The Rapture is Real

IN TODAY'S NEWSLETTER... 
 

• Featured Article: The Rapture is Real 
• The 2021 Gaza War 2021: Iran, Hezbollah and the ‘Axis of Resistance’ 
• Nearing Midnight: Trending Temple Tensions 
• 5 Bizarre New Plagues That Have Made Headlines In The United States Within The Last 30 Days 
• Daily Jot: Stop the LGBTQ+ grooming of children 
• Daily Devotion: Down the Mountain 

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The Rapture is Real – Jonathan Brentner - https://www.jonathanbrentner.com/https/jonathan-brentner-g8fgsquarespacecom/config/2021/6/28/the-rapture-is-real
 
I will never forget sitting in church listening to an assistant pastor mock the rapture. Up to that point, I had assumed that I was attending a premillennial church where the only debate regarding the rapture was its timing. But as I learned from my follow-up exchange with this man, such was not the case. He later told me that he held to an amillennial point of view and did not believe in the rapture.
 
Since that encounter, I have come to the conclusion that one cannot say they believe the Bible and at the same time assert that one does not believe in the rapture. That’s a contradiction of terms.
 
THE RAPTURE IS A TRUE BIBLICAL EVENT
 
You see, the event we refer to as the “rapture” is an actual biblical event for which the apostles provide much supporting detail.
 
The word “rapture” comes from a Latin translation of the Bible from about AD 400 called The Vulgate. The Vulgate uses the Latin word rapturo to translate the Greek word harpazo in 1 Thessalonians 4:17.
 
Starting sometime in the late 1800’s, Bible teachers began using the word “rapture” to describe the event Paul wrote about in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 as well as in 1 Corinthians 15:50-56 and Philippians 3:20-21. These students of Scripture chose a word, based on the ancient Latin translation of the Bible, to describe the event that the apostle wrote about in these texts and referred to in many other passages.
 
The rapture is the “blessed hope” of Titus 2:11-14; it’s the means of our deliverance from the day of the Lord wrath as the Lord promises us in 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 and 5:1-10.
 
Jesus’ appearing to take us home to glory is the substance of our hope in a troubled world. It’s critical that we understand it and not dismiss it as though it’s not essential to our Gospel hope or cast it aside as something not essential to our faith as we journey through a dark and dangerous world.
 
WHAT HAPPENS AT THE TIME OF THE RAPTURE?
 
Here are the key elements of the event we refer to as the rapture:
 
1. The Rapture begins with Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 4:16 begins with these words, “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven.” That’s why the apostles often referred to it as “Jesus’ appearing.” He sets everything in motion when He returns with “those who have fallen asleep” in Christ (1 Thess. 4:14).
 
2. We will hear Jesus’ voice and the sound of a trumpet.. 1 Thessalonians 4:16 also tells us that Jesus “will descend . . . with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God.” I believe that all of us who are in Christ will hear these sounds; I am not sure about those who do not know Him.
 
3. The dead in Christ will rise first (1 Thess. 4:16). Jesus will raise from the dead all those who have died “in Christ” from the Day of Pentecost to the time of the rapture. They will be the first to meet the Lord in the air as Jesus joins their resurrected bodies with their souls.
 
The resurrection of church age saints happens immediately at the start of the rapture.
 
4. The Lord will then give those believers who are alive at the time of the rapture immortal and imperishable bodies (Phil. 3:20-21; 1 Cor. 15:51-53).
 
5. The rapture will happen quickly! For those of us who are alive at the time of the rapture, the change in our bodies will happen “in the twinkling of an eye” (1 Cor. 15:52). We will instantly receive our glorified bodies.
 
6. At the same moment He gives us immortal bodies, Jesus will catch up those of us “who are alive, who are left . . . in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air” (1 Thess. 4:17). We will join those saints resurrected from dead and forever “be with the Lord.”
 
7. Our destination will be heaven. In John 14:3 Jesus said, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” The Lord is preparing a place in heaven, and He will take us there when He appears. Later, in John 17:24, we see that one of requests in what we call His “high priestly prayer’ was that someday we would see the glory He possessed “before the foundation of the world.”
 
I love the way Colossians 3:4 puts it, “When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” When the rapture occurs, we will appear in glory, aka heaven. In other words, it signifies our departure from earth to heaven.
 
The above seven points provide a quick summary of what we will experience when Jesus comes to take us home. All these things make up the event that we as believers refer to as the “rapture.”
 
THE ONLY MATTER OPEN FOR DEBATE IS THE TIMING
 
Most of us who are premillennialists place the rapture before the start of the seven-year tribulation. Premillennialists are those who believe in a literal understanding of biblical prophecy that includes the seven-year tribulation and thousand-year reign of Jesus.
 
