tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9235715185794878362024-03-18T20:11:51.970-05:00UNSEALED - World News | Christian News | Prophecy UpdatesNews and commentary pointing to the imminent return of Jesus Christ and the end of the age. Featuring world news, Christian news, and prophecy updates.Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03907296435997404954noreply@blogger.comBlogger3499125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-923571518579487836.post-35817213372871805822024-03-02T01:27:00.009-06:002024-03-02T02:26:08.401-06:00The Year of the Dragon<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP2GFbSpiBpFGJVKGh75KaAiWWQ1uP6DsZ6uvP41NLzkei-zuovrx52Oi9ZT-5ug2NdvD0sXa7dZhU5V6aSuh_CQ0BuXyEZPrwcvmP6s-3GiyuDCG6zGFpiLIhwGbY13llIEB0kY-FPPSXKpcfdbwlvlXCLZd-xamt2Cncb1D-u6duTIVQr0Sa2QWpgA/s1296/reddragon.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="860" data-original-width="1296" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP2GFbSpiBpFGJVKGh75KaAiWWQ1uP6DsZ6uvP41NLzkei-zuovrx52Oi9ZT-5ug2NdvD0sXa7dZhU5V6aSuh_CQ0BuXyEZPrwcvmP6s-3GiyuDCG6zGFpiLIhwGbY13llIEB0kY-FPPSXKpcfdbwlvlXCLZd-xamt2Cncb1D-u6duTIVQr0Sa2QWpgA/w640-h425/reddragon.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">We've
just finished celebrating Chinese New Year here in Taiwan, and I'll tell you
guys a dirty little secret: A number of Taiwanese people are not all that crazy
about this lengthy holiday that is typically about seven or eight days long,
sees many business establishments closed for much of that, and occurs in
January or February when the weather tends to be chilly and drizzly.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">But worst
of all, no matter <i><u>where</u></i> you go in Taiwan during Chinese New Year,
it is absolutely guaranteed to be packed to overflowing with people who are
just as desperate as you are to get out of the house and go <i>somewhere</i>
and do <i>something.</i> As it is sometimes sarcastically opined in Taiwan in
regard to this traditional holiday of holidays, which for people here is
Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the regular New Year's celebration all rolled into
one:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">"Taiwan is a small island nation with about 23 million
people and about 23 good places to visit. Do the math."</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">They're
joking, but just barely. It was always worse for me personally in the years
before I got married, since I lived alone and all my friends were students in
my classes who went to their homes for the duration. As I used to whine in
class after it was over:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">"There's nothing to do and nobody to do it with!"</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">Forgive
me for yammering on about Chinese New Year, but the topic I want to discuss in
this article is intimately associated with that holiday and with end-time
prophecy in ways that I found as intriguing as I did stunning. And not so much
with the holiday itself, but rather the menagerie of 12 animals associated with
what is commonly referred to as the Chinese zodiac.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">At least with one particularly serpentine member of that
menagerie:</span></i></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">The dragon.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">As you
may know, God's Word is replete with references to dragons, the great majority
of which are connected to Satan.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">Now, just
to be clear, I'm not heavy into any kind of zodiac-related stuff (Western <i><u>or</u></i>
Chinese) or anything pertaining to any species of astrology. On the contrary—I
normally eschew that sort of thing as far as viewing it as a means of
prognostication (as should <i><u>all</u></i> believers, not to put too fine a
point on it).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">As it
happens, however, just out of idle curiosity I was fooling around with the
numbers a bit and I stumbled across something about the Chinese zodiac that
raised the little prophetic hairs on the back of my neck, and it got me digging
deeper because I knew the Holy Spirit had more to show me.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">Don't you love it when that happens?</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">And so
here we are. What I want to do in this article is (a) go over a mercifully
brief bit of history behind the dragon and the worship and glorification
thereof in Chinese culture. Then I want to discuss (b) the dragon's potential
connection with Satan's attempt to outplay God by having the Messiah crucified
two thousand years ago, and (c) its potential connection with Satan's attempt
to outplay God a <i>second</i> time by launching his effort to establish <i>his</i>
kingdom and put Christ's kingdom on ice.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">And how
all this relates to the current year, 2024.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">Now, let
me put this out there, right from the get-go: Some of what I will discuss in
this article is speculative. But as speculative as it is, I see nothing in
God's Word that precludes any of the things I am going to say, and I honestly
think these things are compelling, to say the least.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">And I
hope you agree.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;">A few historical notes</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">The
dragon has a very long and colorful history—not only in Chinese culture, but
also in European culture. That said, one of the first things I want to clear up
is the fact that there is a distinct difference between the European dragon and
the Chinese dragon.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">The
European dragon, a popular image in medieval mythology, is more of a
fire-breathing, dinosaur-like creature, rather squat and with large, stout hind
legs and wings so it could fly like a pot-bellied lizard. It is often depicted
in medieval art as either being slain in battle by an intrepid knight, or
possibly being flown by such an intrepid knight as his fire-breathing steed.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">On the
other hand, the Chinese dragon is noticeably different. Depictions vary, but
the Chinese dragon is most commonly represented as a long, sinuous, snake-like
creature with four very short, useless legs and a large, hoary, demonic head
and face. And for what it's worth, unlike the European dragon, I have never
seen the Chinese dragon depicted as being ridden.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">Although
carved dragon relics have been discovered in China that date back to at least
3000 BC, much of the Chinese mythology concerning dragons is considered by many
to have started with Huang Di (or Huangdi), the Yellow Emperor, somewhere
around 2700–2600 BC (and I have to play it rather fast and loose with some of
the time frames because various sources report different historical dates and
other information).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">For
example, one article states the following concerning dragon artifacts:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(230, 230, 249); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #000077;">One of the earliest creatures to appear in the tales and
legends of ancient China, the dragon is most often depicted as a giant and
lithe beast which dwells in either water sources or clouds. The Chinese dragon
is extraordinarily powerful, and when it flies, it is usually accompanied by
lightning and thunder. <b>When, by whom, and on what reality the dragon was
first invented is not known,</b> </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 187); color: black;">[try reading
Genesis 3 sometime]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #000077;"> although some historians suggest a
link with rainbows and a "serpent of the sky" which is seen after
rain showers or at waterfalls. Carved jade dragons have been excavated at sites
of the Hongshan culture, which can be dated to <b>4500–3000 BCE</b>, </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 187); color: black;">[that could potentially place it not all that terribly long after the Garden of Eden]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #000077;"> far before any written records of
the creature appeared.<br><br>(emphasis & <span style="background: rgb(255, 255, 187);">[</span></span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 187); color: black;">comments]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #000088;"> added)<br><br>—</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #000077;"> </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #000077;">"<a name="page_title_text"></a>The Dragon in Ancient China"
by Mark Cartwright [</span><span style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1125/the-dragon-in-ancient-china/"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #000077;">Source</span></a></span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #000077;">]</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">The basic story that is related in most sources is that a powerful
pre-dynastic leader named Yandi was allegedly born from a dragon, and he joined
forces with Emperor Huang Di in about the twenty-seventh century BC. Together,
these two powerful leaders conquered their enemies, unified China, and launched
what we recognize today as Chinese culture:</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="background: rgb(230, 230, 249); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #000077;">(One) theory posits that
(Yandi), a legendary Chinese leader from pre-dynastic times, was born of an
encounter with a powerful dragon. As a result, Yandi was more powerful than
most leaders. <b>He partnered with Emperor Huang Di and together they conquered
their enemies, unified China and, according to myth, pioneered Chinese
civilization.</b> </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 187); color: black;">[These two men—Yandi and Huang Di—became legendary leaders
ostensibly due to their interactions and association with the dragon. And since
it is believed they essentially got what we know as Chinese culture rolling
roughly 4,600 to 4,700 years ago, give or take, the dragon became solidly
entrenched in Chinese culture.]</span><br><br>
<span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #000077;">As time progressed, many
Chinese came to believe that Yandi was one of their ancestors, which by
extension meant that they were also the descendants of dragons. </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 187); color: black;">[To this day, the
dragon continues to be the single greatest symbol of power and wisdom in all of
Chinese culture.]</span><br><br>
<span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #000088;">(emphasis & <span style="background: rgb(255, 255, 187);"></span></span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 187); color: black;">[comments]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #000088;">
added)<br><br>
— "Chinese Dragons: Their Types, History, and Significance" [<span style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="https://studycli.org/chinese-culture/chinese-dragons/"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #000077;">Source</span></a></span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #000077;">]</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">OK, I
promised this would be mercifully brief, so I'm not going to get too bogged
down in the tangled underbrush of ancient history concerning the dragon in
Chinese culture and get neck-deep in all the related mythology. That's not the
primary point of this article anyway. My point is simply this:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">It is beyond dispute that the ancient Chinese people were
worshiping what is essentially a snake with short, stubby legs as a wise,
powerful, auspicious symbol <i>at the very <u>least</u></i> as far back as the
dispersion of people from Babel under Nimrod (Gen. 11), which occurred about
2200–2300 BC according to most Old Testament timelines. And according to most
sources, such dragon worship goes back a number of centuries earlier.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif">That's</span></i><span face=""",sans-serif"> what I
want to clearly establish for the purposes of this article.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">So with
this bit of historical background firmly in hand, let's take a little stroll
back in time and check in with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;">Back to the Garden</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">You're no
doubt familiar with the scene in the Garden of Eden, where Adam and Eve had
dominion over all the earth and only one rule to obey:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">Don't eat the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and
Evil.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">And I'm
sure you know what happened when a strange creature showed up and struck up a
fateful conversation with Eve:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">1</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Now the serpent was more <b>subtle</b>
</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">[Hebrew: a form of <i>arum</i>,
which in this verse is often translated "crafty," "shrewd,"
or "cunning"...that is, highly intelligent but with secret evil
intent]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> than any beast of the field
which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, <b>Yes, has God said,
You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?</b> </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">[First, Satan <i>creates
doubt</i> about what God said.]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> <b><sup>2</sup></b>And
the woman said to the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the
garden: <b><sup>3</sup></b>But of the fruit of the tree which is in the middle
of the garden, God has said, You shall not eat of it, <b>neither shall you
touch it,</b> lest you die. </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">[God didn't say anything about not <i>touching</i> the fruit, He just
said don't eat it—Eve <i>adds</i> to what God said.]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> <b><sup>4</sup></b>And the serpent
said to the woman, <b>You shall not surely die:</b> </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">[Then Satan <i>contradicts</i>
what God said.]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> <b><sup>5</sup>For God does
know that in the day you eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and you
shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.</b> </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">[Then Satan <i>misinterprets</i> what God said.]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> <b><sup>6</sup></b></span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">And when the woman saw that the tree was <b>good for food</b>,
and that it was <b>pleasant to the eyes</b>, and a tree to be <b>desired to
make one wise</b>, she took of the fruit thereof, and <b>did eat</b>, and gave
also to her husband with her; and <b>he did eat</b>.<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> </span></span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">[Eve falls
for Satan's lies and half-truths, and entices Adam to follow suit.]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> <b><sup>7</sup>And the eyes of them
both were opened,</b> and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig
leaves together, and made themselves aprons. </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">[Now Adam and Eve had "knowledge of good and
evil"—but sadly that knowledge of evil was now <i>experiential in nature.</i>
Satan neglected to mention that part.]</span><br><br>
<span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">(Genesis 3:1–7 AKJV / emphasis
& </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[comments]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> added)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">At the
climax of the scene, God confronts Adam, Eve, and the serpent and pronounces
curses on them all, in addition to announcing the original promise of a coming
Redeemer (i.e. the <i>protoevangelium</i>) in verse 15:</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">14</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">And the
LORD God said to the serpent, Because you have done this, you are cursed above
all cattle, and above every beast of the field; <b>on your belly shall you go,
and dust shall you eat all the days of your life:</b></span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[Snakes crawl on
their bellies (or "eat dust"), and they do that because they lost the
legs they once had (or at least the species of snake that Satan was controlling
did).]</span><br><br>
<b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">15</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">And I will put enmity between you
and the woman, and between <b>your seed</b> </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[the
Antichrist]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> and <b>her seed</b>; </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[Christ]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> it shall <b>bruise your head</b>, </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[Christ will throw the Antichrist and the False
Prophet into the lake of fire when He returns (Rev. 19:20)]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> and you shall <b>bruise his heel</b>. </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[Satan played a major role in coaxing the
Jewish religious leaders into demanding the Romans crucify Christ (which
involved driving a large spike through both His <i>heels</i>).]</span><br><br>
<b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">16</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">To the woman he said, I will
greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; in sorrow you shall bring
forth children; and your desire shall be to your husband, and he shall rule
over you.</span><br><br>
<b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">17</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">And to Adam he said, Because you
have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree, of which I
commanded you, saying, You shall not eat of it: cursed is the ground for your
sake; in sorrow shall you eat of it all the days of your life;</span><br><br>
<b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">18</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Thorns also and thistles shall it
bring forth to you; and you shall eat the herb of the field;</span><br><br>
<b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">19</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">In the sweat of your face shall you
eat bread, till you return to the ground; for out of it were you taken: for
dust you are, and to dust shall you return.</span><br><br>
<span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">(Genesis 3:14–19 AKJV / emphasis & </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[comments]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> added)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">I'm not
going to give in to the temptation right now to dive more deeply into what is
easily one of the most important chapters in the entire Bible, however, because
all I want to do here is point out a couple of facts that come from a
straightforward interpretation of the plain text of Scripture:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Satan took control of an animal and spoke to Eve through it. The
animal Satan took control of was a snake, and at the time that species of
snake, whatever it may have been, had <i><u>legs</u></i> (if it hadn't, God
wouldn't have wasted His time cursing it to crawl on its belly). And this snake
with legs possessed great cunning and guile, slyly deceiving Eve into breaking
the one command God had given them by slyly misinterpreting God's rationale for
forbidding them from eating the fruit of the tree.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">Lies, half-truths, and deception: Sounds like Satan's man the
Antichrist is going to turn out to be a top-drawer political leader, dontcha
think?</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Now, this is some of what we get from
Scripture. But how does this jive with what we get from secular history?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The Chinese have been worshiping a
long, demonic-looking snake with four short, stubby legs and honoring and
venerating this creature as a wise, powerful, god-like leader at least since
the days of the dispersion of people from Babel in the twenty-third century BC,
and probably several centuries earlier...possibly not long after the Fall.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Nod if any of this is starting to get a
few of your neurons buzzing.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Before we go any further, however, there
is an important point that needs to be addressed. Although I am by no means an
expert in this sort of thing, I will address it as best I can:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">When God cursed the serpent and said
it would crawl on its belly in Genesis 3:14, I see nothing in Scripture that
would require this to mean that the legs of the species of snake in question <i>immediately
vanished into thin air.</i> I believe the legs of that particular species
of snake began to shrink and finally stopped growing due to a natural process
that took time. Why? Simple: One thing God very rarely does in Scripture is say
"abracadabra" and wave a magic wand. Why? Because He's God. <i>He
doesn't have to.</i> After the miracle of Creation, God tends to use the
natural physical forces and processes that He created to accomplish His will.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">And while we're at it, let's get a little vocabulary issue cleared
up. The Hebrew word translated "serpent" in the book of Genesis is </span><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #001320;">nachash,</span></i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;"> and this word is normally translated
"serpent" or "snake" in English translations (and these two
words are synonyms). It <u>doesn't</u> mean "lizard" (Hebrew: </span><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #001320;">semamith</span></i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #001320;">). And anytime the word
"dragon" appears in any English translation, the Hebrew is usually <i>tannin</i>
and the Greek is usually <i>drakón,</i> which appears a total of 13 times in
the New Testament, all of which are found in the book of Revelation and are
invariably connected to Satan.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Now, I am well aware that many
scientifically minded people will insist that the disappearance of such a
physical trait would have taken <i>millions</i> of years, not a few <i>thousand</i>
years, and this is precisely the kind of argument that brings us up close and
personal with the age-old conundrum of Science vs the Bible.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;">Godless atheists vs Bible-thumping bozos:</span></i></b><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> Since we're on the subject of
science, I just have to say this concerning the endless sniping that goes on
between what many Christians call godless atheists and what many scientists
call Bible-thumping bozos: Whenever it appears that what the Bible clearly
states and what scientists think they know seem to contradict, I go with what
the Bible clearly states and graciously give science a chance to catch up.
Sadly, this will never happen as long as its ranks are filled with people who
actually take professional pride in refusing to believe in a Creator God and
who go to great lengths to disparage and dismiss anything that even appears to
lend support to any biblical account. And to make matters worse, there are Christians
who clumsily misinterpret the Bible in ways that contradict known and
established scientific facts (and I mean <u>real</u> facts, not gussied-up
theories that are arrogantly passed off as facts).</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Or, as I like to put it:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">When that glorious day finally comes
when we have a full, correct understanding of everything the Bible says and
means, and also a full, correct understanding of everything in science, we will
discover something that would cause the brains of most of today's scientists to
explode:</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Science and the Bible are in</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">perfect, 100 percent agreement!</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">No? Well, it's literally impossible for it to be otherwise. To see
why this absolutely <i>must</i> be the case, I invite you to ponder the
following pop quiz:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Q.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> Who authored the Bible?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">A.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> A Creator God who created all
things.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Q.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> Who created science?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">A.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> That same Creator God, who cannot
contradict Himself.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Quod erat </span></i><i><span face=""",sans-serif" lang="LA" style="color: black; mso-ansi-language: LA; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">demonstrandum</span></i><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">.</span></i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> So this whole "Science vs the Bible" dust-up is a foolish game
that does nothing but perpetuate inane arguments and venomous hostility between
two groups of sincere, intelligent people, neither of which knows quite as much
as they fancy they do.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">That said, however, one thing that <i>did</i> catch my attention not long ago is an article about recent <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/10/20/498575639/how-snakes-lost-their-legs">research</a> that has been done on certain snake species. Scientists are just beginning to learn about a genetic mechanism in the DNA of these species that is capable of switching the growth of limbs on and off.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Now, does that mean it's possible that a
certain species of snake could have stopped growing legs much more rapidly than
might normally be the case with other physical traits found in other species?
Does this "switching on and off" genetic mechanism make this a
different kettle of fish? I don't know. And I'm not going to pretend to
understand the science behind this or how it all meshes together. But what I <i><u>do</u></i>
know with 100 percent certainty is this:</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">God's Word clearly indicates the
snake in the</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Garden of Eden had <i><u>legs</u></i>, and today they <i><u>don't</u>.</i></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Get there any way you want, and deal
with it any way you wish.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;">Evolutionary misstep:</span></i></b><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> People love to mock and attack the Bible and the idea that Adam was the
first man in the Garden of Eden roughly 6,000 years ago with archaeological
evidence that humans have been around for a couple of hundred thousand years.
Oh yeah? Read it again:</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">7</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">And the LORD God formed man of the
dust of the ground, and </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">breathed into his nostrils <b>the
breath of life</b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">; and man became <b>a
living soul</b></span>.<br><br>(Genesis 2:7 AKJV / emphasis added)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">God breathed <b>a spirit</b> into
Adam, and only <u>then</u> did that man become a human being <b>with a
spiritual nature</b>, with an awareness of a Creator and of spiritual
things—this was a crucial part of the creation process. This is the part
science misses because it can't deal with such things. There had been lots of
(nonspiritual) humans around for a couple hundred thousand years (a fact
indirectly <a href="https://aish.com/were-adam-and-eve-the-first-people/">supported</a> in Scripture), but Adam was the first
human <b>with a spiritual nature</b>. And <u>that's</u> when human civilization
really started to take off. One day we were hunting animals, making stone
tools, and carving pictures on cave walls, and the next we were building
cities, writing poetry, and seeking to know the Creator we instinctively knew
existed.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">In other words, in a sense the name of
our species is a misnomer. In "Homo sapiens," the word
"sapiens" is Latin for "wise." But you might say that the
"sapiens" bit didn't actually kick in until God breathed a spirit
into Adam.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">In reality, we should probably mark
the introduction of a new species with Adam: Homo spiritualis. But since you
can't put it in a test tube or describe it with equations, scientists will
continue ignoring it.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The point is that we need to follow the
apostle Paul's admonition in Romans 3:4 to "</span><span style="color: #001320; font-family: Roboto; mso-bidi-font-family: Roboto; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">let
God be true, but every man a liar</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #001320; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">."
And keep one thing in mind</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">:</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">What is passed off and widely
accepted as unassailable</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">scientific fact today <i>cannot</i> trump the Word of God.</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">As usual, the world has it
backwards.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Now, I won't be dogmatic about it, but
considering what th</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">e Bible tells us and what we see from
ancient Chinese culture, it is not impossible for me to believe that Satan
pulled his talking-snake shtick <i>again</i> at some point after Adam and Eve's
expulsion from the Garden of Eden, and that he pulled it on the ancient people
who would give rise to Chinese culture. And when he did so, I am inclined to
assume he did so by talking through the same type of snake he used in the
Garden of Eden, whose legs may have already become the useless, stubby little
appendages that we see in paintings and statues of the dragon throughout China
and Taiwan as a result of the curse God placed on that species of snake in the
Garden of Eden.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">A tad on the far-fetched side? OK, well...failing that, it's also
possible that (true) stories about the snake with legs in the Garden of Eden
were passed on within the people groups that grew and developed following Adam
and Eve's expulsion from Eden, and over time these stories became viewed as
myths in the absence of any remaining snake species that possessed legs.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">So, a snake with legs became
inextricably linked with Satan starting in the Garden of Eden, and this
creature, which later acquired the moniker of "dragon," went on to
become intimately connected with Chinese culture. This connection to Chinese
culture leads to another piece of our puzzle, and that involves the Chinese
zodiac and a special group of 12 animals.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">One of which is that elusive snake
with legs.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 14pt;">Satan's first Big Day</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Like virtually everything else in
Chinese culture, there are different stories about the creation of the Chinese
zodiac and its collection of 12 animals that follow a 12-year cycle. One source
has this to say:</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="background: rgb(230, 230, 249); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #000077; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The Chinese zodiac consists of twelve
animals that first appeared in the Zhan Guo period (5th century BC).
