Prophecy Update Newsletter
IN TODAY'S NEWSLETTER...
Come and See - By Pete Garcia -
https://rev310.com/2019/12/come-and-see Clearly, the idea of the Rapture can be considered the most preposterous belief in Biblical Christianity. The situation regarding the doctrine of the Rapture is painfully similar to the famous quote by Dr. Richard Feynman, speaking of quantum physics: I think it is safe to say that no one understands quantum mechanics... in fact, it is often stated of all the theories proposed in this century, the silliest is quantum theory. Some say that the only thing that quantum theory has going for it, in fact, is that it is unquestionably correct. Dr. Chuck Missler Although Facebook and the internet have been useful tools in the spreading of the Gospel, they have become as of late, an increasingly hostile place for the Pre-Tribulation Christian. I wonder why so many who claim to be Christian (presumably loving Christ), have such hostility towards the idea that Christ will one day return for His Bride before the coming seven-year period known as 'The Day of the Lord'. Some of the most visceral comments you will find, come not from the atheist or the Christian skeptic crowd, but come from other Christian's. Most unbelievers equate God to the 'Flying Spaghetti Monster' and reserve sarcasm for all eschatological views fairly equally. But it's the 'Christian', particularly those of the Reformed/Covenantal/Hebrew Roots/Amillennial/Preterist/Pre-Wrath/Post-Trib crowd who really, really hate the Pre-Tribulation Rapture. Even more, hated still, is the Dispensationalist...Gasp! As one who has often been at the receiving end of the blistering criticism, I am very cognizant of the fact, that most other eschatological views are at least tolerant of each other, yet remain united in their resolute intolerance towards the Pre-Trib view...which is telling. God does not give us complex, unknowable doctrine. (Eph. 3:3-5; Col. 1:9; 2 Tim. 2:7) God does not 'muddy the waters', but rather makes them clear. God does not give us confusing doctrine. (1 Cor. 14:33) He even gave us the Holy Spirit to make these things understandable for those who are in Christ. (John 16:12-15) But Satan is still running this blue rock, (Luke 4:5; 1 John 5:19) and it means that the one view that has the most animosity towards it, receives the most derision, from the most diverse group of "believers" out there, can only mean that it is the one most under attack by our enemy for a reason. So in order to prove why I know the Pre-Trib view, is the correct view...I drafted up a list of questions that other eschatological persuasions should attempt to answer to prove their side true. Now, I'm not offering a thousand dollars, this is simply for those who want to see if their view can withstand some simple reasoning. Post-Tribulation Believers
Pre-Wrath
Full Preterist/Amillennialist
Partial Preterists
Reformed/Covenant Theology
Although many will attempt to refute the challenge I put forth here, they can't do so in any intellectually honest effort. They either have to twist the meaning or redefine terms to fit their eschatological viewpoint. The real issue in the varying eschatology's is not really eschatological in and of itself, but rather of one's understanding of ecclesiology. For both the student and the scholar, there should be a desire to understand God's word, not simply for the sake of knowledge, but because growing in truth, promotes spiritual maturity. There are plenty of well-meaning, misguided believers out there that believe all kinds of things that probably aren't all that biblical, and that doesn't mean they aren't saved. Salvation is through the belief in and receiving of Jesus's atoning and redemptive work on the Cross. (1 Cor. 15:1-5; Romans 10:9-11) Although we aren't saved by which Rapture view we hold too, we are either stunted or growing in how we mature as believers by which view we allow to filter our biblical worldview through. And although all the proof in the world will not convince those who obstinately hold to errant, eschatological views (the listed above), they will find out soon enough. Jesus warns in His Olivet Discourse, that a time is coming, that is worse than ANY that mankind had ever seen before, or ever will. (Matt. 24:21-22) How then can the Christian stand in that day? The truth is, they can't, because they won't be there. That is not to say, that we will not be persecuted leading up to Daniel's 70th week, because we probably will. (Rev. 3:10) But persecution in and of itself is not indicative of the Church's need to enter into Daniel's 70th week. There has always been some form of persecution against the Church of God. But that time was not designed for us; it is for Israel, the Jews, and the Christ-rejecting world. (Dan. 9:24; Jer. 30:7-11) Persecution just means that the world hates Christ, and we are Christ's body here on the earth, therefore, we too are hated. (John 15:18-25; Romans 12:5; 1 Cor. 12:13; Eph. 5:30; Col. 1:18). And if we are Christ's body here on earth, don't you think at some point, He'd want it back? (John 14:1-3) Would He (who conquered death and hell) then subject Himself to the same judgment He unleashes upon the earth? And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals. Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, "Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?" And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll, or to look at it...Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a voice like thunder, "Come and see." Rev. 5:1-3, 6:1 What the Arab World Could Accomplish If It Made Peace With Israel - By Rami Dabbas/Algemeiner.com - https://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=3648 This isn't science fiction. This is fact. Israel is one of the few nations on earth that either has or can develop solutions to end world hunger -- something that affects millions upon millions of people. All across my region in particular (speaking of Asia and Africa), nations are clamoring for advanced farming techniques and technology to offset material shortages, low soil fertility, water scarcity, and energy depletion -- all of which are the result of unprecedented population growth. Israel has developed advanced agricultural techniques, and, despite its small size, become a global leader in the field through innovations such as drip irrigation, which has truly made the desert bloom. Similarly, the Jewish state has developed grazing systems and new approaches to the distribution of livestock, thus leading to groundbreaking increases in dairy productivity. Evidence of Israel's excellence in these fields can be seen in the number of foreign specialists (in particular, of late, from India) coming to Israeli universities and research centers to gain the knowledge and experience needed to help their own peoples. This is even more of an achievement when one considers that Israel's universities, research centers, and government are today far more focused on the hi-tech industry than on agriculture. Most of Israel's best and brightest gravitate towards software development and defense technologies -- unfortunately slowing the advancement of agricultural technologies so needed by the rest of the world. Even so, Israel remains home to more than 200 advanced agricultural research centers. Fortunately, with so many countries sending delegations to learn form Israel's agricultural experts, some of that hi-tech brainpower is being directed towards this critical field. Much of the world, from India to Mongolia to the West Coast and Horn of Africa, looks to the Jewish state to provide the solutions they so desperately need. Since the 1950s, Israel has succeeded in reclaiming most of its ancient lands from the deserts and swamps, and turning them into green areas suitable for cultivation and grazing. At the same time, primarily through MASHAV -- the Israel Foreign Ministry's Agency for International Development Cooperation, the Jewish state has advanced agricultural methods and standards throughout the world. And what of the neighboring Arab states? In my home country of Jordan, the agricultural sector suffers from many complex and sometimes fatal problems. Israel and Jordan are officially at peace, and the Jewish state has the ability to green the deserts of Jordan, if only that peace were warmer. Just look at what Israel did with the leased enclaves of Naharayim and Tzofar (which Jordan this year reclaimed rather than renew the leases to Israeli farmers). Both of these enclaves are filled with lush green farmlands, while the surrounding Jordanian-controlled areas remain arid and yellow. If we could only truly cooperate, Jordan would reap the benefits of Israeli technology and agricultural know-how. The same is, of course, true for the other Arab states. If only they would make peace with Israel, so many of their problems related to hunger and lack of water could be solved -- just as Israel is doing for so many countries in Africa and other parts of Asia. Nearing Midnight: Evil When Not Constrained - Terry James - https://www.raptureready.com/category/nearing-midnight/ One can sense an invasion is taking place during these strange times. Email messages I receive indicate that many are recognizing this intrusion. A writer recently used a line from a Shakespeare play for the title of his article expressing the evil that is proliferating. "Something wicked this way comes" well sums up the invasion many who observe the times are sensing. Satan is working overtime, it seems. He no longer appears to be trying to hide his nefarious activities as in most previous decades. It's all part of his having turned the spiritual hearts of mankind far enough away from the God of Heaven that Romans 1: 28 is now the operative mode for comportment of the world at large. "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." We have looked at this matter a number of times in these commentaries. Thinking-the ability to reason on a sound basis-seems lost to a broad swath of people in this generation. They have, it is observable, moved so far from God's blueprint for living that they have been turned over to a reprobate mind. Their thinking, in other words, is turned upside down. Good they call evil and evil they call good. And this brings us to the evil I would like to examine for the balance of this commentary. The objects most closely held to the emotional hearts of the human kind have down through the ages been the children. It is true that cultures and societies have from time to time sunk to the level of murdering their children for the sake of offering sacrifices to their various gods. For example, in the case of Molech, into whose red-hot arms even the Hebrews at one time threw their young children. But for the most part, the children have been the most cherished possessions within the family structure. The onset of the reprobate mind of Romans 1: 28 has been a progressive, spiritual dementia that now can't be missed by anyone spiritually attuned to the invasion of evil. The United