Some premillennialists, however, place the rapture in the middle of the tribulation or toward the end of it. The biblical description of Jesus’ return for His church clearly differentiates it from the Second Coming. The two cannot be the same event.
 
I have written much in support in of a pretribulation rapture. You can find two of more recent posts on this matter by clicking here and here.
 
The rapture is not a “third order” doctrine that we must shelve in order to preserve unity with other saints. No, that is what the scoffers tell us (2 Peter 3:1-4; Jude 18-19).
 
Paul commands us to “encourage one another” with the hope we possess in the rapture (1 Thess. 4:18, 5:11). The Lord intends for us to build up each other in the faith with our shared hope in Jesus’ appearing to take us home to heaven. How is that possible if we relegate Jesus’ imminent appearing to quiet backroom discussions so as not to stir up controversy in the body of Christ?
 
THE RAPTURE IS THE SUBSTANCE OF OUR HOPE
 
Let’s dig a bit deeper into this hope that the Lord tells us to use in encouraging “one another” (1 Thess. 4:18, 5:11).
 
The rapture is our “blessed hope;” it’s the hope into which Jesus saves us. I say this based on the words of Romans 8:23-25:
 
And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
 
In the above passage, Paul connects the “redemption of our bodies,” which as we saw happens at the time of the rapture, with the “hope” of the Gospel. The resurrection event for all New Testament saints happens at Jesus’ return for His church, the rapture. It’s at time He will redeem our bodies by giving us immortal ones that will never perish or grow old (1 Cor. 15:51-55).
 
That’s why I like to refer to Jesus’ appearing as the “Gospel future.”
 
We see further evidence of the close association of the Gospel with the rapture in 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10. There, the apostle reported how the Thessalonians “turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven . . . .” These new believers immediately placed their hope in the rapture.
 
During Paul’s stay in Thessalonica, the rapture was Gospel 101. He did not divorce our hope in Jesus’ appearing from his proclamation of the good news as almost everyone does today.
 
The New Testament saints eagerly awaited Jesus appearing (Phil. 3:20-21; 1 Cor. 1:7-8, 15:50-56; 1 John 3:1-3). It constituted the substance of their hope; it signified the time when they would experience the eternal life that became theirs through faith.
 
I cannot say when the rapture will occur because I do not know. We may face increasing persecution because of our faith and perhaps suffer physically because of our faith. Or Jesus may come this very day.
 
Regardless of what the future holds, we trust in God’s sovereignty and grace. Because the Lord remains in control of all things, we can rest in His promise to take us home before the start of the tribulation. Because of His grace, we know that we will forever experience joy in His presence as the result of His favor that we most certainly do not deserve (see Ps. 16:11; Eph. 2:1-7).
 
In my e-mail discussions with the associate pastor at the church I used to attend, he told me that at one time he agreed with the pretribulation rapture after a pastor took him through the biblical passages pertaining to it. However, after reading a few books by amillennial authors, he ditched both his premillennial and pretribulation views in favor what he read outside of God’s Word. His new understanding came from human wisdom rather than the words of the Bible.
 
When we look to Scripture, we see that the rapture is a real event. It’s not something that coincides with human wisdom, but is something the Lord revealed to His apostles (1 Thess. 4:15; 1 Cor. 15:51a) so that we might have hope and encourage each other regardless of the what we face..

 


 
The 2021 Gaza War 2021: Iran, Hezbollah and the ‘Axis of Resistance’ - Shimon Shapira and Michael Segall - https://www.jns.org/opinion/the-2021-gaza-war-2021-iran-hezbollah-and-the-axis-of-resistance/
 
A few hours after the ceasefire between Israel and Gaza on May 21, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued a “victory message” praising “the cooperation between the West Bank, Gaza, and Israeli Arabs for showing the path for the Palestinians in the future.” Israel, he said, “will now be weaker in light of the rising power of the Palestinians and the jihad organizations.”
 
The Iranian leader called for Israel to be indicted for its “shocking crimes,” and said its actions had caused a “wave of hatred around the world” which had spilled over to its allies, in particular the United States. He also urged Muslims to pressure their governments to donate money to rebuild Gaza.
 
During the 11 days of fighting in May between Israel and terror groups in the Gaza Strip, senior Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad leaders maintained telephone contacts with Iran’s top brass, including Khamenei and the heads of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and PIJ leader Ziyad al-Nakhalah spoke with Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami, commander-in-chief of the IRGC, who promised, on behalf of the Islamic Republic, that “Iran would not desert the Palestinians and will stand by their side and support them with all the means at its disposal, up until the final, impending destruction of the enemy [Israel].”
 
Both Nakhalah and Haniyeh traveled to Iran to attend the Jan. 7, 2020 funeral of IRGC Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani. Haniyeh delivered a eulogy, and he and Nakhalah were given places of honor right behind Khameini, President Hassan Rouhani, and president-elect Ebrahim Raisi.
 