No one knows the exact date as of when the zodiac was essentially created, but
they were officially identified during the Han Dynasty (206 BC–AD 9), which was
over 2000 years ago. The zodiac became a popular way to determine a
person's birth year during the North Zhou Dynasty (AD 557–581) and is still
very commonly used today.<br><br>
Myths say that Emperor Huangdi, the first Chinese emperor, in 2637 BC invented the Chinese lunar calendar, which follows the cycles of the moon.<br><br>
— "Chinese Zodiac—The Great Race" [</span><span style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="https://blog.shanghaipathways.com/2012/01/10/chinese-zodiac-the-great-race/"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #000077; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Source</span></a></span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #000077; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">]</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">So some say it goes all the way back to
Huang Di in the twenty-seventh century BC, while some say it it was officially
introduced in the fifth or even the third century BC. Actually this doesn't
matter for the purposes of this article, because as you will see in a moment, I
am only going to focus on a point in time two thousand years ago—and the
12-year Chinese zodiac cycle with its collection of 12 animals was certainly
well established and in common use in Chinese culture long before then.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac are as follows, and they appear in the following order:<br><br>
<span style="color: #0000aa;">1. Rat</span><br>
<span style="color: #0000aa;">2. Ox</span><br>
<span style="color: #0000aa;">3. Tiger</span><br>
<span style="color: #0000aa;">4. Rabbit</span><br>
<b><span style="background: rgb(255, 255, 136); color: #aa0000;">5. Dragon</span></b><br>
<span style="color: #0000aa;">6. Snake</span><br>
<span style="color: #0000aa;">7. Horse</span><br>
<span style="color: #0000aa;">8. Sheep</span><br>
<span style="color: #0000aa;">9. Monkey</span><br>
<span style="color: #0000aa;">10. Rooster</span><br>
<span style="color: #0000aa;">11. Dog</span><br>
<span style="color: #0000aa;">12. Pig</span></p>
<div class="WordSection3">
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Notice that the idea of a snake with
legs lived on and remained distinct from the reality of what snakes became as
we know them today, since the eminently legless snake still appears on the list
of animals at no. 6, right after what most have traditionally presumed is the
mythical dragon at no. 5. And I say "presumed" because according to
Scripture, the dragon (i.e. a snake with legs), may not be quite as
"mythical" as most people have been led to believe.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Speaking of the dragon, as you can see
it's fifth in the 12-year cycle. If a person was born after Chinese New Year
(which generally falls in late January or early February) of the year
associated with a certain animal, then we say they were born in the Year of the
(Whatever). For example, I was born on March 7, 1956, so I was born in the Year
of the Monkey. If you're curious about your Chinese zodiac animal or the animal
associated with any particular year for whatever reason, here is an <a href="https://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/social_customs/zodiac/calculator.htm">online
calculator</a> that will help you out.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Based on what we have discussed so far,
however, it's easy to imagine that Satan's favorite year of this 12-year
Chinese zodiac cycle would be linked to the animal he has always been most
closely identified with: the dragon, or a long snake with legs that he
manipulated to effectively steal dominion over the earth from Adam and Eve. In
other words, it's easy to assume Satan's year of choice has long been the Year
of the Dragon.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Now, as I mentioned earlier, I was just
idly fiddling around with the numbers pertaining to the 12-year cycle of the
Chinese zodiac, and I accidentally stumbled across something about the Year of
the Dragon that made the </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">little prophetic hairs on the back of
my neck stand at attention.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">As you probably know, no one is 100 percent certain what year
Christ was crucified. We are virtually certain it was somewhere between AD
30–34, but within that range, AD 32 and AD 33 seem to be by far the most common
picks by those who study this. For many years I was dead set on AD 32, but a
couple of years ago I read some things that made me view AD 33 more favorably
than I had previously—although I admit that I still tend to lean toward AD 32.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">But what I stumbled across is something that—as a Westerner—I had
never even so much as wondered about before, and that's the Chinese zodiac
animals associated with the years in this time frame of Christ's death.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle:</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">AD 32 was the Year of the Dragon.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Before God: When I saw this, I just froze. Suddenly something just
went <i>CLICK</i> and fell into place. And after the Holy Spirit put His joy
buzzer away, I was off and running with this article.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Understand that when Christ was crucified on a cross at Calvary, <i>Satan
thought he had won.</i> This was a momentous victory for the devil—a victory he
had ardently dreamed of and carefully planned for ever since he had usurped
dominion over the earth from Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden by manipulating
a long snake with legs before getting slapped with the promise of a Redeemer
who would come to crush his head someday.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">So when that Head-Crusher died on the cross, for a brief period of
time Satan believed he had emerged victorious—that he had roundly defeated this
Redeemer that God had sent. And as a result, Satan believed he would get to
keep the dominion over the earth that he had snookered Adam and Eve out of, and
our world would end up being his little corner of the universe where he could
strut around with his Most-High hat on for the rest of eternity.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">This was Satan's Big Day.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">His first of two such Big Days.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><b><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;">Only <u>two</u>?!</span></i></b><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;"> In reality, you could say Satan has several Big Days, such as
the day he sweet-talked Adam and Eve out of dominon over the earth, the day he
is released at the end of the Millennial Kingdom to mount one last rebellion,
etc. But for the purposes of this article, I'm just going with these two.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">It's not too difficult for me to believe, however, that God <i>allowed</i>
Satan to have his short-lived victory in his favorite year, the Year of the
Dragon. It's not hard for me to imagine that God was perfectly happy to let
Satan have his Big Day in his favorite year before raining on his parade. I
think God was content to let Satan have his brief moment in the sun, and let
him believe he had vanquished the promised Redeemer and thwarted the divine
plan.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">No? Consider: By allowing Satan to briefly savor his victory in
his own special Year of the Dragon, Christ's resounding response in the
spiritual realm during the three days He was in the tomb would have been that
much more powerfully poetic. Think of it: Jesus suddenly shows up in Hades and
crashes Satan's big victory party, does a little preaching, and then empties
Paradise and leads all the righteous Old Testament saints with Him to heaven
because their sins had been eternally removed by His precious blood, not just
temporarily covered by the blood of sheep and goats.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">And imagine Jesus doing this—spoiling Satan's efforts to keep the
dominion over the earth he had won in the Garden of Eden, and also spoiling
Satan's efforts to permanently rob Him of the chance to return to establish His
promised kingdom on earth—in the year that was (and still is) so near and dear
to Satan's heart:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">The Year of the Dragon.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Sweet, wouldn't you agree? After all, God and Satan have had their
fair share of tête-à-têtes, just as we read about in Job 1:6–12 where Satan
approaches God and engages Him in a bit of gamesmanship, for lack of a better
word. Satan challenges Job's faithfulness, and in response God allows Satan to
test Job (with the limitation set in place that Satan couldn't take his life).
God puts His money on Job remaining faithful.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">And God wins.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Or how about during the Tribulation, when God sends a strong
delusion onto the hardened, unbelieving portion of His people Israel around its
midpoint to make sure they <i><u>all</u></i> believe the lie that Satan's man
is the promised Redeemer. Now, understand that by doing this, God is actually
making Satan's job a little <i>easier</i>—in a sense He is helping to clear the
way for Satan to establish his pathetic little excuse of a kingdom. Why? So His
righteous judgment on Satan and all his followers will be even more fully, gloriously
justified when God crushes Satan's kingdom out of existence.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">And God wins.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Anyway, so much for Satan's first Big Day two thousand years ago,
in which Christ played the role of the party pooper, to put it mildly. But with
that said...</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Stand by: The second of Satan's two</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Big Days is drawing excitingly close.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 14pt;">Satan's second Big Day</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Although Satan's first Big Day two thousand years ago turned out
to be a Big Dud, never fear: He has another Big Day to look forward to. His
next Big Day will be the day he is finally turned loose to establish his
kingdom, during the latter part of which he will make a supreme effort to pull
the plug on the Second Coming by completely wiping out the Jewish people so
they cannot implore Jesus to return to save them at the climax of the Great
Tribulation, as per Hosea 5:15.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">And by "turned loose," I mean "unrestrained."
OK, time for one last pop quiz:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Q.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> When does Satan become
unrestrained?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">A.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> When the Restrainer is
removed...duh.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Q.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> And when is the Restrainer
removed?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">A.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> When His temple is removed from
earth and relocated to heaven.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Q.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> And when does <i><u>that</u></i>
happen?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">A.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> At the Rapture, when His temple is
caught up to be with the Lord.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">So Satan's first Big Day may very well
have occurred in Satan's special year—the Year of the Dragon—in AD 32, and
anyone who is watching the unfolding of end-time prophecy knows that Satan's <i>second</i>
Big Day is looming and could literally occur at any time.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">But if Satan's first Big Day really <i>did</i>
occur in AD 32 during Satan's special year (and it's a safe bet that it did
according to the work of a lot of pretty sharp people whose opinions I
respect), it would make scary sense if his <i>second</i> Big Day was likewise
set to occur in his special year—the Year of the Dragon.</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">And that would be <i>(drum roll,
please)</i>:<i> </i>2024.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">T-h-a-t-'s right,</span></i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> boys and girls. If you've seen or heard
anything at all about the Chinese New Year on TV or on the Internet or
wherever, then you probably already know this:</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">2024 is in fact the Year of the
Dragon.</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(201, 246, 255); color: #0000aa; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span></i><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(201, 246, 255); color: #0000aa; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> * * * (brief pause to let that sink in) * * * </span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Note that 2024 completes the 166th of
these 12-year cycles since AD 32:</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">32 + (166 x 12) = 32 + 1992 =
2024.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Hmm...1<u>66</u> cycles, eh?
Interesting. And as I said, I'm sure that it wouldn't bother God one little bit
to accommodate Satan by allowing him kick off his efforts to establish his
kingdom in his pet year, the Year of the Dragon. God would essentially be
toying with him, in effect saying to him:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">"You're on, Dragon Dude! It's
your big Year of the D-R-A-G-O-N! Show us whatcha got...before I drop judgment
on you!"</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;">The day or the hour:</span></i></b><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> I am 100 percent certain that Satan does NOT know the day of the
Rapture. However, I can live with the idea of God allowing him to know the <u>year</u>
it will fall in—and I suspect Satan already knows it's going to fall in his
special year, as was probably the case for the Crucifixion.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Of course, Satan's <i>second</i> Big Day
is also going to turn out to be a Big Dud just like the first, because in spite
of the best efforts of Satan and his man the Antichrist—efforts that will be
formally launched the day of the Rapture when Satan becomes unrestrained—God is
ultimately going to protect the believing Jewish remnant in the wilderness
until He returns at the Second Coming. And a believing Jewish remnant that
survives until the end of the Tribulation so they can call upon the name of the
LORD to save them from certain annihilation spells doom for Dragon Dude and his
fledgling kingdom.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">So, just like Satan's grand plan to take
out the Messiah two thousand years ago failed, so will his grand plan to
completely wipe out the Jews in the Tribulation during his kingdom and as a
result cancel Christ's return to establish <i><u>His</u></i> kingdom. And make
no mistake: *That's <i>precisely</i> why wiping out the Jews is an absolutely
essential part of Satan's plan:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">He's got everything riding on it.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">*<b>Note:</b> Try explaining this to
people who are sashaying through cities with their Palestinian flags and their
"From the river to the sea" signs, and spewing venomous, anti-Semitic
vitriol at pro-Hamas demonstrations—and watch it bounce off their heads and
their hearts. May a merciful God get through to at least a few of them before
it's too late.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 14pt;">One clear, compelling picture</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Again, let me emphasize that some of
what I have discussed in this article is Greg's personal brand of home-brewed,
grade A speculation. And that's how I want you to take it. If you are inclined
to agree with what I have written, that's fine. If not, that's fine, too. It's
in the job description.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">I'm literally groaning as I write this,
however, because even though I personally have <a href="https://www.alittlestrength.com/articles/2022/2207-good-years.htm">eyed 2024</a> as a
compelling year for the Rapture for several years now, a couple of months ago I
actually swore to myself that I wouldn't write anything that smacked of
YouToobery in regard to a 2024 Rapture for the rest of the year—you know, like
"RAPTURE IN 2024!!! IT'S A BIBLE LOCK!!!," <i>ad infinitum, </i></span><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">ad deridiculum.</span></i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;"> I was planning to do my best to
abstain from writing anything sensational about the Rapture possibly being in 2024
until I woke up on the morning of January 2, 2025 (you know, the International
Dateline and all that). Th<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">at was sort
of my New Year's Resolution, more or less. And I have to say it lasted longer
than most I've made in the past.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Which explains why I so seldom make
New Year's Resolutions anymore.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">But here's the thing, and there's really
no way around it. There's no easy way to just toss this all off or summarily
dismiss it all with a wave of the hand. It's difficult to casually write it all
off as coincidence, because...</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The dragon really <i><u>is</u></i> a
snake with legs, and it really <i><u>is</u></i> a creature closely linked with
Satan. And the Chinese really <i><u>have</u></i> worshiped and venerated a
wise, powerful creature remarkably similar to the one that deceived Adam and
Eve in the Garden of Eden since well before the dispersion of people from
Babel. And AD 32 really <i><u>was</u></i> the Year of the Dragon. And there's
an excellent chance that Christ really <i><u>was</u></i> crucified in AD 32.
And so that particular Year of the Dragon really <i><u>may</u></i> have been
the year in which Satan helped arrange to have the Redeemer crucified, wrongly
assuming he had outplayed God. And so it would be extremely fitting if it were <i><u>also</u></i>
in the Year of the Dragon when Satan finally became unrestrained and was able
to launch his efforts to establish his kingdom and ultimately try to outplay
God a second time as soon as the Restrainer is lifted at the Rapture—which
really <i><u>could</u></i> occur in the current year of 2024.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Yes, some of these items qualify as
speculation—but taken all together I believe they paint one clear, compelling
picture.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Oh, I forgot to add one final item to
the above list:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">...and the current year of 2024 really
<i><u>is</u></i> the Year of the Dragon.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">So, as a result of everything we have discussed, it is
with a profound sense of end-time excitement and active anticipation that I say
to you all:</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">Happy Year of the Dragon!</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">Hope to see you all</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">soon and very soon!</span></b></p>
</div>
<br><b><b>From Greg Lauer @ <a href="https://alittlestrength.com/articles/2024/2402-dragon.htm">A Little Strength—FEB '24</a></b><br>
Greg L.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13488517852547324706noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-923571518579487836.post-80062341179966803472024-02-12T09:49:00.003-06:002024-02-12T13:23:11.626-06:00The Church as the Fullness of Christ<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial;"><i>The following Unsealed post is dedicated to brother Dan Matson, who used his math and numerical prowess for the glory of God. We will see you in the air very soon!</i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXJPEF2k-EuJly39g3idDKano7NMUTm0qUzUg46CxbnXyKtVmVUQ75wflt_GIRZz70OZ7FbqQW8fV0b6bfbMsomFIej6BFI0u-xTBXwSedhf_-PkfL5OfqaE0SVLpi6iyvVrW-SQu-6G60MnfcP6yBLdsA4sx32LqqLcy4UJ8Ew1kqhORw9mvyA97kDQ/s1352/MiraculousCatchofFish153.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="984" data-original-width="1352" height="466" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXJPEF2k-EuJly39g3idDKano7NMUTm0qUzUg46CxbnXyKtVmVUQ75wflt_GIRZz70OZ7FbqQW8fV0b6bfbMsomFIej6BFI0u-xTBXwSedhf_-PkfL5OfqaE0SVLpi6iyvVrW-SQu-6G60MnfcP6yBLdsA4sx32LqqLcy4UJ8Ew1kqhORw9mvyA97kDQ/w640-h466/MiraculousCatchofFish153.jpg" width="640" /></a></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white;">Veterans of the faith often hear and speak of the Church as the Bride, Body, or Temple, which are all legitimate, biblical descriptors of born-again believers in this present age. However, when was the last time you heard the Church referred to as "the Fullness?"<span><a name='more'></a></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">This lesser-known reference to the Church as "the Fullness" (of Christ or God) is coined by the apostle Paul:</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><blockquote><span style="font-family: arial;">And He [the Father] put all things under His feet and gave Him [Jesus] to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, <b style="background-color: #fcff01;">the fullness</b> of the One filling all in all (Ephesians 1:22–23, BLB, brackets mine).</span></blockquote></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial;">In the Greek text, the terms are listed one right after the other: The Church. His Body. <i>The Fullness. </i></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial;">Paul writes with a flourishing, poetic style in the original language of Scripture:</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white;"><i>Eph. 1:22–23 (Greek): te ekklesia hetis estin <b>to soma</b> autou <b>to pleroma</b> tou ta panta en pasin pleroumenou</i></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white;">Aside from the skillful alliteration of all the "p" sounds (<i>pleroma, panta, pasin, pleroumenou</i>), the apostle rhymes <i>to soma </i>(the Body) with <i>to pleroma</i> (the Fullness). <i>Soma </i>and <i>Pleroma. </i>The Body and the Fullness.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white;">At the time of this writing, God is still in the process of "filling" the Body. However, the full number of believers is about to reach capacity. Paul affirms this truth later on in Ephesians, again pairing the terms "the Body" and "the Fullness":</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial;"><blockquote><span style="background-color: white;">And He gave some indeed to be apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some shepherds and teachers, toward the perfecting of the saints for the work of ministry, for the building up of </span><b style="background-color: white;">the body of Christ</b><span style="background-color: white;">, until we all may attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a complete man, to the measure of the stature of </span><b style="background-color: #fcff01;">the fullness of Christ</b><span style="background-color: white;"> (4:11–13, BLB).</span></blockquote></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white;">In his other letters, Paul solidifies the tight-knit connection between the terms "Christ" and "Body":</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial;"><blockquote><span style="background-color: white;">For even as the <b>body is one</b>, and has many members, and all the members of the <b>one body</b>, being many, are <b>one body</b>, so also [is] <b>the Christ</b> (1 Corinthians 12:12, LSV).</span></blockquote></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white;">The Body is part and parcel of the complete man, "the Fullness" of Christ. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no man separate!</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial;"><blockquote><span style="background-color: white;">Where there is not Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, slave, and free; but <b>Christ is all and in all</b> (Colossians 3:11, BLB).</span></blockquote></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white;">Where Christ is, there the Body is. And when Christ departs to heaven at the time of the Pre-Tribulation Resurrection and Rapture, the Body goes with Him:</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial;"><blockquote><span style="background-color: white;">And she brought forth a male son, who is about to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, and <b>her child was snatched up to God</b> and to His throne (Revelation 12:5, LSV).</span></blockquote></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span></span><span><!--more--></span><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"><br /></span></h2><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large; font-weight: normal;">"The Fullness" by the Numbers</span></h2></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial;">An instructive passage from the apostle Paul speaks of the delineation and timing of the end of the Church Age and start of Israel's Tribulation period (which will ultimately result in the complete salvation of a chosen remnant from the 12 tribes of Jacob):</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span face="Roboto, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;"><blockquote><span style="color: #001320;"><span style="background-color: white;">Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, </span><b><u style="background-color: white;">until</u><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: #fcff01;">the fullness</span><span style="background-color: white;"> of the Gentiles has come in</span></b><span style="background-color: white;"> (Romans 11:25, ESV).</span></span></blockquote></span><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Note the time marker "until," which indicates there is coming a time when God will decisively shift his attention from the Church back to Israel. In other words, from this text we can infer that the end of the Church Age is signified by "the fullness" of Gentile [believers] being brought into God's house (specifically, they are incorporated into the Body of Christ; Romans 12:5).</span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Paul isn't the only one to point out "the fullness" of Gentile believers during the Church Age. The apostle John, in his own way, confirms the same thing at the end of his Gospel:</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span face="Roboto, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;"><blockquote><span style="color: #001320;">So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, <b>full of large fish, <span style="background-color: yellow;">153</span> of them</b>. And although there were so many, the net was not torn (John 21:11, ESV).</span></blockquote></span><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This momentous event at the conclusion of John's Gospel symbolizes, prefigures, and represents exactly what Paul explains in Romans 11:25; namely, Jesus' chosen apostles will be sent out as "fishers of men" to bring in a large number of Gentiles during this present age. And note: even though there are so many in the net, <u>not one fish is lost</u>, because "the net was not torn." This point echoes Jesus' words in John 6:39, <i>"This is the will of Him who sent Me: <b>that I should lose <u>none</u> of those He has given Me</b> but should raise them up on the last day" </i>and John 10:28, <i>"I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, <b>and no one will snatch them out of my hand</b>."</i></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In short, Paul's "fullness of the Gentiles" (i.e., the complete number of Gentiles in the Body of Christ) is represented in John as a peculiar number: <i><b>153</b>.</i></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To the average reader, this number is a little strange but ultimately means nothing in the grand scheme of things. I'm sure that some commentaries will merely state that this was the specific number of fish in the net, and that fishermen count their fish, nothing more, nothing less. Yada, yada. <i>YEAH RIGHT!</i></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of course it means something! This is deep!</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">John's original audience, mainly Gentiles, were familiar with the mathematics of Greek legends such as Archimedes, Euclid, and Pythagoras. Curiously enough, just try doing an online search of "Archimedes Measurement of a Circle" and you will soon discover a familiar architectural design found in many ancient churches: <i>the vesica piscis</i> (literally, "the bladder of a fish"). It is pictorially represented like this:</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrrKdLtNrze5O-I-tMpqmhsE_6IwbycnbqbXxqRnchpZCLbhvgg8JiBaWDulW_dOZcGKopWv0_vvCM5jtPvu4neuZd0U5UXt5xdvOUE1GR_2i6jTZEagLHn7sHY344mwWeIJztp4ZDzX9xk8kbacfitcJXCXWM_l96mCu14JytDM2F5Q-t9HNA84q-VQ/s320/Vesica_Piscis_Dimensions.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="214" data-original-width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrrKdLtNrze5O-I-tMpqmhsE_6IwbycnbqbXxqRnchpZCLbhvgg8JiBaWDulW_dOZcGKopWv0_vvCM5jtPvu4neuZd0U5UXt5xdvOUE1GR_2i6jTZEagLHn7sHY344mwWeIJztp4ZDzX9xk8kbacfitcJXCXWM_l96mCu14JytDM2F5Q-t9HNA84q-VQ/s16000/Vesica_Piscis_Dimensions.png" /></a></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Archimedes (circa 3rd-century B.C.) came up with this equation for the measurement of a circle, which later became associated with fish (go figure!). Here's the Wiki entry for "<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/153_(number)&source=gmail&ust=1707751214991000&usg=AOvVaw36hniWetbF3tS_iU6vsDDI" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/153_(number)" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">153 (number)</a>": </div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #202122;"></span><blockquote><span style="color: #202122;"><span face="sans-serif">The number 153 is associated with the geometric shape known as the </span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vesica_Piscis&source=gmail&ust=1707751214991000&usg=AOvVaw1GJB3IVpk7blrHHi8upN60" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vesica_Piscis" style="background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: sans-serif; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank" title="Vesica Piscis">Vesica Piscis</a><span face="sans-serif"> or Mandorla. </span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archimedes&source=gmail&ust=1707751214991000&usg=AOvVaw0xIWtrAC3CV3QHO1LPT3E9" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archimedes" style="background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: sans-serif; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank" title="Archimedes">Archimedes</a><span face="sans-serif">, in his </span><i style="font-family: sans-serif;"><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Measurement_of_a_Circle&source=gmail&ust=1707751214991000&usg=AOvVaw0-QaZHQgiZG1To_5WtYh1f" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Measurement_of_a_Circle" style="background: none; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank" title="Measurement of a Circle">Measurement of a Circle</a></i><span face="sans-serif">, referred to this ratio (153/265), as constituting the 'measure of the fish'...</span></span></blockquote><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #202122; font-size: 14px;"></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you read on further in the Wiki article, you'll notice that <b>153</b> is also referred to by mathematicians as a "triangular number." In other words, it is a number that is produced when the first 17 integers are added up: 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 + 9 + 10 + 11 + 12 + 13 + 14 + 15 + 16 + 17 = <b>153.</b></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In other words, "the fullness" of Gentiles signified by the catch of "153 fish" can be pictorially represented as an equilateral triangle like this:</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5NtzkDUZsKS9HovviddL8zwhraZZoNePuaROg61RZTRwzMe3jC1V1_Fa-jCqMxbDjW31qsaGZENrMDzV0sPCi6JbAjUunQirLMuX7TpbL7OKEC18_Gbyl8hDseaNhP4kOMbYDHBHp6vKGtrXrIOTYQxu5-2diy677BT9bbtxXubFyNaWW69T6TKmtvA/s386/360px-153_Triangular.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="386" data-original-width="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5NtzkDUZsKS9HovviddL8zwhraZZoNePuaROg61RZTRwzMe3jC1V1_Fa-jCqMxbDjW31qsaGZENrMDzV0sPCi6JbAjUunQirLMuX7TpbL7OKEC18_Gbyl8hDseaNhP4kOMbYDHBHp6vKGtrXrIOTYQxu5-2diy677BT9bbtxXubFyNaWW69T6TKmtvA/s16000/360px-153_Triangular.gif" /></a></div><br /><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The visual representations of the <i>vesica piscis</i> and equilateral triangle are both highly suggestive of the work of our TRIUNE God (Father, Son, Holy Spirit: THREE in One)—a.k.a. <i>the Trinity</i>. His fingerprints are ALL OVER the natural creation with its myriad geometrical designs AND the text of Scripture (such as John 21:11).</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And if the 153 triangle number isn't enough, there is <b><u>another</u></b> triangle number at the end of the book of Acts that also represents the complete or full number of Gentiles being saved at the end of the Church Age. Luke records in Acts 27:37:</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span face="Roboto, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;"><blockquote><span style="color: #001320;">In all there were <b><span style="background-color: yellow;">276</span> of us</b> on the ship.</span></blockquote></span><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not one of whom was lost according to Acts 27:24, 34, and 44!</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We have already gone into detail how this passage prefigures the end of the Church Age (see "<a href="https://www.unsealed.org/2021/01/inauguration-inflection-point-prophetic.html" target="_blank">Inauguration Inflection Point</a>"); however, for our purposes here, just note that this specific number given in Acts is also TRIANGULAR. Whereas 153 is the <i>17th</i> triangular number (signifying complete victory or fullness), 276 is the <i>23rd</i> triangular number.*</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: #222222;">*</span><i style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Honorable mention: The 15th triangular number and</i><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: #222222;"><i> sum of the first eight triangular numbers</i></span></span><i style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, <b>120</b>, signifies the full number of the Church at its inception and solidifies the Body of Christ as Paul's "Restrainer" in 1 Thess. 2:7. For an in-depth analysis, please see the Unsealed article: "<a href="https://www.unsealed.org/2023/02/the-number-120-and-biblical-theology-of.html" target="_blank">The Number 120 and a Biblical Theology of the Restrainer</a>."</i></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And that's not all folks! There is yet another triangular number in the Bible representing the fullness of something...albeit, something more <i>sinister...</i></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span face="Roboto, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #001320;"><blockquote>This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding <b>calculate the number of the beast</b>, for it is <b>the number of a man</b>, and his number is <b style="background-color: yellow;">666</b> (Revelation 13:18, ESV).