “If it feels good, do it!” We adopted a hedonistic lifestyle, calling evil good and good evil (Isaiah 5:20). God responded by raising up prophetic voices to call the nation to repentance. One of those was Dave Wilkerson, pastor of Times Square Church in New York City. I called him “God’s Jeremiah to America.” In the 70s he began writing a series of books in which he clearly outlined the sins of America and warned of judgments from God if we did not repent. Like Jeremiah, his popularity plummeted because people—even church people—did not want to hear his “doomsday message.” When the prophetic voices were ignored, God began to place remedial judgments on our nation — things like our defeat in the Vietnam War, the AIDS epidemic, the plague of sexually transmitted diseases, the scourge of homosexuality, and natural disasters in the form of monster earthquakes and killer tornados and hurricanes. The culmination of the remedial judgments seemed to come with the 9/11 terrorist assault in 2001 when two symbols of American pride were attacked: the Twin Towers in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. The towers stood as symbols of our wealth; the Pentagon symbolized our military power. I believe this event was a wake-up call from God for our nation to repent. Instead, like a drowsy man who doesn’t want to wake up, we merely rolled over and hit the snooze button on the alarm clock. A New Factor I don’t think there is any doubt that our national sins have called down remedial judgments from God. But what I think we may have failed to realize is that since 1991, many of the judgments we have experienced have been directly related to our mistreatment of Israel. The Bible says that God will bless those who bless Israel, and He will curse those who curse Israel (Genesis 12:3). The Bible also says that he who touches Israel touches “the apple of God’s eye” (Zechariah 2:8). History attests to the truth of these statements. Spain was at the height of its power as a world empire in the 15th Century when it launched the Inquisition and drove its Jewish population out of the country. Within a short time thereafter, the empire no longer existed. Hitler was well on his way to conquering all of Europe when he launched the Holocaust. His Third Reich soon ended up in ashes. I believe that many of our blessings as a nation have been due to the fact that we have historically been a safe haven for the Jewish people. Also, we have been Israel’s best friend ever since the nation came back into being in 1948. But the Bible says that in the end times, all the nations of the world will come together against Israel over the issue of Jerusalem (Zechariah 12:3). And in the early 90s, we began to turn against Israel in our determination to maintain access to Arab oil. The Decisive Year The turning point was in 1991 when the Soviet Union collapsed, and Russian Jews began flooding into Israel at the rate of 2,000 to 3,000 a day for one year. The tiny nation of Israel was overwhelmed by the refugees. The Israeli government appealed to the World Bank for a $5 billion loan. The bank said it would grant the loan only if the U. S. guaranteed it. The Bush Administration agreed to underwrite the loan on one condition: the Israelis had to go to the bargaining table and start trading land for peace. Yes, we were the ones who forced Israel into adopting the suicidal policy of appeasement, and we have been twisting their arm ever since, pressuring them to divide up the land which God gave them as an everlasting possession. Keep in mind that we can apply enormous pressure because our veto in the United Nations Security Council is the only thing standing between Israel and economic sanctions that could easily and quickly destroy the Israeli economy. Facing the Consequences of Dividing Israel In February of 2004 a White House correspondent named William Koenig published a book entitled, “Eye to Eye.” It was subtitled, “Facing the Consequences of Dividing Israel.” The thesis of the book was that many of the natural calamities, economic setbacks, and political crises experienced by the United States since 1991 had been directly related to actions we took to force Israel to surrender territory to the Arabs. Koenig is a devout Evangelical Christian who has the gift of discernment to see the supernatural relationship between world events and judgments of God. Looking back, his book had a very startling cover. It showed President Bush looking over his right shoulder at a hurricane, and in the eye of the hurricane was a Star of David, the symbol of Israel. Hurricane Katrina did not occur until a year later in August of 2005. In his book, Koenig showed the amazing parallels between U.S. mistreatment of Israel and subsequent natural calamities, economic setbacks, and political crises. The Gaza Withdrawal Take, for example, Hurricane Katrina. It was directly related to our demand that Israel surrender Gaza. That withdrawal began on August 7, 2005, and continued through the 22nd. During that time, nearly 9,000 Israelis were uprooted from their land and homes. Many had been living in the area for as long as 35 years. It was a heart-wrenching event to watch women and children manhandled, synagogues violated, Torah scrolls desecrated, houses bulldozed, graves dug up, and farms