States of America has become the most egregious offender in the matter of sacrificing children. More than 60 million babies (probably more, because this is a figure I've heard for several years) have undergone the fires of brutal murder while in their mothers' wombs. Even more egregious, infants are now murdered outside their mothers' wombs. One Democrat politician says this is okay, so long as the baby is destroyed before he or she takes his or her first breath. The Bible, this politician says, declares that the person is not a living being until that first breath. His party, as a whole, supports this as a political platform item. The children can, therefore, be sacrificed to the god of convenience-abortion after the fact of sexual activity-although those advocating for abortion always use the lie that this heinous murder of babies must be allowed for the health, either physical or psychological, and well-being of the woman. The woman, not the God of Heaven, has the right to choose. Supposedly the most civilized of the civilized societies and cultures to have yet existed on planet earth-the United States of America-allows this atrocity to continue. It is nothing less than sacrifice to the god of this world-Satan. It is a form of spiritual insanity -reprobate mindset-to continue in this orgy of self-serving infanticide. And now we are seeing front and center news reports on a daily basis that the evil has produced duplicitous parameters within the confines of jurisprudence. The most serious offenders of our laws have always been those who carry out their evil against the children. Even the murderers within our prison institutions recognize the absolute horror of those who abuse children, sexually or otherwise. These men will often take out their anger on those who come among their ranks who have been convicted of harming children in any way. The pedophiles are often brutally beaten and/or murdered once they are incarcerated. At the same time these pedophiles are considered the worst of the worst in the community of prisoners, the law of this land looks the other way when children are subjected to something worse than pedophilia in a more sophisticated way. We have read of the children who are read all sorts of sexual content by transvestites in some of our public school libraries of late. We are subjected to stories of children as young as five years who are taught by some institutions that provide day care how to "touch themselves" in intimate ways to provide self-given pleasure. This is a progression of evil spawned by the reprobate mindset. If unchecked, this evil progresses-moves forward into hellish, more destructive areas of satanic invasion. What could be more hellish than those things just mentioned as being perpetrated upon the most innocent among us? Well, here it is. We now are going into opening the youngest up for direct invasion from the demonic realm. The following news excerpt helps explain. It involves the Walmart chain now selling a book on demonic activity. The [Walmart web] site categorizes the book as a "playful guide" to conjure demons to communicate with "the spirit". The children's product is listed for children ages 5-10 and "inspires" kids to "create demons of their own". The book is a sort of coloring book whereby kids can draw demons using a system of sigils. As the Publishers Weekly text reads: Leighton integrates a hands-on craft element into this playful guide that invites readers to conjure gentle demons by writing their sigils, which serve as "a phone number" straight to the spirit. The demons necessitate specific summons (a riddler named Corydon requires a sigil "drawn in bright red, the colour of a clown's nose-preferably while you're giggling"), and express specific characteristics and abilities that range from pragmatic to gross. They include "Flatulus," whose talent is passing gas; "Quazitoro," an expert at finding missing objects; and "Spanglox," "the best-dressed demon in the underworld," who offers cutting-edge fashion advice. Leighton's renderings of the multieyed, multiarmed, sharp-toothed demons are outlandish without being creepy, and the creative concept will likely inspire some readers to create demons of their own. Ages 5-10. (July) On Walmart's site, the book is placed in a category called "Paranormal, Occult & Supernatural Kids Books." It is listed at $9.88 per copy. ("Wal-Mart Now Selling A Children's Book of Demons," David Sidman, Rapture Ready News, November 23, 2019) While the Restrainer still continues to hold back evil below the level to which it will ascend during the Tribulation era, mankind is welcoming the invasion through the gates that once served to protect the most vulnerable. It is a sure signal that God will not long continue to tolerate the intolerable. Children are innocent before reaching the age of accountability for their souls. They are, until reaching that age (differing with each individual), accounted as having their names written in the Lamb's Book of Life. The inviting of the demon world into the minds of little ones is offense of major magnitude to the Creator of all things. "But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea" (Matthew 18:6). Descendants of Gog & Magog Join Russia, Iran in Joint Military Drill - By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz - www.breakingisraelnews.com "O mortal, turn your face toward Gog of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. Prophesy against him." Ezekiel 38:2 (The Israel Bible™) Iran announced last week that they