</blockquote></span></span><i style="color: #222222;"><br /></i></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yes, and there it is. The <i>36th</i> triangular number is also the number of the antichrist and the number of a man (falling short of perfection: 777). Pictorially, 666 can be represented as another equilateral triangle:</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVqdkv7hm8QgOCjYT2wrYwK3CJkg54Blcd7O3gUbd4XOt1ggaIY3HszV6_Q9DQQn2V9Lh-ZvcMF_cnhYIhB-DrQCPahF6HqKsKkx-akSobnwhArLKQw6BUhhdTv5zlYH39WtmMkQoUAI6W17dS9UA_M7-Od3ElHE_QNO-pTy_tb3axLcjLFWn_0TSfIA/s550/unnamed.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="550" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVqdkv7hm8QgOCjYT2wrYwK3CJkg54Blcd7O3gUbd4XOt1ggaIY3HszV6_Q9DQQn2V9Lh-ZvcMF_cnhYIhB-DrQCPahF6HqKsKkx-akSobnwhArLKQw6BUhhdTv5zlYH39WtmMkQoUAI6W17dS9UA_M7-Od3ElHE_QNO-pTy_tb3axLcjLFWn_0TSfIA/s16000/unnamed.png" /></a></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span><!--more--></span><u><br /></u></b></div><h2 style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;">"The Fullness" and the End-Times</span></h2><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you didn't get enough math in your daily Bible regimen, here's another deep dive for you that confirms the significance of our Church-related triangle numbers of 153 and 276. **Keep in mind that the Greek word for disciple is <i><b><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.google.com/search?q%3Dmathetes%26oq%3Dmathetes%26gs_lcrp%3DEgZjaHJvbWUyCQgAEEUYORiABDIHCAEQABiABDIHCAIQABiABDIHCAMQABiABDIHCAQQABiABDIHCAUQABiABDIHCAYQABiABDIHCAcQABiABDIHCAgQABiABDIJCAkQABgKGIAE0gEIMjI4MmowajeoAgCwAgA%26sourceid%3Dchrome%26ie%3DUTF-8&source=gmail&ust=1707751214991000&usg=AOvVaw3cZScFeeYlqR94fk50Il7V" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=mathetes&oq=mathetes&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyCQgAEEUYORiABDIHCAEQABiABDIHCAIQABiABDIHCAMQABiABDIHCAQQABiABDIHCAUQABiABDIHCAYQABiABDIHCAcQABiABDIHCAgQABiABDIJCAkQABgKGIAE0gEIMjI4MmowajeoAgCwAgA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">math</a></b>etes </i>(ahhhhh, Math!)**</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This next geometrical mind-explosion relates to Methusaleh (whose name means, "his death shall bring [the flood]"). Thus, Methusaleh lived and died as an "end-times" sign:</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span face="Roboto, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;"><blockquote><span style="color: #001320;">Thus all the days of Methuselah were <b style="background-color: yellow;">969</b> years, and he died (Genesis 5:27, ESV).</span></blockquote></span><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Recall that 153 is the 17th triangular number. Well, 969 is the <i>17th</i> <i>tetrahedral</i> number—it is the sum of the first <b>17</b> <b>triangular numbers!</b></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghLIX6J0RfDYxMDjvjh-3mMAmywUrqgsrBbF3hRrFA5heJF-1o_PNRf2-GYQwZX99-kszrnhrwIgZxXLvBc2noIGAgDvz_SlPtTEgW2DWTLCL1UUiQySGj7PFsJ1N08Ep_MJQkOguAEx9wyprZ9zQ_nIx0vtcFeBE41e8oa9N5uhUHTe87S9U5rsmusg/s540/unnamed%20(1).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="352" data-original-width="540" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghLIX6J0RfDYxMDjvjh-3mMAmywUrqgsrBbF3hRrFA5heJF-1o_PNRf2-GYQwZX99-kszrnhrwIgZxXLvBc2noIGAgDvz_SlPtTEgW2DWTLCL1UUiQySGj7PFsJ1N08Ep_MJQkOguAEx9wyprZ9zQ_nIx0vtcFeBE41e8oa9N5uhUHTe87S9U5rsmusg/s16000/unnamed%20(1).png" /></a></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; text-align: center;">Source: <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://findthefactors.com/2017/11/28/969/&source=gmail&ust=1707751214991000&usg=AOvVaw15KfuOA6YEZnzrJjalBj8o" href="https://findthefactors.com/2017/11/28/969/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Find The Factors</a></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Amazing!</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, the number representing the fullness of Gentiles in the Church Age (153) also connects to the Methusaleh number of 969. Both of these numbers in their respective biblical contexts deal with the end or conclusion of an era: </div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">153 = End of the Church Age</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">969 = End of the Pre-Flood Age</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thus, we have further confirmation that the Church will be like Methusaleh and Enoch (Genesis 5:24, 27), one who is suddenly cut off from the land of the living, and yet one who is also a living Body taken away and snatched up to heaven before the "flood" of judgment begins. Think: both the dead and the living in Christ taken away before the Tribulation, as confirmed by the apostle Paul in 1 Thess. 4:16–17!</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Hallelujah! </i>The sovereignty of God at work in all things is praiseworthy!</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span face="Roboto, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;"><b style="background-color: yellow; color: #001320;"></b><blockquote><span style="color: #001320;"><b style="background-color: yellow;">For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen</b> (Romans 11:36, BSB).</span></blockquote></span></div><br />Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05481514981109300522noreply@blogger.com58tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-923571518579487836.post-27375974223385872312024-02-06T06:28:00.003-06:002024-03-02T00:14:51.909-06:00Delusion Confusion<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlF1jx196LyP5UQdSf2ZMsqQlt6epcZBD8ghDsUgjUhTtdTHawe4ZyHDySJHmkkTL5X1s8T5zAOjzpZYWWVkTEZ8SUvPCouTVDLoKMlRkFwbjQFDEbDaRB50Ux-UB0NOd41jSMG8FAIhYU9Zf6qyUOrKjAx70kLWUow6f_I5WGhL1YGevo5oeDO3m_wg/s600/Delusion.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="372" data-original-width="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlF1jx196LyP5UQdSf2ZMsqQlt6epcZBD8ghDsUgjUhTtdTHawe4ZyHDySJHmkkTL5X1s8T5zAOjzpZYWWVkTEZ8SUvPCouTVDLoKMlRkFwbjQFDEbDaRB50Ux-UB0NOd41jSMG8FAIhYU9Zf6qyUOrKjAx70kLWUow6f_I5WGhL1YGevo5oeDO3m_wg/s600/Delusion.jpg" width="600" /></a></div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">Many believers have heard of the
"strong delusion" that the apostle Paul mentions in his second letter
to the Thessalonians; and as an increasingly dazed and confused world tumbles
headlong into the run-up to the Tribulation, this topic seems to be receiving a
bit more attention in certain circles.</span></p><span><a name='more'></a></span>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">Although it's true that in the past I
have seen many good people fail to properly understand and interpret the strong
delusion in various ways and to varying degrees, I recently watched a video by one
of my absolute favorite Bible teachers (and no names are needed because I have
nothing but the sincerest love and deepest respect for this individual, and
nothing I say in this article is meant as criticism) that made me realize that
this particular scriptural topic and the misunderstanding thereof is becoming a
bit more prevalent and pronounced as the world inexorably lurches into the sequence
of events that will usher in Daniel's 70th Week.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">Although I have written about the
strong delusion </span><a href="https://www.alittlestrength.com/articles/2020/2001-delusion-redux.htm"><span face=""",sans-serif">before</span></a><span face=""",sans-serif">, what I want to do in this article is
briefly revisit it so I can focus my attention on its widespread
misinterpretation, and discuss in greater depth why I am convinced from
Scripture that some of the things that are widely taught and believed about it
today are in error.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">My approach to this topic is going to
be a bit like that of a doctor:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">First clean the wound,
and then dress it.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">To that end, first we will consider
the errant view of the strong delusion that is so often promulgated by many good
Bible teachers today (cleaning the wound). After that, we will take a closer
look at what Paul actually says in his second letter to the Thessalonians in
regard to this strong delusion and the context in which he mentions it. And by
the time we finish, I believe it will be quite clear that this popular view is
in error and why (dressing the wound).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">And again, I feel compelled to stress
that I don't mean any of what I am going to say in this article as a criticism
of some well-loved and highly respected ministers of the Word—it's just that I
think a clear and compelling scriptural case can be made that this
"delusion confusion" misses the mark, and I feel led to humbly and respectfully
offer up some solid scriptural reasons why I am convinced this is the case.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;">Deception <span style="color: #404040;">à gogo</span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Unless you've been living
on another planet for a number of years (perhaps one devoid of politics and the
requisite politicians), no one need tell you that the world is being plunged deeper
and deeper into deception and being sucked into a maelstrom of misinformation.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Uhm...or is it <u>dis</u>information?
Before we continue, let's pause to get a few key terms straight because these
things are not quite the same:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">1.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> <b>Misinformation</b>
is simply wrong or erroneous information. Although it may not be deliberately
spread for the purpose of causing people to believe things that are not true,
that is all too frequently the result.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">2.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> <b>Disinformation</b>
is misinformation that <i><u>is</u></i> deliberately spread for the purpose of
causing people (often rivals or enemies) to believe things that are not true
for the purpose of gaining a strategic advantage or achieving a specific goal.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">3.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> <b>Deception</b> is the
act of <i>deceiving</i> someone, or deliberately misleading them by causing
them to believe something that is not true, in many cases with an ulterior
motive that is malicious or injurious in nature.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">4.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> <b>Delusion</b> is the
act of <i>deluding</i> someone, or deceiving them so thoroughly that they reach
the point where they believe something that is irrational or demonstrably false
and known to be so by many others.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">5.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> <b>Confusion</b> is when
someone is faced with (possibly a great deal of) unclear and/or contradictory
information (typically both true <i>and</i> false) and as a result simply doesn't
know <i>what</i> to believe.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">I scarcely need to do a
whole lotta digging on this one—most of us already know and many others are
beginning to awaken to the reality that we are being inundated with lies and
deception, and it's just getting worse and worse. And it's getting worse <i>quickly.</i>
(Hmm...just where <i>did</i> I put that soapbox of mine? Ah, there it is.) For
example:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">•</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> Over just the last few years, we have
reached the point where billions of people willingly line up for a vaccine that
has <i>always</i> been known by certain experts to be neither safe nor
effective, to treat a virus that has <i>always</i> been known by certain
experts to be on par with the common flu, primarily because people believe the
lies and the inflated statistics peddled by a compliant mainstream media and Big
Pharma companies who are raking in untold billions in profits and who will
stoop to absolutely <i>anything</i> to ensure that continues.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">•</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> The United States saw a feeble puppet of a
man installed in the White House through blatant, well-planned fraud so that a
cabal of globalists could pull the strings to tear America down with capricious
impunity. This was done in order to cut the legs out from under this country in
order to pave the way toward a global government that they have been deceived
by the Deceiver himself into believing is necessary to save the world and all
of mankind.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">•</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> And now in an election year, we are
witnessing the continued evolution of blatant schemes and various species of
legal (or perhaps I should say <i>illegal</i>) chicanery crafted to ensure the
globalist's candidate of choice (whoever that may be) emerges
"victorious" in place of the people's candidate of choice (whoever <i><u>that</u></i>
may be).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">And it just goes on and
on. We the people are being lied to—deluged with misinformation and
disinformation, and as a result we are being deceived by institutions that we could
once trust...but no more. And frankly that seems unlikely to change anytime in
the foreseeable future.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">In all fairness, as a
result of this tsunami of misinformation, disinformation, deception, delusion,
and confusion the world is unquestionably being overtaken by, is it really any
wonder that a lot of good, Bible-believing folks instinctively want to focus
their attention on the idea of there being a "strong delusion" coming
upon the world during the end times and proceed to connect it to what we see happening
today?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">"C'mon...open your
eyes, dude! That strong delusion is <u>HERE</u>!"</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">And with this deluge of
deception on their minds, many believers turn to the Word...<i>as they should.</i>
They want to know what the Word of God has to say about all this, and they go
searching for insight into what it all means in the only place we really have
any business doing any serious searching.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">And what do they find?
What do they come up with concerning deception, delusion, and confusion in the
end times and related things?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">In the video I mentioned
that prompted me to write this article, the teacher started out by wisely and
correctly settling the issue that some might struggle with in connection with
God sending a strong delusion, and that is Paul's words to the church in
Corinth:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">26</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">How is it then, brothers? when you come together, every one of
you has a psalm, has a doctrine, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an
interpretation. Let all things be done to edifying. <b><sup>27</sup></b>If any
man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and
that by course; and let one interpret. <b><sup>28</sup></b>But if there be no
interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself,
and to God. <b><sup>29</sup></b>Let the prophets speak two or three, and let
the other judge. <b><sup>30</sup></b>If any thing be revealed to another that
sits by, let the first hold his peace. <b><sup>31</sup></b>For you may all
prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be comforted. <b><sup>32</sup></b>And
the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. <b><sup>33</sup>For
God is not the author of <i>confusion,</i></b> </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[Greek: a form of <i>akatastasia</i>, or
instability, disorder, tumult, etc.]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.<br><br>
(1 Corinthians 14:26–33 AKJV / emphasis & </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[comments]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> added)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Many translations read
something along the lines of "God is not a God of confusion," which
arguably more closely resembles the Greek syntax. But some people look at the
Bible and question how we can square this verse with the idea of God sending a
strong delusion, which...you know, is kinda sorta like confusion (well, not
exactly—see the above definitions).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">The author of the video comes
at this from the angle that although God may not be the <i>author</i> of
confusion, He is the <i>sender</i> of confusion. He proceeds to list about
seven or eight places in the Old Testament where God does indeed send some
manner of confusion to a group of people for some reason (Gen. 11:7–9; Exod.
14:24; Exod. 23:27; Deut. 28:20; Josh. 10:10; etc.).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">And this is absolutely correct,
because God clearly <i><u>does</u></i> send confusion to certain groups of
people in certain circumstances throughout the Bible—the Word is perfectly
clear on this. But as a matter of fact, the author of the video didn't really have
to do that, and that's because this is not the sort of thing Paul is talking
about in 1 Corinthians anyway. In the above passage, Paul is talking about
order in a worship service, and pointing out that God's Spirit does not operate
in believers in ways that are chaotic or disorderly (a fact that many charismatic
groups would do well to take note of, but I digress).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">That's why I did something
very few others seem to do when they refer to this verse and took the liberty
of including the previous seven verses in order to remind you of the context of
Paul's words, which should not be ignored.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">As you can see, this is one
of the issues Paul deals with in this first letter to the Corinthians, and that
is the utter chaos that was characterizing their worship services due to
blatant, excessive abuse of the supernatural sign gifts of the Holy Spirit that
were in full, legitimate operation at the time (AD 53–54).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="system-ui" style="color: black;">What Paul is basically doing is
telling the believers in Corinth that God does not want the atmosphere in any worship
service to be one of chaos, disorder, and babbling that was devoid of meaning.
Paul is seeking to make the Corinthians understand that God wants their worship
of Him to be characterized by peace and order—by knowledge and edification in
the Holy Spirit.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="system-ui" style="color: black;">With that out of the way, however,
the author of the video proceeds to focus on the same passage of Scripture that
legions of others gravitate to when they talk about the strong delusion as he seeks
to conflate it with what we see happening in the world today, and that's Jesus'
opening salvo to His disciples in the Olivet Discourse in the book of Matthew:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">3</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">And as he sat on the mount of Olives, the disciples came to him
privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the
sign of your coming, and of the end of the world?<br><br>
<b>4</b> And Jesus answered and said to them, <b>Take heed that no man
<i>deceive</i> you</b>. </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[Greek: a form of <i>planaó,</i> or
to deceive, lead astray, etc.]</span><br><br>
<span class="MsoBodyText" style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">(Matthew
24:3–4 AKJV / emphasis & </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[comments]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> added)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Jesus is about to launch
into a discussion of the end times, which in this case focuses on the period
that includes the run-up to and the entire Tribulation (which is just about
where we are now). Of course, you could certainly argue that verse 4 speaks to
conditions today, as Satan is increasingly inundating the world with lies and
deception meant to lead people ever further from the truth of the gospel and to
prepare the world for his coming surrogate's 42-month kingdom. I suspect few
would dispute that.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">Satan knows it's almost
showtime, and he is getting ready for the curtain to come up at the Rapture. And
you think there's deception <u>now</u>?</span></i></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">After the Rapture, it's going to be deception à gogo.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">That said, however, I guarantee
you that Jesus' words will mean much more to those who become believers during
the Tribulation. And I say that because as we get past the Rapture and into the
Tribulation proper, you can be sure that with the Restrainer out of the way,
Satan's deception will get ramped up to levels that will dwarf what we are
experiencing today.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">That is a sobering thought
indeed, and that means Jesus' admonition to not be deceived or led astray will
take on even more profound levels of significance as we get into Daniel's 70th
Week.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;">The lie is out there:</span></i></b><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;"> For example, not long
after the Rapture, I am convinced Satan will break out <u>his</u> explanation
for this incredible supernatural event to blind people's minds to the truth of
the Bible's explanation. Judging from what some New Agers are
"channeling" from demonic entities, Satan has </span></i><a href="https://www.alittlestrength.com/articles/2023/2306-disclosure.htm"><i><span face=""",sans-serif">prepared</span></i></a><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;"> an exotic tale of how
an advanced race of extraterrestrials have been visiting our planet for a long
time, and have decided to come to help mankind evolve spiritually and get
through the coming period of earth changes (i.e. the judgments of the
Tribulation). To help prepare mankind for this tumultuous period, these
benevolent aliens have seen fit to suddenly evacuate several hundred million
people from earth (those simply unprepared to evolve spiritually...tsk tsk tsk)
to a fleet of spacecraft waiting nearby, where they will be patiently and
loving retrained until they are ready to evolve spiritually and rejoin the rest
of mankind here on a planet that will be enjoying life in the fourth (fifth?)
dimension. To borrow Ripley's tagline: "Believe it or not."</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">But as I said, the interpretational
error that so many make today is to read 2 Thessalonians 2:11 and automatically
assume that the strong delusion is part and parcel of the lies and deception we
are witnessing in the world today, which arguably constitute the first baby
steps of the deception that Jesus warns of in Matthew 24:4. And at this point,
we have effectively cleaned the wound.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">To see more clearly <i>why</i>
this is an error, however, we need to take a closer look at what Paul wrote to
the Thessalonians. Now it's time to dress it.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 14pt;">The biggest
Big Lie of all</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Although it was certainly one
of the most cringeworthy species of disinformation I have ever witnessed, it
cracked me up three years ago when the liberal left and the mainstream media labeled
the "baseless" idea that Trump lost the 2020 election due to
widespread voter fraud as the "Big Lie," and it cracked me up because
I couldn't help but think to myself...</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">You think <u>that's</u> the
"Big Lie"?! You people ain't seen nothin' yet!</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">OK, so why <i>can't</i> we
just wheel in the strong delusion whenever we talk about all the deception we
see overtaking the world today? Delusion is delusion—deception is deception,
right? What's the big deal?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Here is the full passage
all this revolves around:</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><em><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: "DejaVu Sans";">1</span></sup></b></em><em><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: "DejaVu Sans"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Now we beseech you,
brothers, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by<b> </b>our
gathering together to him,</span></em><em><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: "DejaVu Sans";"> <b><sup>2</sup></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">That you 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.</span> <b><sup>3</sup>Let no man <i>deceive</i> you by any
means:</b> </span></em><em><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: "DejaVu Sans";">[Paul uses a line similar to what Jesus said in Matt. 24:4 in the
Olivet Discourse, although he uses a different word for "deceive" in
Greek: here a form of <i>exapataó,</i> or to deceive, wholly
seduce, etc. </span></em><em><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: "DejaVu Sans";">(*see remarks below).]</span></em><em><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: "DejaVu Sans";">
for that day shall not come, except there come <b>a falling away</b>
first, </span></em><em><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: "DejaVu Sans";">[and I am firmly in the camp that is convinced this can be nothing but
the Rapture]</span></em><em><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: "DejaVu Sans";"> and that
man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; <b><sup>4</sup></b>Who opposes
and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that
he as God sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. <b><sup>5</sup></b>Remember
you not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? <b><sup>6</sup></b>And
now you know what withholds that he might be revealed in his time. <b><sup>7</sup></b>For
the mystery of iniquity does already work: only he who now <b>lets</b> will <b>let</b>,
</span></em><em><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: "DejaVu Sans";">[i.e. <i>restrain</i>...using the word "let" in this way is an Elizabethanism
that the "American" King James translators neglected to
"Americanize" for some odd reason]</span></em><em><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: "DejaVu Sans";"> <b>until he be taken out of the way</b>. </span></em><em><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: "DejaVu Sans";">[This can be <i>nothing</i> but the Holy Spirit being removed at the Rapture.]</span></em><em><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: "DejaVu Sans";"> <b><sup>8</sup></b>And then shall <b>that
Wicked</b> </span></em><em><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: "DejaVu Sans";">[i.e. the Antichrist]</span></em><em><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: "DejaVu Sans";"> be
revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall
destroy with the brightness of his coming: <b><sup>9</sup></b>Even him, whose
coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying
wonders, <b><sup>10</sup></b>And with all delusion of unrighteousness in them
that perish; <b>because they received not the love of the truth, that they
might be saved</b>. </span></em><em><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: "DejaVu Sans";">[There's the reason for the delusion.]</span></em><em><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: "DejaVu Sans";"> <b><sup>11</sup></b>And for this cause <b><span style="background: rgb(255, 255, 136);">God shall send them <i><u>strong delusion</u>,</i> that they should believe <i><u>a lie</u></i>:</span></b></em><em><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: "DejaVu Sans";"> </span></b></em><em><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: "DejaVu Sans";">[...<i>singular.</i> Note that this delusion is sent
by God to make people believe <i><u>one lie</u>.</i> The Greek word used here
for "delusion" is <i>plané,</i> a form derived from </span></em><em><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "DejaVu Sans";"><i>planaó</i> used in Matt. 24:4 and meaning deceit, delusion,
error, etc. (**see remarks below).]</span></em><em><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: "DejaVu Sans";"> <b><sup>12</sup>That they all might be damned who believed
not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. </b></span></em><em><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: "DejaVu Sans";">[God sends a strong delusion
to cause those who have staunchly rejected everything He has done to reach them
to thoroughly believe one eternally damning lie as a form of His righteous
judgment...and they believe it and their fate is sealed.]</span></em><br><br>
<span class="MsoBodyText" style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><em><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: "DejaVu Sans";">(2 Thessalonians 2:1–12 AKJV / emphasis & </span></em><em><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: "DejaVu Sans";">[comments]</span></em><em><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: "DejaVu Sans";"> added)</span></em></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">*Note that although I did
mention the key Greek words used in the above passages of Scripture, I decided
to refrain from getting into a heavy-duty word study since even though the
words used in 1 Corinthians 14:33, Matthew 24:4, and 2 Thessalonians 2:3 and 11
are actually four different words in Greek, their meanings and usages are predictably
straightforward.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">When I began work on
this article, I thought there might be some subtle nuances in the Greek that
would jump out at me and provide further insight or enlightenment as to the
meaning and application of these passages, but there really isn't as much of
that sort of thing as I thought there might be. As it turns out, the key takeaway
is simply this:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Satan causes people to
believe things that are not true to harm, control, and <i><u>prevent</u></i>
them from believing the truth, while God causes people to believe things that
are not true as a form of His divine judgment on people who <i><u>refuse</u></i>
to believe the truth.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">So in the end I decided to
pass on the big word study, take things pretty much at face value, and press
on.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">**The focal point is verse
11:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Because people have
refused (not merely failed...<i><u>refused</u></i>) to "receive the love
of the truth," or believe in faith that God sent His Son the <i><u>real</u></i>
Messiah to die on a cross 2,000 years ago to pay the penalty for their sin so
they might be saved (not to mention refusing to change their minds in spite of
witnessing God's hand moving in judgment during the first part of the
Tribulation as described in Revelation 6:16–17), God sends <b>a strong delusion</b>
to cause such people to ultimately believe <i>one, singular lie.</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">This, in its full essence,
is the nature of the strong delusion. Now, note with care the context in which God
sends the strong delusion:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Paul describes the
revealing of the Antichrist in verses 8–9, and in the next breath describes the
strong delusion that God will send to make people who have rejected Jesus
Christ as the Messiah to believe <i>one Big Lie.</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Now, please understand
that the full revelation of the Antichrist—when he is fully revealed to the
world for exactly who and what he is and launches his 42-month kingdom—occurs
around the midpoint of the Tribulation, when he stages a phony
"resurrection" and desecrates the new Third Temple and is presented
to the world as the long-awaited Messiah, who is God in the flesh (as was Jesus
in reality) and who must be worshiped as God on pain of death (Rev. 13).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">So God sends the strong
delusion around the time of the revelation of the Antichrist to cause hardened
unbelievers to believe one Big Lie. Why? Because they have stubbornly refused
to believe in Christ as their Messiah.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Oooh-kay. Pardon me for
saying, but...</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">If it's not starting to
dawn on you what this Big Lie is by now, then I really don't know what else to
say to you.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">As you consider everything
we have discussed up to this point, it becomes crystal clear what the nature of
the Big Lie is:</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">God deludes these hardened unbelievers</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">who have rejected <i><u>Christ</u>,</i>
the real Messiah,</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">into believing the <i><u>Antichrist</u></i>
is their Messiah.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">And He does so as a form
of His divine, sovereign judgment that will damn every last one of them to an
eternity of separation from a holy, just, loving God who made every effort to
get them to respond to the incredible outpouring of grace and mercy that He
expressed to them through Christ...but they would have none of it and instead
chose to have "pleasure in unrighteousness."</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">So, here's a summary of
what we have so far:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">•</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">In
Matthew 24:4, Jesus is speaking prophetically to people who become believers
during the time frame of the Tribulation, and this primarily includes but is
not limited to the believing Jewish remnant (not the Church, which is removed prior
to the period of time Jesus is talking about). He is admonishing such believers
to not allow themselves to be deceived or led astray by the satanic deception
that will engulf the world during that period of time, which will comprise a <i>massive</i>
number of lies and <i>tons</i> of deception and disinformation designed to lead
people away from the truth of the gospel. That's Satan's forte.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">•</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> In 2 Thessalonians 2:11, God sends the strong
delusion on hardened unbelievers (primarily unbelieving Israel) who have stridently
and persistently rejected Christ as their Messiah. He does this around the
midpoint of the Tribulation, after the Antichrist has been revealed as such following
the abomination of desolation. The purpose of this delusion is to give such
people one last, final push in the direction they are already heading and cause
them to believe one singular lie, and that is that the Antichrist really <i><u>is</u></i>
the Messiah and should be worshiped as God.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;">Deceiving the deceiver:</span></i></b><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;"> I've written about this <a href="https://www.alittlestrength.com/articles/2020/2001-delusion-redux.htm#payback">before</a>, but I just can't pass
up an opportunity to briefly rehash it. One reason God is going to send a
strong delusion primarily to unbelieving Israel to cause them to believe the
Antichrist is their Messiah is because it is a form of "patriarchal
payback," so to speak. In Genesis 27, Jacob (i.e. Israel) deliberately
deceived his father Isaac by pretending to be his older brother Esau in order
to receive the older brother's blessing from an elderly and nearly blind Isaac.
