The Prepping of Society for the Antichrist - Jonathan Brentner - https://www.jonathanbrentner.com/https/jonathan-brentner-g8fgsquarespacecom/config/2020/9/15/the-prepping-of-society-for-the-antichrist
When 2020 began, who could have imagined that a virus from China would take us closer to the tribulation? However, COVID-19 has done exactly that. Since the virus first appeared in the United States, the goal line for easing government restrictions, lockdowns, quarantines, and face masks has continually changed. They have gone from flattening the curve, which the CDC said would take two to four weeks, to reduced hospital admissions, to everyone receiving a vaccination, and to Dr. Fauci recently stating that people can return to movie theaters only after the vaccine has been available for an entire year. But will the arrival of a vaccine mark a return to normal? According to Tucker Carlson's August 26th report on The Fox News Channel, the goal line has moved yet again. He quoted the World Health organization (WHO) Director General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus as stating that finding a vaccine for COVID-19 is not the final goal. No, the ultimate aim is the "reordering of society." He quoted the WHO director as also saying this, "We will not, we cannot go back to the way things were." Dr. Ghebreyesus of the WHO summed it up this way, "The COVID-19 pandemic has given new impetus to the need to accelerate efforts to respond to climate change." Tucker Carlson quoted Bill Gates as saying that the COVID-19 pandemic signifies "that the rest of us will have to sacrifice even more to save the earth from warming." So, what's the connection between the virus and climate control? Tucker Carlson nails it with these words, "both are pretexts for mass social control." This "social control" is paving the way for the coming world government. The global warming alarm and the fear generated by COVID-19 are prepping society for the arrival of the antichrist. THE GREAT RESET IS THE GOAL One need not look any further than to the World Economic Forum (WEF) website to see how the global elite seek to use these "crises" to reorder society for what they call "The Great Reset." Below are a couple of the opening quotes from the "The Great Reset" page of the WEF website. There is an urgent need for global stakeholders to cooperate in simultaneously managing the direct consequences of the COVID-19 crisis. To improve the state of the world, the World Economic Forum is starting The Great Reset initiative. The Covid-19 crisis, and the political, economic and social disruptions it has caused, is fundamentally changing the traditional context for decision-making. The inconsistencies, inadequacies and contradictions of multiple systems -from health and financial to energy and education - are more exposed than ever amidst a global context of concern for lives, livelihoods and the planet. Leaders find themselves at a historic crossroads, managing short-term pressures against medium- and long-term uncertainties. The push for the Great Reset has reached the United Nations. António Guterres, the UN's Secretary-General, added this to the call for the reordering of the world governments on the basis of both the "pandemic" and "climate change:" The Great Reset is a welcome recognition that this human tragedy must be a wake-up call. We must build more equal, inclusive and sustainable economies and societies that are more resilient in the face of pandemics, climate change and the many other global changes we face. COVID-19 and climate change constitute "a wake-up call" for "global changes," which further the need for the Great Reset, the coming world order of the tribulation over which the antichrist will someday rule. The elite who operate the WEF do not hide their intention to use climate change and the virus as the pretext for a one-world government. Peter Koenig wrote this about how COVID-19 is advancing the agenda of the elite toward the one world government, which he calls "the Beast." We have become enslaved to the Beast. The Beast calls the shots on boom or bust of our economies, on who should be shackled by debt, when and where a pandemic should break out, and on the conditions of surviving the pandemic, for example, social confinement. And to top it all off - the instruments the Beast uses, very cleverly, are a tiny-tiny invisible enemy, called a virus, and a huge but also invisible monster, called FEAR. That keeps us off the street, off reunions with our friends, and off our social entertainment, theatre, sports, or a picnic in the park. I find it quire remarkable that although Mr. Koenig does not claim any knowledge of Bible prophecy, he uses the terminology of Daniel and the book of Revelation in describing the kingdom of the antichrist. I provide these quotes to show how climate change and COVID-19 lie behind the push for the Great Reset. We see evidence of this in the United Nations' Agenda 2030, which lists goals for a one world government that it hopes to put in place by 2030. The New Green Deal in the United States mirrors the goals of Agenda 2030 with its agenda for a Marxist totalitarian world order (AKA the Beast). THE CONDITIONING OF SOCIETY FOR THE GREAT RESET How are the elite globalists of our world preparing the world to follow their lead in establishing a Marxist government? Below I list some of the ways they use the coronavirus as well as climate change for their demonic purposes to bring about the Great Reset that will pave the way for the rule of the antichrist during the tribulation. 1. Fear: The first tool in the arsenal of the globalists is fear and they have succeeded in creating a great deal of it both in the United States and throughout the world. They advanced the horrors of climate change for decades, but this alone has not caught the attention of the masses that they had hoped it would do. An abundance of failed predictions along with an army of scientists who now dispute the dire warnings of impending doom have diminished the impact of climate alarm on many people. It consistently ranks low on the lists of concerns for voters. The globalists needed a crisis that would impact everyone in the world and thus COVID-19 arrived on the scene. They still issue dire warnings regarding climate change for those who will listen and buy into that contrived panic. However, the elite have added the coronavirus to their plans to generate the widespread alarm they require to make people willing to accept their demonic Marxist solution for both crises. 2. Deception: To keep the fear thriving throughout the world, the elite need to deceive people and the media have been a willing accomplice to this end. They have greatly inflated the danger of this virus and discounted the success stories of the treatments for this virus. With vastly inflated numbers, they have also kept the dread of the virus alive well past the point where it's reasonable to enforce the wearing of masks and lockdowns. The media's shutting down of all success stories related to the use of hydroxychloroquine in treating the virus in its early stages has added to the death count from this virus as well as to the panic since the great majority do know if its effectiveness. As a result, many people believe the lies they hear and depend on the government to keep them healthy and alive, which is precisely the goal of the globalists as they prepare people for their remedy to the healthcare crisis they have created. 3. Tell people to submit for their own well-being: The combination of fear and the great deception of our time have made vast numbers of people willing to submit to the government, which they now regard as the protector of their health. As a result, they have willingly given up many of their rights and freedoms for the sake of remaining healthy, a trend sure to continue. The New World Order (AKA the beast) cannot exercise its dominion over people apart from their willingness to submit to dictates of a government they trust for their well-being and health. People wear masks without questioning their effectiveness. And, very few pastors stand up against the restriction regarding the freedom of religion imposed on them by socialist governors. I thank the Lord for the courage of John MacArthur in this regard. 4. Lawlessness and violence: Billionaire globalists fund the violence and lawlessness we witness throughout the United States. The result of this will be the exact opposite of what those rioting believe they will accomplish with the fires, vicious attacks on the innocent, and the killing of law enforcement officials. Those behind the Great Reset intend to use the breakdown of law and order to bring about a much more rigid "police state" where those enforcing the rules of the state will pledge loyalty to a tyrannical world government rather than to one's city or state or country. The protests against police cruelty will result in a totalitarian rule where everyone, regardless of race, nationality, or gender will shake in fear at the sight of those enforcing the draconian rules of an all-powerful socialistic government. 5. Establish a need for government control: In order for the elite to achieve their ultimate goal of a one world government, they must convince people of the need for more government control of their lives. This explains their devotion to the contrived climate emergency and why they will not let go of the increased control over our lives that they have achieved through the China virus. President Donald Trump and the United States represent their greatest obstacles in achieving their objective, which is why we see the rioting and the nonstop media lies about our President. In 2016, Trump interrupted their march to world dominance, and they cannot allow for another delay in their effort to convince the world of its need for more government control. Powerful forces in our world, led by the devil himself, seek to put in place a one-world government and they will use everything they can to make it happen. They will not let go of the COVID-19 health "crisis" until they have accomplished their goal to subject the entire world to the slavery of a Marxist regime. THE GOOD NEWS Tucker Carlson was spot on with his assessment of climate change and COVID-19, "both are pretexts for mass social control." The wearing of masks, the bowing of knees to the Black Lives Matter movement, and the vaccines consist of preconditioning people to both receive the mark of the beast during the tribulation and worship the antichrist (Rev. 13:16-18). This is the end game of what Satan seeks to accomplish through the Great Reset. The prophet Daniel, writing 2,600 years ago, wrote about the Great Reset of the WEF. He called it a "beast" with "horns" (Dan. 7:23-25). The apostle John, in Revelation 13, added more details to this beast whom the antichrist will someday personify. He is the "man of lawlessness whom the Lord will destroy at His second coming (2 Thess. 2:3-8). Since God long ago foretold the rise of this beast with the detail that we now see taking shape in our world, we can absolutely trust His Word as to the coming destruction of this beast, both the government and the antichrist who will personify the beast (Dan. 2:44-45; 7:26-27; Rev. 19:17-20:3). Jesus will destroy both at His second coming. For those of us who belong to Christ, the good news of the Gospel is that Jesus will come for us before the start of the tribulation and the culmination of the Satanic plans of the globalists. We do not watch in fear for the Great Reset; but we eagerly await the appearance of our great Savior who take us back to the place He has prepared for us (John 14:1-3). We await our speedy departure from this world to heaven. Yes, the news about our world today is more than a little disconcerting, but our hope is more glorious than we can imagine. Jesus is coming to take us home; we need not buy into the fear of our time. The lawlessness and violence of our day tell us that the prophesied tribulation is ever so near. But before that can happen, we will reside in paradise with Jesus.