destroyed. Entire Jewish communities were forcibly removed from land which God has given to the Jewish people as an everlasting possession (Psalm 105:8-11). The economic impact on the Israeli economy was overwhelming. The farms in Gaza represented 70% of Israel’s organic produce, 60% of the nation’s exported herbs, 15% of its total agricultural exports, 60% of its exported cherry tomato crop, and $120 million of its flower exports. While this travesty was taking place, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice began applying more pressure with the following statement: “Everyone empathizes with what the Israelis are facing . . . but it cannot be Gaza only.” The Supernatural Response The withdrawal ended on August 22, and on the very next day, the government of Bermuda announced that a tropical depression had formed off its coast. Dubbed “Katrina,” the storm quickly developed into the most powerful hurricane in modern history. It slammed into New Orleans and the Mississippi coast four days later on the 27th. The hurricane disrupted 25% of our crude oil production and destroyed our nation’s largest port (the 5th largest in the world in terms of tonnage). I think it is interesting to note that the hurricane hit just three days before New Orleans — which often refers to itself proudly as “Sin City USA” — was scheduled to host an ungodly annual event that had come to be called “The Gay Mardi Gras.” The theme that year was “Jazz and Jezebels.” The previous year, the event had drawn 125,000 revelers who proudly flaunted their perversion publicly in a parade that featured the bizarre. Incredibly, this event was sponsored by a group that called itself “Southern Decadence.” New Orleans is known for its occult practices, particularly voodoo. The city is also infamous for its high murder rate and its rampant political corruption. Nonetheless, I do not believe the storm was meant primarily as a judgment upon the city of New Orleans. Rather, I saw it as a judgment on our entire nation for our mistreatment of Israel. The consequences of the storm were national in scope. It resulted in higher fuel prices which led to higher prices for all goods. It disrupted the flow of goods into and out of our country. It shamed us before the world as we mishandled the aftermath. And it deeply scarred the Bush Administration. Déja Vu All Over Again Like Katrina, I believe the latest hurricanes (Helene and Milton) are God’s response to our mistreatment of Israel. We have tolerated anti-Semitic demonstrations, and our government has shown indifference toward Israel as the nation fights for its very existence on six fronts: Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank, Gaza, Yemen, and Iran. President Biden has talked tough about backing Israel, but his words have proved hollow. He is holding up the shipment of military supplies approved by Congress. And behind the scenes, he is pressing the Israeli Prime Minister to pursue a policy of appeasement toward the terrorist groups attacking Israel, instead of seeking their annihilation. The bottom line is that Biden is more interested in helping Kamala win the votes of Muslims in the state of Minnesota than helping Israel win its war. The Message of the Hurricanes I believe the hurricanes are a message from God that He is on His throne. He is in control. He cannot be mocked. He will not tolerate the division of His Holy Land. Nor will He tolerate antisemitism and gross immorality that mocks everything that is moral and decent. God loves our nation. He has blessed us more than nearly any other nation. His Word says that to those to whom much is given, much is expected (Luke 12:47-48). His Word also says He disciplines those whom He loves (Hebrews 12:7). Another thing His Word makes clear is that when He sends discipline, the fundamental purpose is never to punish. Instead, the purpose is to call us to repentance so that we might be saved. Here’s how the prophet Isaiah expressed it: “When the earth experiences Your judgments, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness” (Isaiah 26:9). A Personal Experience I know the truth of this statement first-hand. In May of 1953, when I was 15 years old, an F5 tornado hit my hometown of Waco, Texas. To this day, it is the most deadly tornado in Texas history. It killed 114 people and injured 597. It ripped through the center of the downtown area and leveled five-story buildings with ease. When it was over, the city looked like it had been hit with an atomic bomb. For three months thereafter, the churches of Waco were packed with standing room only crowds as people sought to cope with the tragedy. People were forced to think about eternity. But gradually the pain subsided, people returned to their old ways, and church attendance fell off. Our God is truly a God of amazing grace. Even when He pours out His wrath, He does so hoping that it will provoke repentance so that people can be saved. Attempts to Respond Spiritually In response to Katrina, the Governor of Louisiana, Kathleen Blanco, called for a statewide day of prayer: “As we face the devastation wrought by Katrina, as we search for those in need, as we comfort those in pain, and as we begin the long task of rebuilding, we turn to God for strength, hope, and comfort.” Noble words. But