That blessing had clear messianic overtones ("Let people serve you, and
nations bow down to you: be lord over your brothers"), and through his outright
deception, Jacob (Israel) was successfully able to steal that messianic blessing.
But what did Israel <u>as a nation</u> ultimately do with that messianic blessing?
You already know the answer to that one: When the promised Messiah finally showed
up 2,000 years ago, they violently rejected Him and had Him crucified like the
worst of criminals. Well, at the midpoint of the Tribulation, when unbelieving
Israel is face to face with a messianic impostor in the form of the Antichrist,
take a wild guess as to how God will carry out the most exquisite form of poetic
justice on the hard-hearted, stiff-necked, unbelieving portion of His people
Israel.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;">Go ahead...guess.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">And as if that weren't
enough, consider the following two observations, which if nothing else serve as
a little icing on the proverbial cake:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">1.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> When God sends a
delusion on a group of people, are they <i><u>all</u></i> in fact deluded? You
bet they are. Will any of those people really have a choice and be able to
reject that delusion and refrain from believing that lie? Nope...they're <i><u>all</u></i>
gonna be on board: Their minds are already made up. Like I said, God just gives
them one last divine shove in the direction they are already heading by their
own foolish, free-will choices.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">In Matthew 24:4, however,
Jesus is admonishing future believers in the Tribulation period to <i><u>not</u></i>
be deceived. Do these people have a choice? They sure do—that's why Jesus is
warning them. Hopefully, most will follow Christ's admonition and refrain from
falling for Satan's multi-faceted deception, although a few weaker believers
are bound to succumb to the Deceiver's lies. If it was a certainty that none
would do so, why would Jesus feel the need to put such strong emphasis on this
warning to not be deceived and highlight it at the very outset of His discussion?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">And just to be clear: When
I say that "a few weaker believers are bound to succumb to the Deceiver's
lies," I am referencing the fact that after the Rapture and during the
Tribulation, those who come to believe the gospel will not enjoy the same
sealing and indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit that Church Age believers
are blessed with. They will have to maintain a faithful witness under great
duress in order to make it through the Tribulation and ultimately be granted
access to the Millennial Kingdom at the <a href="https://www.alittlestrength.com/articles/2023/2304-parables.htm">Sheep and Goat Judgment</a>.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">Some will, and some won't.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">2.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> Paul tells us in verse
12 that all the unbelievers to whom that strong delusion is sent will be
damned. That is, they will <i><u>never</u></i> be saved and will spend eternity
separated from God. Now, consider this carefully:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">What kind of lie, if
believed, would preclude a person's salvation? What manner of falsehood, if
fallen for, would absolutely prevent someone from believing in faith that Jesus
Christ is the Messiah, sent from God and whose death and resurrection purchased
their redemption?</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">For example, what if the
lie Paul is referring to is that an alien race visiting earth really <i><u>did</u></i>
mysteriously evacuate all those millions of people? If an unsaved person during
the Tribulation actually <i>believed</i> that lie, would it prevent them from
ever coming to faith in Christ? As foolish as that is, no...not necessarily. Coming
to a saving faith in Christ would quickly and easily dispel such nonsense. The
point is that the <i><u>only</u></i> species of lie that would absolutely
prevent a person from believing that Christ is the Messiah sent by God to
redeem mankind is a lie that somehow completely <i>refutes and replaces</i>
this requisite belief that is the basis for salvation.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">And believing Satan's
man the Antichrist really <i><u>is</u></i> that Messiah is <i>precisely</i> such
a lie. Would believing <i><u>that</u></i> damn you for eternity? It sure would.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">So in the final analysis, there is simply no scriptural
or logical way around it:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The strong delusion Paul speaks of is <i><u>not</u></i>
simply part of the general avalanche of deception the world is currently being swallowed
up in as we approach the Tribulation and Satan does the prep work for his man
the Antichrist's coming-out party that is slated for its midpoint.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Simply put:</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">We <i>cannot</i> conflate the strong delusion with</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">the
current deception we see in the world today.</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">These.
Are. Two. Different. Things.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">So don't do that.</span></i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">
The bottom line is that the strong delusion is a very specific delusion sent to
a very specific group of people at a very specific time and for a very specific
purpose, and so should not be connected to, mistaken for, or casually mixed in
with the general deception Satan is flooding and will continue to flood the
world with in preparation for his man the Antichrist's brief and ultimately
doomed kingdom of lies.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 14pt;">Doctor's
orders</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">One last time...I'm not trying to get on anyone's
case here. It's just that the error of conflating the strong delusion of 2
Thessalonians 2:11 with the increasing deception we are now witnessing has
become commonplace and is being widely taught and believed by many in the
Church.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">And it is an <u>error</u>.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">You know, maybe it's just me, but it just pours prune
juice on my Rice Krispies when I see God's Word misinterpreted and
misunderstood that way by so many good people. And when I keep seeing it, at
some point the Holy Spirit might drop it in my in-box and the next thing I know
the wheels start turning.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">In reality, one could argue that it makes no real
difference to us as Church Age believers how we view the strong delusion
because we won't be here to witness it anyway. So, any such "delusion
confusion" on our part is academic, right?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">But it's like they say: The simple truth is that the
truth is not that simple. You know, I started out treating this topic like a
doctor, and so I may as well finish in the same vein (no pun intended, but I'll
take it).</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><i><u><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">Any</span></u></i></b><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">
errors in biblical interpretation are</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">dangerous
because they're like bacteria:</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">They
spread and cause infection.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The problem is that if you have an errant view of
one thing in Scripture, it is likely to give you an errant view of a related
thing. And <i>that</i> causes you to have an errant view of something <i>else,</i>
and so on and so forth on down the line.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">And the next thing you know, you have a full-blown
scriptural infection.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">For example, let's say you believe the Rapture
occurs at the end of the Tribulation. OK, fine. <i>("That's all
right...let's just agree to disagree.")</i> Then you read about all those
people getting saved in Revelation 7, and since according to <u>your</u> view
the Church is still on earth, <i>these people must be Church Age believers.</i>
Then in Revelation 16:15 you read "</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Blessed is he that watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk
naked, and they see his shame." You know garments represent righteousness,
so you assume this means that some believers in the Tribulation (that you
presume are members of the <i>Church</i>) will fail to "keep their
garments" and so <i>will lose their salvation!</i> So, that means you have
to start going through the rest of the New Testament and twist, torture, and
contort all those verses that clearly say that one is eternally saved the
moment they believe the gospel in faith because they all must be <i><u>wrong</u>,</i>
and voilà: Eternal security is a lie from the pit of hell, <i>ad infinitum, ad contagione.</i>
(Hey, don't laugh—I've seen worse than that.)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">That's how it always works with interpretational errors—one
error leads to another and the infection spreads.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Luckily, there is an antibiotic for that:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">15</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Study to show yourself approved to God, a workman that needs not to be
ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.<br><br>
(2 Timothy 2:15 AKJV)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">And luckily for the entire human race, my fantasy of
being a doctor is restricted to an occasional daydream. But I <i>do</i> know
that you should normally follow your doctor's instructions and complete the
full regimen for any antibiotics he prescribes for you. If you don't, you run
the risk of developing an immunity to that antibiotic, which can lead to
serious medical problems in the future.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">But unlike real-life antibiotics, you should <i><u>never</u></i>
stop taking this one (and the larger the dosage, the better). So whenever you
find yourself suffering from any type of illness from the "delusion
confusion" family of interpretive maladies, the antibiotic that Dr. Paul
prescribed for his patient Timothy has been clinically proven to be a safe and
effective treatment...and it is recommended you start taking it immediately.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Doctor's orders.</span></i></p><br>
<b>From Greg Lauer @ <a href="https://alittlestrength.com/articles/2024/2401-delusion-confusion.htm">A Little Strength—JAN '24</b></a><br>
Greg L.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13488517852547324706noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-923571518579487836.post-44385784325494149932024-01-10T14:10:00.002-06:002024-03-05T09:57:39.851-06:00A Plausible Chronology<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyWHhAM4DAFVZ4brdycZrZpbfIOJNNV6HhBNyO2jIIg4fRY6molkMBMpsvBhlonwoCoTdt1s1rjIwg-mTnJ1rMlF8EtHSaALvMdACPttmswgEHchIdCiJfY9jQfZOuLRlp4-EOi1eii4nZdDP5uVwJS3PVrPQIij1-9zjVhQZVN1ko3kXJ_VF0pYVPAw/s2688/Hovering%20Space%20Clock%20-%20Unsealed.org.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2688" height="366" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyWHhAM4DAFVZ4brdycZrZpbfIOJNNV6HhBNyO2jIIg4fRY6molkMBMpsvBhlonwoCoTdt1s1rjIwg-mTnJ1rMlF8EtHSaALvMdACPttmswgEHchIdCiJfY9jQfZOuLRlp4-EOi1eii4nZdDP5uVwJS3PVrPQIij1-9zjVhQZVN1ko3kXJ_VF0pYVPAw/s2688/Hovering%20Space%20Clock%20-%20Unsealed.org.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div><br /></div><div><br /></div>This <b>[highly-speculative-not-Thus-saith-the-LORD]</b> chronology improves upon previous research and is based on <a href="https://www.unsealed.org/2022/12/the-final-four.html">"The Final Four" scenario</a>; it manages to reconcile a number of well-attested dates, including James Ussher's traditional creation date based on the Masoretic Text (4004 BC), the traditional date of the Exodus (1446 BC), the traditional date of the entrance into the Promised Land (1407–1406 BC), Ezekiel's jubilee (574–573 BC), and several historically-observed Shmita years as established by the remarkable Jewish historian Ben Zion Wacholder (ironically born on September 23rd of 1921), including AD 70 and 133.<span><a name='more'></a></span><div><br /></div><div>Notably, this chronology shifts from using the civil Tishri to Elul calendar to the biblical Nisan to Adar calendar. The motivation is threefold: <i>first</i>, because God explicitly states that Nisan will be the first month for Israel (Ex. 12:1–2); <i>second</i>, because in the context of Shmita cycles and jubilees, Tishri is regarded as the seventh and not the first month (Lev. 25:8–9); and <i>third</i>, because historical types and shadows of the Abomination of Desolation have occurred in the mid-summer to mid-winter timeframe, rather than the mid-winter to mid-summer timeframe (while many focus on the Passover season in this regard, historical occurrences have occurred in the opposite half of the year: think both Temple destructions, Av 9, Antiochus/Hanukkah, the Nazi Wannsee Conference, etc).</div><div><br /></div><div>In the document below, you can scroll to the right to see additional notes and references. <b>Maranatha!</b><br /><div><br /></div><div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1zNRO4IKQcTUDmM_jmGIOGY6HyC-l-Vxf/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=111706241892534228213&rtpof=true&sd=true;headers=false"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Click here to view and download the timeline</b></span></a></div><div><br /></div><br />
<div style="height: 0px; padding-bottom: 100%; position: relative; width: 100%;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" src="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vROMriDiVH8PqkieRqxxZtJuanv7jqIOZKOgru312n0ajgtcl8muesj4wmFuv8-xw/pubhtml?widget=true&headers=false" style="height: 100%; left: 0px; position: absolute; top: 0px; width: 100%;"></iframe><br /></div>
<br />
</div></div><br />Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03907296435997404954noreply@blogger.com85tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-923571518579487836.post-17351370067805391112024-01-05T23:25:00.004-06:002024-03-02T00:15:37.068-06:00Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrC_l_agyXjqJc9CWiEqRb4spTfpaYcVcxrPEBGs4wRk1c4BFAZeMu_s2-IOo2wtO8fKmMbk9A6ExmwmqeFsThOzSlI8UznM9HocsbUyjuZW6io2z_cRgHkn_gFSiQvFvDZ3Nb3OJ6_AECjUy8gVdbE9ifC_HWs0UtAyZoCADT-pr2fdd9qCGnTfqa2A/s2250/stargazing.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="2250" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrC_l_agyXjqJc9CWiEqRb4spTfpaYcVcxrPEBGs4wRk1c4BFAZeMu_s2-IOo2wtO8fKmMbk9A6ExmwmqeFsThOzSlI8UznM9HocsbUyjuZW6io2z_cRgHkn_gFSiQvFvDZ3Nb3OJ6_AECjUy8gVdbE9ifC_HWs0UtAyZoCADT-pr2fdd9qCGnTfqa2A/w640-h426/stargazing.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">When Jesus was ready to begin His public
ministry, the first thing He did was get baptized by John the Baptist in the
Jordan River. After "fulfilling all righteousness" by allowing John
to baptize Him, He promptly went out into the wilderness to fast for 40 days.
As you may recall, Satan came to Jesus three times to tempt Him into doing
something satisfying to the flesh but contrary to the will of His Father, and
each time the Lord used the Word to put the Adversary to silence with a
scriptural smackdown (Matt. 4:1–11).<span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">After completing this 40-day period of
testing, Jesus began preaching in the region of Galilee—and it wasn't long
before He made His way back to His hometown of Nazareth, approximately 15 miles
southwest of the Sea of Galilee. Back on home turf, Jesus went to the local synagogue
on the Sabbath, just as I'm sure He had done countless times growing up.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">But <u>this</u> time was
different.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Luke picks up the
narrative in chapter 4:</span></p>
<div style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); border: 1pt none black; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">16</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">He came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. He entered,
as was his custom, into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.
<b><sup>17</sup></b>The book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. He opened
the book, and found the place where it was written,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">18</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed
me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to heal the broken hearted,
to proclaim release to the captives, recovering of sight to the blind, to
deliver those who are crushed,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">19</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." <b><sup>20</sup></b>He
closed the book, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all
in the synagogue were fastened on him. <b><sup>21</sup></b>He began to tell
them, "Today, this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."<br><br>
(Luke 4:16–21 AKJV)</span></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Of course, what Jesus said
was true—as the Messiah, He <i><u>had</u></i> come to heal and to minister and preach
"good news" to the poor, and He had already begun doing just that.
But the important thing to realize is what Jesus <i>didn't</i> say.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Here is the passage in
Isaiah Jesus was reading from:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">1</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on me; because the LORD has
anointed me to preach good tidings to the meek; he has sent me to bind up the
brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the
prison to them that are bound;<br><br>
<b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">2</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[Jesus
stopped here, and <i>didn't</i> read what follows]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> <b>and the day of
vengeance of our God...</b><br><br>
(Isaiah 61:1–2a AKJV / emphasis & </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[comments]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> added)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Jesus read verse 1 and the
first clause of verse 2, but abruptly put the scroll down mid-sentence and
didn't read the next clause <i>("and the day of vengeance of our
God").</i> He had already begun the literal fulfillment of the part He
actually read by launching His ministry of healing and preaching the "good
news" of His Father's grace and mercy, as well as the promised kingdom.
The "acceptable year of the LORD" had come, when God was pleased to
receive all those who responded to His grace and mercy and believed in faith.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">The "day of
vengeance," however, is a different kettle of fish. This is when God's
outpouring of grace and mercy has ended, and it's time to judge all those who
have staunchly refused to avail themselves of it. Paul makes reference to this
"vengeance" in his second letter to the Thessalonians:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">6</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense
tribulation to them that trouble you; <b><sup>7</sup></b>And to you who are
troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with
his mighty angels, <b><sup>8</sup>In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that
know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:</b> <b><sup>9</sup></b>Who
shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord,
and from the glory of his power;<br><br>(2 Thessalonians 1:6–9 AKJV / emphasis added)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Of course, this
"vengeance" will reach its culmination at the Second Coming, when
Christ returns to slay His enemies with the word of His mouth and send them off
to eternal punishment prior to establishing His kingdom.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">But what I want to focus
your attention on is a principle that is found in many prophecies throughout
the Bible, and I chose this passage because it is such a wonderful example of
this principle.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Notice in Isaiah 61:2 that
the first clause <i>("to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD")</i></span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">was fulfilled by Christ 2,000
years ago as He launched His earthly ministry. The very next clause, however, <i>("and
the day of vengeance of our God")</i></span><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> </span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">won't be fulfilled until Christ returns at the Second Coming to
judge a world that has spurned His grace and mercy. In other words:</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">In the text of Isaiah, these two parts of</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">the prophecy are only
separated by a <i><u>comma</u>.</i></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">In reality, they are separated by <i><u>two millennia</u>.</i></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">This principle shows up in
numerous prophecies throughout the Bible, and it is often referred to as <b>prophetic
telescoping</b>. This occurs when God inserts time lapses into prophecies—time
lapses that may extend from one verse to the next, or one clause to the next
with no obvious indication of such a gap of time in the text itself. For
example, God says something like:</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">I will do A, and then I will do B.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">So God does A, and we tend
to assume B is comin' right up on the heels of A. But in reality there may be a
major gap of time between A and B that is not obvious and that Scripture doesn't
mention. Sometimes when you come to understand the whole prophecy and perceive
that gap and the dilated temporal connection between the different aspects of
the prophecy, you almost feel as if one moment you're squinting at a tiny star in
the night sky, and the next moment you're gazing at a phenomenally detailed
image of a distant spiral galaxy through the James Webb Space Telescope. Sing
it with me:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0.0001pt 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Twinkle, twinkle, little
star,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-left: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">God's Word tells us what
you are,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-left: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">In His Word through
prophecy,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-left: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">God reveals just what
will be,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-left: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Twinkle, twinkle, little
star,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-left: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">God's Word tells us what
you are.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;">1000x:</span></i></b><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;"> When people speak of
telescopes, they often speak of magnification. As you read certain prophetic
passages in Scripture, sometimes it's as if one minute you're sitting at the
feet of a humble wayfarer from Nazareth who speaks in parables, and the next minute
you're witnessing Him as the King of kings and the Lord of lords, returning in unimaginable
glory at the Second Coming with the entire Church in tow to slay untold
millions of His enemies and establish His 1,000-year kingdom. Now <u>that's</u>
magnification!</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Now, in some cases
prophetic telescoping is pretty straightforward and really doesn't cause any confusion.