Following the May conflict, Brig. Gen. Esmail Ghaani, Soleimani’s successor as commander of the Quds Force, sent letters to the “commanders of the Palestinian resistance,” including Hamas military commander Muhammad Deif. In one letter to Deif, the “Living Martyr” [because of his many battle wounds], Ghaani praised the resistance organizations’ deployment for the campaign and “preparing the tools necessary for the crushing victory,” despite the harsh conditions.
 
Ghaani, in the spirit of the Supreme Leader’s remarks, also praised the cohesion of the Palestinian people, “the Muslims in Palestine—in Jerusalem, Gaza, the West Bank and the Palestinian cities occupied since 1948” (referring to the Arab riots in Acre, Lod, Ramla, Haifa and Jaffa). He stated that the Palestinians “demonstrated that they are a dynamic and living nation making its way toward victory.”
 
In his letter to the commander of PIJ’s military wing, Ghaani praised the organization’s firm stance, that “destroyed the arrogance of the Zionist enemy and demonstrated that Jerusalem is not alone in the campaign.” He also wrote that PIJ had weapons “beyond the imagination of the Zionist enemy.” He blessed Soleimani’s memory and his contribution to the “resistance” struggle, and vowed to continue in his path.
 
During the rocket barrages on Israel, PIJ revealed an improved Kassam rocket, each of which had been “signed” in memory of Soleimani. After the round of fighting, Iran unveiled an unmanned aerial craft called “Gaza” and a radar system called “Quds” to demonstrate their solidarity with the Palestinians.
 
PIJ’s spokesman in the Gaza Strip, Abu Hamza, issued a statement at the end of the campaign in which he praised Iran and the rest of the “Axis of Resistance” for helping to fight in Gaza. Their weapons, as well as their provided expertise, he said, brought strength and abilities to the resistance brigades (Muqawama), both materially and technically. “You share our victory, and together we will victoriously enter al-Aqsa [mosque],” he said. PIJ leader Al-Nakhalah sent a congratulatory letter to the Iranian Supreme Leader noting Iran’s support of the organization and its role “in the victory achieved.”
 
Hezbollah’s response
 
In a May 25 speech marking “Resistance and Liberation Day,” commemorating Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000, Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah praised “leaders of the Palestinian resistance movements and their military wings” for their “brilliant moves” during the Gaza war. “The [final] goal is Palestine. The resistance victory in May 2000 was dedicated to Palestine and was a strategic turning point in the struggle with Israel. From now on, we will celebrate two great victories in May—the 25th of the year 2000, and the 21st in 2021— marking Gaza’s victory,” said Nasrallah.
 
The Hezbollah leader said Israel’s “dangerous activity in Jerusalem” had pushed the leaders of the Palestinian organizations to take a “historic, decisive and new stance.” The war, he said, had erupted as a response to “the foolishness of Israel’s leadership, its arrogance, underestimating the resistance, and miscalculations.” Gaza, he added, had surprised both its friends and its enemies with its decision to “fulfill its threat in response to [Israel’s] Judaizing [of] al-Quds [Jerusalem].”
 
He warned that in future, “activity in al-Quds against Islamic holy sites” by Israel would spark a regional war.
 
Echoing Khamenei’s statement about Palestinian unity, Nasrallah said that one of the Gaza terror groups’ most important achievements during the conflict “was the mobilization of Palestinians inside 1948 lands, which terrified Israel.” Israel, he said, had failed to predict the response of the “1948 Arabs.”
 
 
The conflict had also impacted the normalization trend between Israel and Arab states, the Hezbollah leader said.
 
Nasrallah said that the “Sword of Jerusalem,” as Hamas called the conflict, had severely damaged the normalization process between Israel and the Arab states. The Trump administration’s peace plan had “collapsed and disappeared” since “Israel’s real face and its apartheid regime were exposed,” he said. Nasrallah also stressed the steadfast stance of the “Axis of Resistance” in the various countries that constituted the “backbone that supported the victory in Palestine,” and particularly emphasized the support of Iraqi Shi’ite leader Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani and the Houthis of Yemen.
 
A joint command center in Beirut
 
Meanwhile, sources close to Hezbollah revealed that the IRGC, Hamas and Hezbollah had established a joint military operations center in Beirut during the Gaza war. Ibrahim al-Amin, editor-in-chief of the Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar, said during an interview with Al-Manar TV on June 2 that officers from all three groups coordinated the military confrontation in Gaza, adding that the commander of the IRGC’s Quds Force, Esmail Ghaani, had visited Lebanon twice to attend the command center meetings.
 