notice, there was no call to repentance. In like manner, President Bush called for a national day of prayer on September 8. He asked the nation to pray for the victims and to reach out to them in compassion. Again, noble words, but no expression of repentance. New Orleans City Council President Oliver Thomas came the closest of all public officials in recognizing that Katrina had a spiritual message. Referring to Sodom and Gomorrah, he said, “Maybe God is cleansing us.” But cleansing requires a response of repentance, something God is calling for from the whole nation, and not just the citizens of New Orleans or the victims of the current hurricanes. The Proper Response No public official in our nation’s history has yet seen the spiritual implications of a disaster as clearly as did Abraham Lincoln when he evaluated the cause of the Civil War. In a proclamation dated March 30, 1863, the President called for “a national day of prayer and humiliation.” He began the proclamation by observing: “It is the duty of nations as well as men to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions, in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon.” The heart of the proclamation read as follows: And, insomuch as we know that, by His divine law, nations like individuals are subjected to punishments and chastisements in this world, may we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war, which now desolates the land, may be but a punish- ment, inflicted upon us, for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole People? We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth, and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us! It behooves us then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness. How we need such a proclamation today! The sad thing is that we have become so secular and pagan that if our President were to issue such a statement, members of Congress would probably bring impeachment proceedings against him for “violation of the separation of church and state.” A Call to Prayer We as a nation have set our jaw against God. We are tempting Him to move us from judgment to destruction. Our God is so merciful. He is patiently sending us one wake-up call after another because He never pours out His wrath without warning. Pray that our eyes will be opened and our hearts melted. Pray for a great national revival. Pray too for the hearts of our leaders to be opened to the significance of Israel in Bible prophecy. Alliance Of The End?: The President Of Turkey Asks Russia, Syria And Iran To Unite Against Israel - by Michael Snyder - https://endoftheamericandream.com/alliance-of-the-end-the-president-of-turkey-asks-russia-syria-and-iran-to-unite-against-israel/ War is in the air, and we are seeing some very interesting alliances form. As you will see below, the Russians and the Chinese continue to strengthen ties with one another, and this is something that I have been anticipating for many years. Meanwhile, the president of Turkey is calling for a very alarming alliance of military powers in the Middle East. On Saturday, he told the press that he is urging “Russia, Iran and Syria” to form a united front to protect “Syria’s territorial integrity”… Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoǧan told local media on Saturday that Russia, Iran and Syria should do more to protect Syria’s “territorial integrity.” “It is essential that Russia, Iran and Syria take more effective measures against this situation, which poses the greatest threat to Syria’s territorial integrity,” Erdoǧan said when asked about the recent alleged Israeli airstrike in the nation’s capital, Damascus. Obviously Iran and Syria are already working very closely together. But we shall see what Russia and Turkey decide to do. The Russians definitely have their hands full with Ukraine, and so they don’t really have resources to spare for a war in the Middle East. And Turkey is a member of NATO, and that status would certainly be jeopardized if Erdogan decided to jump into this conflict. But as for Iran and Syria, they are already essentially at war with Israel. The IDF is constantly bombing targets inside Syria, and the Iranians recently launched about 200 missiles into Israel. Now we are waiting for the Israeli response, and Iran has already told the Biden administration that it will respond in kind to any Israeli attack… Iran has informed the United States that it will retaliate against any new attack by Israel, a source in Tehran told CNN. Iran’s government has also been engaging in urgent diplomatic efforts with countries in the Middle East to gauge whether it can reduce the scale of Israel’s response to its missile attack earlier this month and — if that fails — help protect the capital, sources say. Nobody is backing down this time. The final showdown between Israel and Iran has arrived, but both sides don’t seem to fully realize this yet. Meanwhile, the IDF continues to bomb the living daylights out of Hezbollah targets all over Lebanon… Israel expanded its targets in its war with Hezbollah militants in Lebanon on Monday, killing at least 21 people in an airstrike in the north, health officials said, while millions of Israelis took shelter from projectiles fired back across the border. So far the main focus of