will, for the first time, hold joint war drills with China, and Russia. One rabbi, an end-of-days expert, stated that this will bring together all the elements "to end all of history." Rear Admiral Hossein Khanzadi announced last week that the maneuvers will be held in the northern Indian Ocean from December 22 to January 20. "When we talk about joint wargames, we are talking about two or more countries with a high level of relations in various political, economic and social fields, which culminate in cooperation in the military sector, with wargames usually being the highest level of such cooperation," Khanzadi said to Iran's Tasnim news agency. "A joint wargame between several countries, whether on land, at sea, or in the air, indicates a remarkable expansion of cooperation among them," he added. Maritime tensions in the region are high. Iran has been blamed for attacks against several tankers. In September, an Iranian drone attack destroyed half of Saudi Arabia's oil production capability. Iran has also been blamed for other attacks. In June, Iran shot down a U.S. surveillance drone over the Strait of Hormuz. President Trump ordered a military strike against IRGC radar and missile sites but ordered the military to stand down at the last moment. That same month, the U.S. blamed Iran for attacks that damaged two tankers as they transited the Strait. A series of similar attacks using magnetic mines has targeted tankers in the Strait since the summer. Last month, the commander of U.S. Central Command opined that a major Iranian attack is "very possible." The U.S. dispatched an aircraft carrier and tens of thousands of pounds of military equipment and artillery to the Persian Gulf region in response to these potential Iranian threats. One interpretation of the Bible has Russia at the head of the multi-national army of the pre-Messiah War of Gog and Magog. Rabbi Haim Shvili, a 20th-century Jewish mystic wrote a book of predictions concerning the Messiah in 1935. Remarkably, Rabbi Shvili understands the prophet Ezekiel to foresee the War of Gog and Magog as being launched by a Russian-led coalition. O mortal, turn your face toward Gog of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. Prophesy against him Ezekiel 38:2 Rabbi Shvili understood the Hebrew word in the verse, rosh (chief) as identifying Russia to be the leader of the Gog and Magog coalition. Rabbi Shvili predicted that the Russian-led coalition will be opposed by a coalition of comparable size, comprising soldiers from all 70 nations. The Bible explicitly identifies Iran's role in the War of Gog and Magog. I will turn you around and put hooks in your jaws, and lead you out with all your army, horses, and horsemen, all of them clothed in splendor, a vast assembly, all of them with bucklers and shields, wielding swords. Among them shall be Persia, Nubia, and Put, everyone with shield and helmet; Ezekiel 38:4-5 Iran is the modern incarnation of Persia. It is interesting to note that some Medieval Christian travelers to China reported the Mongol belief that their nation was descended from Magog. The Mongolian Empire once included sections of Russia, China, and North Korea. The Chinese and all the minority groups living in China are of the Mongoloid race, which stems from Noah's son Japheth. Etymologists have conjectured that the name Mongol is derived from the name Magog. Rabbi Pinchas Winston, an expert in Jewish eschatology and author of many books on the subject, noted that this military exercise will bring together many elements that are predicted to be part of the final pre-Messiah War of Gog and Magog. "All these events need to be considered because no one knows what will be the final events that spark off the inevitable," Rabbi Winston said as a disclaimer. "This certainly has the elements and the potential. Not only because it is politically and militarily charged but even more so since it involves several nations that have the pedigree that makes them candidates for having an active role in the Gog and Magog War." Rabbi Winston noted that according to historical and Torah tradition, Magog migrated to the north. "But nations have both a geo-national reality as well as a spiritual reality," Rabbi Winston said. "Amalek, Gog, these are specific archetypal evils that can be anywhere in the world and any person." "Every day, the potential for Gog and Magog grows greater. The global pie is shrinking and the populace is increasing. As this phenomenon grows, selfishness gets unbridled and greed rules the world. People are grabbing what they can while they can. Battle lines are being drawn." "History is coming to an end," the rabbi warned. "The secular world sees time as an endless cycle but the Bible repudiates all that. The Jewish perspective has a definite end-point. That is what the concept of Messiah comes to teach us." "If you see time as an endless cycle then you can look at this union of Iran, Russia, and China and say that it is nothing new and nothing new will come out of it. But if you think of Gog and Magog as the beginning of the end, it takes on a powerful new significance." "A secular historian will see that this is the leaders doing something with human motives. But the truth is that this is Hashem (God, literally 'the name') doing something very special and we need to understand His motives." "With the big picture, everything is significant and everything comes together. Anti-semitism, the impeachment in the U.S., the Israeli elections, AND this military union; it all comes together." Rabbi