Hezbollah transmitted weaponry and ammunition to Gaza, and also moved Hamas and PIJ officers out of the Strip during the fighting, according to Al-Amin. The “Islamic Resistance” also provided the Palestinian factions with the needed data about the movements of the Israeli “occupation” military, he said.
 
During the war, Hezbollah did not respond militarily, satisfying itself with organizing demonstrations near the border fence with Israel and in several areas of Lebanon. Hezbollah also allowed limited and symbolic rocket fire into Israel to show support and solidarity with the Palestinians during the war.
 
Hezbollah’s response reflects its sensitive and complicated situation in Lebanon following the massive explosion at the port of Beirut on Aug. 4, 2020, and the country’s dire economic situation. Furthermore, Hezbollah continues to be involved militarily in Syria and is subject to domestic criticism on this issue as well. An all-out confrontation with Israel is also impossible, of course, without a green light from Tehran.
 
As the Gaza operation unfolded, Iran held nuclear talks in Vienna with the remaining signatories of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear agreement regarding the possibility of returning to the JCPOA framework. Thus, a round of escalation in Lebanon involving Hezbollah would not serve Iran’s broader interests now. Iran does not want to put the issue of its malign activity in the region on the agenda during the nuclear talks, giving the United States the option to disrupt the negotiations. If an agreement is signed and the United States rejoins the JCPOA, which it left under Trump in 2018, Iran will then feel freer (and richer) to unleash its Axis of Resistance throughout the Middle East.
 
Hezbollah’s lessons from the Gaza war
 
For offensive operations, Hezbollah will seek to:
 
1. Strengthen its rocket and missile arm and accelerate its guided-missile project. In its view, rocket and missile weaponry is a “tiebreaker” and changes the rules of the game against Israel; it identifies Israel’s home front as a central weak point. This process is the continuation of the implementation of the Iranian doctrine of asymmetrical warfare.
 
2. Disrupt Israel’s missile defense systems.
 
3. Prepare for the occupation of territory in the Galilee, including the use of invasion tunnels. In this context, it was recently reported that Hezbollah had established a network of tunnels spanning hundreds of kilometers, including command and control complexes, from Beirut to southern Lebanon, aimed at attacking IDF forces in the event of a ground maneuver in Lebanese territory.14 In light of Israel’s new ability to identify tunnels and the damage done by the IDF to Hamas’s tunnels in Gaza during the May conflict, Hezbollah may be required to rethink their use during combat.
 
4. Damage Israeli facilities and strategic economic and military infrastructures.
 
For defensive operations, Hezbollah will seek to:
 
1. Design a new deterrence equation vis-a-vis Israel: “Activity in Jerusalem will lead to a regional war,” warning Israel not to repeat the “Gaza miscalculation” with Lebanon.
 
2. Obtain anti-aircraft systems. Hezbollah will make efforts with Iran to place improved and concealed anti-aircraft systems in Lebanon to protect against possible airstrikes in Lebanese territory.
 
3. Protect against targeted killings of senior Hezbollah figures.
 
Iranian aid will continue and even increase
 
Iranian aid to Hamas and PIJ is constant and flows through various channels, regardless of the economic situation in Iran and Lebanon. The know-how and weaponry Iran transfers to Hamas through the Quds Force and Hezbollah—as well as training in Lebanon (as Hezbollah Deputy Secretary-General Naim Qassem admitted) or on Iranian soil—also have a decisive influence on how Hamas and PIJ conduct their operations. This includes setting objectives (strategic infrastructure and energy infrastructure), efforts to overcome Israel’s Iron Dome with Hezbollah’s support, and the maritime activities that were exposed in the latest conflict.
 
In this context, the Hamas naval force and attempts to damage the Israeli gas rigs in the Mediterranean must be mentioned. Here we see an effort by Hamas and PIJ, supported by Iran and Hezbollah, to copy the capabilities of the Houthis in Yemen in their attacks against Saudi Arabia, and the Shi’ite militias in Iraq in attacks against the United States. These efforts involve long-range attack drones, GPS-guided, unmanned suicide vessels, underwater guided weapons and long-range missiles. The Houthis are using these capabilities against oil infrastructure in Saudi Arabia and against civilian infrastructure such as airports, power plants and desalination facilities.
 
The Iranian objective is to duplicate the military capabilities it develops from arena to arena (as in the case of roadside bombs [IEDs] that originated with Hezbollah in Lebanon and were used in attacks against coalition forces in Iraq). Yemen serves today as the largest testing ground for new weapons in the region. Lebanese Hezbollah advisers serve as instructors in aerial weaponry (ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, unmanned aircraft and drones) as well as naval weaponry (unmanned underwater vehicles [UUV], explosive-laden boats, and submarine platforms). Iran seeks to develop these capabilities and test them in the military arena against Israeli civilian targets, strategic infrastructure and military targets.
 