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The Greatness of the New Testament - by Randy Nettles -
https://www.rev310.com/2020/09/the-greatness-of-the-new-testament-by-randy-nettles In 605 BC, during the first year of his reign as King of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem and pillaged Judah. This was the first of three invasions of Judah by Babylon. Many of the Jewish people were carried away to serve the king in Babylon during this time. Daniel and his three friends, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were among those taken into exile. God gave these four children knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams according to Daniel 2:17. In 604 BC Nebuchadnezzar had a fantastic dream, but couldn't remember the details. All he knew was that is was very impressive and important. "Dreams were considered messages from the gods by the Babylonians; and the wise men were expected to interpret them. Usually, they could give some sort of interpretation as long as they knew what it was about. This time, however, Nebuchadnezzar demanded his magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, astrologers, and wise men to tell him the dream because he could not remember it. God sent a series of dreams to Nebuchadnezzar with prophetic messages which could be revealed and understood only by a servant of God." {1} Of course, none of the pagan servants could tell the king what he dreamed. "The Chaldeans answered before the king, and said, There is not a man upon the earth that can show the king's matter: therefore there is no king, lord, nor ruler, that asks such things of any magician, or astrologer, of Chaldean. And it is a rare thing that the king requires, and there is no other that can show it before the king, except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh. For this cause the king was angry and very furious, and commanded to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. And the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and they sought Daniel and his fellows to be slain" (Daniel 2:10-13). Then Daniel went to his house, and told his companions about the king's dream and subsequent decree. They determined to pray and petition the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not die with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. "Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his: and he changes the times and the seasons: he removes kings, and sets up kings: he gives wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding.: he reveals the deep and secret things: he knows what is in the darkness, and the light that dwells with him. I thank you, and praise you, O my God of my fathers, who has given me wisdom and might, and has made known unto me now what we desired of you: for you have now made known unto us the king's matter" (Daniel 2:19-23). The next day Daniel told Arioch, the captain of the king's guard, not to destroy the "wise" men of Babylon and to bring him before the king so he can interpret the dream. Here is this rather lengthy but revealing account of the encounter between Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar: " The king spoke to Daniel, whose Babylonian name was Belteshazzar, Are you able to make known unto me the dream which I have seen, and the interpretation, thereof? Daniel answered the king, and said, The secret which the king has demanded cannot the wise men show unto the king; but there is a God in heaven that reveals secrets, and makes known to the king what shall be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head upon your bed, are these; as for you, O king, your thoughts came into your mind upon your bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and he that reveals secrets makes known to you what shall come to pass. But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but for their sakes shall the interpretation to the king be made known, and that you might know the thoughts of your heart. You, O king, saw and beheld a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before you: and the form thereof was terrible. This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, his legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. You saw it until a stone that was cut without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and broke them to pieces. Then was the iron, clay, brass, silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer the threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. You, O king, are a king of kings: for the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. You are this head of gold. And after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours, and another kingdom after this of brass, which shall rule over all the earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: for as much as iron breaks in pieces and subdues all things: and as iron that breaks all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise. And whereas you saw the feet and toes, part of potter's clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it the strength of the iron, for as much as you saw the iron mixed with miry clay. And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. And whereas you saw the iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men : but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever" (Daniel 2:25-44). Of course, this is the Kingdom of God/Jesus Christ as I discussed in my previous article: In the Midst: Part V When Nebuchadnezzar heard Daniel's words he remembered the dream and was so impressed with Daniel that he made him chief of the governors over all of Babylon Nebuchadnezzar got a glimpse of the greatness of Daniel's God and told him: "If the truth be known, your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets as He has given you the revelation of this secret" (Daniel 2:47). Then Daniel requested that his three friends, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah (otherwise known as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego) be made counselors over the affairs of the province of Babylon. In hindsight, we know the four kingdoms mentioned in the dream/prophecy were Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome. At the time of this prophecy, Babylon was the major world power after defeating Assyria in 609 BC. Babylon represented the head of gold in Nebuchadnezzar's dream. The silver chest and two arms represented the Medo-Persian Empire which eventually conquered Babylon in 539 BC. The belly and thighs of bronze was the nation of Greece under Alexander the Great who conquered Persia in 334-330 BC. The legs of iron represented Rome, which conquered the Greeks in 63 BC. The feet and toes of clay and iron represented the revived Roman Empire in the latter days to come (including the Antichrist's 3.5-year reign). This end-time kingdom will be a mixture of strong and weak nations. The type of metal in each subsequent part indicated the strength of the political and military power that each nation/nations represents. In this study, we are mostly concerned with the third kingdom of brass, Greece, under the leadership of their greatest king, Alexander the Great. His political and military triumphs spread a great influence over the Near East that would last for a millenia. It is because of Alexander the Great, and his God-given genius and military skills, that the New Testament was written in Greek. Of course, God was truly the power behind the scenes and it was His divine plan and will that was implemented. Alexander was the movable and most prized piece, the king, in God's game of chess known as human history. Alexander isn't truly the "great" one; however, it is the Lord Himself, the true King of kings and Lord of lords, Jesus Christ! Alexander III, aka Alexander the Great, was born in 356 BC. His father, Philip, was a mighty warrior king from Macedonia; one of the five tribal states of Greece. Persia was the dominant world power at this time after defeating Babylon in 539 BC. Greece was only a regional power during Alexander's youth, as the five tribes were always fighting among themselves and couldn't come together as a cohesive nation. They even spoke different dialects and couldn't understand one another very well. The following is an account of Alexander the Great's short life and military career written by Hal Lindsey in his 1997 book entitled "Apocalypse Code". If you haven't read it, I strongly recommend it as it is still relevant today, twenty-three years later. "Alexander was educated personally by the great Greek philosopher Aristotle. Alexander was a child prodigy and genius, and the brilliant Aristotle took him to his full potential. On the spiritual side, Alexander's devoutly occultic mother taught him to believe as a child that he was more than a mere man. She planted the idea in him that he was destined for greatness, glory and divinity. She knew that her husband Philip did not like her and that her own survival was linked to the success of her son. This vision of personal greatness became the driving force of his life. Even in Alexander's early teens, he would sneak away from Aristotle and study his father's army as they practiced various battle tactic and formations. During these times he began to develop battle tactics and strategy that he knew would be better than his father's. At eighteen years old he was already very restless to take over from his aging father, who suffered from multiple battle wounds, one of which was a crippled leg. But Alexander's ambition and certainty that he was destined for greatness annoyed his father. Then suddenly fate struck. The knife of a half-crazed assassin killed Philip on the steps of the Temple of Zeus and made Alexander an instant king. No one knew at the time that this assassin had just thrust onto the stage of history an eighteen-year-old boy who would forever alter its course. Thought Alexander leaped to his father's aid and killed the assassin himself, a few believed that he had engineered the whole incident. Legend has it that Alexander entered the Temple of Zeus right after his father's assassination. He took an oath and vowed he would bring more glory to Zeus and the gods of Greece than anyone in all history. He then made a strange request - he said, "I do not ask for a long life, but a short one. My only request is that it will be filled with victory in battle, wisdom with the conquered, and my name covered with immortal glory." Whether this actually happened or not, no one really knows. But it's certainly like something this larger-than-life personality would do. No one in human history so naturally fits the title of "The Great". History shows that this ingenious young king invented a revolutionary new battle formation called the "phalanx." He also devised radical new tactics. His ability to quickly grasp a changing battle situation and instantly improvise a brilliant solution also kept the enemy generals off balance. But most of all, it was Alexander's almost superhuman courage and bravery - and his daring, almost reckless audacity - that inspired his men to fight above their ability. He never ordered his men to go into battle. He always ordered, "Follow me." Alexander literally believed he could not be killed until his destiny was accomplished. He was at the forefront of virtually every battle. During his fighting career, thousands of arrows, lances, knives and swords were aimed at him, yet he was not killed in battle. Note: This reminds us of the career of Israel's great king, David. It appears they were both supernaturally protected by the Lord. Why was Alexander protected as such. Because he was under the providence of the almighty God of the Bible. God's prophet Daniel had predicted that Alexander wouldn't die in battle. Though Daniel predicted he would die prematurely at a young age, he also predicted that this Greek king would conquer most of the known world before he died. Upon assuming command of his father's army, he immediately began to train them in his new tactics. He prepared them quickly to launch a campaign to defeat and take over the other four tribes of Greece. In a shockingly quick time, Alexander did what no other Greek had been able to do. He not only conquered all of the other tribes, but convinced them to unite together into one nation. He was able to inspire them to see the potential of such a union. Since they spoke in five dialects, Alexander, knowing that exact communication was essential in battle, fused together the best of the dialects and made one common language. This he did himself. His natural genius - plus the teaching of Aristotle, who above all was a brilliant linguist - enabled him to create a precise language for communicating exact thought. This dialect was named Koine Greek, which means "common Greek." Alexander commanded all the tribes to learn "the common language." In less than two years as king, Alexander had Greece united and ready for conquest. Psychologically, the army was not ready to accept his lofty idea of conquering mighty Persia. So, he took a popular cause and mobilized them for that. Alexander led his army across the Hellespont of the Aegean Sea, supposedly for a limited rescue operation of the oppressed Greeks living under Persian rule in what is now Turkey's western coastal regions. One of the first cities he 'liberated" was ancient Troy. With lightning-like attacks, Alexander destroyed the Persian frontier military forces one after another. At this ;point, he had two secret purposes in mind. First, to give his men the confidence that comes with victory. Second, Alexander knew that he was provoking the proud King Darius to bring out his whole army. And he had positioned his forced in such a way as to allow no easy escape. They would have to fight. He was absolutely confident his army would win. To us looking back in history, it was a reckless all-or-nothing gamble. To Alexander, there was no risk. He was certain they would win - it was his destiny. His bravery and confidence became contagious. Darius took the bait and with fatal overconfidence brought out his whole army with no real plan of attack, nor any attention to the strengths and weaknesses of the Greek army. The haughty Persians were sure this would be mostly a training exercise for them. They intended to teach the Greeks such a lesson that they would never dare to set foot in Persia again. Alexander, on the other hand, knew the strengths and weaknesses of the Persians and had carefully planned to exploit them. He analyzed the approaching army and devised a plan that would quickly demoralize them and minimize their great numerical advantage. He picked out the battle flag of Persis's most elite battalion. He stalked them until just the right conditions of terrain partially isolated them. Moving with the speed and stealth of a leopard, he led his army in a daring attack against them. The Greeks destroyed them so quickly with their new phalanx maneuver that the rest of the Persian army was stunned. None of the Persian soldiers had ever seen anything like this. They were traumatized and never really regained their confidence and composure. In other words, Alexander had psyched them out! Keeping the initiative, Alexander decoyed them to follow. He carefully picked the time and place for each attack. Sensing when the situation was right, he moved in for the decisive battle at Isis and Arbela. There the Greeks utterly decimated the remaining Persian army. The survivors panicked and fled in total disarray, leaving King Darius alone and unprotected. Two Persian deserters assassinated the defenseless Darius, thinking it would win them favor with Alexander. To their dismay, Alexander took pity on Darius and his dishonorable end. He was angry at the two deserters for their treachery and cowardice. He told them, "Only a king can execute a king." He drew his sword and killed them. Almost before his army had full grasped what was really happening, they had completely defeated the vaunted Persian army. Alexander realized that the kingdom of Persia was as helpless as their lifeless king. He savored the moment as he looked over his deliriously happy army. He had led them to do the impossible - they had conquered the leading power in the world. The news of the incredible victory was quickly relayed to Athens. The Greek nation was stunned at the news. Their daring young king not only had liberated "the oppressed Greeks," but had conquered the seemingly invincible Persian empire, with all of its riches. And once again, in an extraordinary way, Alexander had unknowingly fulfilled another part of Daniel's 200-year-old prophecy about his sudden conquest and takeover of Persia, the second world empire. The year was 331 BC. The Persian empire fell at Alexander's feet. Instead of making them slaves and treating them cruelly, he required them only to embrace the Greek culture and language. For the most part, he made friends of them. This too was a fulfillment of God's providential use of him. Unwittingly, Alexander was bein used to accomplish God's purpose by making Line Greek the lingua franca of the known world. Even Rome (the fourth empire) would not be able to change the universal language. When the remains of the Greek empire were taken over by the Romans, everyone continued to use Greek as the language of business, trade and international communication. So, when Jesus the Messiah came and purchased a pardon for the sin of all mankind by his death, the infinitely valuable message about it was entrusted to none other than Alexander's creation - Koine Greek. The original manuscript of the New Testament was written in this Common Greek and could be rapidly spread among the Gentiles. Why? Because in the providential working of God, Alexander had made it possible for them to understand. Another amazing footnote of history which is enormously important: when Alexander began his conquest southward toward Egypt, he conquered most of Israel and besieged Jerusalem. The High Priest requested an audience and showed Alexander that his whole life and career had been foreknown and predicted by Israel's God more than two hundred years before. He taught Alexander from the 2nd, 7th, and 8th chapters of Daniel. It is said that Alexander fell down and declared Yahweh, the LORD of Israel, the God of gods. Also, he spared Jerusalem and took with him many of the royal family of Judah and made them royal administrators of his conquered kingdoms. Jews were spread throughout the empire. Because of this, it later became necessary for the Hellenized Jews to have a Greek translation of their Hebrew Bible. The translation, known as the Septuagint (or LXX) for the 70 translators, was completed in 165 BC in a city founded by and named for Alexander -Alexandria, Egypt. Thus, long before Jesus' birth, there were now available for the Gentile world the Old Testament prophecies of the Messiah's coming as a humble servant who would provide a way to God for all peoples." {2} Impressed with his own success and the teaching of his occultic mother, Alexander thought it necessary for his Greek subjects to worship him as a god. However, he didn't live long enough to enjoy the accolades. Alexander the Great died in Babylon on June 10, 323 BC, at the young age of 33. In just 13 years, he had conquered most of the known world and spread the Greek culture, language, and influence over the Near East that would last for a thousand years. After Alexander's death, his four Greek generals broke up the vast kingdom into four parts as was also prophesied in Daniel 8:8. The 27 books of the New Testament were written in a 50 year span between the years AD 45-95. The 39 books of the Old Testament were written in a 1000 year span (approximately) between the years 1430-430 BC. There are a total of 66 books in the Bible written by approximately 40 authors. 6 is the number of man, so the number 66 accentuates the meaning. The Bible is God's revelation about Himself to mankind, written by His Holy prophets and disciples under the inspired guidance of the Holy Spirit. This is what the author of Hebrews has to say about the word of God, which includes both the Old and New Testament: "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and open unto the eyes of Him to whom we must give account." (Hebrews 4:12-13). Randy Nettles nettlesr@suddenlink.net Endnotes: {1} Life Application Study Bible pg.1608 {2} Apocalypse Code - by Hal Lindsey, Western Front Ltd., 1997 - pgs. 55-61 Falling into Place - By Daymond Duck -