Israel’s military operations in Lebanon has been in the south, the Bekaa Valley in the east and the suburbs of Beirut. I am expecting some really big escalations in the coming days. But for the moment we are still waiting for the next big shoe to drop. At the same time, the Russians and the Chinese just continue to develop closer ties with one another… Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov arrived in Beijing Monday for talks with his Chinese counterpart, who called for strengthening military cooperation between the two countries. Moscow and Beijing have forged closer ties since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, an alliance that has sparked anxiety in the West as both countries seek to expand their global influence. How many years have I been warning about a very strong alliance between Russia and China? This is precisely what we have been anticipating, but very few people in the western world seem to be alarmed about what is happening. Despite all of the money that we have poured into Ukraine, the Russians are winning that war. At this point, the Ukrainians are so desperate for manpower that they are literally dragging young men out of restaurants, clubs and bars in front of everyone… Ukraine’s military recruiters have launched targeted raids in Kyiv, detaining those whose documents do not comply and press-ganging them into the army. Video footage captured the moment two men were dragged away by officers as they exited the Palace of Sports on Friday where Ukrainian rock band Okean Elzy played. One concertgoer could be seen struggling and shouting ‘Get away from me!’ at three policemen as they pulled him towards the recruitment desk set up outside the venue. A series of raids were carried out at restaurants, clubs, bars and a concert hall in the capital city, according to reports. Of course the Ukrainians have been quietly doing this sort of thing for a long time, but now they aren’t even trying to hide it anymore. On the other side of the world, the Chinese just surrounded Taiwan with warships and fighter jets… On Monday China has launched large military drills encircling the self-governing island of Taiwan, which Taipei has blasted as an “unreasonable provocation”. China’s PLA military deployed warships and fighter jets to send a “stern warning” against “separatist acts of Taiwan independence forces”. The PLA Eastern Theater Command deployed joint operations of the army, navy, air force and rocket force. These assets have been largely concentrated in the Taiwan Strait, as well as surrounding Taiwan. “The joint drills focused on sea and air combat readiness, blockading key Taiwanese ports and areas, and assaults on maritime and ground targets,” described the eastern theatre command’s spokesperson, senior captain Li Xi. The good news is that this was just a military exercise. The Chinese are practicing for a future blockade of Taiwan, and just before the military exercise commenced a video was released that boldly declared that the Chinese military is “prepared for battle at all times and can fight anytime”… Just before these fresh drills, China’s military issued and circulated a propaganda video entitled “prepared for battle” on vairous social media accounts. The about one-minute video features fighter jets, warships and amphibious assault vessels taking to the air and sea near Taiwan. Mobile rocket launchers are also seen being maneuvered and made ready for attacks. Text associated with the video said Chinese forces are “prepared for battle at all times and can fight anytime.” A blockade will probably be the very first step that the Chinese take when they decide that it is time to forcibly “reunite” with Taiwan. And the moment that they establish such a blockade, the U.S. and China will be at war. Sadly, that could happen a lot sooner than most people think. Like I said at the beginning of this article, war is in the air. We are so close to the unthinkable, and our window of opportunity to avoid a global nightmare is rapidly closing. ENTER OUR DONATION DRAWING A Chance to Win a Brand New 24-inch iMac with Retina 4.5K display -- most importantly, you will be helping to Support Prophecy Update! 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Psyching Out Israel’s Enemies – Terry James - https://terryjamesprophecyline.com/2024/10/13/psyching-out-israels-enemies/ To “psych out” means to insinuate a sense of intimidation into the psyche or cognitive process. At least that term encompasses the achieved ramification, to my way of intended meaning. Perhaps you might think of better examples, but here are a couple. Bobby Fisher, an undefeated chess champion in the early 1970s, was a reclusive, thus unknown, player who many say “psyched out” his Russian-Soviet opponent, Boris Spassky, in their July 1972 world championship match. Fisher was a strange, eccentric man holding anti-Semitic views. His brooding reclusiveness and odd ways apparently had a tendency to intimidate opponents who had to face him in their matches. Another, more familiar, case of “psyching out” opponents might be when Goliath, the giant warrior, intimidated the Israelites—that is, until he came up against young David, Israel’s future king. And this brings us to thinking about recent cases of Israel’s enemies who seek to destroy the Jewish nation and eradicate the chosen people of God. We’ve witnessed God dealing with Israel’s enemies within the past few weeks in ways almost as dramatic as when He dealt with them in Israel’s ancient past. And I’ve mentioned recently Israel’s defense force bringing Iran’s nuclear-weapons program to a standstill by introducing a computer worm called Stuxnet into the technology used to run Iran’s centrifuges. Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has consistently said Iran never will be allowed to have a nuclear weapon. Implied within that statement is the threat of using whatever military or other means necessary to keep the Israel-hating Iranian regime from developing nuclear bombs. This threat, and Iran’s insistence on using proxies to harass and attack the Jewish state and its people through actions such as on October 7, 2023, has the diplomats of the world in a near panic. To this point, the all-out war that might be necessary to destroy Iran’s nuclear weapons hasn’t happened. Israel has, it seems, been able to thwart Iran’s destructive intentions. As stated above, we saw this with Stuxnet some years ago, and we continue to see Israel’s almost-magical thwarting of the genocidal aspirations of Iran and its proxies. The remarkable feat of causing the Hezbollah pagers and other communications devices to explode almost simultaneously, killing many terrorists and wounding many others, has put, it seems, an even more virulent “worm” than Stuxnet into the nefarious minds of the devilish Israel haters. The following excerpt demonstrates the effects of this mind virus. If not such a serious matter of keeping Israel from the dastardly plans of the likes of Iran’s regime leaders, it would be hilarious to consider the paranoid reaction Israel’s “magical” doings have inflicted on those devoted to the destruction of the Jewish state and people. As Israel continues to demonstrate impressive intelligence capabilities by eliminating much of the leadership of the Hezbollah terrorist organization, some of its enemies are reportedly attributing supernatural powers to the Jewish State. Iranian opposition news site Iran International published a recording from a televised interview given by an Iranian cleric close to the Ayatollah’s regime accusing the Jewish people of trapping and employing jinn, or genies, for three thousand years, as well as using science fiction technology. Iranian Shia seminary teacher Mostafa Karami claimed, “Considering the Zionists’ history of subjugating genies, they carry out many of their missions through this means, and demons are their secret army.” “They [the Jews] have had access to genies and cosmic science since the time of David and Solomon,” he added. “Historically, they have always used genies, their documents and traditions proved that. They have used genies and demons for warfare and intelligence operations throughout history.” Karami detailed his magical conspiracy theory in response to the elimination of Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah last week. (Arutz Sheva, “Iranian Cleric: ‘Jews have had access to genies since Davidic time’,” Israel National News) It’s amusing that this Islamic cleric fanatic believes in Israeli magic. He isn’t far from wrong, in that it is supernatural in its reality, rather than the nonexistent “magic” to which he attributes Israel’s ability to perform things that seem miraculous. In fact, the feats are miraculous. The God who calls this strange miracle nation His “chosen people” has imbued Abraham’s seed with His own power at points in history of His own choosing. So the Islamic Jew-haters have had their evil minds invaded by the “magic” worm, as the cleric has complained. They’ve been “psyched out” by the God of Israel, about whom the Holy Scripture says: “Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep” (Psalm 121:4). All of this involving hatred of Israel and the Jewish people at this moment means Jesus is about to intervene against the evil ramping up in the Middle East as well as in the rest of the world. That intervention will be the Rapture of all believers into Christ’s presence in the clouds of Glory. You don’t want to be left behind when that any-moment call to believers is made. Here, once again, is how to go to the Lord and to Heaven when that call issues forth, as Jesus told about in John 14:1–3. That if you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and will believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Romans 10:9–10) The Feast of Booths in Bible Prophecy! - by Olivier Melnick - https://www.shalominmessiah.com/2024/10/14/the-feast-of-booths-in-bible-prophecy/ We just finished celebrating Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Next is a big celebration for the Feast of Tabernacles, also known as the Feast of Booths or Sukkot in Hebrew. The Feasts are special yearly convocations listed in Leviticus 23, also called the Feasts of the Lord. They divide into two groups: the Spring Festivals and the Fall Feasts. They all have biblical, rabbinic, and prophetic significance. Another critical aspect of the festivals is that all the yearly convocations found in Leviticus 23 have a prophetic significance as they pertain to the redemptive career of Yeshua the Messiah. As they are