In the 2021 fighting, Hamas attempted to launch drones, unmanned aircraft, and naval weapons alongside more traditional Iranian-backed techniques such as Kornet anti-tank missiles, which were supplied to Gaza by Iran, as well as “Sayyad” sniper rifles, an Iranian knock-off an Austrian sniper rifle, the Steyr HS.50.
 
In the event of a comprehensive conflict in the north, Hezbollah, which refrained from involvement in the Gaza war, may be expected to bring to bear against Israel air and sea capabilities similar to those of the Houthis.
 
In the end, the Gaza war, like other operations in Gaza and Lebanon, constitutes a “Divine event” for Iran, proving the justice of its ways and that Israel can be eliminated with patience and endurance.
 
Iran’s resistance and revolution all begin with Khomeini
 
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s activist interpretation of Shi’ite Islam and the revolution in Shi’ism that he led are constantly being validated, especially for Iran’s current leaders. They connect Khomeini’s teachings to the successes in the Iranian national-ideological dimension (confronting sanctions, surviving the Trump administration and ex-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu); maintaining an active military nuclear program; overthrowing Saddam Hussein; Shi’ite revival in Iraq; the “victories” of the Palestinian organizations and Hezbollah against Israel (with Iran’s support); and in the religious dimension (the “Mahdi hand” and Divine intervention).
 
All of these achievements strengthen and shape their belief in the righteousness of their path and the rationale which demonstrates resilience and the need for continued resistance by the Iranian people.
 
Iran believes that the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000 and the Palestinian resilience in Jerusalem and Gaza follow Khomeini’s previous “prophecies” about the collapse of the Soviet Union (Communism) and Saddam’s fall. They believe his prophecy regarding the destruction of Israel will eventually be fulfilled, and that Iran has the power to bring it about. Iran’s current leader, Khamenei, follows in his predecessor’s footsteps. He stated in September 2015 that Israel would not exist in 25 years. In this regard, Khamenei’s recent Quds Day speech, prior to the clashes in Jerusalem and the subsequent Gaza war, is touted as “prophetic” and demonstrates that the Supreme Leader’s prophecies of Israel’s annihilation are materializing.
 
For Iran, “Palestine” is only one part of a complex strategy of building the Axis of Resistance from the Persian Gulf to Lebanon, aimed at Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Syria, and Lebanon; each arena has its own blueprint, a toolbox of hostile insurgency actions, and the guidance of Hezbollah, the Quds Force and well-trained militias.
 
Ebrahim Raisi, Iran’s newly elected president, who is part of the system and who was shaped by it, will further strengthen this predicament by defying the West, calling for the destruction of Israel (using Jerusalem as a common denominator), and pursuing regional hegemony through subversion, ballistic missiles, and Iran’s nuclear program.

 
 


 
Nearing Midnight: Trending Temple Tensions – Terry James - https://www.raptureready.com/category/nearing-midnight/
 
Author’s Note: I use some text, to some extent in this article, from my recent book with Tom Horn—ANTICHRIST and the Final Solution.
 
It is the most contested land in all the world. Diplomats fear it is the one place on earth that could ignite war that couldn’t be stopped. If conflict ever got started over this piece of real estate, nuclear exchanges could ultimately result in and bring about World War III.
 
God Himself considers this promontory the most important point on the planet. In Heaven’s economy, it is His touchstone to His creation called man.
 
All of this was fulfillment of prophecy. Daniel the prophet was told centuries earlier that the city, Jerusalem, and the sanctuary, the Jewish Temple, would be completely thrown down, with not one stone left upon another (Daniel 9: 26–27). The Temple Mount remains without a Temple of God until this day.
 
Muslim structures dot the flattened surface, with the Dome of the Rock, the golden, domed structure so familiar to anyone who has seen Jerusalem’s skyline, the central feature.
 
Tensions between Jews and Muslims constitute the fuse that makes this landmark the singular most volatile point on earth.
 
The Jewish Temple will, God’s Word promises, again dominate the promontory. But the next Temple—the Third Temple—will be the center of history’s most horrific era, the Tribulation, also known as “Daniel’s seventieth week.”
 
The Temple that Solomon built had at its heart the Holy of Holies, a 15-foot cubed inner sanctum wherein sat the Ark of the Covenant, the elaborately prepared container wherein the shekinah glory, the very presence of God, would dwell.
 
That spot is still somewhere upon the Temple Mount—Mt. Moriah, most scholars believe. Religious Jews still are afraid to walk upon the Temple Mount grounds for fear of accidentally treading upon that one spot on earth where God chose to reside.
 
The Temple and the Holy of Holies constituted God’s touchstone to humanity—and particularly to the Jews. It is the place where Abraham was to offer Isaac, before God intervened with the ram caught by its horns in a thicket, thus providing the sacrifice Abraham made to the God of Heaven.
 