This may be the case when the prophecy is something well known from historical
events and other passages of Scripture and we grasp the temporal context without
any trouble. For example:</span></p>
<div style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); border: 1pt none black; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">6</span></sup></b><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">For to us a child is born, to us a son is given:</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[OK,
Christ is born. Then what?]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> and the government shall be on his shoulder: and his name shall
be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The
Prince of Peace.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">7</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Of the increase of his government and
peace there shall be no end, on the throne of David, and on his kingdom, to
order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from now on even
for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">(Isaiah 9:6–7 AKJV / emphasis & </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[comments]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> added)</span></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">The first part of verse 6
was fulfilled at the First Advent, when Christ was born into the world in a
body of flesh 2,000 years ago. The rest of verse 6 and all of verse 7 will finally
be fulfilled after the Second Coming during the Millennial Kingdom, when He
will assume the throne of David and rule the world.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">My point is simply that
anyone who knows the Bible from a BLT knows full well that Christ was born in a
manger 2,000 years ago and that He is returning at some point in the (relatively
near) future to establish and rule in His kingdom. Although the fulfillment of
these back-to-back prophecies are separated by 2,000 years, this is prophetic
telescoping that is unlikely to cause anyone with the most basic understanding of
the Bible any real confusion (a distinction that, sadly, excludes an
embarrassingly large percentage of people warming the pews of many churches today).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Although some examples of
prophetic telescoping may be somewhat less clear, we can still understand what
is being communicated to us because we know part of the prophecy has been
fulfilled, and we understand from the study of other passages of Scripture what
is meant and how the long-term portion of the prophecy fits into the prophetic scheme
of things. For example:</span></p>
<div style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); border: 1pt none black; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">26</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">And after three score 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 to
the end of the war desolations are determined. </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[Uh-oh, telescope time...]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> <b><sup>27</sup>And he
shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:</b> and in the middle 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 on the desolate.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">(Daniel 9:26–27 AKJV / emphasis & </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[comments]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> added)</span></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Prophetic telescoping most
definitely comes to bear in Daniel's Prophecy of the 70 Weeks, where we understand
that verse 26 clearly refers to the Crucifixion and the destruction of the
Second Temple by Arab conscripts in the Roman army less than 40 years later in
AD 70.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">But then without missing a
beat, in the very first clause of the very next verse we are suddenly face to
face with the treaty that launches the Tribulation nearly 2,000 years later—a
treaty that gets broken in the next clause. So the partial fulfillment in the
past gives us something to work with, and a general understanding garnered from
other places in Scripture of how the end-time scenario unfolds helps us fill in
the blanks and put the pieces together.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">With the aid of a number
of other passages, we understand more fully that Daniel is telling us that the
future Antichrist will confirm a covenant with Israel for seven years that includes
the building of the Third Temple. This launches the seven-year Tribulation, and
then the Antichrist breaks that covenant at its midpoint and desecrates that
temple by erecting his image in the holy place as the False Prophet forces
people to worship the Antichrist as God or die.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">One question that might
occur to some people is...</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">Why does God do this?</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Why does God incorporate this
tricky business of prophetic telescoping in His Word? Does He want to confuse
us? Does He just want to make us study His Word harder in order to figure
things out? No. The reason God does this sort of thing in many prophecies
throughout the Bible is pretty simple:</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">God uses prophetic telescoping</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">in His Word because He <i>can.</i></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">God does this because He's
God, and that's how God thinks—He doesn't view or think about time the way we
do. Why should He? He invented it. For God, all events for all time are spread
out before Him like a panorama, and He is free to manipulate events throughout
history as He sees fit to carry out His will and His Plan of the Ages, both on
a small scale for billions of individual people and on a large scale for
nations and groups of nations. Sing it with me:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">What a mighty God we
serve,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">What a mighty God we
serve,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">With the power He
employs,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Time and space are
tinkertoys,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">What a mighty God we
serve.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">(Every time I used to sing
as a kid, my older sister would tell me to put a sock in it.) But as we see
such prophetic telescoping validated and fulfilled, it serves to drive home the
point that the Bible is precisely what it says it is:</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">The divinely inspired, prophetically</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">self-confirming Word of
a Creator God.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">'Nuff said. OK, I know
what many of you are thinking right about now:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">"He's going somewhere
with this—I just know it."</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">And right you are...so
let's get going.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 14pt;">Bada
bing, bada boom</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">The reason I got latched
onto this topic is because of the responses of some individuals to the fact
that a number of people in the watchman community (this writer included) have
expressed their opinion that the current escalation of hostilities in the
Middle East appears to be something that is heading toward the attack of
Gog-Magog in Ezekiel 38–39, even though no one can say what kind of twists and
turns may occur in the process.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">I delve into this in an
article I wrote two months ago ("</span><a href="https://www.alittlestrength.com/articles/2023/2310-where-is-this-going.htm">Where Is This Going?</a><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">"), and in that
article I express my opinion that the world is indeed on track for a date with
Gog-Magog in the foreseeable future. Others disagree, however, and some have
written things that push ideas such as the following:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">•</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> Gog-Magog <i>must</i> occur in the first
half of the Tribulation.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">•</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> Gog-Magog <i>must</i> occur in the <u>second</u>
half of the Tribulation.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">•</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> Gog-Magog <i>must</i> occur right before
the Second Coming.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">•</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> Gog-Magog <i>must</i> be the same as the attack
of Armageddon.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">•</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> Gog-Magog <i>must</i> be <u>one phase</u>
of the attack of Armageddon.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">And so on and so forth, <i>ad
infinitum, ad speculatio.</i> Now, without exception, these authors are
genuinely sincere and are 100 percent convinced they have indeed properly ferreted
out the true, accurate interpretation of the words of Ezekiel in chapters 38
and 39:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">"Gotta be. Please,
consider my words <u>carefully</u>—you'll see it's a Bible lock!"</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">You know, I honestly have no
business criticizing such people because let's face it: I kinda do the same
thing sometimes, more or less. Of course, the chief difference is that I really
<i><u>AM</u> RIGHT!!!</i> (I'm <i>kidding.</i>)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">When I sat down to work on
this article, however, I confess that my smackdown gene was go for launch. I
was champing at the bit, ready to take some of these foolish, obviously
unscriptural arguments and tie them around the authors' throats, choke the life
out of them, and watch them sink to the bottom of the deep blue sea. Hey, I've
done it before.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">Sigh...pray for me.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">But something different
happened this time around. As I reread some of these people's foolish,
obviously unscriptural arguments, I began to see a flicker of logic here and
there—an occasional glimmer through the garbage. I began to see the logic
behind a few of their points, and slowly began to develop an appreciation for
the fact that some of them kinda sorta almost made at least some sense, based
on the author's seemingly reasonable logic.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Of course, I couldn't
bring myself to actually <i>agree</i> with them—my own position on the timing
of Gog-Magog simply makes too much sense to me to just cut it loose. <i>Yet
there were these glimmers...</i> This left me sitting in front of my computer,
staring blankly at my monitor, and pondering the type of dreaded question I confront
from time to time:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">Well, whaddya gonna do
now, slick? Start from scratch and write about Christmas customs in other
countries? Be still, my beating heart...</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Luckily, after 12 years of
writing articles for my website at </span><a href="https://www.alittlestrength.com/">A Little Strength</a><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">, I have learned <i>exactly</i> what to do in such cases. Pray. Hard.</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Father, I <i>really</i> thought I understood this, but now I'm</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">seeing these
glimmers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Please help me! Show me
something</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">that will clear things
up and reveal the truth of your Word.</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">I don't care if I was right
or wrong—all I want is your truth!</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">I've had to do this on many
more occasions than my flesh would care to admit—and before God, I <i><u>never</u></i>
have to wait very long for an answer. And sure enough, a little later that evening
I was rereading one of the articles that made one of the arguments I listed
above, and <i>duhh</i>...all of a sudden something jumped out at me that for
some reason I simply hadn't noticed before:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">Wait a second, this
guy's making an assumption...</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">First of all, this guy (and
I won't name names because I certainly don't want any of this to be construed
as a personal attack) argued that Gog-Magog <i>couldn't</i> occur during the
second half of the Tribulation, but then in the next breath argued that it <i>had</i>
to occur near the <i><u>end</u></i> of the Tribulation, and so likely
corresponded to Armageddon. So forgive me for pointing out the obvious, but
since Armageddon obviously occurs <i>during the second half of the Tribulation,</i>
he flatly contradicted his own argument—but that's beside the point.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">The point is that one of
the fundamental, underlying premises of his argument was that since much of the
prophesied aftermath of Gog-Magog clearly occurs after the launching of the
Millennial Kingdom (which I'm pleased to report is one part he got <i>right</i>),
that proves the attack itself must come shortly before that, or just before the
Second Coming. This suggests that it is probably the same as Armageddon, which
occurs just before Christ returns.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Now, here's the thing: If
you work from the assumption that all of the prophetic ramifications of
Gog-Magog must logically occur shortly after the attack itself, then placing
the attack of Gog-Magog near the end of the Great Tribulation actually makes a lot
of sense, doesn't it? Of course it does. <b><i>But this is an <u>assumption</u>.</i></b>
No matter how logical it may appear at first blush, it is nothing more than an
assumption made by the writer—an assumption that I'm sure slid by him so easily
and so naturally that it probably never occurred to him that he was even <i>making</i>
an assumption. And so he was absolutely convinced of the correctness of his
argument.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">POOF!</span></i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;"> Suddenly all the
arguments that purport to prove that the attack of Gog-Magog has to occur late
in the Tribulation (and so likely corresponds to Armageddon) came tumbling down
like so many houses of cards, and the underlying problem became blindingly
obvious to me:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Some people have a tendency
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to assume that since much of the prophetic
fulfillment of the outcome of Gog-Magog comes after the Second Coming and in
the Millennial Kingdom (and it <i><u>does</u></i>...keep reading), then it
follows that the attack itself must occur shortly before that, or late in the
Tribulation. Bada bing, bada boom.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">OK, so what's really going
on here? Yep...you guessed it:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">A little dab of
prophetic telescoping.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 14pt;">So what <i>does</i>
happen in the wake of Gog-Magog?</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">At this point, let's
consider some of the things that Ezekiel's prophecy says God will do in the
wake of His intervention for Israel in the attack of Gog-Magog. In other words,
what all is actually prophesied to occur after God saves His people from
destruction in this attack?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Some of this is touched on
briefly in a couple of verses that appear in the latter part of chapter 38, but
expounded on a bit more fully in the last eight verses of chapter 39, so let's
just take a look at that:</span></p>
<div style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); border: 1pt none black; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in;">
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">21</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">And I will set my glory
among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have
executed, and my hand that I have laid on them. <b><sup>22</sup>So the house of
Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God <i><u>from that day and forward</u>.</i></b>
</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[That last phrase is key, and pegs this as the only aspect of the
prophetic ramifications that is fulfilled immediately following the actual
attack.]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> <b><sup>23</sup></b>And
the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their
iniquity: because they trespassed against me, therefore hid I my face from
them, and gave them into the hand of their enemies: so fell they all by the
sword. <b><sup>24</sup></b>According to their uncleanness and according to
their transgressions have I done to them, and hid my face from them. </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[In vv.
23–24, we see that the world will finally know the real story behind the Jewish
people and why God has allowed them to go through what they have gone
through...and it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever to see this happening during
the great deception and turmoil of the Tribulation.]</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">25</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Therefore thus said the
Lord GOD; Now will I <b>bring again </b></span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[or<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"reverse"]</span><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> </span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">the captivity of Jacob,
and have mercy on the whole house of Israel, and will be jealous for my holy
name; <b><sup>26</sup></b>After that they have borne their shame, and all their
trespasses whereby they have trespassed against me, when they dwelled safely in
their land, and none made them afraid. <b><sup>27</sup></b>When I have brought
them again from the people, and gathered them out of their enemies' lands, and
am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations; <b><sup>28</sup></b>Then
shall they know that I am the LORD their God, which caused them to be led into
captivity among the heathen: but I have gathered them to their own land, and
have left none of them any more there. <b><sup>29</sup></b>Neither will I hide
my face any more from them:<b> for I have poured out my spirit on the house of
Israel, said the Lord GOD.</b> </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[I believe this is progressively fulfilled
throughout the Tribulation and reaches its culmination early in the Millennial
Kingdom.]</span><br><br>
<span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">(Ezekiel 39:21–29 AKJV / emphasis & </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[comments]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> added)</span></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">God says in verse 22 that <i>"from
that day and forward"</i> (presumably the day of His intervention to save
them from annihilation at the hands of the Gog-Magog coalition), Israel will
know that "I am the LORD their God."</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Due to the wording, this
appears to be the only result of Gog-Magog that is fulfilled <i>right after the
attack.</i> But God is <i>soo</i> not finished with Israel at that point. This
is just the tip of the iceberg: A remnant of Jews still has to come to faith in
their real Messiah, flee the persecution of the Antichrist, and be protected in
the wilderness during the Great Tribulation. On top of that, they still have to
ask Him to save them from another even bigger attack at the climax of the
Tribulation, which is Armageddon. And much more.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;">Just something to chew
on:</span></i></b><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;">
In the attack of Gog-Magog, God intervenes for an Israel that is still steeped
in unbelief (as they are today), and it is precisely His miraculous
intervention on their behalf that begins to reawaken them to the fact that the
LORD is their God (Ezek. 39:22). In conjunction with the Rapture (which I believe
will occur not too long before the attack), this helps get the end-time show on
the road as the Antichrist-to-be confirms a treaty between a now empowered
Israel and a now weakened Muslim world that allows<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the Jews to build their Third Temple and launches
the Tribulation.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;">On the other hand,
however, at Armageddon right at the end of the Tribulation, the believing
Jewish remnant implores the Lord to save them from an even bigger, final
attack, and (unlike at Gog-Magog) Jesus physically returns to earth to do just
that, personally slaying <u>all</u> of their enemies with the word of His mouth
in the process, not just five-sixths of the troops of a handful of nations with
fire and hail (or possibly the effects of a nuclear explosion) as in Gog-Magog.
And I don't want to get sidetracked on it here, but this barely scratches the
surface of the clear-cut differences between these two attacks.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">So...please tell me again
how Gog-Magog and Armageddon are really the same attack. This reminds me of an
important interpretive principle:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">If there exists even <b><i><u>one</u></i></b>
irreconcilable, irrefutable difference between two events mentioned in
Scripture, it proves they <b><i><u>cannot</u></i></b> be the same event—no
matter how many cosmetic similarities may exist between them.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">(Incidentally, a lot of
post-tribbers would do well to buckle up and apply this principle to Matthew
24:29–31, where they knock themselves silly trying to read this as the Rapture
instead of the Second Coming.)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">God also describes how the
nations of the world will ultimately come to understand <i><u>why</u></i> He has
judged Israel so harshly over the millennia, <i><u>why</u></i> He hid His face
from them for so long, and how He has now poured His Spirit out on them once
again—and permanently this time.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;">I don't think so:</span></i></b><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;"> And please...don't sit
there and try to tell me this occurs during the Tribulation while Jews are
being hunted down and killed and the nations of the world are gathering to
annihilate Israel. Not a chance.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Although in reality He
will be pouring His Spirit out on His people throughout the Tribulation and
effecting the salvation of the remnant through belief in their Messiah, I am
inclined to believe this sees its grand, climactic fulfillment when God's Shekinah
glory fills the Millennial Temple near the beginning of the Millennial Kingdom
(Ezek. 43:1–12).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">When God's glory fills the
Millennial Temple, it will be the first time His divine Presence has dwelt with
His people in an earthly temple since it departed from the First Temple roughly
2,600 hundred years ago (Ezek. 10), not long before the Babylonian captivity. (Note
that this doesn't include His Presence dwelling with them in the Person of
Christ while He was on earth 2,000 years ago.) Many commentators are convinced
(and I am inclined to agree) that the Shekinah glory <i>never</i> filled the
Second Temple, even though God was faithful and still dealt with His people.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">God says in verses 27–28
that He will gather <i><u>all</u></i> the Jews into their land; and although I
believe this will be <i>partially</i> fulfilled during the Tribulation (not to
mention the fact that the Jewish remnant will be protected in the Jordanian
wilderness around Petra during the second half of it), I believe the final,
complete fulfillment of this will occur at the time of the Second Coming (Matt.
24:31). <i><u>That's</u></i> who His angels are gathering at the sound of a
great trumpet, and <i><u>that's</u></i> where they are being gathered to—<b><i><u>Israel</u></i></b><i>,
not <b><u>heaven</u></b>!</i> (See </span><a href="https://www.alittlestrength.com/articles/2015/1506-square-peg.htm">this</a><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;"> for more.) "Elect"
simply means "chosen," and they are most certainly that.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">As is normally the case,
the referent depends on the context.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">He also makes it clear
that He is not going to do any of this because Israel deserves it, but because
He is jealous for His holy name that Israel has profaned among the nations of
the world.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Now, as you consider some
of the aspects of the prophesied aftermath of Gog-Magog, it quickly becomes apparent
that (with the one exception I noted) these things are not going occur <i>immediately
following the actual attack</i>—there is clearly some telescoping going on
here. There are obviously some time lapses involved—these things are clearly
going to follow the attack of Gog-Magog by unspecified periods of time, and all
together they will take an absolute <i>minimum</i> of the full seven years of
the Tribulation (possibly with at least a few years of padding) to come to full
fruition.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">So...is there anything
prohibiting us from placing the attack of Gog-Magog before the Tribulation, seeing
its aftermath set the stage for the treaty of Daniel 9:27 that launches it (keep
reading), and seeing the prophesied results of Gog-Magog play out over the
course of the Tribulation and reach their complete fulfillment in the
Millennial Kingdom?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">No, none whatsoever. An awareness
of the prophetic telescoping God routinely uses in His Word allows us to reach a
liberating conclusion:</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">There is no reason whatsoever to assume that</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">the prophesied effects of
Gog-Magog must <i><u>all</u></i> be</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">fulfilled <i>right after
the attack, </i>and this eliminates the</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">need many people feel to
place Gog-Magog late in the</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Tribulation—much later
than it must logically occur.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Yes, you read that last part
correctly:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">...much later than it
must logically occur.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Roughly seven years later,
more or less.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 14pt;">What's it
gonna take?</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Now, there are some good
people whom I greatly respect (</span><a href="https://www.pre-trib.org/articles/dr-mark-hitchcock/message/the-battle-of-gog-and-magog/read">Mark Hitchcock</a><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">, for one) who want to
place the attack of Gog-Magog in the <i>early</i> part of the Tribulation, typically
because they believe this is the only available period of time when Israel will
be in a condition of <i>shaqat,</i> or living in peace as required by Ezekiel
38:11. They tend to assume that this comes about as a result of the short-lived
false peace that results from the treaty of Daniel 9:27.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">And this <i>does</i> make
good sense of its own accord. As I discuss in a previous </span><a href="https://www.alittlestrength.com/articles/2023/2310-where-is-this-going.htm#conditions">article</a><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">, however, I am of the
opinion that these people may be reading a wee bit too much into the meaning of
<i>shaqat,</i> which typically just means that Israel is not officially at war
with anyone. This condition was satisfied prior to October 8, 2023—the day
after the Hamas attack when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu officially
declared war on Hamas.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">And as I point out in the article
I linked to in the previous paragraph, it is a distinct possibility that the
"evil thoughts" that arise in Gog's mind in Ezekiel 38:10 already
arose prior to October 7, when a well-planned "preliminary" attack was
launched <i>that we now know for a fact was designed by Iran (oh, and I'm sure
Russia knew absolutely <u>nothing</u> about this) to initiate a sequence of attacks
that culminate in a major conflagration meant to destroy Israel.</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">The contention of many (this
writer included) is that the attack of Gog-Magog occurs prior to the
Tribulation, and that the aftermath of God's stunning intervention on behalf of
His people Israel to save them from an existential attack by a predominantly Muslim
coalition is what helps set the stage for the treaty of Daniel 9:27 that
launches the Tribulation in the first place.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">But what would lead
someone to think this? Well, let me put it this way. For all those who place
Gog Magog <i><u>during</u></i> the Tribulation, I have one question:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Q.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> What's it gonna take to
get a fully armed, fully empowered Muslim world (i.e. more or less the way it
is today) to suddenly soften up and agree to allow the Jews to build their
Third Temple on the Temple Mount, right up there with the Al-Aqsa Mosque and
the Dome of the Rock? Take your time.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">A.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> If you know absolutely <i>anything</i>
about the prevailing attitudes of the Muslim world, you already know the answer
to that one:</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">An act of God.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Think I'm kidding? Think
I'm being hyperbolic? Since the Six Day War in 1967, it's been the most any Jew
can hope to do to even <i>ascend</i> the Temple Mount, and heaven forbid they
get spotted moving their mouths as if praying under their breath for fear of an
unpleasant encounter with Waqf security guards (although according to some,
this restriction on praying on the Temple Mount has eased slightly in the last
year or so, as sometimes the guards have been known to look the other way).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">But the point I'm driving
at is that the official and unshakable position of the Muslim world ever since
the Six Day War is echoed by the following statement from Ali Awar, a
researcher at the Hebrew University:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(230, 230, 249); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #000077;">Palestinian
people will never accept a foreign presence on the Al-Aqsa compound. It is not
only a religious site—it is the sum of all our national and religious
aspirations.<br><br>— Ali Awar, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem [</span><span style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="https://religionnews.com/2021/12/15/jews-pray-and-plan-a-third-temple-the-status-quo-in-jerusalems-holiest-site-al-aqsa-bennett/">Source</a></span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #000077;">]</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">The point is that all
those who disagree with the "contention of many" I laid out above and
want to place the attack of Gog-Magog <i>at any point <u>following</u></i> the
launching of the Tribulation need to have an answer to this question. But there
lies the crux of the issue:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">They really <u>don't</u>.
Maybe some creative speculation, but no answers.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">But they're on the hook with
this one. They're under the gun to come up with something that would cause the
Muslim world to suddenly set aside their maniacal devotion to their concept of
the "sanctity" of the Temple Mount, or what Muslims call <i>Haram
al-Sharif </i>(the third holiest site in Islam), or what Jews call <i>Har
haBayit</i> (the holiest site in Judaism).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Oh, it gets worse. Not
only that, but since the Jews' building of the Third Temple on the Temple Mount
is of major prophetic significance and a key event in the end-time scenario,
one would tend to assume that the earth-shattering event that sets the stage
for this to occur would certainly be mentioned somewhere in the pages of
Scripture, would it not?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">And there's the rub:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Setting the stage for
the treaty of Daniel 9:27 is <i><u>precisely</u></i> what Gog-Magog does for
us, and it does it with the same exquisite <i>je ne sais quoi</i> that
characterizes every prophecy God fulfills.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">If you yank Gog-Magog out
of its position prior to the Tribulation where it fits the bill to utter
perfection and stick it somewhere <i><u>after</u></i> the launching of the Tribulation,
then there is only one thing I can say:</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Lotsa luck, hoss, because in that case</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">not only do <i><u>you</u></i>
not have an answer,</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">but God's Word can't
help you, either.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">You're up a prophetic
creek without a paddle, my friend, because that means neither you nor Scripture
has an answer for what brings about the scenario in which Daniel's treaty is
confirmed and the Jews are allowed to build their Third Temple on a site that the
Muslim world would—under anything even <i>remotely </i>resembling ordinary
circumstances—launch World War III to defend. What, some kind of fancy-schmancy
diplomatic agreement? Some kind of hushed backroom negotiations involving
globalist leaders?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">Oh, or maybe they'll
cave if the Palestinians are offered a two-state solution!! Oh please, get
real. News flash: They want a <u>one</u>-state solution, and no prizes for
guessing what state that would be. (Hint: Not Israel.)</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">My point is that God's miraculous
intervention to save Israel in the attack of Gog-Magog is going to produce a
thoroughly pumped Jewish nation with some newfound swagger that has just been
reawakened to the fact that the LORD really is their God, and they will want to...check
that, they will <i>demand the right</i> to build their Third Temple to
re-establish their Old Covenant relationship with the LORD their God. At the
same time, a weakened Muslim world that has just been positively hammered with
a divine attitude adjustment will hardly be in a position to say no—regardless
of what they may believe about the arrival of the Islamic "savior"
referred to as the Mahdi.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 14pt;">Timeout for
the bigger picture</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Speaking of the Mahdi... Different
Muslim groups have somewhat different eschatological beliefs, but according to some
groups the Muslims must kill all the Jews before their long-awaited Mahdi will
show up.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Q.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> What group of Muslims in
what country actually believe this?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">A.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> That would be the Shia
(aka the Shi'ites). And I'll spare you the boring statistics and just cut to
the chase: That would be <b><u>Iran</u></b><i>.</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Yes, this is what the <i>Iranians</i>
believe, surprise, surprise—and it's a profound understatement to say this explains
a lot. According to Saeed Ghasemi, a former general in the Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), one of the Iranian Armed Forces' primary
branches whose main function is to ensure the integrity of the Islamic
Republic, Iran's goal is to launch a war they are convinced will usher in the
Mahdi:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(230, 230, 249); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #000077; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">We
are going for an apocalyptic war, and its conclusion will be the return of Imam
Mahdi.<br><br>
— Saeed Ghasemi, former IRGC General [</span><span style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="https://www.thejc.com/news/the-era-of-the-jews-will-soon-be-at-an-end-irgc-chief-tells-london-audience-qlab7nz1">Source</a></span><span style="color: #000077; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">]</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">And as I discuss in my
October </span><a href="https://www.alittlestrength.com/articles/2023/2310-where-is-this-going.htm">article</a><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">, it's crystal clear that the
"apocalyptic war" Iran is going for began on October 7, 2023 and has
been carefully planned step by step to culminate in Israel's destruction. And <i><u>now</u></i>
we understand that in the minds of the Iranians, their plan is to be the heroes
of the Islamic world by destroying Israel and as a result ushering in the
long-awaited Mahdi...after which, of course, everything will be coming up roses
for the Muslims.</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">But according to the prophet Ezekiel,</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">things don't quite go according
to plan.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">By the time God is finished
with them in Gog-Magog, an utterly horsewhipped Muslim world is likely to be a
bit more compliant and in the mood to cooperate, to say the least.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">And thanks to the efforts
of a charismatic rising star on the world stage whose heart is filled with a loathing
for the Jews and who will later be revealed as the Antichrist, the treaty of
Daniel 9:27 will be confirmed and Daniel's 70th Week will be off and running before
you can say "world peace...NOT."</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Let's consider the bigger
picture for a moment, however. Note that Satan is responsible for raising up
Muhammed to start the false religion we know as Islam back in the early seventh
century. And why exactly did Satan do that, one might innocently inquire.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Simple: Satan raised up
and cultivated the Islamic world to be a tool that he could use to destroy the
Jews and wipe out the nation of Israel in the end times. That is his overriding
goal, the purpose of which is to enable him to hang on to his little earthly
kingdom forever and put the Second Coming on ice. Satan's plan is to use the
Muslim world to mount an apocalyptic attack to destroy Israel that Ezekiel
describes in chapter 38, and Satan is counting on Gog and his gang to get the
job done for him.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">But as those who believe
and study the Bible already know full well, the mostly Islamic coalition of
nations that attack Israel in Gog-Magog will fail because these nations will be
decimated by the hand of God Himself.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">OK, but <u>then</u>
what?</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">As I discuss in a previous
</span><a href="https://www.alittlestrength.com/articles/2022/2203-gog.htm#strike-three">article</a><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">, Satan's efforts to
destroy Israel come in three distinct stages. (And these are <i><u>not</u></i>
"three stages of Armageddon" as one article I read tried to argue.) Also
note one thing just to be clear:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">The Nazis were just
trying to kill the Jews...there <u>was</u> no nation of Israel to destroy. In a
twist of God's sublime style of poetic justice, it was the Nazis' failure to do
so that <u>led</u> to the formation of the nation of Israel in 1948.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">After the forces of the Gog-Magog
nations are very nearly wiped out by God's miraculous intervention to save
Israel from their apocalyptic attack (attempt #1), I believe the Muslim world
will come to see that the despised Iranians were simply <i>wrong</i> in their
eschatology and will be deceived into viewing the rising diplomatic star who is
bringing people together and speaking words of peace as their Mahdi.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">And as a result of this
satanic hoodwinking, I believe they will cozy up to and fall in line with the powerfully
eloquent Antichrist-to-be just like the rest of the world. For the Muslims, it will
be reminiscent of the campy lyrics of "Whatever Lola Wants" from the
1955 Broadway musical <i>Damn Yankees</i>:</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Whatever Mahdi wants, Mahdi gets.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">"Imam Mahdi (PBUH) wants
to let the Jews build their temple next to the Dome of the Rock to bring
peace?! Praise be to Allah! So may it be!"</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">But never fear: Battered
as they may be, the Gog-Magog nations will have a few years to re-arm and rebuild
their military forces and prepare to join the rest of the world in the attack
of Armageddon.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">But what I believe we will
<i>also</i> see is a significant defection from Islam and a turning to the
truth of the gospel among the 1.9 billion Muslim people in the world. I believe
God will use the catastrophic outcome of Gog-Magog (at least from the Islamic
point of view) to cause untold millions of Muslims who have finally had enough of
being force-fed lies and hate their entire lives to seek the truth and love of
the message of salvation through faith in Christ and avail themselves of God's grace
and mercy during the Tribulation.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">And they will find it.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">In Armageddon, however, Satan
will up his game a notch. After the colossal failure of his Gog-Magog crew, now
Satan will tap the Antichrist—his man that he fully possesses and completely
controls—to launch <i>another</i> attack on Israel in attempt #2, and he will
throw everything the world can muster at God's people. And he will fail again,
as Christ returns to slay all his unbelieving followers, throw the Antichrist and
the False Prophet into the lake of fire, and toss Satan into the hurt locker
for 1,000 years. This is the abyss (Rev. 20:1–3), where he will have plenty of
time to stew over his first two failures.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Finally, in Revelation
20:7–10, Satan will be released at the end of the Millennial Kingdom for
attempt #3, only <i><u>this</u></i> time he will be leading the attack personally.