https://www.raptureready.com/2020/09/12/falling-into-place-by-daymond-duck/ The great Bible Prophecy teacher, Jan Markell, has often said something like this: "Things aren't falling apart; things are falling into place." A pastor recently sent her an e-mail that said, "We don't live in uncertain times. Not at all! These times are as certain as any time in all of human history, and the God of the universe laid out this time in great detail, point by point, and in fact, with all the detail needed by His people to live in times of absolute certainty! So no, there's nothing uncertain about the times we live in to the believer who is seeking to live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." Bible prophecy is falling in place right now with incredible speed and accuracy. These current events appear to verify what the best prophecy teachers are saying. For those that are really saved, it is a message of comfort and hope, not doom and gloom (I Thess. 4:13-18). One, concerning a falling away or a departing from the faith at the end of the age (I Tim. 4:1), on Sept. 3, 2020, Michael Snyder reported that a recent State of Theology survey found that 30% of those that call themselves Evangelical Christians say Jesus isn't God. It seems to me that there are only two explanations: 1) They weren't saved to begin with, or 2) They have fallen away from the faith by rejecting what the Bible clearly teaches (Matt. 7:21; John 10:30). Two, concerning persecution of believers at the end of the age, Rev. Franklin Graham recently warned that the Democratic Party is "opposed to faith," and the left will close churches in many places if the U.S. embraces socialism. He said, "You are going to see Christians attacked, you are going to see churches close, and you are going to see a real hatred expressed toward people of faith. That is coming." This has already started, but it could get much worse in a matter of months. Three, concerning peace in the Middle East, on Sept. 1, 2020, Jared Kushner, Senior Advisor to Pres. Trump, said, "Obviously anything could happen, but the reality is that a lot of people are envious of the move that the United Arab Emirates has made." "A lot of people want access to the technology, economy and the advancements that Israel has. Israel is like another Silicon Valley for the Middle East." On Sept. 2, 2020, Kushner boarded a plane for a flight to the UAE and the beginning of a "new era of peace in the Middle East." The word "peace" was written in three languages over the cockpit of the plane. Kushner believes another Arab nation will make peace with Israel in a matter of months and all 22 Arab nations will eventually recognize the existence of Israel (Note: On Sept. 3, 2020, it was reported that Bahrain will likely normalize relations before Rosh Hashana, Sept. 18, and as many as 20 Muslim nations could do it in the next two months). On Sept. 5, 2020, it was reported that Israel and the UAE anticipate signing their agreement in Washington, D.C. during the week of Sept. 14, and they will call their agreement a "treaty of peace." Calling it a "treaty of peace" gives it the same status as the peace treaties that Egypt and Jordan have signed with Israel. This peace treaty must be approved by the Israeli Knesset, but there should be no problem with that. The Antichrist will confirm a worthless treaty after the Rapture of the Church (Dan. 9:27). Four, Amir Tsarfati believes the current situation is causing Israel to dwell more safely and may be setting the stage for the Battle of Gog and Magog (Ezek. 38:11). On Sept. 3, 2020, Saudi Arabia opened its airspace to all countries (includes Israel) flying planes to the UAE. This new relationship between Saudi Arabia and Israel is a reminder that Saudi Arabia will not join the Gog and Magog attack on Israel (Ezek. 38:13). On Sept. 3, 2020, Bahrain opened its airspace to Israel. Five, the Tribulation Period will begin with a covenant of peace in the Middle East (I Thess. 5:3). The Antichrist will confirm the covenant at the beginning of the Tribulation Period, and he will break it at the Middle of the Tribulation Period (Dan. 9:27). When the Antichrist breaks the covenant, goes to the Temple and says he is God, the Jews in Judea will flee into the wilderness (Matt. 24:15-16; II Thess. 2:3-4). Then, God will judge the nations and drag them into the Battle of Armageddon for dividing the Promised Land and scattering the Jews (Joel 3:2). On Aug. 31, 2020, it was reported that U.S. National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien traveled to the UAE where he said, the U.S. is "committed to a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine." The U.S. is trying to appease the Arabs and Palestinians when we should be trying to appease God. Six, at the end of the age, Israel will be an exceedingly great army (Ezek. 37:10). On Aug. 28, 2020, US News and World Report published a ranking that says Israel is the eighth most powerful country on earth for the fourth year in a row. According to the Bible, the Archangel Michael will stand up for Israel at the time of the end, and Israel will be the most powerful nation on earth (Dan. 12:1). Seven, concerning the lawlessness that is rampant in many U.S. cities today, this lawlessness is ultimately going to lead to the rise of the lawless one (the Antichrist). Eight, concerning the Battle of Gog and Magog, on Sept. 4, 2020, it was reported that the International Atomic Energy Agency has informed several members of the UN that Iran is just 3 ½ months away from having the ability and materials to produce two nuclear bombs. The U.S. and Israel have both said they will not let Iran get nuclear weapons. The U.S. response may well be influenced by the upcoming presidential election (Biden was pro-Iran under Obama; Trump is pro-Israel). Nine, concerning pestilence, the World Health Organization has linked a recent polio outbreak in Sudan and Chad to vaccinations. This is very troubling, but it is more troubling in light of the fact that many officials want to force everyone on earth to be vaccinated for the Coronavirus. Polls show that a large number of U.S. voters are likely to hesitate before they agree to be vaccinated for the virus (and this could lead to persecution). As I close, Bible Prophecy is falling into place, but no one knows the day or the hour of the Rapture. God loves you, and if you have not done so, sincerely admit that you are a sinner; believe that Jesus is the virgin born, sinless Son of God who died for the sins of the world, was buried and raised from the dead; ask Him to forgive your sins, cleanse you, come into your heart and be your Saviour; then tell someone that you have done this. Prophecy Plus Ministries, Inc. Daymond Duck duck_daymond@yahoo.com The Enemy in the Gates - Pete Garcia -
https://www.rev310.com/2020/09/the-enemy-in-the-gates In the winter of 367, the Roman garrison on Hadrian's Wall rebelled, and allowed Picts from Caledonia to enter Britannia. Simultaneously, Attacotti, the Scotti from Hibernia, and Saxons from Germania landed in what might have been coordinated and pre-arranged waves on the island's mid-western and southeastern borders, respectively. Franks and Saxons also landed in northern Gaul. These warbands managed to overwhelm nearly all of the loyal Roman outposts and settlements. The entire western and northern areas of Britannia were overwhelmed, the cities sacked and the civilian Romano-British murdered, raped, or enslaved. (Barbarica Conspiratio-Wikipedia) Nearly two-millennia ago, various groups of barbarians attacked the Roman provinces of Britannia and northern Gaul (modern day France), in a series of violent and seemingly pre-coordinated attacks. This was quite the feat considering the primitive communications of that era, as well as the vast distances, and conflicting interests of the groups involved. The attacks lasted for nearly a year, and did considerable damage to both the lands and people, as well as the Roman prestige of Pax Romana. While the Romans eventually regained military control over their provinces, these areas would never truly be the same again. Now, fast-forward 1,653 years to an age where the United States (modeled in part after Rome) is the primary super-power on the planet. Is it crazy or unreasonable to believe that in an era of
...that the existence of an unseen, shadow government operating just below the surface of our own elected government, is somehow an impossibility? Is it conspiratorial to believe that when global leaders speak of a global reset, what that they really mean is dethroning the United States as the world's superpower? Since January 2020, the world has been subjected to a massive, global faux pandemic designed to do two things. First, it was designed to drive the world into a state of crisis and panic. Secondly, it capitalized off the first part (crisis) to condition the world into shutting down the global economy as well as accepting a global solution. The intent was to crash the global economy, and force it to turn to a new, digital, global currency, which would effectively, end national sovereignty. But God already knew what they were scheming. In 2016, the United States elected one of the most seemingly, unelectable men to the highest office in the world. The phenomenon that was the Trump-2016 election was in reality, a miracle. Despite having pitted against him, the following-
Trump still won a shocking victory. In fact, his victory was so decisive, that Clinton conceded that night without even contesting it. They were reeling, so assured by all the above that they would defeat Trump in such a lopsided landslide that they had not even considered the possibility that she could lose. But God had already picked His candidate. Infuriated, the Democrats, their unelected shadow network of contractors and nameless/faceless government bureaucrats, the Deep State (shadow intelligence networks), and the outgoing Obama administration, made it their mission, to destroy the Trump presidency. They attacked him and everyone close to him, relentlessly. In fact, anyone who had even the slightest dirt on them (all of which was before he took office), were quickly picked off and targeted for destruction (R. Stone, M. Flynn, M. Manafort, etc.) However, Trump is a no-holds barred, take no prisoner, scorched earth, New Yorker who had been brought up through the ranks of the democrat elites. He knew how they fought. He knew how to fight back. Even better, he knew all their secrets. When they hit him, he hit them back twice as hard, with everything his bully pulpit would give him. He went on to success after success, building his foundation across a wide swath of everyday American's, who were sick and tired of progressive liberals telling us how deplorable we were for not accepting their transgendered, homosexual, pedophiliac agendas. Their attempts to unseat Trump failed not once, but three times. In their desperation, they unleashed their agenda, years ahead of schedule. The original intent by the shadow government was that one of the establishment Republican candidates would win the party nomination. He would go on to lose the general population election (lose with dignity), and that Hillary Clinton would continue the Obama Administration's policy of grinding American's down for another eight-years. Their intent was to use the years from 2020-2030 to get America to the point where we had no other choice but to subjugate ourselves to a global government. But God decided to use His own timeline. Much to everyone's surprise, President Trump unleashed the power of the American economy like has not been seen since the 1980s. President Trump recognized Israel's sovereignty over Jerusalem, which had been held in political/diplomatic hostage negotiations since the 1967 Six-Day War. President Trump began dismantling the shadow government. President Trump began renegotiating terrible political deals, which guaranteed nuclear weapons to Iran, unchecked trade imbalances with China, and one-sided military aid to nations who do not pay for their own share of their own security. In other words, Trump began derailing the globalist agenda the democrat and establishment republicans had been aggressively building since George. H. W. Bush. However, as the fears of the coronavirus began to subside, the artificial state of crisis needed to be maintained. Almost as if in pre-coordinated manner, a bizarre, almost, staged racial incident involving the horrendous death of George Floyd unleashed a summer of racial strife, riots, vandalism, looting, and general lawlessness across the nation. However, not just our nation, but around the world people protested the unlawful killing of unarmed black men in America by a police officer. As I said then, I will say again. All of this was designed to pin on President Trump to diminish his rise in popularity with the black community. As terrible as this crime against Floyd was, it pales in comparison to the rest of the deaths of blacks suffer on the national level. Here is where the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement comes into focus. Originally founded in 2013 after the Trayvon Martin shooting, BLM would gain attention through the nonstop publicity provided by the national mainstream media, albeit briefly. George Floyd's death came on the heels of a 60-day nation-wide shutdown/quarantine. Not only that, but the nature/manner of Floyd's death was so egregious that no amount of justification could provide any excusable recourse for the public to act upon. The truth is, BLM is not concerned about black lives in general per se, but only black deaths in relation to a very specific manner of death-i.e., death by law enforcement. They ignore the legalized genocide of black babies through abortion. They ignore black on black violence ravaging every city in the nation. They ignore black cops who are killed trying to maintain law and order. Death by law enforcement is a facade, BLM cleverly uses to disguise their true agenda. BLM (as well as ANTIFA) is an admitted pro-Marxist/Progressive organizations openly committed to the destruction of the United States using "systemic racism" as the means to justify the ends (e.g., deconstruction of law and order). Once law and order are undermined in an area, anarchy and revolution are sure to follow. BLM's ultimate goal (per the own mission statement) is the destruction of the patriarchal, capitalist, Judeo-Christian, Constitutional Republic America was founded. So given everything I have just laid out, we can understand where we are by using a little historical context. In other words, where we are now is not a new thing, it is actually, a combination of things. We are in that hybrid moment between the dismantlement of the Roman Republic (from the 1st-century B.C. -Julius to Augustus Caesar) and the proverbial barbarians-at the gate era, four centuries later. The Republic is crumbling from within, due to corruption and internal enemies, as well as the external threats who are funding our demise (e.g., Russia, China, globalist organizations). However, it is becoming obvious now to even our elected officials that all of these attacks/threats, are hitting us in a way that no longer feels random or circumstantial. Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., on Sunday called for a Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation into the funding of recent violent protests that have sprung up across the country, echoing statements made by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who was recently attacked while with his wife during the Republican National Convention. "The Justice Department needs to open an investigation into who is funding these violent riots," Buck tweeted. "My question is: Who are these people?" he continued. "Who paid for their hotel rooms? Who flew them in? Law enforcement needs to look at the funding of violent criminal activity like this. And national Democrats need to confront it. It's organized. It's paid for. It's violent. It's not about Black lives or any lives; it's about anarchy and destruction." Fox News Even media-propagandists like CNN and presidential candidate Joe Biden are now being forced to publicly condemn the violence, as painful as it is for them to do so. Assessment Satan is no dummy. Satan is never going to show the hand he is playing until after the damage is already done. I have made reference to this numerous times over the years, but if we want to see where all this is going, you have to look beyond the headlines. If Satan is stirring up the masses, it is not just to sow the seeds of chaos, although he does enjoy doing that. Ultimately, he is looking for the reaction from the masses, who will inevitably demand, more control, and less freedom. This is where he wanted to take everyone in the first place, so he has used and is using violent and unhinged groups (e.g., Nazis, Islamists, Marxists, etc.) to get the world to the point, where they demand totalitarian control...and he will give it to them. For example, the Third Reich was not created solely for killing the Jews, although, from Satan's perspective, that was an added bonus. Satan stirred up Hitler and stirred up all those who would help create the German Third Reich, to ultimately cause the world to want to unite against things like the Third Reich. It is the Hegelian Dialectic at the strategic level. Right after 9/11, the US Congress passed the Patriot Act, which was a revamped version of the 1995 Omnibus Counterterrorism Act. This was one of the most invasive forms of legislation ever created by the US government. Moreover, it passed both houses with bipartisan support in a matter of weeks. Now, Satan did not stir up the Muslim hijackers (or their financers) just because he believes their cause is just, or because he wanted to kill Americans. Rather, he used them to attack us, because he knew, we would invoke the legislation that would effectively create a surveillance state. The surveillance state unleashed the power of the military-industrial-technological industries that soon create the massive intelligence /information /communication/space warfare we see the nations racing towards today. This is the high-level form of warfare that Satan has perfected over the millennia. Satan needs this technology expedited if he is to control the entire world through his man, The Antichrist. On the ground level, there is another conspiracy afoot. We have enemies in our nation who want nothing more than to see our way of life destroyed. From the Revolutionary War loyalists, are destruction not a new sentiment. If we fast forward to the aftermath of the Civil War, the Republicans were quick to want reconciliation with the defeated Southern Democrats. The Democrats, however, were still bitter over their humiliating defeat; especially in the Deep South were Union General Sherman oversaw the conquest of Atlanta and other major Confederate cities. Within months of the conclusion of the Civil War, the Confederates, now returning back to being simply "Democrats," formed what could be considered the first shadow government system. They (the Ku Klux Klan) were the militia arm over their Democrat Party, and were determined to undermine the Republican's efforts of desegregation and reconciliation against their "invisible empire." Founded in 1865, the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) extended into almost every southern state by 1870 and became a vehicle for white southern resistance to the Republican Party's Reconstruction-era policies aimed at establishing political and economic equality for Black Americans. Its members waged an underground campaign of intimidation and violence directed at white and Black Republican leaders. Though Congress passed legislation designed to curb Klan terrorism, the organization saw its primary goal-the reestablishment of white supremacy-fulfilled through Democratic victories in state legislatures across the South in the 1870s. After a period of decline, white Protestant nativist groups revived the Klan in the early 20th century, burning crosses and staging rallies, parades and marches denouncing immigrants, Catholics, Jews, African Americans and organized labor. The civil rights movement of the 1960s also saw a surge of Ku Klux Klan activity, including bombings of Black schools and churches and violence against Black and white activists in the South. The Democrats were also the home to numerous new socialist/progressives who began fleeing from an increasingly tumultuous Europe around the turn of the 20th-century. Of these groups, one in particular would find sanctuary in the United States, and we are now, witnessing the long-term effects of 100 years of their ideological poisoning. The Frankfurt School, known more appropriately as Critical Theory, is a philosophical and sociological movement spread across many universities around the world. It was originally located at the Institute for Social Research (Institut für Sozialforschung), an attached institute at the Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany. The Institute was founded in 1923 thanks to a donation by Felix Weil with the aim of developing Marxist studies in Germany. After 1933, the Nazis forced its closure, and the Institute was moved to the United States where it found hospitality at Columbia University in New York City. (Source) Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, the Socialists/Progressives/Marxists were considered the left wing fringe, of an already systematically racist Democrat Party. They would spend the next few decades patiently building their foundation through the propagandist indoctrination of seminaries, universities, and eventually, public education. It was here that leftist ideological heavyweights began to radicalize in the 1960s with a culture war, capitalizing on the death of political leaders (JFK, MLK) and during a highly unpopular war in Vietnam. In one university, we see a more insidious form of warfare/terrorism being developed that was designed to break collapse the United States, as we know it. First proposed in 1966 and named after Columbia University sociologists Richard Andrew Cloward and his wife Frances Fox Piven - both longtime members of the Democratic Socialists of America, where Piven today is an honorary chair - the "Cloward-Piven Strategy" seeks to hasten the fall of capitalism by overloading the government bureaucracy with a flood of impossible demands, thus pushing society into crisis and economic collapse. (Source) LBJ's "Great Society," in conjunction with a costly-overseas war in Southeast Asia, would achieve just that very goal. By the time President Nixon came into office (1969-74), the U.S. had to abandon the gold standard for a variety of reasons. From there, we went to a free-floating, debt-based, fiat currency. Had that been our sole financial transition, the US would have had collapsed economically decades ago. However, ingeniously, the US also collaborated with OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) to set all oil prices in US Dollars. This meant, that nations, who needed to buy oil, had to have US currency to do so, which meant, every nation had to keep US greenbacks as their reserve currency. This preserved the status of the US Dollar from then (1971) until the early 2000s. However, by 2007-08, there were growing signs that America's financial house of cards was about to come down. Although the Subprime Mortgage Crisis cannot be laid solely at the feet of the democrat party, they did not help matters enforcing financially risky policies promoting socialist-light programs. Like LBJ's "Great Society," equal housing policies passed under Carter and Clinton would incentivize the practice of giving loans to those who could not afford them. That, along with out of control hedge fund markets, adjustable-rate mortgages, balloon payments, and increased debt would culminate in the perfect financial storm of 2008. I bring this up not simply to rehash recent history, but to show the first serious attempt by nations to become detached from the US Dollar. Since the U.S. has long been the most stabilizing financial market force in the world, as well as almost every nation keeping US Dollars as a reserve currency, we have become the world's greatest liability (should we collapse). Our collapse would absolutely guarantee the financial collapse of every other country in the world. This is what and why people like Cloward, Piven, George Soros, Obama, Clinton, and countless other globalists are working over-time to use the COVID-19 crisis, to achieve hasten our demise. The upcoming 51st annual meeting of the Web Economic Forum (WEF) is a perfect example of this. 'The Great Reset' will be the theme of this unique twin summit in January 2021...The WEF, which describes itself as an international organization for public-private partnership, said 'The Great Reset' is a commitment to jointly and urgently build the foundations of economic and social systems for a more fair, sustainable and resilient future. "It requires a new social contract centered on human dignity, social justice and where societal progress does not fall behind ...United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, "The great reset is a welcome recognition that this human tragedy must be a wake-up call. We must build more equal, inclusive and sustainable economies and societies that are more resilient in the face of pandemics, climate change and the many other global changes we face." Schwab said COVID-19 has accelerated the world's transition into the age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, while this global pandemic has also demonstrated again how interconnected everyone is... While all the flowery language sounds appealing on the surface, the reality of what these globalists are proposing is nothing more than equally shared misery. It is socialism. It is redistributing wealth from those who have, to those who have not (and create not). This recipe has been tried many, many times and it never works. However, their proposal here is that the reason it has not worked, because it has not been tried everywhere at the same time. Their Great Reset agenda is already couched in the United Nation's Agenda 2030. It ignores the recipe for actual economic success (see Trump's economic recovery from the Obama-era recession), and dedicates their seemingly limitless resources to creating a world that erases borders, national sovereignty, individual rights, and liberty all in the name of equality. What it will create, is a techno-oligarchical conglomerate of an upper class, and everyone else. Conclusion As we approach the 19th anniversary of 9/11, we are reminded of the great evils that exist in our world. The 9/11 hijackers weren't random men who all of sudden decided to kill innocent Americans. They were put together, trained, and financed to carry out this mission. Think about how much our world has changed since that one event 19 years ago. I have spent numerous hours on the previous five articles (The Death of a Nation, Civil War and the Coming New World Order, American Pie, the Great Reset, and the Last Trump Rapture) explaining ad nausea, why the left is determined to create a singular new world order. Most of these people do not even understand why they are so determined to do this. The true enemy is not these people (as misguided as they are), the true enemy is Satan, and those demonic forces seeking still to overthrow God's authority. These leftists and globalists are being manipulated like human puppets on marionette strings, dancing to the tune of older, darker, forces. From Revelation 13; The rise of a regional (then global) government Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority... (vs 1-3) The global government, led by Antichrist, gains global authority It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. (vs. 7) The Antichrist's right hand man, the False Prophet, then directs all peoples to worship him ...Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon. And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. (vs. 11-12) These two men control ALL buying and selling (everything financial) using some new technology. ...He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. (vs. 16-17) So not a matter of if, but when; this is where Scripture says the world will end up during the last seven-years of human history. However, in order for these things to come to pass, three things are needed.
Right now as you read this, someone is aggressively funding these efforts to overthrow our way of life, so that it causes the entire world to need a Great Reset. The world NEEDS the right crisis (collapsing the US) to make the Great Reset, Agenda 2020, Agenda 2030, the Green New Deal, etc. more than just words, but reality. As hard as they have tried with the Coronavirus 2.0, the Wuhan Flu is not panning out to be the crisis they wanted it so desperately to become. This tells me two things: first, it will take something even worse to cause people going forward to actually react, and secondly, they (global and national governments) are learning from this present one, on what to do (and not do) during a"crisis." The reasons why globalists are funding their own demise (national and corporate suicide) through fake crises and social justice, is as antithetical as Hitler's reasoning for opening a two-front war with the West and the Soviet Union. It does not make sense from a human perspective, which tells me there is another agenda afoot. A darker, spiritual one, which is operating on another level. This is probably why these decisions, appear nonsensical to us mere mortals. At present, the US is the largest stabilizing force on the planet. The "Great Reset" only makes sense in a world where the US ceases to exist. Someone is organizing these efforts today to sow anarchy and lawlessness in America's largest cities in an effort to hasten that reality. While we common-folk already know who that someone is (George Soros), he is not the only one. Furthermore, to speak his name causes us to automatically be labeled conspiracy theorists. However, as Senator Paul rightfully noted, these rioters are receiving money from somewhere. Do the rioters not work? How do they pay their bills? How do they pay for food? Fuel? Hotel rooms? Why are corporations giving millions of dollars to anarchist and Marxist organizations who are then rioting, looting, and burning down their stores? These are all legitimate questions that should be asked. Although we know where this ultimately ends up, as long as we have breath in our lungs, we should never tolerate evil. And what we have going on in the streets, is organized evil. As Victor Davis Hanson rightfully noted, this coming election is not about Democrat versus Republican, nor even capitalism vs. socialism, but civilization vs. anarchy. The light of the day is quickly dying, and night is coming soon. Continue to share the Good News of Jesus Christ to all those who God puts in our lives. Continue to pray for this nation and for Trump so that perhaps, one last revival can glean what is left of the harvest. For those who do not know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, the ONLY escape from this coming global testing, is by placing your sincere faith and trust in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ for your sins today. If you miss the Rapture of the Church (the sudden disappearance of millions of people), the world will enter into a time that will be worse than any other in human history. It will be hell on earth. The only escape is by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ and becoming part of the bride of Christ today. ...that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, "Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame." For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For "whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." Romans 10:9-13 Pretribulation Rapture Proof - By Pastor Mike Taylor -