Not far from the spot of the Holy of Holies is Golgotha, where the Son of God—Jesus the Christ, the once-and-for-all sacrifice for all the sins of mankind—hung on the cross. When Christ died, the veil in the Temple’s Holy of Holies tore from top to bottom, giving man direct access to God the Father through that sin-sacrifice, God’s only Begotten Son.
 
There will be a Third Temple built at a future time, Bible prophecy says.
 
The Third Temple is foretold to be in place during the last seven years of human history prior to Christ’s return.
 
Exactly when the Third Temple will be built is an unknown factor. The prophetic Word tells only that it will exist during the seven years of Tribulation—specifically, at the three and one-half-year mark of those seven years.
 
Many who study the Third Temple matter believe that structure must begin well in advance of the Tribulation era. The completion of such an edifice, they believe, will take quite a measure of time. Others hold that the Jews are even now contemplating the building of a tent-like structure like Moses’ tabernacle.
 
They believe that worship, with sacrifices reinstituted, could be going on in such a place while the more grandiose Temple is constructed around the temporary structure.
 
With such history and Biblical prophecy that is involved with this place called the Temple Mount, then, it is no wonder that at this late hour we see such tensions developing. Satan and his minions—both supernatural and human—are determined to exert earthly power and authority over this promontory chosen by God to bring salvation to the fallen human race.
 
And tension there is at this late hour of the age.
 
The following report chronicles those mounting troubles.
 
Clashes broke out between Border Police and Palestinian worshipers at the Temple Mount on Friday, Israel Police said in a statement.
 
Video footage taken at the compound shows Palestinians throwing rocks at a unit of Border Police officers, who in turn responded with firing rubber bullets to quell the unrest.
 
Nine Palestinians were injured, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent.
 
Israel Police notes that the clashes began after Friday afternoon prayers, when several hundred worshipers made their way into the compound via the Chain Gate.
 
At the end of prayers, several dozen youths began to throw stones at the police officers stationed at the entrance to the compound.
 
The Jerusalem District Commander of the Border Police force ordered officers to locate suspects involved in disturbing the peace.
 
Police said 16 people were arrested for throwing stones and rioting.
 
The unrest occurred after the Air Force conducted airstrikes on Hamas targets throughout the Gaza Strip on Thursday night in response to Palestinians continuing to launch arson balloon attacks against Israeli communities near the strip.
 
Clashes at the Temple Mount were one of the purported reasons that Hamas and its allied terror groups in the Gaza Strip began firing the opening salvos resulting in the IDF’s Operation Guardian of the Walls, and have since warned that Jerusalem is a “red line.”…
 
Meanwhile, violent confrontations erupted between Palestinians and IDF soldiers near Beita in the West Bank, with at least 47 Palestinians hurt from tear gas inhalation and rubber-tipped bullets, according to the Red Crescent. (“Temple Mount: Clashes Breakout between Israeli Police, Palestinians,” Jerusalem Post, Israel News, June 18, 2021)
 
An excellent video analyzing the situation can be accessed at the following:
 
WATCH: https://youtu.be/LorcGu0OxlA
 
Israel and in particular the Temple Mount are at the very heart of Bible prophecy yet future. Things developing at a tremendous pace must certainly mean that major fulfillment for the wind-up of the age is at hand.
 
Again, it is crucial that we alert our family, friends and all within our spheres of influence that they must know Jesus Christ for salvation to avoid the most terrible times of human history just ahead.
 
That heavenly formula for escape of that coming Tribulation and from Hell for eternity is the following:
 
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Romans 10:9–10)

 


 
5 Bizarre New Plagues That Have Made Headlines In The United States Within The Last 30 Days - by Michael Snyder - http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/5-bizarre-new-plagues-that-have-made-headlines-in-the-united-states-within-the-last-30-days/
 
Everywhere you look, things are getting weird, and I don’t mean that in a good way. Throughout all of our ups and downs over the decades, one thing that our society could always count on for a certain degree of consistency was nature. But now nature is going haywire at the same time that the very fabric of our society seems to be unraveling all around us. In this article, I am going to share with you a number of items that have been brought to my attention over the past month. On their own, each one of these items is “unusual”, but the fact that so many really strange things are all happening simultaneously is definitely cause for alarm.
 
In this article, I am not even going to bring in stories from the rest of the globe. For example, right now a horrific plague of mice is causing massive problems in Australia. Perhaps I will talk about this in a future article, but in this one I am just going to focus on this country.
 
The following are 5 bizarre new plagues that have made headlines in the United States within the last 30 days…
 
#1 A Plague Of Rattlesnakes
 
The endless megadrought in our western states is having a lot of unexpected consequences, and this includes a plague of rattlesnakes. According to the Daily Mail, rattlesnakes have been moving into urban areas in California in large numbers because of the exceedingly dry conditions…
 
Much of the US west is currently undergoing a record heatwave and its worst drought in at least 20 years, with temperatures soaring into the triple digits this weekend, and wildlife experts are saying the extreme weather is creating the perfect conditions for increased interactions between humans and animals.
 