Winston cited Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan, a world-renowned Torah authority known popularly as the Chofetz Chaim. Rabbi Kagan passed away in 1933, after the First World War but before the beginning of World War II. "The Chofetz Chaim wrote that Gog and Mago would be a three-stage war," Rabbi Winston said. "He believed that World War One, what was called at the time the War to end all wars, was the first stage. Though he did not live to see World War II, we can assume that was the second stage. He predicted that the final war would be the worst of all." Daily Jot: The perils of socialism in American youth - Bill Wilson - www.dailyjot.com There is a story out of Boca De Uchire, Venezuela about a priest leading prayers for college students in the university courtyard. Some 15 minutes into the ceremony, five of the students had fainted for lack of food and two of them had been taken away in ambulances. The socialist state of Venezuela is failing the youth, according to the story, who cannot attend university because they are too busy helping their parents search for food. Yet here in America, the college-aged are flocking to socialism. A 2018 Gallup Poll that periodically measures sentiment toward socialism indicated that 51% of Americans aged 18-29 favored socialism, representing a 23-point decline in their positive view of capitalism since 2010. The Gallup poll indicated "a majority of Democrats have said they view socialism positively in Gallup polling since 2010, including 57% in the most recent measure in 2018." The Gallup survey also found that nearly 30% of Americans want government distribution of wealth, 35% want government responsibility for wages, and 33% want government control over the economy. Interesting that these percentages coincide with the percentage of the population who are also registered Democrats, although the Gallup survey did not distinguish party affiliation. Another poll by Harris showed that Americans are accepting of socialism despite 49% understanding that it is a system dependent on dictatorship. The Communist Manifesto says, "But communism abolishes eternal truths, it abolishes all religion, and all morality, instead of constituting them on a new basis; it therefore acts in contradiction to all past historical experience." Other linchpins of communism are enumerated in the Manifesto: 1) Abolition of property ownership, 2) a heavy progressive income tax, 3) abolition of all rights of inheritance, 4) confiscation of property, 5) centralization of credit, 6) centralization of transportation, 7) centrally planned economy, 8) obligation to work, 9) abolishing distinction between towns and country, and 10) a free education for children. Since World War I, America has been on the slippery slope toward socialism. The goal of Soviet Russia was to infiltrate American values with the destructive social goals of the Communist Manifesto. Former Soviet KGB agent Yuri Bezmenov, who defected from the Soviet Union in 1970, was interviewed in 1984 about Soviet infiltration methods. He said that by 1970 the Soviet Union already had infiltrated the US through brainwashing left-leaning people in the news media, entertainment, politics, business, education, and religion. Progressives are the new communists. Government replaces God. Exodus 20:3 says, "Thou shalt have no other god's before me." People need to be educated about Soviet-era communism so those who are ignorant of its ramifications are aware. A great example to share with our young people is what's happening in Venezuela, where college students are fainting from starvation. Daily Devotion: Can Anyone Be Good Enough? - by Greg Laurie - www.harvest.org For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.-Romans 3:23 Are people basically good? When I was a kid, I used to think so. But then my life experiences didn't confirm that belief, because I saw so many people doing bad things. You might be surprised to know, however, that most Americans believe people are basically good. In his book What Americans Believe, researcher George Barna revealed that 84 percent of non-Christians agree with the statement that people are basically good. That shouldn't be too surprising. But what is somewhat surprising is that 77 percent of self-described Christians think the same thing. So, are people basically good? Here's what I think. (You might be surprised.) My answer is yes and no. There are good people. There are people who do good things. Some people are good neighbors and good citizens. They're kind and considerate. There are people who have done good things, have made great sacrifices, or have done something heroic on behalf of others. In fact, I've met some nonbelievers who are nicer than some Christians. But being nice is not what gets us to Heaven, of course. Maybe this is a better way to frame the question: Are we good enough to get to Heaven on our own merit? The answer is a resounding no. No one is good enough to reach God's very high standards. We all fall short of them. In the Book of Romans, the apostle Paul systematically shows us that everyone falls short. In fact, if we learn nothing else from the first chapter of Romans, we discover that we're all sinful. The bad news is that we're sinners. The good news is there's a Savior. Our salvation is not earned. Rather, it is given to us as a gift from God. The immoral person needs Jesus. And the moral person needs Jesus. Everyone needs Jesus. 
FROM THE HEART
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