https://pastormiketaylor.blogspot.com/2020/09/pretribulation-rapture-proof.html 15 "For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord."(1st Thessalonians 4:15-17) I have started with the witness of our Lord and Savior's apostle to the Gentiles and taught to him personally by revelation of Jesus Christ glorified. There is much controversy about what Paul was speaking of and it's timing. I will in this message address those controversies in factions of the religious community that read, I believe, not what Jesus, or Paul, John or Daniel was speaking of when it comes to these last days and the appearing of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I get every now and then opponents to the concept of the church being removed out of the way from receiving God's Divine wrath upon a sinful world that is in full rebellion to His Law, and the only substitution for redemption of the breaking of God's Commandments is in the blood sacrifice of His Only Son, Jesus Christ, which they reject. Let us first go to 1st Thessalonians and read what Paul instructed this early church on what was coming, and was not only for their ears, but was written down for our admonition in these last days. As is typical for Paul in his letters, he greets them in love in his opening lines to each of the brethren written to. But in reading on down we come to the first hint that Paul was speaking of a coming event that is yet to transpire. In verse 9, he begins his first nugget of a truth that I have always embraced: 9 "For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; 10 And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come."(1st Thessalonians 1:9-10) Paul is writing to the church members and Revelation had not even been written yet by John. He speaks of wrath? This is the coming wrath of Almighty God on rampant rebellion of the nations of this earth in a future time, our time. You can find many examples of God's wrath to come, even starting in the Old Testament concerning what is coming: 4 "The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek. 5 The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath. 6 He shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill the places with the dead bodies; he shall wound the heads over many countries."(Psalms 110:4-6) Paul speaks of this time further in Hebrews (I believe Paul is the unmentioned author) concerning the wrath of God, 25" See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven: 26 Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. 27 And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: 29 For our God is a consuming fire."(Hebrews 12:25-29) Of course, we can get a feel of God's wrath when we go to Revelation, but this book is not the only place that speaks of God's wrath to come, but we get the intensity and fierceness of the idea: 13"And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. 14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. 15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; 16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:"(Revelation 6:13-16) Understand one thing my reader, the coming time of tribulation is divine judgment on a world devoid of love for one another, and committing untold sinful acts in complete rebellion to God's Law and authority, and who have whole-hardheartedly rejected the Gospel of Jesus Christ as the only payment for their sinful condition. Do we not understand that God will destroy up to 80% of all mankind in natural environmental catastrophes and what only be assigned extraordinary Divine occurrences not known to man in modern times and can only be attributed to Almighty God? Humanity is nearly wiped out, but as Jesus told us, "if the time were not shortened, no flesh would be saved" Let us guesstimate the carnage that will be inflicted on this world, if all of us were still on this planet and none of us were removed. Right now we are approaching or have eclipsed the 7 billion mark and approaching 8 billion of humanity on this planet. If we somehow envision the destruction of 80% of all mankind, that would be 5.6-6.4 billion people dying a horrible death leaving roughly little more than 1.4-1.6 billion people left. God warned that He will punish the inhabitants of the earth. Isaiah also speaks of this coming wrath: 19 "Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. 20 Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. 21 For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain." (Isaiah 26:19-21) (A clear passage of divine intervention and removal of His people before He slays mankind on earth) Jesus also gave, what I believe is a sister verse of the one Isaiah wrote down, found in John 14, "In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. 4And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know." (John 14:2-4) See the parallel between the two verse passages? Jesus is coming to bring us to Himself, that where He is, we will be...He will hide us in our chambers, our mansions until His indignation passes by....God will come for judgment and we are not involved in it at all. Oh, I hear the objections who say that the last trump in the opening verses of this message is the same trump that the 7th angel blows in Revelation, but fail to understand that Paul was speaking of a last trump associated with the Feast of Trumpets. For a detailed summary of my position on this gross error by some churches today, go to my website and read "Confusion over End-time Events" or even my last message, "God's Divine Plan for the Redemption of Mankind". In each, the conflicts over these trumpets will be explained. One signals a joyous reunion, the other brings damnation and judgment to those upon the earth....they are NOT the same trumpet that Paul spoke of, as John spoke of a totally different trump in a different time frame. Paul steps it up a bit in the later chapters of 1st Thessalonians in chapter 5: 1 "But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. 2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. 3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. 4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. 5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. 6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. 7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. 8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. 9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,"(1st Thessalonians 5:1-9) How much more clear can Paul say it? Paul speaks of Jesus coming as a thief, or in secret and the nations not knowing the hour of His coming. Do you think that the coming of the Lord when He comes to rule on this planet for 1000 years at the end of the Tribulation will be proceeded in secret? Do you think He will come when they expect it not? Paul talks of sudden destruction, as woman in child labor will not escape the pain or the delivery of the baby. What fits this scenario, a sudden, without warning snatching away of children of light, to the horror of the children of darkness...OR would it be more plausible for them to be going about business as usual in the very run-up to the Glorious Appearing of Jesus Christ in the clouds of glory with great power ( proceeded by the appearance of great signs and wonders in the heavens . Joel 2:30-31). With almost 6 billion people being consumed, dead bodies all around, with animals eating the corpses of those slain, and the carnage of divine retribution, would it be business as usual? Those so unfortunate to deny our Lord will be just trying to survive and not doing a very good job of it. Let us examine the signs of His post Tribulation appearing, shall we? Will it be business as usual? I think we can find the answer. 8:6 "And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound. 7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up. 8 And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood; 9 And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed."(Revelation 8:6-9) ON down, 12 "And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise." (Revelation 8:12) Reading on down the horror that is unleashed by this fourth angel till we get to the fifth angel: 1 "And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. 2 And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. 3 And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. 4 And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads."(Revelation 9:1-4) More pain and suffering/death when the sixth angel sounds his trumpet: 9:13 "And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, 14 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. 15 And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men."(Revelation 9:13-15) that would decrease those left alive at the end of the Tribulation, not to mention how many people will be raptured from this earth. HORROR RELEASED ON THIS EARTH Then to the end of the chapter 9, descriptions of a most detailed description of what will befall rebellious mankind. Until, the seventh angel sounds his trumpet to unleash the final assault upon earth in an attempt to turn them to repentance, but God knows that they will not. Revelation 16:20 testifies that every island will be moved and mountains will fall flat. As a result of the great convulsion of the earth, massive land transformations occur, shifting mountains on land and undersea. Obviously, such a violent shaking will create unprecedented destruction and loss of life. As the conclusion of the sixth seal's disturbances, this displacement of terra firma is the calamity that most terrifies earth's inhabitants. Suddenly, nothing is stable-not even the earth under their feet! Again, does this sound like Jesus coming back to this earth as a thief? Will not men know that they are under divine retribution? Will the world that is present be nearly extinguished of all life from what it was prior to the beginning of the opening of the 1st Seal, as found in Revelation 6:1? Will men be going about business as usual? Men's hearts will be failing them from fear, over what is coming upon the earth. Jesus spoke to the Jewish people of His time: 23 "But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. 24 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. 25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; 26 Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. 27 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.(Luke 22:27). The tribulation will be designed for two things and two things only, to bring Israel to the knowledge of their Messiah through much pain and persecution, as silver is refined in the fire (Malachi 3:3) and the total destruction of all rebellion of the nations living on this planet that is in total upheaval. Sheer terror will reign supreme. Does this sound like business as usual? Opponents, ask yourselves, does this sound like as in the time of day of Noah (Matthew 24:37), or does it sound like there is another time period prior to these events that addresses this more realistically and prophetically? Think on that a bit, as I return to Paul addressing the Thessalonians . THE GREAT DAY OF THE LORD Here the church at Thessalonica was troubled, as false prophets had entered into their midst and were preaching that the "Day of the Lord" had already happened. I call them "Ancient Preterist" who believed that all things had been fulfilled, and we were just waiting for Jesus to come back, except this church at Thessalonica understood the Day of the Lord, as judgment and wrath, not a sign of joy. Paul admonished them: 4 "So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure: 5 Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer: 6 Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; 7 And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, 8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: 9 Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; 10 When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day."(2nd Thessalonians 1:4-10) Paul re-teaches them what he had already told them concerning the coming "Day of the Lord". Why were they fearful? They believed that they had missed the coming of the Lord for His Church and were found wanting and not fit to be removed from the earth and were waiting for the judgment from God, which would mean they missed the greatest event in all of man-kind, next to the crucifixion and resurrection of the Lord Jesus the Messiah. They believed that Emperor Nero was the Anti-Christ...Paul explains: 2:1 "Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, 2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. 3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;"(2nd Thessalonians 2:1-3) Paul explains that this MUST happen first before the Great Day of the Lord, and His judgment upon earth. John reveals in Revelation that this man is revealed by a number: 16 "And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: 17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. 18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six."(Revelation 13:16-18) This is what Paul spoke of, and what John through the Revelation of Jesus Christ shared with us. He spoke again of this man. Going back to Paul, as he continues in chapter 2 of 2nd Thessalonians, 4 "Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. 5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? 6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. 7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness."(2nd Thessalonians 2:4-12) THE RUNNER UP TO THE ANTI-CHRIST No where in history after this time period has a man stood in the temple of Jerusalem and claimed to be a god. Only once in the history of the nation of Israel had a man stood in the temple and claimed to be a god, and it was many centuries before this verse was penned by Paul. What he is telling us, is that prophecy has duality, or will repeat itself in our time, and remember, these verses were written for us in modern end times, not just of the church Paul and John wrote them to. Who was that man who stood in the temple and a fore runner of the modern Abomination who causeth Desolation, as Jesus spoke of in Matthew 24:15? His name was Antiochus Epiphanies, and he made a statue of Zeus, with his face and put it in the Holy of Holys in the Temple of Jerusalem and proclaimed all must worship it on pain of death. He also sacrificed pigs on the altars of God, which were considered unclean. So this man defiled the temple that led to the Maccabean War and the observance of Hanukkah, or the cleansing of the temple. As Jesus prophesied, and as John and Paul revealed, it will happen again. Let's look at verse 7 of this last passage. We, as watchmen on the wall, have hammered this home many, many times. Bible students, who is "only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way."? If you said God's power of the Holy Spirit within each true born again Christian, you receive an A+, as by interpretation in context, it is the only thing that is holding back Satan the devil, having full sway on this earth and attempting full destruction of mankind, along with receiving worship for himself. I like the NIV's interpretation of this same passage...let's look at it: "And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time v. 7: for the secret power of lawlessness is already at work: but the ONE who now holds it back will continue to do so till HE is taken out of the way."(2nd Thessalonians 2:6-7 NIV) 10 "Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also WILL KEEP THE FROM the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. 11 Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown."(Revelation 3:10) (caps is the Greek word "EK" which means removed from the time and place of the event. My explanation) For me, this is a strong argument that the church has been removed out of the way, BEFORE the man of perdition, whose name is identified with 666, is revealed and stands in the temple of God, claiming to be a god. Note that Jesus said that He would never leave us or forsake us, (Hebrews 13:5, Matthew 28:20) ,hence He sent His Holy Spirit, as counselor, comforter, and guider of our walk with our Lord and Savior. If God's Holy Spirit is removed, based on the clear Word of our Lord, who cannot lie, we will be removed as well.Daniel chapter 9, and the Abomination that Causeth Desolation KJV Daniel 9, 9:26 "And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. 27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate."(Daniel 9:26-27) I read where a national organized religion that split apart in the 80s, called the World Wide Church of God, interpreted that passage not to be the Anti-Christ, but the Messiah. Still in existence are pocket organizations who still adhere to this argument, in their attempt to discredit the concept that there will actually be an Anti-Christ, or argue against a 7 year tribulation. They are proponents of post-tribulation second coming and are anticipating, OR relishing the idea of being slain in the Tribulation. When I read that explanation, I was aghast. I went to a website of theirs and pulled this text: "The most abused verse on the subject of the end times is Daniel 9:27, and it is a linchpin in the Pre-tribulation Rapture theory: 'Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; but in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. 