Rattlesnakes, in particular, have been seen moving into urban areas in larger numbers, and are being found on porches, yards, nearby pools and under children’s play equipment.
 
Len Ramirez catches rattlesnakes for a living, and he says that they are being found “everywhere” at this point…
 
Len Ramirez stalked through the dried landscape, scanning the ground ahead searching for movement. Called out to an estate in Napa Valley, the owner of Ramirez Rattlesnake Removal company was finishing up his last job of another busy day wrangling, removing and relocating snakes from homes across northern California. He’d found three in just this yard, including one nestled roughly 1,000 yards from the pool.
 
Rattlesnakes are everywhere these days, he says – on front porches, in potted plants, and under children’s play equipment. “I am busier than I have ever been. Complaints are coming in from all over the state.”
 
According to Ramirez, there have been jobs that have required him to remove “more than 60 snakes at a time”.
 
Unfortunately, this plague is likely to continue to get worse as long as the megadrought persists.
 
#2 A Plague Of Grasshoppers
 
The megadrought in our western states has also created a plague of grasshoppers.
 
It turns out that the little critters absolutely love the hot, dry conditions, and they have been multiplying like crazy.
 
Federal officials are extremely concerned, and they are gearing up for “their largest grasshopper-killing campaign since the 1980s”…
 
A punishing drought in the U.S. West is drying up waterways, sparking wildfires and leaving farmers scrambling for water. Next up: a plague of voracious grasshoppers.
 
Federal agriculture officials are launching what could become their largest grasshopper-killing campaign since the 1980s amid an outbreak of the drought-loving insects that cattle ranchers fear will strip bare public and private rangelands.
 
#3 Birds Dropping Dead In Very Large Numbers
 
As I discussed last week, birds are suddenly dropping dead in very large numbers in multiple U.S. states. In Indiana, unusual bird deaths have now been reported in fifteen different counties, and authorities have absolutely no idea why this is happening…
 
The Department of Natural Resources warns that songbirds have now died in fifteen counties across Indiana and more across the region.
 
“I’ve never seen them exhibit the gooey eyes and crustiness in addition to the neurological symptoms,” Allisyn Gillet, DNR ornithologist said.
 
Gillet says she’s getting reports of nearly a dozen songbirds a week. in the last month, she says they’ve had at least 100 reports and no one knows exactly what’s causing it.
 
In addition to Indiana, large numbers of birds are also dropping dead in Washington D.C., Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Kentucky and Ohio.
 
#4 Unprecedented Flooding In Detroit
 
A massive storm last Friday turned I-94 into a lake and caused horrific flooding in both Detroit and Dearborn.
 
Many areas remain underwater as I write this article, and police are warning people not to play in the water because there is “a good chance” that it contains raw sewage…
 
Historic rainfall on Friday caused power outages in metro Detroit, at least 1,000 cars abandoned as highways filled up with water, and countless flooded residential basements in the area. The flooding produced more viral videos, including one showing a man jet-skiing down the street in Dearborn, as well as a surreal image of people playing in a flooded part of a highway as if it were a beach on one of the Great Lakes, prompting an even more surreal tweet from Michigan State Police. (“Finally in the things I would never thought I would have to say: Do not go into the water,” an MSP officer tweeted. “This water has debris, sharp metal, submerged cars, gasoline and oil floating in it. There is also a good chance that there is sewage also in the water. In other words it’s gross!”)
 
#5 The Worst Heatwave To Ever Hit The Northwest
 
We have just seen the highest temperature that has ever been recorded in the city of Portland.
 
The same thing is true for Seattle.
 
And the same thing is true for dozens of other cities in the Northwest. In fact, the little community of Lytton in British Columbia actually just recorded the hottest temperature in the history of Canada.
 
This unprecedented heatwave is being caused by an absolutely massive “heat dome”, and CBS News Meteorologist Jeff Berardelli says that there is only a “1/10,000+ chance” that something like this could happen.
 
Unfortunately, this heat dome looks like it is going to be around for a while…
 
There is no timetable for how long a heat dome can last, but things won’t immediately cool down in much of the Pacific Northwest. Forecasts have inland areas such as Spokane, Washington and Boise, Idaho reaching triple-digit temperatures for the rest of the week. The National Weather Service’s excessive heat warning is in effect until 11 p.m. PT on Thursday.
 
For much more on this, please see an article that I just posted entitled “14 Astonishing Facts About The Blistering Heatwave That Is Absolutely Frying The Northwest Right Now”.
 