listed on the calendar chronologically throughout the year, they help us understand the order of end-times events. Sukkot will be fulfilled by the Millennial Kingdom or the Messianic Kingdom, also known as the 1000-year Kingdom on Earth. Back in biblical days, it was an agricultural feast at the time of the fall harvest. It was also one of the three mandatory festivals that you find in the Bible where Jews had to go back to Jerusalem to celebrate at the Temple along with Passover and Pentecost. Sukkot is found in the Bible. In the Torah in Leviticus 23:33-43; Exodus 23:14-17; Numbers 29:12-38; Deuteronomy 16:13-16; Deuteronomy 31:9-13. In the Prophets, in 1 Kings 8:1-66, 12:25-33. In the Writings, in II Chronicles 7:8-10; Nehemiah 8:13-18, and in the New Testament, in John 7:1-10:21. In Exodus 23:14- 17, we read: 14 “Three times a year you shall celebrate a feast to Me. 15 You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread; for seven days you are to eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the appointed time in the month Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt. And none shall appear before Me empty-handed. 16 Also you shall keep the Feast of the Harvest of the first fruits of your labors from what you sow in the field; also the Feast of the Ingathering at the end of the year when you gather in the fruit of your labors from the field. 17 Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord Yahweh.” This confirms that Sukkot was one of the three festivals that required a physical trip to Jerusalem from wherever you were in Israel. When you look at Leviticus 23:33-43 you find out more about the Feast of Sukkot. “Again the Lord spoke to Moses saying speak to the sons of Israel saying on the 15th of the 7th month is the feast of booth for seven days to the Lord on the first day is a holy convocation ….it is a solemn assembly, you shall do no laborious work. These are the appointed times of the lord which you shall proclaim as holy convocations to bring offerings by fire near to the Lord ….on exactly the 15th day of the 7th month when you have gathered in the produce of your land you shall celebrate the feast of Yahweh for seven days with a rest on the first day and a rest on the 8th day and on the first day you shall take for yourselves the foliage of beautiful trees, palm branches and bows of leafy trees and willows of the brook and you shall be glad before the Lord your God for seven days.” So, we find out that it takes place on the 15th of the 7th month, which is the 15th of Tishrei. It lasts seven days, and then there's another festival right after that for one day. There is no laborious work, meaning it's to be treated like a Shabbat. And back in the day, the offerings were supposed to be presented at the temple. Four species are mentioned in Leviticus 23: 40, which states, “On the first day you shall take for yourselves no the foliage of beautiful trees, palm branches, and bows of leafy trees, and willows of the brook.” These four species are known as the Arba minim. They symbolize the final harvest and are presented in thanksgiving to the Lord. They are held and shaken in all directions because God is everywhere. They are held in both hands and waved East, South, West, North, upward, and downward. This is done to thank the Lord for his current provision and continue to ask him for future provision. The lemon-looking fruit known as etrog symbolizes the promised land. The palm symbolizes something that has fruit but no fragrance. The myrtle has fragrance but no fruit. The willow has neither fragrance nor fruit. The etrog has both fragrance and fruit. They all symbolize Jewish unity despite diversity. In Jewish tradition, this is when we build a sukkah or a dwelling or tabernacle or a booth, and people traditionally eat and even, in some cases, sleep in the booth for the whole week. There's also a tradition of offering hospitality to the less fortunate during that festival and inviting them in. Something somewhat similar to a Jewish version of Thanksgiving. The booths can be built on the ground, sidewalk, or on the grass. In Israel and some Jewish communities around the world, you see them also built on balconies of people's homes. They are to be flimsy, have three walls and one opening, and have leafy branches on the roof with enough holes to see the stars through the roof. Now when we go back to the biblical practice of Sukkot, especially in the New Testament time or the Second Temple period (515 BC-AD 70), there were two misapplications of that feast. The first one was the transfiguration when the disciples saw Yeshua with Moses and Elijah, and they were convinced that He was inaugurating the Kingdom, and because they knew scripture, they knew that in the Kingdom we would be celebrating the Feast of Sukkot. Matthew 17:1-4 17 And six days later Yeshua brought with Him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up on a high mountain by themselves. 2 And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light. 3 And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. 