But the result will be the same: FAIL. Satan will be tossed into the lake of
fire with his old compadres and that will be that:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">Strike three, yer out.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 14pt;">Getting
things straight</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">So God employs some prophetic
telescoping in the prophecies He gave to Ezekiel in chapters 38–39, and most of
the prophesied ramifications of the attack of Gog-Magog follow that attack by
unspecified periods of time, rather than follow directly on the heels of the
attack as some tend to assume.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">As we have seen, this
assumption influences some people to place Gog-Magog late in the Tribulation, which
causes more problems than it solves because it leaves the important issue of
what influences the Muslim world to willingly accept a Jewish temple on the
Temple Mount as part of the treaty of Daniel 9:27 flapping in the freeze.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Of course, there are many
examples of prophetic telescoping throughout the Old Testament. The takeaway is
that when we study prophecy, we have to be alert and maintain a healthy degree
of temporal sensitivity and flexibility, and make an effort to properly
understand the time relationships involved with different prophecies and parts
of prophecies and their fulfillments.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">I stress this because if
we <i><u>don't</u>,</i> and we allow ourselves to jump to what seem to be
perfectly "logical" conclusions based on a simple "A, then B...bada
bing, bada boom" mentality, we are sure to take some wrong turns and end
up with a convoluted view of what God is telling us. And I'll just say it point
blank:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">We don't have time for
that anymore—it's too late in the game.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">There are so many people in
the Church who need to plant their nose in God's Word and keep it there until
they start to get a few things straight that it grieves my spirit. And I don't
just mean Gog-Magog—I mean the Rapture, the Tribulation, the Second Coming, the
Millennial Kingdom...the whole nine yards. The problem is that there are
legions of good people in the Church today who <i>don't</i> hear the Word
preached, they <i>don't</i> study the Word for themselves, and so they <i>don't</i>
get it—and sadly many seem content to remain that way.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Straight up: Our departure
is rapidly drawing near. Oh, and by the way, if any of you happen to see me squinting
at a tiny star in the night sky that turns out to be the Lord descending in the
clouds to catch us up to be with Him, and I start singing "Twinkle,
Twinkle, Little Star," <i><u>please</u></i>...do everybody a favor:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">Tell me to put a sock in
it.</span></i></p><br>
<b>From Greg Lauer @ <a href="https://alittlestrength.com/articles/2023/2312-twinkle-twinkle.htm">A Little Strength—DEC '23</b></a><br>
Greg L.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13488517852547324706noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-923571518579487836.post-78501377558064454282024-01-01T12:31:00.005-06:002024-03-01T21:43:33.984-06:002024 Is Off With A Bang: Could This Be The Year?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUjCdEOyvcRkfPRayCANakiJ0NSH7ZLJn7JcS8YaeiLFp5qxf1DinNq_FKaRyVycLeuidYIS1D9WODROCFlgtL9jRSLuOvJqhYm0q0SAuv8DwUYVJ4zUPh-Kv3dHKd99n6jBKyUjgfBL2uS9kDkW7zADU81cKjbI8guP7wDkA-_MPlsPh04XMnS1Cufw/s600/2024.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUjCdEOyvcRkfPRayCANakiJ0NSH7ZLJn7JcS8YaeiLFp5qxf1DinNq_FKaRyVycLeuidYIS1D9WODROCFlgtL9jRSLuOvJqhYm0q0SAuv8DwUYVJ4zUPh-Kv3dHKd99n6jBKyUjgfBL2uS9kDkW7zADU81cKjbI8guP7wDkA-_MPlsPh04XMnS1Cufw/s16000/2024.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>If New Year's Day is any indication, 2024 could prove to be the most explosive year of our lifetimes. Could it even be the year of the long-prophesied rapture of the Church? In the [speculative] <a href="https://www.unsealed.org/2022/12/the-final-four.html">"Final Four" scenario</a>, the first of four key years has now transpired, and we've entered one of the most likely years of all. Jesus died and rose again in one of the years from AD 30 to 33. With 2023 behind us, it would now be pertinent to consider the AD 31 scenario. AD 31 featured a lunar eclipse more exceptional than 33. Moreover, 2,000 years later brings us to 2031; seven years before that, <i>2024</i>. Now the Psalm 90:10 definition of a generation resurfaces:<span><a name='more'></a></span></div><div><br /></div><div><blockquote>The days of our years, in them [are] seventy years, || And if, by reason of might, eighty years . . .</blockquote></div><div><br /></div><div>Israel is the withered fig tree now growing once again. It was reestablished in 1948—"replanted" as it were. Yet something profound happened two years later, in 1950: <i>Israel's Law of Return came into force</i>, one of the state's most fundamental laws. It enabled massive Jewish immigration to the Jews' ancestral homeland. The Law of Return was the single most significant political component of the return of the Jews to the Holy Land after the state's reestablishment. The Law of Return was passed on July 5th of 1950. 1950 + (81 years minus 1 day minus 7 years) = 2024. <i>"If by strength 80 . . ."</i></div><div><br /></div><div>Additionally, it is <i>this</i> year that will witness the 7th anniversary of the Great American Solar Eclipse and the Revelation 12 Sign:</div><div><br /></div><div><b><span style="font-size: large;">SEVEN</span> </b>years since <a href="https://www.unsealed.org/2017/01/donald-trump-becomes-45th-president-of.html">Trump's inauguration</a>: January 20, 2024<b>*</b></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><b>SEVEN</b> </span>years since <a href="https://www.unsealed.org/2017/05/the-jubilee-of-jerusalem.html">the Jubilee of Jerusalem</a>: May 24, 2024</div><div><br /></div><div><b><span style="font-size: large;">SEVEN </span></b>years since <a href="https://www.unsealed.org/2017/06/the-divine-message-of-august-eclipse.html">the Great American Solar Eclipse</a>: August 21, 2024</div><div><br /></div><div><b><span style="font-size: large;">SEVEN </span></b>years since <a href="https://www.unsealed.org/p/the-sign.html">the GREAT SIGN of Revelation 12:1–2</a>: September 23, 2024</div><div><br /></div><div><b><span style="font-size: large;">SEVEN </span></b>years since <a href="https://www.unsealed.org/2017/12/major-development-us-embassy-to-be.html">the United States recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital</a>: December 6, 2024</div><div><br /></div><div><b>*</b>On November 8th, 2016, in Jewish year <b>5777</b>, Donald Trump and Mike Pence defeated Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine, going on to win the Electoral College by exactly <b>77 </b>votes. Trump was born <b>700 </b>days before Israel was reestablished on May 14th, 1948 and was <b>777 </b>days old, <b>77 </b>days after Israel's 1948 rebirth. Upon inauguration (January 20th, 2017), Donald Trump was exactly <b>70 years, 7 months, and 7 days old</b>. The names of the new President and Vice President were a homophone for "trumpets" (Trump + Pence) in the very year that the Revelation 12 Sign appeared on the Feast of Trumpets.</div><div><br /></div><div><b><u>Yesterday</u></b>, on New Year's Eve, just hours before the new year, an X5-class solar flare was detected. It was the single most powerful solar flare since <a href="https://www.unsealed.org/2017/09/massive-x-class-flares-strike-earth.html">September 2017's 9.3</a> (the same month as the Revelation 12 Sign!): <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamiecartereurope/2024/01/01/2023-ends-with-strongest-x-class-solar-flare-for-six-years-get-ready-for-aurora/?sh=17b31fea2f80">SOURCE</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div><b><u>Today</u></b>, on New Year's, a massive 7.5-magnitude earthquake has struck Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, toppling buildings and sending a tsunami along large swathes of Japan's coast along the Sea of Japan: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_Sea_of_Japan_earthquake">SOURCE</a>.</div><div><div><br /><b><u>Today</u></b>, <a href="https://www.barrons.com/news/brics-five-countries-join-the-group-474ac3b0?refsec=topics_afp-news">BRICS officially expanded to 10 members</a> by adding Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Note that Argentina was set to join today, but days ago backed out at the last minute—thus unexpectedly making way for the 10-nation organization we now see. As of today, BRICS now constitutes 45.6% of the world's population, 44.6% of its crude oil production, and 28.6% of its GDP. As a watchman, I can't force history to fit my preconceived notions; rather, I must accept that God's prophetic word will be fulfilled precisely and in ways that will ultimately surprise me. This could very well be the 10-horned beast through which the Antichrist will arise.<br /><br /><b><u>Today</u></b>, a major Iranian warship <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iranian-warship-alborz-enters-red-sea-tasnim-2024-01-01/">has entered the Red Sea</a> as the U.S. and U.K. <a href="https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-780191">are readied to launch massive airstrikes</a> against the Houthis in Yemen.<br /><br />And, as all of this transpires, Israel is nearing a full-scale war with Hezbollah, the red heifers are still [apparently] qualified and possibly ready for sacrifice within months, a <i>second </i>Great American Solar Eclipse is looming (April 8, 2024), and an unprecedented presidential election is set to go down with a resurgent Trump and incumbent Biden. The last <b><u>trump</u></b> will blow and <i>then </i>the <b><u>little horn</u></b> will arise.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>Are you <a href="https://www.unsealed.org/p/what-is-going-on.html"><b>watching</b></a>? Are you <a href="https://www.unsealed.org/2019/09/the-whore-and-beast-two-lanes-one-road.html"><b>ready</b></a>?</div><div><br /></div>Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03907296435997404954noreply@blogger.com52tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-923571518579487836.post-59474947905113515432023-12-01T05:27:00.005-06:002024-03-02T00:51:28.322-06:00The Harpazo Express<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSNKy4lbokarhrcVQoCAGM-GLoXU6pd3emXs-pZU4Q8qr7SOQ4ZyyOAN6MmQ-6PkDNSPqx6XPZ_-THuvuruG33dw7jVqRq3acdAoJMtun2NuaXcreKXJGnGQ6OSQlicgVKTs3Tr_9TraO1vXf7BsY4QTZCp2I2LU9StOaDDFFNCJ3eUNNMn1FWijLG50Q/s2560/2560px-Vintage_image_of_steam_train.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1615" data-original-width="2560" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSNKy4lbokarhrcVQoCAGM-GLoXU6pd3emXs-pZU4Q8qr7SOQ4ZyyOAN6MmQ-6PkDNSPqx6XPZ_-THuvuruG33dw7jVqRq3acdAoJMtun2NuaXcreKXJGnGQ6OSQlicgVKTs3Tr_9TraO1vXf7BsY4QTZCp2I2LU9StOaDDFFNCJ3eUNNMn1FWijLG50Q/s600/2560px-Vintage_image_of_steam_train.jpg" width="600" /></a></div><div class="WordSection1"><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">In my last </span><a href="https://www.alittlestrength.com/articles/2023/2310-where-is-this-going.htm"><span face=""",sans-serif">article</span></a><span face=""",sans-serif">, I laid out some reasons why I think
what we are seeing play out in the Middle East is in fact a sequence of events
that will ultimately lead us straight into the arms of the attack of Ezekiel
38–39, or Gog-Magog. Naturally, I emphasized that no one can say how long it
may take for us to get there or what manner of geopolitical gyrations may occur
before God intervenes to save Israel from the existential attack involving
Russia, Iran, Turkey, and several Northern African nations that the prophet Ezekiel
describes.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">As one of the small fry in the
watchman world, however, I admit that it's reassuring for me to see that my
assessment is in general agreement with what a number of other Bible teachers I
hold in great respect have been saying recently. Many are focused on the
attempted annihilation of Israel in Ezekiel's prophecy, and are convinced <i>that's</i>
where this furball is ultimately headed.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">Time out for a confession: Recent
events in the Middle East have overwhelmed me with a feeling that I struggled at
length to accurately describe. I don't often find myself at a loss for words,
but I just had trouble pinning it down. Finally, the Lord gave me a simple
mental picture that captured it to perfection:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Imagine you are at some
little train depot out in the country somewhere, suitcase at your feet and
waiting for a train that will take you to your home and family far away—a home
and family you haven't seen for many years. You aren't sure when the train is
supposed to arrive, but the Station Master assures you it should be arriving
"soon and very soon."</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">So you wait. You wait,
and peer expectantly out at the horizon in a vain effort to spot something coming.
But time and again, all you see is the countryside stretching out for miles in
the distance.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">As you wait for the
train, your thoughts turn to the place where you are heading—a little town
where there's a home and a family that you haven't seen for so long that there's
no quelling the ache in your heart. You've been away for so long...and that
ache almost makes it difficult for you to believe this train is really going to
take you to be with them. But you <u>know</u> it will...that is, <i>if it ever
gets here!</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">So you keep
waiting...and you catch yourself wondering if that train is <i>ever</i> going
to arrive. All you know is waiting, waiting, and more waiting—and you can't imagine
what it will be like when the train finally pulls in.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">As you peer once again
out at the horizon just as you've already done 900 times, however, something
catches your eye. You strain to make it out...it's like a tiny cloud on the
horizon...and then suddenly you realize that it's a puff of smoke coming from an
approaching locomotive!</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><b><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">THE TRAIN IS COMING!!</span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">It's really happening!
Suddenly everything comes into sharp focus. In an instant everything
changes—now you <i><u>know</u></i> the wait is almost over!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">That</span></i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;"> is the quintessential description
of the effect that events in the Middle East are having on me, because God's
Word tells us clearly where this is headed.</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">When I look at the Middle East today, I can</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">spot that little puff of
smoke—and I KNOW:</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><i><u><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">That's</span></u></i></b><b><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> the train we've been
waiting for!</span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">And that train has a name:
the Harpazo Express. But in addition to news pertaining to the actual war in
Gaza, there are some related things I have read about lately that have contributed
to this intense feeling of anticipation—things that serve to solidify and
confirm the fact that the world has embarked on a sequence of events that will
culminate with the attack of Gog-Magog...and more importantly for us as
believers, the catching away of the Church.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;">Give or take:</span></i></b><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;"> As I have explained in
the past, I am of the opinion that the Rapture <u>precedes</u> God's
intervention at the climax of Gog-Magog. One of the primary reasons I say that
is because Ezekiel 39:29 tells us that God's deliverance of His people from this
attack is the event in which God finally turns His face back to His people and
pours His Spirit out on them after 2,000 years, and that suggests that He is
done with the Church and has already called us home. But this isn't carved in
granite.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">In other words, there's no
reason for me to be hyper-dogmatic about that point. The reason I see it that
way is simply because that's the scenario that makes the best sense to me. But consider:
It's not as if God suddenly stopped <i><u>all</u></i> His dealings with Israel immediately
after the conception of the Church on Pentecost, 50 days after the
Resurrection. It's just that He began to deal with Israel more in terms of
judgment for rejecting their Messiah rather than advancing their prophetic agenda,
and He began focusing His attention on building the body of Christ.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">But it wouldn't absolutely
contradict any Scripture I am aware of if the Rapture came at some point <u>after</u>
His intervention in Gog-Magog (not even Rom. 11:25, which I'll get to in a
moment), although it still must precede the launching of the Tribulation. Having
the Rapture come after the launching of the Tribulation <i><u>would</u></i>
contradict a number of precepts that are clearly taught in God's Word, and so I
will happily remain hyper-dogmatic about <i>that</i> one.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;">A sight to behold:</span></i></b><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;"> In reality, even though
I am inclined to think the Church will be called home to the wedding before
Gog-Magog goes down, part of me almost hopes we are here to see it. How cool
would it be to witness God's hand move in judgment on the enemies of Israel,
and see the people of the world gasping in amazement at what the God of Israel
has done to save His people from certain annihilation at the hands of the
Gog-Magog gang!</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">But either way, seeing that puff of
smoke come into view due to the beginning of military escalations that will
ultimately lead to Ezekiel 38–39 is still sufficient to make me realize that what
we are really watching is the Harpazo Express come into view on the horizon like
never before.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">As I said, a number of related items
have come to my attention over the last few weeks that slap one exclamation
mark after another on this idea and serve to putty in a few of the cracks, so
to speak. These items help us firmly grasp that what we are seeing is <i><u>not</u></i>
a figment of our imaginations...our <span style="color: black;">over-eager
imaginations primed to pin the Rapture to anything that moves. </span>These
serve as subtle (and some not so subtle) confirmations that what we see
happening really <i><u>is</u></i> what we think it is:</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">That puff of smoke on the horizon really</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><i><u><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">is</span></u></i></b><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> the Harpazo Express
coming into view!</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">What I want to do in this article is take
a look at seven of these related events, facts, or phenomena that I've run
across lately (a couple of which have been the topic of recent Commentary
entries) and discuss why they make me even more convinced that our ship...er, I
mean our <i>train...</i>is about to come in.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 136); color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">1. A call to prayer.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">As I discussed in my Commentary entry
for </span><a href="https://www.alittlestrength.com/commentary.htm#prayer"><span face=""",sans-serif">11/7/23</span></a><span face=""",sans-serif">, the chief rabbis of Israel called
for a </span><a href="https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/rabbis-christian-leaders-call-national-day-prayer-israel-nov-6"><span face=""",sans-serif">National Day of Prayer</span></a><span face=""",sans-serif"> for Monday, November 6, after having
been strongly urged to do so by 20 Knesset members.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">Now, this is perfectly understandable and
reasonable under the circumstances, but it strikes me as prophetically
significant because the <i>entire point</i> of Gog-Magog is to draw Israel back
into a relationship with the God who turned His face from them 2,000 years ago
after they rejected their promised Messiah and had Him crucified like a common
criminal. That's the plan, as plainly stated in Ezekiel's prophecy (Ezek.
39:21–29).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">After the Jewish religious leaders
malevolently conspired to have Jesus arrested on trumped-up charges and falsely
accused in a series of illegal trials, they got their Roman masters to sentence
Him to the most ignominious death possible: crucifixion. As a result, God
turned His face from them and caused a hardening or a blindness to come upon
them in regard to the identity of their promised Messiah, and He turned His
attention to building the Church—and so it has been for the last 2,000 years. And
Paul tells us when that will change:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">25</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">For I would not, brothers, that you should be ignorant of this
mystery, lest you should be wise in your own conceits; <b>that blindness in
part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in</b>. <span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[That
is, until the final members of the Church have gotten saved and the USS <i>Ekklesia</i>
is ready to shove off, if you know what I'm saying.]</span><br /><br />
(Romans 11:25 AKJV / emphasis & </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[comments]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> added)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">According to the apostle Paul, that blindness
or hardening is set to remain in place until "the fullness of the Gentiles
be come in." Paul uses an expression pertaining to a ship that is getting ready
to set sail, and will pull out as soon as the last crew members are on
board—and here Paul is clearly using that expression to refer to the Rapture.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">And again, the wording of the verse
makes me lean in the direction of seeing the Rapture occurring <i>prior to</i>
God's intervention in Gog-Magog. However, I'm not sure we need to invoke that
degree of precision here. It's not impossible for me to envision the Rapture
occurring in the wake of Gog-Magog, as Israel struggles to grasp the
significance of what has occurred and God begins to remove the scales from
their eyes. (But just between you and me, my money is still riding on that "prior
to" thing.)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">My point is simply that seeing the
people of Israel earnestly seeking God in prayer obviously speaks to the
Gog-Magog end game, when they will face not just a terrorist attack, but total annihilation.
And as I mentioned in the Commentary entry I linked to above, according to
Ezekiel:</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Their prayers are going to be answered in spades.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 136); color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">2. Turkey talks turkey.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">According to reports, prior to start
of the Israel-Hamas war, Turkey had actually been working to mend some fences
with the Jewish state. But as soon as Hamas burst into Israeli territory and
started slaughtering Jews, you might say Turkey </span><a href="https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20231104-turkey-recalls-envoy-to-israel-blasts-netanyahu"><span face=""",sans-serif">changed </span></a><a href="https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20231104-turkey-recalls-envoy-to-israel-blasts-netanyahu"><span face=""",sans-serif">its </span></a><a href="https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20231104-turkey-recalls-envoy-to-israel-blasts-netanyahu"><span face=""",sans-serif">tune</span></a><span face=""",sans-serif">.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">Now Turkish President Recep Erdogan
has recalled Turkey's ambassador to Israel, and broken off ties with Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in protest of the forceful counterattacks
Israel is inflicting on Hamas in Gaza. And it's the same old lopsided, anti-Israel
refrain:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">Israel must passively let
themselves be attacked by barbaric terrorists and do nothing in response—as if
they had it coming. But as soon as the Israelis fire back to defend themselves,
God forbid, they're the evil oppressors who are out of control and this
senseless violence and bloodshed must stop NOW!! For God's sake, we demand a CEASEFIRE!!</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">What is interesting about
this from a prophetic standpoint, however, is the obvious fact that Turkey is
one of the key players in the attack of Gog-Magog, along with Russia and Iran
and others. And I'll admit that it gave me the chills when I caught wind of a
news item concerning Erdogan's presence at a rally of some sort in Turkey, where
at one point he shouted to the crowd:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">"I'd be willing to
lead a coalition of nations in an attack against Israel!"</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">Uh...sorry to rain on your parade, Mr.
Erdogan, but the prophet Ezekiel pegs Russia as the leader of that coalition.</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">But it's nice to see you talking turkey and</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">getting into that
Gog-Magog frame of mind!</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 136); color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">3. Israel and Russia: BFF?</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">Speaking of Russia...this is a biggie.