'Unlike the Protestants, we believe that "he" in this verse refers to Messiah, not Antichrist, for the main subject of this section is Messiah. (Richard Ritenbaugh, Prophecy Watch.)" True, the beginning of the passage deals with Jesus Christ, but He did not cease the sacrifices in the temple. It continue unabated until 70 AD when the Temple was leveled to the ground by Roman soldiers of Tiberius. Then they go onto to say that:In Isaiah 28:15, we protestants make "a covenant with death," say that the Antichrist makes a peace treaty for one week-seven years-with the Jews. But this makes no sense! Why would the Beast "destroy the city [Jerusalem] and the sanctuary" (Daniel 9:26), and "then . . . confirm a covenant . . . for one week" In this analogy, they deny the clear implication of Daniel's 70 week prophecy that was interrupted when Messiah was cut off in year 483 of the prophecy. That leaves the last 7 years that must be completed for Israel to be saved and receive their Messiah. Obviously, they don't understand the time-line of history, or duality of prophecy. I think anyone, including this minister, is blinded by their ideology of a failed organization that proposed that the second return of Jesus Christ would be in 1972, hence many members of this denomination sold all they had, took no social security, or started living in caves. I recall the cry of "flee in 73" as their mantra. Did it happen? No, much like Harold Camping's failed prophecy, false prophets are all within the camp of the religious and doomed to their predictions of when or how Jesus will return. Now is that minister a false prophet? I am not singling him out, but it is a mindset of many post tribbers that this promise of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is suspect and that we all are full of hogwash which is rampant in this denomination and others just to be fair. Others in this camp, propose that when Jesus comes in the clouds of heaven to receive His church at the end of the tribulation, that we will be changed. Yes, but then they propose that we turn right around or make a sharp U-turn and come right back down to do battle with the enemies of God in Jerusalem. They site Zechariah chapter 14, when Jesus' feet touch the Mount of Olives. I asked one minister I know, "are we going up to just saddle up?" coming with Jesus on horses, dressed in linen, white and clean as Revelation chapter 19 shows? He had no answer. And what about the Marriage Supper of the Lamb? He proposed it was poetic or an allegory....say what? This same minister pooh-poohs the Jewish wedding feast. Needless to say, we are not in agreement. Let's examine scripture of what Daniel was referring to and that a vast majority of theologians that are of sound doctrine embrace. I take this from an online website to organize the thought process of examining this passage, which I totally agree with: "Here are the Sixty nine (7 + 62) "WEEKS" that have already happened: Daniel 9:25 "Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be SEVEN WEEKS , and THREESCORE and TWO WEEKS: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times." Daniel 9:26 "And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined." (note the caps of Prince, and prince, my emphasis. Two different "princes". Prince of Glory, and prince of this world) Here is the ONE "WEEK" that remains" Daniel 9:27 "And he shall confirm the covenant with many for ONE WEEK : and in the MIDST of the WEEK he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate." Since God said he would deal with the Jews as a NATION for SEVENTY "WEEKS" and He promised to regather them nationally in the future in preparation for His Coming, then, God plans to deal with the NATION of Israel in the future for ONE "WEEK" before He returns. To say that ONE WEEK of Daniel 9:27 has already happened (since God says He will regather Israel as a NATION) is to say there will be 71 WEEKS. To say that the week WILL NOT happen in the future is to say there are less than SEVENTY "WEEKS." Since we already know (from the 69 weeks that HAVE happened) that a "WEEK" is SEVEN YEARS, then, God must have a future dealing with the NATION Israel for SEVEN years." (http://jesus-is-the way.com/Endtimes927.html)Read the link prior and the site will explain it even further what Daniel was speaking of. The site is spot on. Israel is the door to end time prophecy and Jerusalem is the key to that door. The Seventieth Week of Daniel's prophecy is future and deals with ISRAEL solely for their unbelief and to finish transgressions. Israel will embrace, finally, their Messiah and proclaim, "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord"( Matthew 23:39). Our Father and our Lord and Savior will purify Israel as silver is refined in the fire. (Malachi 3:2). When Jesus spoke in Matthew 24, concerning the Abomination that Causeth Desolation, His message was pointed straight at Israel. I envision that the only ones who will remain when Jesus returns for divine judgment and take possession of His creation by the sword of His mouth, by speaking only the Words will be mostly Jewish by birth in the majority. He will completely destroy all rebellion, because the only ones who will listen to the 144,000 evangelist from the 12 tribes of Israel, will be of the nation of Israel proper, or those scattered over the earth with a minority of Gentiles that have believed the Truth about Jesus Christ. How many will be blinded to the truth and take the mark of the Beast is conjecture on my part, but it is prophesied that God will send them a lie, a strong delusion, 8 "And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness."(2nd Thessalonians 2:8-12) Note that if you are still here, then God will send you a strong delusion, A LIE, that you will believe because you want to. Your mind will have no protection, as the Holy Spirit is removed from His fullness, right along with His Church. Satan will have full sway, full unimpeded powers to deceive the human mind. Each of those left will embrace the false god of this world, known as the Anti-Christ, no matter what another religion might feed you. So as a watchman on the wall, I have given you witness of four of the major figures in your bible, John, Paul, Daniel, and the Master, Jesus our Messiah. I proclaim the truth, you decide whether to believe. Understand, that I am not preaching to scare you, but to warn you. There is coming a day when salvation will be mostly for the Jewish people, as the Church Age has suddenly ended for you, and you have been caught flat footed. You were not ready, and Jesus has come, as He said He would. Won't you make yourself ready. Wanna know how? 16 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.".(John 3:16-19) 8 "But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; 9 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. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. 12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." (Romans 10:8-13) Email me after reading John 3:16-19 then all of the Gospel of John, just who this man Jesus was, and IS....the great I AM, that I AM...Jehovah God. I would love to hear of your acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord of your life. Repent of your sins for today is the day of salvation. Turn to Jesus so that you will be not surprised by the soon return of our Lord Jesus Christ for His Church....will you be ready? Only if you believe John 3:16! The Lord Jesus is right at the door This is Pastor Mike Taylor, praying God's salvation in your life and heart. If you have need for counseling, prayer of needs, or just a friendly listening ear, send me an email to pastormiketaylor@yahoo.com , God bless you all, till we meet at Jesus feet! Reversing Babel - Pete Garcia -
https://www.rev310.com/2020/09/reversing-babel Now the whole earth used the same language and the same words. It came about as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. They said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly." And they used brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar. They said, "Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth." The Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. The Lord said, "Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them. Genesis 11:1-6 (NASB) After the ark came to rest on Mount Ararat, Noah and his family exited the ark and sacrificed to God (Gen. 8:20-21). God covenanted with Noah and his sons and told them (as well as the animals aboard the ark) to multiply, be fruitful, and fill the earth (Gen. 9:1). So the animals departed from the ark and went and filled the earth, yet man remained. Instead of filling the earth, mankind (Noah's descendants) traveled east and congregated on the plains of Shinar, which is modern-day northern Iraq/Syria. Instead of continuing on and filling the earth as instructed, they settled. In hindsight, we see their rebellion against the Noahic Covenant as an act of defiance. However, it is very likely that at that time, their human reasoning, albeit flawed, led them to believe they were acting out of their own self-preservation. We should remember that the world they left going into the ark, would have looked very different from the one upon exiting the ark. Prior to the flood, the world was one giant landmass. The world was largely flat and with very temperate climates year-round. It was during the flood event itself that the great oceans were formed, as well as the breaking up of the continents and the formation of the world's great mountain ranges. Perhaps they thought they were doing the right thing by settling in Shinar. Again, biblical hindsight proves that our ways are not God's ways. Over time they grew comfortable in Shinar and planted roots and their numbers swelled. Here is where I believe their rebellion begins because even after their population began to grow exponentially, they refused to move on. Instead, they began creating small city-states. Then, about a century after the flood in the days of Peleg, mankind began to place their faith in a man named Nimrod to lead them. The Bible develops a very prominent and notorious character named Nimrod. He was the sixth son born of Cush. His name in Hebrew means to rebel. He was the founder of Babylon and Assyria. He is mentioned in I Chronicles 1: 10, Micah 5: 6 and in Genesis 10: 8-9. The Hebrew text states that he was a mighty hunter before the Lord. This is indicative of his antagonism and opposition to God. He was wicked and made the whole world rebel through the building of the Tower of Babel. He was the first to establish kingdoms. This happened in two stages. The first is in Shinar, which included Babel, Erech, Accad and Calneh. The second kingdom is Assyria called the land of Nimrod in Micah 5: 6. After the language was separated and confused by God it drove him to Assyria from Babylon. The two have been intertwined since then... Scripturally speaking, we know that they wanted to build a tower that "reached into heaven." What that means, we are not exactly sure. Most of what is shared on the subject today is more conjecture than fact. However, knowing human nature, and the tendency for the "good idea fairy" to pop out of nowhere, it is likely that some genius came up with the practical idea to create a huge tower (presumably a ziggurat of some kind) so they had a means of escape, apart from God, should another flood happen again. This tells me first and foremost that men forgot God's promise to them. Secondly, it reinforces our basest desire (in the flesh) to live apart from God and find salvation through our own efforts. Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech." So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. Genesis 11:7-8 Now, God is not afraid of, nor feels intimidated by tall buildings. Neither was He afraid of humanity uniting. However, what He saw in his omniscience, looking down through epochs of time, apparently did not bode well for the future of humanity should they continue as one. Therefore, as punishment for not filling their earth, God separated mankind dimensionally. What I mean to say, is that there were three degrees of separation He imposes upon mankind at Babel: linguistically (confused their languages), genetically (how He scattered them), and geographically (where He scattered them to). Thus, Nimrod's demonically charged power grab was thwarted, however, not before the damage was done. Satan didn't risk a fist-fight with God to lose the battle over men's souls without having an underlying agenda. It seems as it were that his mother/wife joined in on the action to make sure that even in her son's death, his legacy would endure. She created the world's first occult system, which spread to every culture and continent on the planet after the forced segregation. ...From various ancient sources, it seems that Nimrod's wife/mother; Semiramis was high priestess of the Babel religion and the founder of all mystery religions as well as goddess. After the tower was destroyed and the multiplicity of languages developed, she was worshiped as a goddess under many different names. She became Ishtar of Syria, Astarte of Phoenicia, Isis of Egypt, Aphrodite of Greece, and Venus of Rome-in each case the deity of sexual love and fertility. Her son Tammuz also came to be deified under various names and was the consort of Ishtar and god of the underworld. Assessment So was God separating mankind at Babel a good or bad thing? Since mankind was separated, man has branched off into some truly wicked cultures. Some cultures are so bizarre, violent, and malevolent that it is hard to even categorize some of them as human. Still, being both omnipresent and omniscient, God foreknew all the troubles the world would have even after moving forward with His decision to segregate humanity. Apparently, as bad as human history has been, had God not separated us, things would have been much worse. Be that as it may, God's separation preserved mankind by adding friction to Satan's plan for global domination. God's separation created a "roadblock" of divine proportions on Satan's highway to hell. Had there been only one system, and had one man gained control of said system, he could have quickly destroyed whatever chances mankind had to survive. Had God not intervened at Babel, it is likely, Nimrod would have created the first, truly global anti-God empire solely dedicated to rebelling against their Creator. But since God separated mankind at Babel, now, all of these different cultures and subcultures would now start competing against each other for relevance and prominence. In effect, God created a global system of checks and balances. Fast forward 4,200 years. 2020 has turned out to be a real dumpster fire of a year. With the global "pandemic," wildfires, racial tensions, lawlessness, hysteria-mongering, murder hornets, and the general overall nastiness by the leftists and communists, it got me thinking about something. Imagine how different the world would be today if God had never separated mankind at Babel? Admittedly, I have a difficult time wrapping my mind around the idea simply by what we see on the news each night. Still, what if the world all spoke the same language? What if the whole world generally looked the same? What if the world had the potential to unite in purpose many times over? Here are some initial theories. First, it would have minimized the ethnic diversity considerably. There would be no distinct "races" per se, only variations within the Middle Eastern genome. Granted, there is still enough variation within human DNA to assume some of the more superficial differences such as skin tone, eye, and hair color, height and build, etc. would be noticeable. However, the human population at large would be considerably more "blended" than anything we see today. Secondly, it would have minimized the varying religions and belief structures considerably. I imagine there would have been some form of super paganism before Christ came, something that would have traced its roots back to Babel. Although there would have been far fewer religions (i.e., conflicting pagan belief structures), I believe the one that would exist, would be as vast and complex as the Hindu faith with their thousands of gods and deities. However, after Christ came, the two major belief structures in the world would have been this super-paganism versus Christianity. Thirdly, it would have minimized the variety of cultures, kingdoms, and nations as well. If nations all spoke the same language and shared the same (or similar) religious beliefs, it would have minimized the variety we see today. Therefore, it would have (theoretically) minimized the variety of cultures and subcultures, thus, reducing the total number of wars and conflict committed over the millennia due to opposing religious or ideological worldviews. However, when the world would unite, it would unite against God. Imagine the Armageddon scenario happening on a more regular basis. Now compare that with what we see today. Global racial tensions, violence, and lawlessness have worsened to the point of unbearableness. Now, doesn't a unified world sound preferable to what we see playing out in real-time? The late John Lennon addressed this in his 1971 song, Imagine. Imagine there's no heaven It's easy if you try No hell below us Above us only sky Imagine all the people Living for today... Aha-ah... Imagine there's no countries It isn't hard to do Nothing to kill or die for And no religion, too Imagine all the people Living life in peace... You... You may say I'm a dreamer But I'm not the only one I hope someday you'll join us And the world will be as one Imagine no possessions I wonder if you can No need for greed or hunger A brotherhood of man Imagine all the people Sharing all the world... You... You may say I'm a dreamer But I'm not the only one I hope someday you'll join us And the world will live as one Inevitably, the only way to global unity in a fallen world is through totalitarian rule. Totalitarian rule cannot offer peace; it can offer only the threat of violence if the order is not maintained. Pax Romana thus was not really 'Roman Peace' as it was coined, but the "iron fist in the velvet glove" system of authoritarian rule. World peace apart from Christ is impossible. This is because human nature is deeply flawed, and despite whatever genetic and religious similarities we might share, even nations with largely homogenous populations still fight and kill each other with terrible consistency. Conclusion Now for the first time in history since Genesis 11 and the tower of Babel, globalization is within man's (and Satan's) reach. It is most significant that in the twenty-first century not only does a need for world government exist, but the technology for establishing such a government is now in our hands. Mark Hitchcock From ancient times up until the 14th-century, the primary form of creating a "global" empire was solely through military conquest. The Persians, Greeks, Romans, Islamists, and Huns all attempted it. As they found out the hard way, conquering a land was usually the easy part. Holding it, on the other hand, was nearly impossible. It was during the crusades that this mindset of pure militarism was set to change. The Knights Templars began mixing banking, militarism, and religious duty altogether, and the results were rather impressive. It's sometimes said the Templars were the world's first bankers. There was a system of banking of deposits - King John of England deposited the crown jewels with the Templars in London when he was in trouble before the Magna Carta. But that doesn't do them justice. They weren't the first world's bankers. They were providing the world's first financial-services company. From the 14th-century going forward, the global banking system started to come into its own, and a valuable lesson was learned. He who controls the money of a nation controls the nation. From here was see a series of European superpowers rise and fall in short order: Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, and English. All of these quickly began establishing international trade routes, colonies, and developing a market-based conquest through international trade, backed by military power. This worked for a few centuries and allowed for vast amounts of wealth to be accumulated in these European countries. Under the rise