4 And Peter answered and said to Yeshua, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, I will make three booths here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” The other misapplication was at the Triumphal Entry when people, seeing Yeshua coming into Jerusalem, thought that He was coming to inaugurate the kingdom. But in both cases, people were wrong, as they expected the inauguration of the Messianic Kingdom, but it was just the first coming of Yeshua. He would have to die as the ultimate sacrifice for all people in the world, including Jewish people, rise again and ascend to the Father before he could come back at the second coming and inaugurate the Kingdom. Yet, two ceremonies were happening during that festival in biblical times. They were known as the ceremony of the outpouring of the water and the ceremony of the kindling of the lampstands. The outpouring of the water took place as the priests marched down from the Temple compound down to the pool of Siloam, filled water pots and jugs, and then returned to the Temple and entered through the Watergate. Water was poured on the altar to symbolize that the whole world would know God through his Messiah one day. It was symbolizing the outpouring of the spirit of God. Yeshua connected Himself to that scripture in John 7:37-39, “now on the last day the great day of the Feast, Yeshua stood and cried out saying if anyone is thirsty let him come to me and drink he who believes in me as the scripture said from his innermost being will flow rivers of living water but this was spoken of the Spirit whom those who believed in him were to receive for the Spirit was not yet given because Yeshua was not yet glorified.” Then there is the lamp stand ceremony at the close of the first day of Sukkot the Levites would March to the Temple with torches to symbolize the coming of the Messiah to light the whole world, and again Yeshua connected himself to that event in John 8:12 “then Yeshua spoke again to them saying I am the light of the world he who follows me will not walk in the darkness but will have the light of life.” So, what's interesting is that both events took place each year on the Feast of Sukkot when Yeshua walked the earth during His ministry. The priest and Levites would perform those ceremonies according to Jewish tradition with the great expectation of the coming of the Messiah one day in the future. Yeshua, both times, is saying, “Look, I'm here; I'm the Messiah you are waiting for!” as He connected Himself to the living water and the light of the, but of course, the vast majority of his people rejected him as we know the story from our perspective today. So, prophetically, Sukkot will be celebrated in the Millennial Kingdom. It will be mandatory for Jews and Gentiles, and it will be celebrated every year and will result in the worship of King Messiah in His Kingdom. We learn about this in Zechariah 14:16-19. 16 Then it will be that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, Yahweh of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths. 17 And it will be that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, Yahweh of hosts, there will be no rain on them. 18 And if the family of Egypt does not go up or enter, then no rain will fall on them; it will be the plague with which Yahweh plagues the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths. 19 This will be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths. So we see in Zechariah 14 that the Feast is mentioned three times in five verses. It will be celebrated during the Millennial Kingdom and fulfilled by the Millennial Kingdom. It will be a time of rejoicing following the seven-year tribulation, as Sukkot was a time of rejoicing after Yom Kippur. This raises an important question: “Should believers today celebrate the Feasts of the Lord?” I think there's beauty in the Levitical Feasts. Incidentally, they are called the Feasts of the Lord and not the Feasts of Israel, so maybe we should have a broader view of their celebration. We should not celebrate them with a legalistic approach, as believers are under grace. So, anybody within the Body of Messiah can choose if they want to celebrate them or not. We also need to keep in mind that we can never celebrate them to increase our spirituality, because we cannot get "more saved." Yet, it can be a beautiful thing to celebrate the Feasts as a memorial to Yeshua’s sacrifice on our behalf. Looking at them from this perspective can be beneficial and very enjoyable without being burdensome Daily Jot: Forgetting Even Most-needy Americans – FEMA - Bill Wilson – www.dailyjot.com Nearly 20 years ago (August 2005), President George W Bush was torn apart by his Democrat detractors and the news media for what was considered a “delayed response” to help people impacted by hurricane Katrina. The criticism was relentless. As the story unfolded, however, the Democrat mayor of New Orleans delayed emergency evacuations that cost the lives of hundreds of people and he failed to have a flood plan, leaving people without food, water or security. Looting and anarchy were featured on the evening news as well as the stories of those impacted by the failed response. In retrospect, US News wrote a story about how the Katrina response was the undoing of Bush. Fast forward to today… The media is essentially giving Joe Biden a pass, but criticism from Republicans in an election year is drawing attention to one of the most blundered recoveries in modern times in the wake of hurricane Helene. Helene moved right up through a conservative cross-section of America, devastating mountainous areas in unusual fashion. In the aftermath, Biden-Harris Administration officials had varying accounts as to why the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) was slow to respond in recovery efforts. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said on October 2, “We are expecting another hurricane hitting. We do not have the funds. FEMA does not have the funds to make it through the season and what is imminent.” But a DHS inspector general report found that FEMA was sitting on $7 billion. Further complicating the response was Vice President Kamala Harris saying in an October 3 speech, “And the federal relief and assistance that we have been providing has included FEMA providing $750 for folks who need immediate needs being met, such as food, baby formula, and the like. And you can apply now.” Her tone-deaf remark was taken as if that’s what the government was providing and left people wondering how they can apply when there is no infrastructure through which to apply. Her heroic announcement stirred anger and her campaign, the White House and the news media had to “clarify” what she meant. She also got into a word salad fail with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, claiming he was motivated by politics not the needs of the people. Even Joe Biden stepped in and said the governor was doing a great job. Bad Kamala. Biden-Harris remade FEMA to advance a radical illegal immigration policy. This, they deny profusely, but FEMA itself says on its website “For Fiscal Year (FY) 2024, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will provide $640.9 million of available funds to enable non-federal entities to off-set allowable costs incurred for services associated with noncitizen migrant arrivals in their communities.” In addition, the State Department announced October 2 it was giving $157 million to Lebanon for “new and existing needs of internally displaced persons and refugee populations.” Plenty for illegals and humanitarian aid to terrorist organizations. But to Americans? Victims of Helene are finding first-hand, government cannot be trusted. Their anthem may well be Psalm 20:7, “Some trust in chariots and others in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.” Daily Devotion: Citizens of God’s Kingdom - by Greg Laurie – www.harvest.org And even when he reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith—for he was like a foreigner, living in tents. And so did Isaac and Jacob, who inherited the same promise. —Hebrews 11:9 https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/citizens-of-gods-kingdom/ - Listen Among the endless parade of articles you can find online are variations of the “fish out of water” theme: “20 Ways to Spot an American in a Foreign Country”; “10 Eye-Opening Things I Learned When I Moved to Portugal”; “5 Surprising Differences Between Living in New Zealand and Living in Australia”; and so on. The idea behind them is that our citizenship marks us in certain ways, that citizens from a country have certain similarities. In Philippians 3:20, Paul says Christians “are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives” (NLT). In Hebrews 11:9–10, the author says that, as citizens of Heaven, one of the things we have in common is a foreigner status in this world. God calls His people to walk a thin line. We’re to influence the world without being influenced by it. To care about the things happening around us without being consumed by them. To make a home here without getting too comfortable in it or too possessive about it. To take care of our daily responsibilities while keeping our focus on things above. To be salt and light in this world without getting caught up in power plays, territorial spats, and political machinations. To care enough about the people in this life to make sure that they join us in the next. Don’t think for a second that Christians have no place here. Or that our contributions as foreigners are minimal at best. Imagine how our world would be if there were no believers standing up for what’s right or speaking out against what’s wrong. God’s people are the restraining force. Once we’re removed, once the church is taken out of the equation, caught up to meet the Lord in the air at the Rapture, all hell will literally break loose. Until that time, however, we will make our presence felt. And we will remember that our citizenship is in Heaven—and that what awaits us there is beyond compare. Paul wrote, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9 NLT). As you get older, the promise of eternal life becomes more and more appealing. When I first became a Christian, what interested me as a seventeen-year-old kid was that I could fill a hole in my heart, that I could find meaning and purpose in my life. But now, as a seventy-two-year-old kid, I rejoice in the fact that when I leave this world, I’ll enter God’s kingdom. I’ll go to Heaven, where my citizenship is. PROPHECY UPDATE NEWS HEADLINES Yesterday's Prophecies - Today's Headlines HEADLINES IN PARTNERSHIP WITH TRACKING BIBLE PROPHECY 10/15/24 http://trackingbibleprophecy.org/birthpangs.php
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