Ever since Israel was re-established as a nation in May 1948, Israel and Russia
have had a relatively warm, solid relationship. One obvious reason for this is
the fact that Russia has long had a significant population of Jewish people, and
Israel has a significant population of Jewish people of Russian ancestry.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">One of the only real speed bumps in
the relationship between the two countries came during the Six Day War in June,
1967, when the Soviet Union under Leonid Brezhnev severed official diplomatic
relations with Israel in protest. After the war, the two countries still got
along more or less as usual through other channels, however, so it's not as if
they became bitter enemies over it.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">These official diplomatic relations
were promptly restored in October 1991 as one of the first orders of business
for Russia's first post-Soviet leader Boris Yeltsin. Russia's current leader
Vladimir Putin, who was elected president in 2000, has long had a well-deserved
reputation for being pro-Israel.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">Up until very recently,
that is.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">I've </span><a href="https://www.alittlestrength.com/articles/2022/2203-gog.htm"><span face=""",sans-serif">written</span></a><span face=""",sans-serif"> about this before, but things started
to unravel when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, and Israel was caught
in the middle between its longtime ally Russia and Ukraine's Jewish le<span style="color: black;">ader Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Putin expected Israel to support
their old ally, and Zelenskyy expected Israel to support a Jewish leader after
being attacked by the (Gentile) bully Putin.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Since the Russia-Ukraine
conflict broke out, Israel has nervously attempted to walk the diplomatic tightrope
by trying to get along with Putin, and only giving Ukraine humanitarian aid—no weapons
or military support, in spite of Zelenskyy's persistent pleas. But predictably
enough, the relationship between Russia and Israel began to inexorably sour,
and now, with the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas, that relationship
has just about hit rock bottom.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">Now the gloves have come
off.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">There are many facets to
this situation, not the least of which is the fact that Israel gave Russia zero
support against Ukraine. In Putin's eyes, this makes Israel a silent partner
with the rest of the world, which has been quick to condemn Russia as the big
bully picking on poor little innocent Ukraine.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">So when Israel was
attacked by Hamas, Putin wasn't exactly in the mood to offer the Jewish state a
shoulder to cry on—along with a few complimentary missiles to fire at the
terrorists. Russia seems content to remain relatively </span><a href="https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2023/10/13/kremlins-passive-stance-on-israel-hamas-war-risks-damaging-its-relationship-with-israel-a82749"><span face=""",sans-serif">passive</span></a><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;"> in regard to the
Israel-Hamas war, and it looks very much as if this might be the final nail in
the coffin of their diplomatic relationship.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">This obviously goes
hand-in-glove with the Gog-Magog scenario, in which Russia leads a coalition of
nations to destroy Israel. So, the current hostilities between Israel and Hamas
have, for the first time in modern history, effectively seen Russia and Israel reduced
to enemies.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">And that's a <i>huge</i>
prerequisite for Gog-Magog you can check off the list.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 136); color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">4. He's b-a-a-ck.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">I dealt with this snake in the grass
in my Commentary entry of </span><a href="https://www.alittlestrength.com/commentary.htm#snake"><span face=""",sans-serif">10/24/23</span></a><span face=""",sans-serif">, and that snake is Barack Obama. While
president, Obama did a lot of pretending.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">•</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> He pretended to be a Christian.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">No? He publicly mocked the
Bible and spoke reverently of the "holy Qur'an."</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">•</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> He pretended to be heterosexual.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">No? That's an easy one:
Just talk to people in the LGBT community in Chicago who knew him back in the
day, before he decided to run for president.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">•</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> He pretended to be black.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">No? He's only six percent
black and 44 percent Arab, which for some strange reason is genealogical information
that has become difficult if not impossible to find online, unlike it was during
his first term when I found it with ease.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">•</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> He pretended to be born on U.S. soil, as
required by the Constitution.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">No? A week's worth of microfiche
airline records that would have proved little baby Barry was with his mommy
when she entered Hawaii in the summer of 1961 mysteriously vanished before this
became a major issue, and the "birth certificate" he <i>f-i-n-a-l-l-y</i>
released was determined to be fake within hours.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">And you know, it's not as
if it actualy <i>mattered</i> at this point...it just serves to underscore the
fact that everything about this man is fraudulent to the bone.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">•</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> And he pretended to support Israel.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">No? Just ask Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif">Sigh... </span></i><span face=""",sans-serif">Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know—conspiracy
theories, every last one of 'em. And unlike every former president before him, Obama
never left Washington, D.C., where he can quietly and conveniently pull the
strings and call the shots during what is effectively his third term, thanks to
a life-size cardboard cutout that was fraudulently installed in the Oval Office
in January 2021.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">So when I say "He's
b-a-a-ck," in a sense I'm a little off base because he never actually left.
But he <i><u>is</u></i> back in the sense that he is beginning to take
advantage of more opportunities to make his voice heard once again—to reassert
himself as a statesman of some stature. And, dare I ask, what statesman-like
message is Mr. Obama </span><a href="https://www.breitbart.com/middle-east/2023/10/23/obama-criticizes-israel-over-gaza-dont-harden-palestinian-attitudes-for-generations/"><span face=""",sans-serif">pontificating</span></a><span face=""",sans-serif"> these days?</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Criticism of the way Israel is risking the</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">further
"hardening" of Hamas by defending</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">themselves just a little
bit too effectively.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">Yeah, we sure don't want
to "harden" people who ripped babies from their mothers' wombs,
chopped the babies' heads off, and then burned the mothers' bodies to a
blackened crisp, now do we, Mr. Obama?</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">The obvious goal of
Obama's myopically misguided, slyly one-sided song-and-dance routine is to
support and contribute to the global effort to dissuade Israel from defending
itself from an enemy who will never stop until they are stopped. And I know
Israeli leadership understands that they need to do whatever is necessary to
render Hamas powerless to threaten Israel again.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">The release of hostages is
playing a role in things, however. And as desirable as that is, it will slow
things down and give Hamas a chance to re-arm and regroup so they can (a) protect
their sorry butts and (b) kill more Jews. That's exactly why Hamas took those
hostages in the first place. And in spite of all the anti-Israel, pro-terrorist
drivel coming from high-minded vipers like Obama, Israel will do things in a
way that minimizes civilian casualties—which is a lot more than can be said for
Israel's enemies.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">And it's just a hunch,
but something tells me Satan has big plans for BHO.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 136); color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">5. A one-state solution.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">Until he retired from his position on October
28 of this year, Craig Mokhiber was the Director of the New York Office of the United
Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. On that day, he sent his last
official communication to Volker <span style="color: #222222;">Türk</span> of
Austria, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. In that
communication, Mokhiber provides some bloodcurdling insight into the United
Nation's position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict:</span></p>
<div style="border: 1pt none black; margin-left: 0.2in; margin-right: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in;">
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="border: none; line-height: 21pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">"We must support
the establishment of a single, democratic, secular state in all of historic
Palestine, with equal rights for Christians, Muslims and Jews, and, therefore,
the dismantling of the deeply racist, settler-colonial project and an end to apartheid
across the land."</span></i></p>
</div>
<div style="border: 1pt none black; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in;">
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="border: none; line-height: 21pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Of course, the
"deeply racist, settler-colonial project" Mokhiber is referring to is
the independent nation of Israel, and according to him it must be
"dismantled" in favor of a "single, secular state" that
occupies <i><u>all</u></i> the land that Israel currently occupies. Oh, and
with equal rights for Christians and Muslims.</span></p>
</div>
<div style="border: 1pt none black; margin-left: 0.2in; margin-right: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in;">
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="border: none; line-height: 21pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">"OUCH!! Leggo of my
arm! Oh, all right—and J-O-O-Z. There, I said it. Happy now?"</span></i></p>
</div>
<div style="border: 1pt none black; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in;">
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="border: none; line-height: 21pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">This priceless little gem
reveals the true heart and thinly veiled intentions of the United Nations, unquestionably
the most anti-Semitic organization on earth.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="border: none; line-height: 21pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Professor Anne Bayefsky,
director of the Touro Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust, wasted
little time in exposing Mokhiber's words for the Nazi-era </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #202945;">throwback that they are:</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="background: rgb(230, 230, 249); border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #000077;">Mokhiber wrote this
letter as one of the U.N.'s highest ranking "human rights" officials,
on U.N. letterhead, with a U.N. email address. As such, his overt call for the
destruction of the Jewish state lays bare what is really going on at the U.N.
in the war now being waged by and at the U.N. against Israel.<br /><br />
Listen to Mokhiber's
chilling words. Yes, Israel is engaged in an existential fight. At the U.N.,
there are human rights for everyone but Jews, who are supposed to lay down
their arms in the face of a genocidal enemy currently enslaving their people.
Mokhiber's phony "human rights" cover is extremely disturbing. He
says equality means 21 Arab states, 56 Islamic states and zero Jewish states.
That's antisemitism dressed up as human rights.<br /><br />
— Professor Anne
Bayefsky [</span><span style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="https://www.foxnews.com/world/outgoing-senior-un-official-calls-one-state-solution-slams-us-israel-chilling-words?utm_source=Newswav&utm_medium=Website"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #000077;">Source</span></a></span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #000077;">]</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #222222;">Every time I hear
someone yammer on about the so-called "two-state solution" that so
many people naively believe will be the Palestinians' dream come true and allow
them to settle down and live in peace and harmony with their Jewish neighbors, I
only have one thing to say to them:</span></p>
</div>
<div style="border: 1pt none black; margin-left: 0.2in; margin-right: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in;">
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">Read the </span></i><a href="https://ecf.org.il/media_items/677"><i><span face=""",sans-serif">Palestinian
National Charter</span></i></a><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">. I dare you. It's only four and a half pages, so it won't take
you too long. After you finish, if you still think the Palestinians will ever
settle for a two-state solution, check to make sure you didn't read the Sunday
comics by mistake.</span></i></p>
</div>
<div style="border: 1pt none black; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in;">
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #222222;">Seriously. See also </span><a href="https://www.alittlestrength.com/articles/2016/1612-deal.htm#charter"><span face=""",sans-serif">something</span></a><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #222222;"> I wrote about the
Palestinian Charter back in 2016. The point is that the Palestinians have <i><u>never</u></i>
wanted a two-state solution, except possibly as a stepping stone to what they <i>really</i>
want: a <b><i><u>one-state</u></i> solution</b>, and that would be <i><u>one</u></i>
Palestinian state plus <i><u>zero</u></i> Jewish states...and zero Jews, not to
put too fine a point on it. In other words:</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">The Palestinians want <i>exactly</i></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">what is currently brewing behind</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">the scenes at the United Nations.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">So as the Jewish nation
fights back to defend itself against monsters who are intent on literally
butchering their women and children, we get a sneak peek at the fact that the
U.N. has their back. The <u>monsters'</u> back, that is.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">The attitude of the United
Nations toward Israel reflects the same attitude of an abusive father toward
his young son in an old Bill Cosby comedy routine:</span></p>
</div>
<div style="border: 1pt none black; margin-left: 0.2in; margin-right: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in;">
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">"Hey, I brought you
into this world...I can take you out!"</span></i></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 136); color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">6. <i>Kristallnacht</i> redux.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">One extremely troubling phenomenon
that has been rearing its demonic head to a level not seen since <i>Kristallnacht,</i>
the infamous Nazi pogrom that kicked off a nationwide wave of extreme
persecution against Jews in Germany in November 1938, is intensifying anti-Semitism.
Hatred toward the Jews has been on the rise in the last few years, but with the
attack by Hamas on Israeli soil that saw 1,400 innocent civilians variously raped,
butchered, and burned alive, hatred toward Jews has skyrocketed and is gaining steam.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">People are openly supporting Hamas and
holding aggressive demonstrations where they glorify brutal terrorists as noble
freedom fighters and cluelessly condemn Israel for having the gall to even <i>exist,</i>
let alone defend itself. At many of the most prestigious universities in America,
students are holding rallies to show support for the terrorists of Hamas and
condemning Israel as the occupying aggressor that must be eliminated—and the
sooner the better.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">This is so divorced from both current
and historical reality that it's utterly irrational, and does little more than
put these students' callow ignorance on full, glorious display—not to mention
do irreparable damage to the reputations of the august institutions of higher
learning they attend.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">They proudly prance around waving their
Palestinian flags and carrying their signs bearing devilishly clever memes that
most of them probably fail to grasp the true significance of, like the
following Jew-hating jingle:</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #ed2e38;">From the river to the sea,</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #009639;">Palestine will be free!</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">And I'll bet an
embarrassingly large percentage of them couldn't name that river <i><u>or</u></i>
that sea. Well, not to one-up anybody, but the simple reality is this:</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">From the sea to the
river,</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Israel will be delivered!</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">You have God's Word on it.
(And that's the <i>Mediterranean Sea</i> and the <i>Jordan River,</i> just to
be clear.) This is all demonic, pure and simple. Irrational hatred<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>for God's Chosen People always is—and that's
what the Jews have been since the days of the Patriarchs, still are today, and
will be forever. Satan hates the Jews because God loves them, and also because the
father of lies hates God's plan of redemption for sinful man.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Plus, Satan knows that it
is the Jews who will implore the Lord to save them at the climax of his anointed
wannabe's 42-month kingdom. And Christ will do just that by returning to earth
to destroy all His enemies with the word of His mouth. Thus, wiping out the
Jews is job one if Satan expects to hang on to this little corner of the universe
where he can try to be like the Most High.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">So, this huge spike in anti-Semitism
is a clear sign that Satan's kingdom, led by his man the Antichrist, is rapidly
coming into view...but it won't arrive until after the Harpazo Express picks up
its passengers and pulls out.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 136); color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">7. One step at a time.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">I found out about this one from a
recent </span><a href="https://harbingers.tv/mark-hitchcock-irans-endgame-and-gog-magog-war-next/"><span face=""",sans-serif">video</span></a><span face=""",sans-serif"> put out by Mark Hitchcock—long one of
my favorite Bible teachers, and posted at </span><a href="https://harbingersdaily.com/"><span face=""",sans-serif">Harbinger's
Daily</span></a><span face=""",sans-serif"> (a daily pit
stop for yours truly).</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">As everyone who is paying attention
already knows, Iran is the one pulling the strings behind this Hamas attack.
They fund, arm, and control Hamas and have arranged for them to operate out of
Gaza, where they hide their weapons and bases of operation under hospitals and
schools. They also fund, arm, and control Hezbollah in Lebanon, which is bigger
and better armed than Hamas.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">So it all goes back to Iran, the head
of the dragon. Although it's true that Russia is developing increasingly close
military ties with Iran and will lead the charge of Gog-Magog according to
Ezekiel, Iran already has its puppets busily setting the stage for the
destruction of the Little Satan (while the Great Satan funnels untold billions
of your tax dollars into their coffers).</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">According to recent intelligence,
however, Iran <i>does</i> have a game plan. Yes, they want to destroy Israel
and wipe out the Jews, but their plan involves doing it in a way that involves the
shedding of a minimum of Iranian blood.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">According to reports, Iran has a
four-stage plan:</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">1.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> Have Hamas attack
Israeli territory from Gaza. Obviously this has already occurred, and provoked
a strong response from the IDF, which is determined to essentially put an end
to Hamas. — </span><b><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Status:
</span></i></b><b><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Complete.</span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">2.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> Wait for Israel to get
bogged down in a ground-war slugfest with Hamas that could drag on for several months.
— <b><i>Status: Currently in work.</i></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">3.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> While Israel is still
bogged down with Hamas, have Hezbollah spring into action from Lebanon and open
a second, more intensive front that stretches Israel's military capabilities to
the limit. — <b><i>Status: On standby.</i></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif"><b>Note:</b> Although Mark doesn't specifically mention this in his video, I have since read <a href="https://frontline.news/post/idf-ignoring-warnings-about-impending-massacre-in-judea-samaria-say-sources">things</a> that indicate that Iran's plan for stage three may include an attack by the Palestinians coming from the West Bank. So, this thing could quickly expand into a multi-front war.<br /><br />
— Greg (11/30/23)</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">4.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> Leverage the resulting chaos
as an excuse to put the pedal to the metal of their nuclear weapons program,
which would enable Iran to rapidly finish developing a nuclear weapon. — <b><i>Status:
In prep mode.</i></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">In stage four, depending on how things
go and the timing involved, it's not inconceivable that Iran could have a
nuclear weapon ready by the time the plan gets to that stage. But however you
look at it and however things go, Iran has a clear and definite plan laid out
to destroy Israel.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">And don't think for a second
that Israeli leaders aren't keenly aware of it.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">Clearly stage four is closely linked
with the attack of Gog-Magog, but there is something here in regard to
Ezekiel's description of events following the climax of the attack that is most
intriguing. Let me preface my remarks this way:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Note that whatever it is
that decimates the forces of Gog-Magog isn't necessarily supernatural in and of
itself. It could very well be something natural or manmade, but that simply occurs
in such a manner or at such a time that the world knows with stunning clarity
that it was choreographed by the hand of an almighty God who fights for His
people Israel.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">OK, first let's take a closer look at
a passage from Ezekiel 39:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">9</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">And they that dwell in the cities of
Israel shall go forth, and shall set on fire and burn the weapons, both the
shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the hand staves, and the
spears, <b>and they shall burn them with fire seven years</b>: </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">[The weapons remaining after the decimation of Gog's
forces will be used by Israel for seven years as a supply of energy.]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> <b><sup>10</sup>So that they shall take no wood out of the field,
neither cut down any out of the forests; for they shall burn the weapons with
fire:</b> </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">[i.e. they have an alternative
source of fuel]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and they
shall spoil those that spoiled them, and rob those that robbed them, said the
Lord GOD. <b><sup>11</sup></b></span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give to Gog a
place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers on the east of
the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they
bury Gog and all his multitude: and they shall call it The valley of Hamongog. <b><sup>12</sup></b>And
seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may <b>cleanse
the land</b>.<b> </b></span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[The Hebrew word translated "cleanse"
here (a form of <i>taher</i>) is often used in a ceremonial sense, but it can
also be used in a more literal sense.]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> <b><sup>13</sup></b>Yes, all the people of the land shall bury
them; and it shall be to them a renown the day that I shall be glorified, said
the Lord GOD. <b><sup>14</sup></b>And they shall sever out men of continual
employment, passing through the land to bury with the <b>passengers</b> </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[those
passing through; travelers]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> those that remain on the face of the earth, to cleanse it:
after the end of seven months shall they search. <b><sup>15</sup></b>And the
passengers that pass through the land, when any sees <b>a man's bone</b> </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[or the
remains of a dead body]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">, then shall he <b>set up a sign</b> </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[a visible
marker of some sort]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> by it, till the buriers have buried it in the valley of
Hamongog. <b><sup>16</sup></b>And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah.
Thus shall they cleanse the land.<br /><br />
(Ezekiel 39:9–16 AKJV / emphasis & </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[comments]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> added)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">Many Bible commentators believe that what
Ezekiel is describing here sounds suspiciously similar to what would be done
during a nuclear cleanup, as might be required in the wake of a nuclear
accident of some type. And it is a fact that </span><a href="https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/nuclear-fuel-cycle/uranium-resources/military-warheads-as-a-source-of-nuclear-fuel.aspx"><span face=""",sans-serif">unused nuclear warheads can be </span></a><a href="https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/nuclear-fuel-cycle/uranium-resources/military-warheads-as-a-source-of-nuclear-fuel.aspx"><span face=""",sans-serif">converted into a source </span></a><a href="https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/nuclear-fuel-cycle/uranium-resources/military-warheads-as-a-source-of-nuclear-fuel.aspx"><span face=""",sans-serif">of </span></a><a href="https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/nuclear-fuel-cycle/uranium-resources/military-warheads-as-a-source-of-nuclear-fuel.aspx"><span face=""",sans-serif">civilian </span></a><a href="https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/nuclear-fuel-cycle/uranium-resources/military-warheads-as-a-source-of-nuclear-fuel.aspx"><span face=""",sans-serif">fuel</span></a><span face=""",sans-serif">, which suggests that the Gog-Magog boys leave behind a
pile of them that Israel will be using as a source of fuel for seven years (vv.
9–10).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">OK, let's think this through. Let's
assume these commentators are on to something (and personally I am convinced
they are). First of all, it can't simply be somebody using a nuke in the normal
sense. It can't be some other nation using a nuclear weapon on the forces of
Gog-Magog. Why? Simple. If that's all it was, nobody would think it was the LORD.
Nobody would have any reason to think that God had anything to do with it. But that's
<i><u>not</u></i> the result of Gog-Magog. The result of Gog-Magog is this:</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">God miraculously intervenes to save</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">His people, <i>and the
world <u>knows</u> it!</i></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">So it <i>can't</i> just be someone
nuking Gog's forces—what's miraculous about that? That's just men attacking men
with the weapons of men. You don't need a holy God who has promised to deliver
His people from the hand of their enemies for that. That's just good
old-fashioned nuclear warfare.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">On the other hand, I don't
believe this is a nuclear accident that releases a lot of nuclear radiation,
but without an actual weapon being detonated. I don't think somebody in the
Gog-Magog camp makes a careless mistake that causes the release of radiation
that kills many of Gog's forces and prompts a huge cleanup. Why? Notice
something that Ezekiel says back in chapter 38:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">19</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath I have spoken.