and fall of the European superpowers, the great banking families of Europe began solidifying their hold over their respective nations by financing all manner of social-engineering projects. They financed wars (both sides), currency collapses, political uprisings, and revolutions; whatever they had to do to maintain control of the money systems. However, since 1900, there has been a shift in the geopolitical winds. The first shift was the revival of the dead language of Hebrew among the Jews who were stirring under a revived sense of Zionism. The second, presumably in response to the first, was the anti-Semitic shift in the zeitgeist; a spiritual one that the prince of the power of the air began using to counter Zionism. He (Satan) began moving human leaders about like pieces on a chessboard, and in particular, one Adolph Hitler. However, Satan's tactics were multifaceted. The rabid antisemitism was not the end state, but a means to an end. It was no longer about individual nations rising up, but an intense effort on reversing Babel. It was here that these dark, demonic forces began using Germany (later Italy and Japan) as the pièce de résistance by which they would create the crisis to drive men to unite as one. This was a classic case of the Hegelian Dialectic (Thesis-Antithesis-Synthesis) by which Satan would use crisis to achieve his geopolitical goals. This is why from the conclusion of World War I to our present day, the world leaders (e.g., global and transnational governments, corporations, financial centers, etc.) have been intensely focused on uniting mankind together under a variety of common causes. They first created the League of Nations to prevent another war from happening. Obviously, this failed due to the onset of World War II. However, after WWII, the atrocities of the Nazi Regime so shocked Western Civilization that it compelled them to unite under a variety of different global and regional organizations, chief of which, was the United Nations. Since then, we have seen the rapid explosion in every facet of global development. Globalism is generally defined as the architectural merging of national governing bodies, into an international one. These generally come about on the heels of some major crisis (war, terrorism, poverty, global warming, pandemics, etc.) Globalization, on the other hand, comes more gradually through corporate acquisitions in the global markets, through banking operations opening market ventures into international trade, financial development (banks too big to fail), and so forth. Granted, most of these organizations truly believe that by working together, they can overcome most, if not all, the problems that have plagued mankind for millennia. Their intentions, much like the practical intention of building a flood-proof tower, are misguided. They are continually seeking to break down the barriers of national sovereignty and independence from the countries they are currently based in because they are hindrances to their own authority. Despite the fact, that these hindrances were put in place for a reason. And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; Acts 17:26-27 Nevertheless, any system that promises peace and security, apart from Christ, is at its core, anti-Christ (1 John 4:3) no matter how well-intentioned. In fact, Satan's goal since Nimrod has been to unify the world into a singular system...so long as he controls it. If we actually had to live out what Lennon wrote, I imagine, we would have seen one tyrannical kingdom after another come to power. Imagine an imperial Rome at its worst, existing on a global scale, and lasting for thousands of years. And make no mistake, the world is absolutely heading toward this one-world 'pre-Babel' system again (Revelation 6:1-2; 13, 17, 18). We've seen how globalists use crisis after crisis to solidify their power from the many to the few. Point of fact, every time there is a financial crisis, the smaller banks always get bought out by the bigger banks. The Bible foretells a time when, after a great crisis, the world rushes into the arms of ten-kingdom, new world order (Luke 21:10-11; 1 Thess. 5:1-9). I believe that great crisis to be the Pre-Tribulation Rapture of the Church. After this, the ten-kingdoms will form, but just as quickly succumb to the authority of just one man, who heralds himself as a savior on a white horse (Dan. 7:24; 2 Thess. 2:1-8; Rev. 6:1-2, 17:12). He will have his own religious authority that garners and directs all the world's worship to this new messiah figure. He too, like Nimrod, will be a mighty hunter of men. He will also, like Adolph Hitler, divert all of his attention and wrath toward the Jewish people, whom he deceived into receiving him at first as their messiah. What will be unique about this final ruler, is that he will take the existing technological, financial, cultural, military, religious, and privileges, and fuse them together into a 'mark' of loyalty that will allow one to become a citizen of this new world. He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666. Revelation 13:16-18 Thus, the only way this final ruler will reverse the damage done at Babel is to capitalize on the existing technology to force the world to act as one. While we don't yet know what the 'mark' will be exactly, I imagine it will be a combination of the following rolled up into one. It could be a quantum-based RFID chip or 'electronic tattoo' that is used both as a data bank for digital information (personal identification, medical and financial history), as well as our digital persona (what we present online), backed by both cloud technology and the wearer's own DNA storage. It will serve as the ultimate biometric system allowing for the wearer to be recognized both near and far, allow the wearer to interact freely with anything connected to the Internet of Things (IoT), as well as access to artificially intelligent systems (think Siri or Alexa), as well as holographic representation whenever they choose. It will be tremendously powerful, highly appealing, and a form of status symbol that provides "peace of mind and security," in a world that is unraveling at the seams. Like our present small day scenario regarding masks and vaccines, it will start out voluntarily, but will in short order, become mandatory. Anyone who refuses to get it, will increasingly find themselves shut out of society. Unable to buy or sell, travel, get medications, fuel, or even hold a job. Without it, you will slowly suffer the effects of starvation and societal neglect. With the mark, you live a privileged life (albeit a short one). To add insult to injury, all those who receive the mark will find out that these 'marks' cause "foul and loathsome" sores when the first bowl judgment is poured out. Worse still, those who take the mark, damn their souls to an eternity in the lake of fire. Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, "If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name." Revelation 14:9-11 Rapturous - By Jerry McDermott -
https://www.raptureready.com/2020/09/07/rapturous-by-jerry-mcdermott/ Considering the worldwide fear that the virus is creating, it is no wonder people are searching the Bible for answers. The major question is whether the reality of the current pestilence/virus is really as Jesus indicated in the birth pangs. The simple response is that a pestilence is mentioned for the End Times (Matthew 24:7). Once you start a deeper search within the scriptures, it is difficult to not believe we are the final generation leading to the Rapture of the Church and, later, the horrors of the Tribulation. However, you will soon realize that, as a believer, you will neither be present for the actions of the Anti-Christ nor the Wrath of God that is meant for the unbelievers. "For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Thessalonians 5:9). The Body of Christ, the Christian church believers, will be instantly changed and brought to Jesus who will be waiting in the clouds, and then they will be taken to the heavenly kingdom. Our Lord prophesied that He was preparing a place for us in heaven, that we might be with Him (John 14:3). John also told us that we will be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is (1 John 3:2). Therefore, as we receive our glorified body, we will see Jesus in a similar glorified body. This wonderful gift is called the Rapture of the Church. Once you realize heaven could be so near, curiosity rises, and you may wonder whether scripture gives any preview of what it will be like. Our Lord, again, shows his love for His people by the Holy Spirit by revealing particulars that will answer our quest. There are so many indications, so let's start. We will begin with Jesus being transported as our first example. After His temptations by Satan, scripture states, "Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee and His reputation spread throughout the region" (Luke 4:14). The other major example involves Phillip who joined the other apostles in Jerusalem after conversion experiences in Samaria. An angel gave Phillip directions that he was to take the desert route to Gaza. On the way, he came across a carriage with a eunuch court official. The Spirit told Phillip to catch up with the carriage, as the man was having trouble understanding scripture. Phillip's explanations were so realistic that a baptism resulted. As they came out of the water, Phillip was snatched away by the Holy Spirit to Azotus (North of Gaza along the coast), eventually reaching Caesarea. For this gift, a new body is not required. The travel is instantaneous. It is like the rapture change, which is described as the Twinkling of an Eye. You are here and suddenly you are there as the Holy Spirit has subjugated gravity, time, and distance. Also, there is no feeling of motion. Perhaps the sacred scriptures' examples of being transported were the origin of "Beam me up, Scottie" in the Star Trek series. Before examining the next example, we need to reaffirm our belief that the Bible is the inspired Word of God and that "Nothing is impossible with God" (Luke 1:37). The apostle John related the time the disciples left Tiberias, heading toward Capernaum, via boat. They rowed about halfway (approx. 3.5 miles), but the journey was becoming difficult due to the strong winds and rough sea. Suddenly, they saw Jesus walking on the water. Approaching the boat, Jesus said, "It is I; do not be afraid" (John 6:16-21). They wanted to have Jesus come in the boat, but suddenly they and the boat reached the other shore. Moving on to the Rapture, before joining Jesus in the clouds, a spiritual body is necessary. One such body is an incorruptible immaterial body, as the resurrected Jesus Christ experienced. Paul certainly knows how to get our attention when he says he is going to reveal a mystery (1 Corinthians 15:51), as he indicates that the dead will be the first to receive a new body, followed by extant believers in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. Here's a thought. Have you ever considered that our parents and so many others in heaven do not have a body? After their demise, like thousands of others, their spirit joined Jesus in heaven but without any body, which will be given at the time of the earthy rapture. That is why Paul indicated the dead with corruptible bodies would be the first to receive incorruptible bodies. Have there been any examples of being raptured in sacred scripture? Yes. The first book of the Bible, Genesis 5, lists the first rapture. It was the prophet Enoch who walked with God, did not die, and was lifted to heaven. In 2 Kings 2:11-12, we are treated to an incredible sight as Elijah was lifted to heaven in a fiery chariot with fiery horses in a whirlwind. Too bad he didn't have an opportunity to race Ben Hur. Other notable examples were Isaiah, Paul and the Apostle, and John, who visited heaven but returned to earth in their normal bodies. Paul reminded us that, "There are in the end three things that last: faith, hope, and love" (1 Corinthians 13:13). In heaven, there is no need for faith and hope, as it has been fully consummated in Jesus whose love is evident everywhere in heaven. Here's a verse that came to me, to the tune of "Unforgettable" by Nate King Cole: Incorruptible, that I shall be Incorruptible, you so can be Incorruptible, accept Jesus and see Incorruptible, as free as can be. Why not join me and sing this prophetic word, as scripture confirms a new heavenly body: "Just as we resemble the man from earth, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven" (1 Corinthians 15:49). "The body is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption" (1 Corinthians 15:42). "He will give a new form to this lowly body of ours and remake it according to the pattern of His glorified body by His power to subject everything to Himself" (Philippians 3:21). Though he is taken away from the presence of evil, the just man enters into peace (Isaiah 57:1). Remember the scripture where the risen Jesus suddenly appeared to the apostles and disciples in a room. That was also the gift of being transported. Aren't you curious what it feels like to walk through a door or a wall (Luke 24:36)? We have mentioned the Rapture, so let's take a closer look. It is one of the pivotal happenings in the world's history, as it is the end of the Church Age. This era began with Pentecost and extended to these thousand years. One of the consistent concerns of some Christians is how they will survive the Tribulation. Such fear is evidence of scriptural ignorance. Biblical followers know they won't have any problem during the Tribulation with the wrath of God, as the church won't be here. The church of believers and the restraining power of the Holy Spirit will be snatched away in the Rapture, which happens before the Tribulation. When I limit this to believers, I mean those who have accepted Jesus as Savior and redeemer and have changed their lifestyle. Knowing about the Bible, Jesus, or even going to church will not necessarily credit you as being saved. As for the rapture of the Church, scripture scholars or readers will immediately refer us to Elijah and Enoch, but maybe they have never considered that the resurrection of Jesus Christ was clearly a rapture. You might have said, "What in blazes is going on?" during the biological warfare/pandemic starting in 2020. That was political, whereas the Rapture is a heavenly reward for believing Christians. If you are not raptured, you may say that again, as you wonder why some people, calling themselves Christians, were not in the Rapture which took millions away to heaven. That is because that may have been only a claim and not a reality. Christianity is a relationship with Jesus Christ. Some folks are church goers but have not accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior. That is the difference. The world will change due to the Rapture of the church. The work force will be substantially lessened, and the business world will be up for grabs at the end of the Church Age, as the restraining power of the Holy Spirit also does not remain. There might be rumors that the disappearance of Christians was due to an alien invasion. There are aliens all right, but not from some planet or anywhere else. They are demonic beings from their habitation in the second heaven. Scripture explains that we wrestle against these demonic beings in heavenly places. As predicted throughout the Bible, it was finally time for Christ to call His followers home. The Christian disappearances will be due to the calling of Christ to meet Him in the clouds. Without the steadying hand of the Holy Spirit, the fractured world will look for a leader to solidify the world's business and religion. His name is the Anti-Christ with a prophetic helper. Far from establishing peace, this ruler is led directly by Satan and will conquer the world with one third to one fourth of the world's people being killed, as he proclaims himself as God. Soon after, the one true God will release His angels with His wrath upon the world for not accepting His Son and deliverance from the world system. If you are still alive after the Tribulation, you will certainly, again, wonder what in blazes is going on? You will shortly know, as a judgment separating the sheep and the goats will take place. This is also known as the judgment of the nations, which separates believers (sheep) and unbelievers (goats) to their eternal destinies (Matthew 25:46). Everyone would be wise to read the book of Revelation, which details the Tribulation and the next one thousand years, before the glory with our Lord. Continuing the tradition, the inspired scriptures always have additional details for our questions. Jesus Himself describes what will happen to people who are not in the Rapture: "For then there will be great tribulation such has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be" (Matthew 24:21). As you picture the horrors, pray for the gift of faith for you to discover Jesus Christ, become a Christian before the Rapture, and guarantee your participation. Salvation is a gift by the heavenly Father who gave His son, Jesus, to die for us and forgive all our sins (John 3:16). sacranet@aol.com Watching Bible Prophecy Unfold - By Daymond Duck -
https://www.raptureready.com/2020/09/06/watching-bible-prophecy-unfold-by-daymond-duck/ The prophet Amos said, "Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets" (Amos 3:7). God reveals what He intends to do before He does it. Some, like myself, believe the Tribulation Period is being set in motion, and few realize how serious this is prophetically. Those that are not Raptured before the Tribulation will probably die during the Tribulation Period. Notice these things:
Jesus was asked about the signs of His coming (Second Coming, not the Rapture) and He said, "Now learn a parable of the fig tree (Israel; Hos. 9:10); When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, this generation (perhaps 70-80 years; Psa. 90:10) shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled" (Matt. 24:32-34). More could be said, but anyone that knows very much about the Bible should be able to see the existence of Israel, the fact that Israel has been a nation 72 years, and the prophetic significance of the current global situation. My granddad would probably have said, "Anyone with one eye and half sense can understand that the last days are shaping up just like the Bible says." Jesus told Daniel the wise will understand the Tribulation-Period events at the time of the end (Dan. 12:8-10). Some global elites are planning to control people's lives, incomes, religion, healthcare, education of their children, force people to live in smaller houses, force people to drive smaller cars, and control the kind and amount of heating and cooling people have, etc. Some of this is part of the Green New Deal that Bernie Sanders and the Democrats are pushing in this current election. I want to lovingly remind pastors and teachers that accepting God's call to be a pastor or a teacher includes an awesome responsibility. Pastors and teachers will be rewarded for faithfully preaching and teaching the whole Word of God, including the Second Coming (II Tim. 4:8; I Pet. 5:2-4), but pastors and teachers will receive a greater judgment if they ignore their responsibility (James 3:1). We should not take these words of Jesus lightly, "O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky, but can ye not discern the signs of the times" (Matt. 16:3). More recent current events are as follows: One, natural disasters will increase in frequency and intensity (like birth pains) before the Second Coming. After Hurricane Laura tore through Louisiana and Texas with winds up to 150 mph, one survivor said, "It looks like 1,000 tornadoes" came through. Two, on August 24, 2020, the president of the Barna research group said one in five churches could permanently close within the next 18 months because of the Coronavirus crisis. Church attendance and giving are down, and many pastors will lose their pulpits. My sympathy goes out to these churches and pastors. But God's Word cannot be silenced. The good news is that some of those pulpits were silent on prophetic matters, and large numbers of their members are tuning in on TV and the Internet to hear what some of the prophetic preachers of our day are saying. If a pastor does not want to preach the whole Word, God can close the pastor's church and feed the members through another venue. Three, on August 26, 2020, Amir Tsarfati reported a buildup of Russian naval vessels in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Syria. What this is all about remains to be seen. Four, following the announcement that the UAE is ending its economic boycott of Israel, Rabbi Yehudah Glick, of Temple Mount fame, spoke out. It has been reported that he said, "A wave of peace agreements could be a harbinger of a period of peace more conducive to the construction of the Third Temple than the first several decades of modern Israel, which were characterized by wars." According to the Book of Daniel, there will be a peace treaty and the Temple will be rebuilt. However, the Antichrist will break that peace treaty at the middle of the Tribulation Period (Dan. 9:27). He will confirm that treaty, and people will declare peace and safety, but the Antichrist will go forth conquering and to conquer (Thess. 5:3; Rev. 6:1-2). Rabbi Yehudah Glick made another interesting comment, "One of the most significant achievements in this agreement is that this will bring the Arab Muslim citizens of the UAE to the Temple Mount to pray." They will not be allowed inside the Dome of the Rock to pray, but they can visit the Temple Mount and pray outside. Glick sees this as an opportunity for Jews, Muslims and Christians to pray together and, eventually, for the Temple Mount to become a place of prayer for all people (see Isa. 56:7). This will happen during the Millennium. For those that are interested, I am not predicting the day or the hour of the Rapture, but a friend recently sent the following Ken Potter information to me: Rosh HaShanah 2020 Key Times: START: Sunset in Jerusalem, 9/18/2020 6:40 PM IDT = 9/18/2020 11:40 AM U.S. Eastern FINISH: Sunset in Jerusalem, 9/20/2020 6:38 PM IDT = 9/20/2020 11:38 AM U.S. Eastern SOLAR MIDNIGHT AFTER in Jerusalem, 9/21/2020 12:32 AM = 9/20/2020 5:32 PM U.S. Eastern The following is a link to a video with loads of information about the Feast of Trumpets: https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=Rqe6iCzNif8 Finally, no one knows the day or the hour of our Lord's return, but a growing number of the best Bible prophecy teachers believe one's salvation is an urgent matter. God loves you, and if you have not done so, sincerely admit that you are a sinner; believe that Jesus is the virgin-born, sinless Son of God, who died for the sins of the world and was buried and raised from the dead. Ask Him to forgive your sins, cleanse you, and come into your heart and be your Saviour. Then tell someone that you have done this. Prophecy Plus Ministries, Inc. Daymond Duck duck_daymond@yahoo.com God's Strong Delusion, & the Father of Lies - By Mark A. Becker - https://www.raptureready.com/2020/08/28/gods-strong-delusion-the-father-of-lies-by-mark-a-becker/
The Two Lies: God's Strong Delusion, & the Father of Lies Introduction This is a study on the two prominent lies, God's strong delusion that he sends on the world, and the father of lies behind all deception, as revealed in Scripture pertaining to future prophecy and how it relates to us today. What we find, when digging deeper within the texts and elaborating on them, is a clearly defined attack on the truth of God's revealed Word that has been happening since the Garden of Eden. As we will see, Satan's deceptions have never changed; they have just been modified with the times using the same basic premise and modus operandi. The Lie of Romans Chapter 1 "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things" (Romans 1:18-23). "Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen" (Romans 1:25). To dig deep into this lie, definitions are in order regarding four religions I'd like to focus on (derived from various sources). Paganism - A religious, spiritual, or cultural community based on the worship of nature or the earth. A polytheistic or pantheistic nature-worshiping religion. Darwinian evolution - A theory of biological evolution developed by Charles Darwin and others, stating that all species of organisms have developed from other species, primarily through natural selection. Hinduism - Central to the faith is a belief in reincarnation and one supreme god called Brahman who has multiple manifestations as either a god or goddess. Gods and goddesses can be spirits, trees, animals, and even planets. Views mankind as divine. New Age - New Age thought supports the theory of organic evolution, but extends the concept to the evolution of the spirit. This is the concept of "Evolutionary Godhood," where the next step in evolution won't be physical, but spiritual. I selected these four religions (and yes, Darwinian evolution is most definitely a religion) to help show a pattern in all religions in general. Other than the three monotheistic religions - Judaism, Christianity, and Islam - all religions share the same basic philosophical ideals, with varying nuances, of course, as these four. As we can see, Paganism, Darwinian evolution, Hinduism, and New Age have one common link: the belief in and worship of nature (or the giving of creative powers to nature). They all, as Paul describes in the verse above, "worshiped and served the creature more than the Creator." (Note: Please see my article, "Zechariah 5:5-11 - Homecoming: Babel Returns Home" here Zechariah 5:5-11 - Homecoming: Babel Returns Home :: By Mark A. Becker - Rapture Ready or https://www.faithwriters.com/article-details.php?id=205436 to see how Hinduism and New Age could very well play a major role in the worship of Antichrist and acceptance of his Mark of The Beast system.) The Fruits of this Lie in Today's World The rise in prominence of these four religions throughout the world has played a major role in shaping our world governments today, and one can look no further than to the United Nations to see the impact they are having. So-called "climate change" is nothing more than the result of the worship of the earth's ecosystems; and the fear generated from the delusion that this living, breathing entity we call earth is about to be destroyed because of human interaction with the environment is nothing short of staggering. This fear, along with the impact of these false nature-worshiping religions, has created in the UN an all-inclusive new, yet actually ancient, religion known as Gaia worship. This fanaticism is the vehicle used to prime the world's citizens to clamor for the governments of the world to unite under a New World Order (NWO), that the elites have been pushing for at least a hundred years, in an attempt to thwart this "manmade genocide of planet Earth." This unfounded fear has generated another fabled atrocity forced upon the world: that of "over-population." (Nothing like sticking one's finger in God's eye in not fulfilling His command to "be fruitful and multiply" (Genesis 1:28 & Genesis 9:7). What's the remedy for this delusion? Abortion on demand, of course. The natural progression of this barbaric and inhumane murder of human life leads to the next step that is addressed by Paul as the end result of this lie's acceptance by mankind in their effort to "worship and serve the creature more than the Creator" - that of homosexuality and other deviant sexual perversions. What better way to control the population than to murder the unborn while practicing sexual promiscuity and pushing for the acceptance of homosexuality so that procreation can be halted? And so it is. The rest of the surrounding verses to Romans 1:25 give us some very vivid and powerful statements about what this lie produces in mankind, and has, ever since the fall. Every nation in history rises and falls based upon these truths outlined for us. The lie - after one refuses the truth of creation testifying of a Creator God and ends up "worshiping and serving the creature rather than the Creator" - finally results in what we have been talking about: "Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves" (Romans 1:24). "For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet" (Romans 1:26-27). The End Results of this Lie in Today's World Once this is achieved by the will of man, then all is lost; and here is the end result: "And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them" (Romans 1:28-32). Look at Paul's description to Timothy of the character of men in the last days: "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away" (2 Timothy 3:1-5). This lie, in summary, is the lie of all false religion's worship and elevation of nature and man to godhood (united in ungodliness and unrighteousness), and thereby attempting to usurp God's rightful place as creator. The Lie and God's Strong Delusion of 2 Thessalonians 2 "And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness" (2 Thessalonians 2:11-12). Many have erroneously believed that this "strong delusion, that they should believe a lie," will be sent by God after the rapture of the church. The rapture is not the context to when this strong delusion to believe a lie will take place. Let's investigate what the true context is and when this event will happen. "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God" (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4). The context is found in these verses and the when is dictated by the context. Note that the "man of sin" will "be revealed" after there comes "a falling away." I have written about the "falling away" in a previous article entitled, "An Examination of the Day of the Lord," which can be found here https://www.raptureready.com/2020/08/11/an-examination-of-the-day-of-the-lord-by-mark-a-becker/ or https://www.faithwriters.com/article-details.php?id=205363 detailing how this "falling away" is actually the departure of the saints in the pre-Tribulation rapture of the church. This is where the error of believing that the timing of "the strong delusion, that they should believe a lie" is after the rapture of the church. But in order to actually find the when, we need to consider the rest of the passage, specifically verse 4. "Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God" (2 Thessalonians 2:4). You see, it isn't the rapture that sets the stage for the strong delusion to believe a lie; it is when the Antichrist "sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God," and we know this will happen during the middle of the Tribulation (Daniel 9:27). "And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness" (2 Thessalonians 2:11-12). Now, to verify what we have learned, we need to know who these are "that they all might be damned who believed not the truth." This should confirm that these people are living at the time that the Antichrist enters the temple and declares himself God, and should also tell us why God has "damned" those "who believed not the truth." That is, those whom "God shall send" a "strong delusion, that they should believe the lie," and what that lie may be. "And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name" (Revelation 14:9-11). Here is the answer to part of our question. After the Antichrist enters the temple and declares himself to be God (known as the Abomination of Desolation), then he will enact his Mark of The Beast worship and economic system on the entire earth, demanding absolute obedience and submission. All who don't take the mark will be hunted down and beheaded for Christ's sake and the testimony of His Word: "And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years" (Revelation 20:4). To answer the other part of the question as to why those who take the Mark of The Beast are eternally damned and not able to receive salvation through faith by grace, it seems we must speculate by using the history of mankind recorded in the Scriptures. Going into the details of this is not in the scope of this article. But suffice it to say, the genome of humanity will be corrupted to the point that a human being will no longer be "made in the image of God," and will therefore be ineligible and unable to be saved by our Creator and Savior, Jesus Christ. This has happened once before in history and will have the same outcome; that of judgment. "There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown" (Genesis 6:4). (Please see "Genesis 6:4 Commentary and Genetics" for my take on what I believe might have happened in these somewhat controversial passages of Scripture, here: https://www.faithwriters.com/article-details.php?id=204120 The past seems to point to the future. We are already seeing the fruits of this labor in the genetic field, and its outcome will be a corruption of humanity resulting from the taking of The Mark of The Beast and/or what the Mark will represent. God's strong delusion, that they may believe a lie, will be the lie of false promises associated with the taking of The Mark of The Beast and the worship of the Antichrist. The Father of Lies and his Lie in the Garden "... He [the devil] was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it" (John 8:44b). The father of lies, Satan himself, is a deluded creature. Splendid in beauty and knowledge, he became puffed-up in pride and wanted what God has. Since his fall, he's been deceiving the nations and every human being who's ever lived. It all started with the lie he declared to Eve in the Garden of Eden. A lie he has used successfully ever since, and mankind has taken it "hook, line, and sinker" ever since. "'You will not certainly die,' the serpent said to the woman. 'For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil'" (Genesis 3:4). Every lie, every deception, every false teaching, and every delusion can be traced back to this one event. Everything evil in our world is hinged upon this one action in history. "But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound" (Romans 5:20b). Conclusion "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High" (Isaiah 14:12-14). This was Satan's downfall as his desire to rise above the throne of God and declare himself master of a universe he did not, nor could ever, create himself, began with unbridled pride and was climaxed in the crowning of himself as the father of lies. And we have seen the fruits of his lies beginning in the Garden of Eden, up until today. As we've come full circle, we see that from Satan's own deluded deception, he passed on this evil and unattainable desire to dethrone God to the very creation that was created in God's own image: mankind. The adversary and accuser continued in his offer to mankind that they too could "know good and evil" and "be like God." Mankind did, in fact, know good and evil to their own detriment, but humans are a product of God's creative powers (as is Satan) and have no right to such Godhood. But God! In His mercy and love, He came in the form of a son of man, lived a sinless life, and willingly offered Himself to the Father as a lamb without spot for the redemption of mankind (John 1:29 & Hebrews 9:14). Those of us who have believed "on Him who the Father has sent" (John 6:28-29) are accepted as sons and daughters of God, and the first lie in this article will have no power over us as we allow the Holy Spirit to guide and lead us in this life. The second lie, and God's strong delusion he will send on the earth to believe this lie, won't even be a part of the bride of Christ's experience, as, before then, Jesus will have come back in the clouds to meet us in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:14-18), taking us back to the Father's house to be with our Lord and Savior forever (John 14:1-3)! Comfort one another with these words, children of God, and Maranatha! Email: mab10666@yahoo.com |
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