So why are so many crazy things happening to the United States all at the same time?
 
I don’t know.
 
But I do believe that our nation has entered a time of tremendous instability, and I believe that it is going to get a whole lot worse.
 
The stable conditions of the last several decades are disappearing, and I believe that we have now entered an era when global events are going to get really wild.
 
Unfortunately, most Americans are still anticipating that things will get back to the way they were in the “old days”, but at this point the “old days” are gone for good.

 


 
Daily Jot: Stop the LGBTQ+ grooming of children - Bill Wilson – www.dailyjot.com
 
The nationwide celebration of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning “Pride” month by government and major corporations is about to come to a close without acknowledging a dirty little secret—that allowing the LGBTQ+ community access to elementary and high schools may be a primary cause of suicide among LGBTQ+ preteen and teen recruits. This “grooming” of minor children by LGBTQ+ activists welcomed by school systems appears to be leading children down such a path of guilt and confusion that studies indicate they are committing suicide at alarming rates compared with their heterosexual peers. This government school-sanctioned sexual abuse of children must be stopped.
 
A 2019 study published in the Journal of Adolescent Health analyzed 10,311 suicides ages 12-29 using information from the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) found that adolescents aged 12 to 14 who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and/or transgender are more likely to die by suicide than heterosexual teens of the same age. The researchers concluded that one out of four pre- and early teen suicides were among LGBTQ youth. Moreover, suicide rates among older LGBTQ youth are also higher than rates among heterosexual teens. A 2018 study also found that LGBTQ teenagers are three times as likely—that’s 75% more likely–to attempt suicide as their heterosexual peers.
 
Even the Trevor Project, which claims to be the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to LGBTQ young people under 25, admits there is a problem, but fails to acknowledge the extent of it. The Trevor Project website says that “LGBTQ young people are more than four times more likely to attempt suicide than their peers, and suicide remains the second leading cause of death among all young people in the United States.” It claims research showing that over 1.8 million LGBTQ youth in the United States consider suicide each year. It doesn’t tell us how many actually commit suicide. The donor list is comprised of individuals (giving $15.6 million), a “Who’s Who” of Corporations ($12.1 million), the government ($85,071) and various others totaling in 2020 some $34.6 million.
 
The grooming and recruitment of children in schools, ad campaigns, and entertainment (say Disney for me) to accept the LGBTQ+ lifestyle obviously leads children to severe enough mental conflict that they not only consider suicide, they do it. THEY KILL THEMSELVES–To the extent that the LGBTQ+ community has to fund an organization to prevent the very thing they cause. If heterosexuals organized and went into schools to groom kids for sex, they would be arrested for a host of sex crimes. If LGBTQ+ people want to pursue that lifestyle as adults, it is between them and their God. But LEAVE OUR KIDS ALONE. This is literally killing them. It is a most vile form of abuse. Proverbs 6:17 describes what God hates and is an abomination: “A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood.” They call it “Pride” month as they set their deadly snare and people cheer them on.

 


 
Daily Devotion: Down the Mountain - by Greg Laurie – www.harvest.org
 
The next day, after they had come down the mountain, a large crowd met Jesus. A man in the crowd called out to him, ‘Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, my only child.’ —Luke 9:37–38
 
https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/down-the-mountain/ - Listen
 
Peter, James, and John came down from the mountain with Jesus, and there waiting for them was a demon-possessed child. But they were unable to do anything about it. Twenty-four hours after seeing the deity of Jesus, and they couldn’t help this poor boy.
 
Luke’s gospel tells us the child’s father approached Jesus and said, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, my only child. An evil spirit keeps seizing him, making him scream. . . . I begged your disciples to cast out the spirit, but they couldn’t do it” (9:38–40 NLT).
 
Like those disciples, we can be on a mountaintop one moment and down in the pit the next. We leave a church service, get in the car, and start arguing or getting angry about something. Or we turn around and slander someone or gossip—immediately after we’ve just sung the praises of God with the same lips.
 
I don’t think we need more mountaintop experiences in our Christian lives. But I do think we need more day-to-day obedience as we walk by faith and not feeling.
 
The disciples couldn’t understand why the demon hadn’t come out of the child. But Jesus put His finger on it. It was because of their unbelief.
 
We can have the same problem. We have faith, and we believe God. But our faith is small. It’s weak and underdeveloped. Faith, however, grows through use. In fact, it’s a lot like muscle. It’s painful in the process of growing, but it gets stronger every day through rigorous training.
 
God will bring faith-stretching experiences into our lives, and sometimes it seems as though our faith has been stretched to the limit, and we can go no further. But afterward, we realize that we had more faith than we thought we had. And it’s during those difficult times that our theories become reality.

 


 
FROM THE HEART
    
Let Us Make the Short Time We have Left,
Count for ALL of Eternity!

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