Surely in that day <b>there will be a great shaking in the land of Israel</b>, <b><sup>20</sup></b>so
that the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the animals of the field, all
creeping things who creep on the earth, and all the men who are on the surface
of the earth will shake at my presence. <b>Then the mountains will be thrown
down, the steep places will fall, and every wall will fall to the ground.</b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[These two verses are certainly consistent with a huge explosion.]</span><br /><br />
(Ezekiel 38:19–20 / emphasis & </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[comments]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> added)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">It strikes me that Ezekiel could very well
be describing a massive explosion in this passage. So, I don't think what
decimates Gog's forces is merely an accident that releases a bunch of nuclear radiation
that has to be cleaned up, and neither do I think it's someone nuking them in
the conventional sense because there is nothing miraculous about that. So...just
what exactly <i><u>are</u></i> we talking about here?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">Hmmm...that's a toughie. Well, let me
put on my thinking cap (but you gotta promise me you won't laugh).</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">* * * SPECULATION ALERT * * *</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">What if when the time
comes for the Gog-Magog coalition to descend on Israel, somebody shows up packing
a fistful of nuclear warheads? Maybe Iran, maybe Russia (or maybe both). They
are all set to slap each other on the back as they watch Israel go up in a
mushroom cloud, but something goes horribly wrong. There <u>is</u> an accident,
but it somehow causes one (or more) of their nukes to detonate prematurely while
still on the ground. This could certainly decimate Gog's forces as required,
explain the shaking in Ezekiel 38:19–20 as required, and explain the ensuing cleanup
in Ezekiel 39:11–16 as required. And there could still be a number of unused
nuclear warheads left behind that Israel could use for energy for seven years,
as required. Not only that, but just imagine the reaction to such a freakishly
ironic accident. Think of it: Those all set to destroy Israel are accidentally
destroyed by their own weapons, with Israel not only being left unscathed, but
with seven years' worth of free energy to boot! How 'bout them apples? I'll bet
<u>that</u> would grab the world's attention:</span></i></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Holy cow! God really <u>is</u> the LORD!</span></i></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">And He sure fights for
His people!</span></i></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">* * * END SPECULATION ALERT * * *</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">OK, got that outta my
system. Thanks for listening (and stifling the laughter).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;">All aboard!</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">So, as we see the sequence of events
that will lead to the fulfillment of Ezekiel 38–39 in the not-too-distant
future start to get cranked up and get going, we also see a number of attendant
events and phenomena blossoming along the path. These are just a few of the
things (and there are certainly others) that tend to confirm that what we see
coming is just what we think it is and what the Bible says it is, and altogether
these things tell those with ears to hear something of critical importance:</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Bible prophecy is going to be</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">fulfilled in a
thundering manner.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">As usual. But for us as believers,
this is wonderful news because the approach of the fulfillment of Ezekiel 38–39
(which will <i>never</i> have a set date) is inextricably linked to the
approach of the Rapture. God's intervention on Israel's behalf in the attack of
Gog-Magog is the event in which God turns His face back to His people after
2,000 years, and the very last verse of chapter 39 tells us point blank what
God is going to do after He decimates the enemies who seek to destroy His
people:</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in;"><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">29</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Neither will I hide my
face any more from them: for I have poured out my spirit on the house of
Israel, said the Lord GOD.<br /><br />
(Ezekiel 39:29 AKJV)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">And forgive me for beating this poor horse to death,
but it sure seems to me that before God would pour out His Spirit on Israel that
He'd arrange for His Spirit's existing temple on earth to pull up stakes, if
you catch my drift.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">But there's no need to get in a tangle over the
precise timing of these things. What we need to focus on is living lives that
honor God and glorify His Son, and sharing the gospel of His salvation with those
He brings into our path for that purpose before our train pulls out—with us on
it.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Speaking of our train... If you've read very many of
my articles, you may have noticed that I have a peculiar habit of imagining
Christ shouting different things when He calls us up to be with Him at the
Rapture. But after writing this article, all I can hear is our Lord and
Conductor shouting...</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">ALL ABOARD!</span></b></p>
</div>
<br><b>From Greg Lauer @ <a href="https://alittlestrength.com/articles/2023/2311-harpazo-express.htm">A Little Strength—NOV '23</a></b><br>
Greg L.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13488517852547324706noreply@blogger.com41tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-923571518579487836.post-16050625924317819972023-11-29T16:00:00.008-06:002024-02-05T23:43:52.153-06:00Gaza Abandoned = Zephaniah 2:4 Fulfilled?<p>Often we see prophetic undertones to world events and things merely building toward the crescendo—"stage setting" as it were. Sometimes, however, we see more than just preparation; we see direct fulfillments such as <a href="https://www.unsealed.org/2020/08/the-fig-tree-feasts-and-doctrine-of.html">Israel's national reestablishment</a> (1948) or the <a href="https://www.unsealed.org/2018/05/the-sign.html">Revelation 12 Sign</a> (2017). Of late, I'm chewing on the prospect that we have just witnessed the literal fulfillment of Zephaniah 2:4. <i>Not the whole verse</i>, mind you, but the first part: <b>"Gaza will be abandoned . . ."</b> Now here it is in context:<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p><br /></p><p></p><blockquote><p>4 <b><u>Gaza will be abandoned</u></b></p><p> and Ashkelon left in ruins.</p><p>At midday Ashdod will be emptied</p><p> and Ekron uprooted.</p><p>5 Woe to you who live by the sea,</p><p> you Kerethite people;</p><p>the word of the Lord is against you,</p><p> Canaan, land of the <b><u>Philistines</u> [from where we likely get the word "Palestine"]</b>.</p><p>He says, “I will destroy you,</p><p> and none will be left.”</p><p>6 The land by the sea will become pastures</p><p> having wells for shepherds</p><p> and pens for flocks.</p><p>7 That land will belong</p><p> to the remnant of the people of Judah <b>[i.e., the Jews]</b>;</p><p> there they will find pasture.</p><p>In the evening they will lie down</p><p> in the houses of Ashkelon.</p><p>The Lord their God will care for them;</p><p> he will restore their fortunes <b>[a promise ultimately yet future in the Millennium]</b>.</p></blockquote><p></p><p><br /></p><p>Now to the best of my understanding, historic Gaza is in the same area as modern Gaza City (in the northern half of the Gaza Strip). Could what has been transpiring in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_Israel%E2%80%93Hamas_war">Israel-Hamas War</a> (a.k.a. the <i>Sukkot War</i>) indeed be a <u>direct fulfillment</u> of the first part of verse 4 right before our very eyes? Take a look at this quote from the Wikipedia article on Gaza City, straight from the introduction:</p><p><br /></p><p></p><blockquote>Inhabited since at least the 15th century BCE, Gaza has been dominated by different peoples and empires throughout its history . . . As of November 2023, as part of the Israel-Hamas War, the Israeli army has bombed large portions of the city and surrounding areas of the Northern Gaza Strip, destroying many buildings and infrastructure. <u style="font-weight: bold;">Almost all residents have fled or been evacuated to Southern Gaza</u> <b>[i.e., Gaza City has been "abandoned"]</b>, or killed as a result. [<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaza_City">Source</a>]</blockquote><p></p><p><br /></p><p>Why might this be important in the timing of things? Because immediately before verse 4 is an allusion to the pre-tribulational rapture of the Church in verse 3:</p><p><br /></p><p></p><blockquote>Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land, who do his just commands; seek righteousness; seek humility; <b><u>perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the anger of the LORD</u></b>. (ESV)</blockquote><p></p><p><br /></p><p>You can read more about the specific argumentation for why this verse may give a hint of the pre-trib rapture <a href="https://www.unsealed.org/2018/02/zephaniah-213-promising-pre-trib.html">here</a>.</p><p><br /></p><p>Circling back to verse 4, while the fulfillment of the abandonment of Gaza is apparently happening before our very eyes, the prophecy regarding Ashkelon and Ekron is possibly yet to come. We <i>often </i>see prophecy fulfilled this way, where only part of a prophecy is fulfilled and there is even division <i>midverse </i>in its fulfillment (i.e., Lk. 4 where Jesus is quoting Isaiah 61). Similar pauses and gaps can be seen in prophecies in Daniel 2, 7, 8, and 9, as well as Revelation 12, among others. Scripture fully allows for this sort of prophetic application through punctuated progression.</p><p><br /></p><p>But it might even be argued that the prophecies concerning Ashkelon, Ekron, and Ashdod have already been fulfilled, and in <i>modern times</i> (i.e., post-1948), given that Ashkelon and Ashdod, which were once mighty cities of Philistia and subsequently populated by "Palestinians," are now well within modern Israel and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashkelon">almost entirely populated by Jews</a> (i.e., "the remnant of the people of Judah").</p><p><br /></p><p>Gaza City is a bombed out shell of its former self and the <i>entire population</i> has been ordered to evacuate (all 1.1 million Gazans north of the Wadi Gaza). We happen to be alive at the specific point in history when the words of the Prophets pertaining to the Day of the LORD, the Tribulation, and the Second Coming of Christ are being fulfilled in real time, <i>literally</i>. <a href="https://www.unsealed.org/2022/12/the-final-four.html">Tick-tock</a>.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-lnka8Jbvwua3NF_BbRAZDnKho3j0aA9ao_jf6stL3V1q9fz0gvjGvtTpLUzTfbcNitpbT2EU00DSWMy8YMabWmbg4OVjtzKoFGf_Y1reNH9rDhCCn4l-TIOzQ-kESs_vK3yIldVQXhClT0h-fvu9Uk1SVr7hr-Ew4QEOsD6NH-nS-9cJ9z2_ih13uw/s1934/GazaCityDestruction.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1284" data-original-width="1934" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-lnka8Jbvwua3NF_BbRAZDnKho3j0aA9ao_jf6stL3V1q9fz0gvjGvtTpLUzTfbcNitpbT2EU00DSWMy8YMabWmbg4OVjtzKoFGf_Y1reNH9rDhCCn4l-TIOzQ-kESs_vK3yIldVQXhClT0h-fvu9Uk1SVr7hr-Ew4QEOsD6NH-nS-9cJ9z2_ih13uw/w640-h424/GazaCityDestruction.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p><br /></p>Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03907296435997404954noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-923571518579487836.post-7849297120855740462023-11-04T09:05:00.007-05:002024-03-02T00:52:42.259-06:00Where Is This Going?<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibd1T8yiMT6u1aMQM2heH4pmnAVrqlD9seVm5tTspFb7uVaCwo2iullIizinKrscFy2x1TjnvLFINgeKuLkrOdvkZfP4wtM5tzFjPmx_n9GVQEGZ0kyCxe_Z2PaIttGnkMIRW8DP4SwDVQE-axNqFjynBlYjMdwluATaSvC73OhOIe7RJqQukBFUFMwA/s1684/Hezbollah.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1120" data-original-width="1684" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibd1T8yiMT6u1aMQM2heH4pmnAVrqlD9seVm5tTspFb7uVaCwo2iullIizinKrscFy2x1TjnvLFINgeKuLkrOdvkZfP4wtM5tzFjPmx_n9GVQEGZ0kyCxe_Z2PaIttGnkMIRW8DP4SwDVQE-axNqFjynBlYjMdwluATaSvC73OhOIe7RJqQukBFUFMwA/w640-h426/Hezbollah.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">As everyone knows, on Saturday, October
7, Gaza-based terrorist group Hamas struck Israeli territory with a barrage of about
3,000 missiles, thanks in large part to a temporary and suspiciously ill-timed failure
of their Iron Dome air defense system. At the same time, waves of Hamas
terrorists penetrated Israeli territory, killing over 1,300 innocent civilians
(with a documented focus on young children, women, and the elderly), and taking
over 200 hostages alive back to Gaza.</span></p><span><a name='more'></a></span>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">The next day, Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu officially declared the nation of Israel to be at war with
Hamas. The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) called up 300,000 reserves and swiftly cleared
Israeli territory of all terrorists, and began launching airstrikes on Gaza. In
addition, Israeli ground troops have begun moving into Gaza to attack enemy
sites and rescue hostages.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">I'm going to leave off with the intro right
there, because this article obviously isn't meant to be an up-to-the-minute
report on the conflict itself—I'm not trying to earn my War Correspondence Merit
Badge. So much is happening so fast that people can scarcely keep up with it, and
heaven only knows what will have transpired by the time I post this article.
But that's OK, because the current state of the conflict is not my primary
focus—it's prophecy. Plus, I'm sure you are getting all the news you need from any
number of sources.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">To say that this recent attack has the
prophecy community in a tizzy is an understatement. Watchmen the world over are
burning the midnight oil, doing their God-given best to sort things out and get
a handle on what this means and where this is going in terms of end-time
prophecy, and for many of those watchmen two particular events have become the
primary focus:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">The attacks described in
Psalm 83 and Ezekiel 38–39.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">The first thing I want to do in this
article is take a fresh look at Psalm 83 in order to (a) patch up some
misunderstandings I had about it up until recently, and (b) offer a view of it that
is different from what I previously held. (You know me: When I realize that I'm
wrong about something in regard to biblical interpretation, I don't fudge on it—I
fix it.) I also want to consider possible ways in which the current conflict in
the Middle East could ultimately impact or relate to the fulfillment of Ezekiel
38–39 and other major end-time events.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">After all, most prophetically aware
believers understand that the attack of Gog-Magog is a key prophetic event coming
in the foreseeable future—and I don't plan to get carried away and end up putting
too much emphasis on the issue of timing or anything, but the big, overriding
question on everyone's mind right now is reflected in the title:</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Where is this going?</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">I doubt very much that this article
will answer all your questions, but I pray that it will at least clarify a few
of the elements of the scenario we are looking at today and help you focus your
attention on the right things and in the right direction so you don't go adrift
in a sea of semi-scriptural speculation.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;">Setting things
straight</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">Prophecy watchers have a wide variety
of opinions on the particulars concerning the conflicts described in Psalm 83
and Ezekiel 38–39 and their possible relationship, and a truckful of books have
been written about them over the last decade or two. Personally, I have devoted
a lot more time and attention to Ezekiel 38–39 than to Psalm 83, which I have
only briefly addressed in an article entitled "</span><a href="https://www.alittlestrength.com/articles/2018/1805-turning-point.htm"><span face=""",sans-serif">The Turning Point</span></a><span face=""",sans-serif">" back in May of 2018.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">I recently went back and reread what I
wrote in that article, however, and it wasn't long before it hit me right
between the eyes:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">I got it wrong.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">And I mean <i>bad</i> wrong. Now, I admit
that at the time I wrote that article, I had been largely unimpressed by the
efforts of some to sell the idea that Psalm 83 was yet future and preceded the
attack of Ezekiel 38–39, and in one particular section of the article I linked
to above I listed three reasons why I disagreed with the idea that Psalm 83 was
a distinct attack that preceded Gog-Magog, as well as why I was inclined to
believe that Psalm 83 and Gog-Magog were actually <i>(gasp)</i> two different descriptions
of the <i>same attack.</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">The "some" I am referring to
were spearheaded by Bill Salus, who had published a prophecy bestseller five
years earlier entitled <i>PSALM 83: The Missing Prophecy Revealed</i><span style="color: #363636;"> (2013). In what would become known as the Salus scenario,
the people groups listed in Psalm 83 constitute the inner-ring countries that closely
surround Israel, and they attack it at some point prior to Gog-Magog and are
destroyed by the IDF. Israel then proceeds to take over most of the territory
of these inner-ring countries and as a result greatly expands into a
Middle-Eastern superpower, until they are subsequently threatened by the
outer-ring countries (Russia, Iran, Turkey, et al.) in the attack of Gog-Magog and
Israel is defended by the hand of God Himself.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">Well, I give Bill an A+ for creativity
(and a D– for following Scripture in anything resembling a sensible manner). Straight
up: The Salus scenario is a flight of fancy that makes for a far better movie
script than a plausible interpretation of Scripture...so much so that I'm
mildly surprised Hollywood hasn't pounced on it (unless it has already inspired
a low-budget "apocaflick" that I'm blissfully unaware of.)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">So, here are the three points I discussed
in that 2018 article I linked to above to explain why I disagreed with the
Salus scenario and was tempted to think that Psalm 83 was the same attack described
in Ezekiel 38–39, followed by some comments to clarify how I missed it:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 136); color: #0000aa;">1. The
players:</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Ezekiel lists people groups that correspond to the modern nations of Russia, Iran, Turkey, Libya, Sudan (which many people don't realize was known as "Ethiopia" in Ezekiel's day), and possibly Algeria and Tunisia that would mount an existential attack on Israel in Ezekiel 38:1–6,
but then cryptically states that the attack would include "many peoples
with you" in verse 9. Well, "peoples" means "nations"
here, so is it really such a stretch to think that those "many
peoples" might include the inner-ring countries mentioned in Psalm 83?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Remarks:</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;"> Although in reality it is
plausible that some of the Psalm 83 players could join forces with the A-team of
Ezekiel 38–39, this is speculative and certainly no reason to assume Psalm 83
is the same attack as Gog-Magog. In fact, as we shall see in point no. 3, it is
<i>scripturally impossible</i> for Psalm 83 and Gog-Magog to be the same
attack. And, perhaps ironically, it is also impossible in the Salus scenario because
in Bill's game plan all the inner-ring countries are attacked by the IDF and
taken over by Israel before we even get to Gog-Magog (which, as we shall see,
is a problem). And that begs a key question:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">Will the inner-ring
countries really be destroyed by the IDF and annexed by Israel in the aftermath
of Psalm 83, enabling Israel to balloon into a genuine Middle-Eastern
superpower??</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Keep reading.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 136); color: #0000aa;">2. The
goals:</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">The stated reason for
the Psalm 83 attack is to wipe Israel out as a nation so that the name of
Israel will be remembered no more (Psalm 83:4). The stated reason for the
attack of Gog-Magog is take a spoil (Ezek. 38:11–12). The Salus scenario seems
to suggest that these two objectives are sufficiently different to warrant
viewing them as two different attacks. But since the spoil here is natural
resources (gas), these two objectives aren't just <i>not</i> mutually
exclusive, they go hand in hand:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Q.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> How do you take a
country's natural resources?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">A.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> You defeat and take
over that country.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Remarks:</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;"> Although I still believe the
basic idea behind this has some degree of validity, it's really neither here
nor there and certainly doesn't <i>prove</i> these two conflicts are one and
the same. For example, if the players of Psalm 83 actually were to wipe Israel
out as a nation, I'm sure they would be more than happy to help themselves to Israel's
huge natural gas deposits—Gog or no Gog.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">But here's the kicker:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 136); color: #0000aa;">3. The
results:</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Both attacks end the
same way: The nation of Israel as well as the nations of the world realize that
the God of Israel is the LORD (Psalm 83:17–18; Ezek. 38:23; 39:7, 22). It makes
little sense to think that God would deem it necessary to reiterate this result
in two attacks in fairly rapid succession, and hence they are most likely the
same attack.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">BZZZZZZ!!! Wrong answer!
Thank you for playing! So...what do we have for our loser, Vanna?</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif">Remarks:</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif"> This is where I missed it big time—there's
more to it than that. Two key issues we have to get straight in regard to the
Psalm 83 players are (a) <i>how</i> and (b) <i>when</i> they are destroyed. So
bear with me—I'll get us there.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRh_Z7gKF6POqhW0z4IepxlJlhpN5N7a6BvYxppAIbUghXHPN0SroImP-n1yqIjwYRp5aCtmMwzNu8nVdPV6QRNPCZrGW05fKyEFE33q3jou38G9ktawxY6bCdfza5kIuQBEBAxvEjMxc_9KVj-qDl6HK9fli2VJj7E5rkJNv86nxp9pVg2pqjkLZi1w/s5614/Ps83Ez38.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3403" data-original-width="5614" height="388" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRh_Z7gKF6POqhW0z4IepxlJlhpN5N7a6BvYxppAIbUghXHPN0SroImP-n1yqIjwYRp5aCtmMwzNu8nVdPV6QRNPCZrGW05fKyEFE33q3jou38G9ktawxY6bCdfza5kIuQBEBAxvEjMxc_9KVj-qDl6HK9fli2VJj7E5rkJNv86nxp9pVg2pqjkLZi1w/w640-h388/Ps83Ez38.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">There is a subtlety to Psalm 83 that
is easily overlooked, but it is crucial for a proper interpretation of the
psalm. Here is the passage in question, which is the second half of the psalm:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">9</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Do to them as to the Midianites; as to Sisera, as to Jabin, at
the brook of Kison:<br><br>
<b>10</b>Which perished at Endor: they became as dung for the earth.<br><br>
<b>11</b>Make their nobles like Oreb, and like Zeeb: yes, all their
princes as Zebah, and as Zalmunna:<br><br>
<b>12</b>Who said, Let us take to ourselves the houses of God in
possession.<br><br>
<b>13</b>O my God, make them like a wheel; as the stubble before the
wind.<br><br>
<b>14</b>As the fire burns a wood, and as the flame sets the mountains on
fire;<br><br>
<b>15</b>So persecute them with your tempest, and make them afraid with
your storm.<br><br>
<b>16</b>Fill their faces with shame; that they may seek your name, O
LORD.<br><br>
<b>17</b>Let them be confounded and troubled for ever; yes, let them be
put to shame, and perish:<br><br>
<b>18</b>That men may know that you, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, are the
most high over all the earth.<br><br>
(Psalm 83:9–18 AKJV)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">Note with care the tone of these
statements: The psalmist is basically just praying that God would ultimately judge
and punish these inner-ring countries for the way they mistreat Israel so that
men (i.e. the whole world) will know God is the LORD. In other words:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">The psalmist isn't
saying that God <u>does</u> those things right then and there—he is praying
that God <u>would</u> do those things at some point.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">Simply put, it's a lament followed by
a prayer for God to act (also referred to as a "lament prayer" or an
"imprecatory prayer"). In other words, many have expressed legitimate
doubts as to whether Psalm 83 is really a prophecy at all, and claim it's just
a prayer for God to judge Israel's neighborhood enemies. I won't be overly dogmatic
about it, but at this point I am inclined to agree.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;">Gotta be:</span></i></b><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;"> Bill Salus argues that
one of the 10 players of Psalm 83 (Assyria) wasn't an enemy of Israel until
well after the psalm was written, which <u>proves</u> that it's gotta be a real
prophecy—but this is speculative. It's more likely due to lingering questions
over the authorship and date of the psalm. A number of Bible scholars argue
that it could have very easily been written "to" or "for" Asaph
(rather than "by" Asaph) many years later.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">For example, notice that Psalm 83 is
conspicuously lacking in the telltale characteristics that earmark many Old
Testament prophecies. Most prophecies contain structural elements that clue the
reader in that it's a prophecy (such as lines written in the first person
singular from what would appear to be God's point of view: "<b><i><u><span style="color: #001320;">I</span></u></i></b><span style="color: #001320;"> will
turn you back, and put hooks into your jaws</span>..."). It <i>reads</i>
like a prophecy; it <i>sounds</i> like a prophecy. There are obvious clues that
<i>tell us</i> it's a prophecy ("The word of the LORD came to
me..."). But Psalm 83 lacks <i>any</i> of that, and reads and sounds just
like what I said: a lament followed by a prayer for God to act. In other words:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">About the only reason
anyone today considers Psalm 83 to be a prophecy set to be fulfilled during the
run-up to the Tribulation is because someone published a highly speculative prophecy
bestseller to that effect.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">But in Ezekiel 38–39 (which is
obviously a prophecy in every sense of the word), things are quite different.
Now it is God telling us through His servant the prophet <i>what</i> He is
going to do, and He makes it quite clear <i>when</i> He is going to do it.
Here's a section of the prophecy to illustrate the point:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">18</span></sup></b><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">And it shall come to pass <i><u>at the same time</u></i> when
Gog shall come against the land of Israel,</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> said the Lord GOD, that my fury shall come
up in my face. </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[That right there pretty much nails it...Ezekiel isn't
praying for an eventual future judgment—this time God is telling us directly
that He isn't going to waste any time in carrying out that judgment.]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> <b><sup>19</sup></b>For
in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, <b>Surely in that day</b>
</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[same deal...nobody is praying for God to judge these nations at some unspecified
future time]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">
there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel; <b><sup>20</sup></b>So
that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the
field, and all creeping things that creep on the earth, and all the men that
are on the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains
shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall
fall to the ground. <b><sup>21</sup></b>And I will call for a sword against him
throughout all my mountains, said the Lord GOD: every man's sword shall be
against his brother. <b><sup>22</sup></b>And I will plead against him with
pestilence and with blood; and I will rain on him, and on his bands, and on the
many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire,
and brimstone. <b><sup>23</sup>Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself;
and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am
the LORD.</b><br><br>
(Ezekiel 38:18–23 AKJV / emphasis & </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[comments]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> added)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">This is clearly not just someone
praying for God to someday judge and punish countries who continually attack
and harass Israel: It's God Himself telling us that He is going to carry out
His judgment and punish these nations for even <i>attempting</i> such an attack
on the apple of His eye.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">In other words, He's not
going to merely <u>respond</u> to the attack, He's going to intervene and stop it
Himself as soon as it gets off the ground.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">God tells us straight out that He
Himself will miraculously crush this massive attack (because Israel will have no
one else to turn to), and the last verse (v. 23) tells us that the world will
know He is the LORD—and Ezekiel 39:7 and 22 make it clear that this also
applies to the Jews themselves. As I have discussed </span><a href="https://www.alittlestrength.com/articles/2021/2110-window.htm#switch"><span face=""",sans-serif">previously</span></a><span face=""",sans-serif">, I believe it is clear that Gog-Magog
is the event that God uses to turn His attention back to His people Israel and
begin the unhardening process that He applied to them following their rejection
of His Son their Messiah, and bring them back into a relationship with Him. This
process will culminate in the purging of Israel and the drawing out of the
believing Jewish remnant who will be preserved through the Tribulation and
ultimately ushered alive into the Millennial Kingdom when Christ returns.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">Note that this is one key
scriptural reason why I believe the Rapture will occur at some point <u>before</u>
God's intervention in Gog-Magog: After the Rapture, God is finished with the
Church and can proceed to turn His attention back to Israel. The Church is home
and dry.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">Now, as far as the final answer to the
prayer of Psalm 83 is concerned, God does indeed judge and punish those people
groups mentioned for attacking Israel. But rather than being destroyed by the
IDF in fighting that (a) <i>precedes</i> the attack of Gog-Magog (as in the
Salus scenario) or (b) <i>corresponds to</i> Gog-Magog (as in my stupid mistake),
Scripture makes it clear that God judges and punishes these nations during the
Day of the LORD when He judges the Christ-rejecting nations of the world during
the seven-year Tribulation.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">The 10 people groups mentioned in
Psalm 83 have been absorbed into the Arab/Muslim nations that surround Israel
today, but a number of these peoples are specifically mentioned by name in
various places in the Old Testament as being judged by God during the Day of
the LORD. For example:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Edom</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> and <b>Moab</b>: Numbers
24:17–19</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Assyria</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> and <b>Ammon</b>: Zephaniah
2:8–11</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Philistia</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> and <b>Tyre</b> (and <i>probably</i>
<b>Gebal</b>): Joel 3:4–8</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">Some of these nations are mentioned as
being judged during the Day of the LORD in several places in Scripture, not
just the references I have listed above—this is just a taste to show you what I
mean (and details may depend on the translation). God finally answers the
psalmist's prayer and judges the people groups in Psalm 83 when He pours out
His judgment on a Christ-rejecting world during the Tribulation. And I scarcely
see how anyone can miss this:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">That means <u>none</u>
of the inner-ring countries are attacked and taken over by Israel <u>before</u>
the Tribulation as per the Salus scenario.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">And that means it is demonstrably wrong—and
it also means the final answer to the prayer of Psalm 83 that asks God to judge
the nations that come against Israel <b>can neither precede nor correspond to Ezekiel
38–39</b>. One reason I say that is because, as I discussed in some depth in a
previous </span><a href="https://www.alittlestrength.com/articles/2021/2112-before-or-after.htm"><span face=""",sans-serif">article</span></a><span face=""",sans-serif">, Gog-Magog virtually <i>must</i> <u>precede</u>
the Tribulation—it makes no sense whatsoever to place it at any point during
the outpouring of judgments of the Tribulation proper. In fact, Gog-Magog helps
create the scenario that will give rise to the treaty of Daniel 9:27 that <i>begins</i>
the Tribulation.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">So Bill Salus was wrong, but so was I—the
chief difference being that I am doing my level best to go back and get it
right, and Bill is still doing his level best to defend what he wrote in order
to sell his book. And forgive me if I sound a bit cynical, but <i>man</i>...it
grieves me when I think of some of the prophecy bestsellers that have lined the
shelves of Christian bookstores over the last 20 years. This is a classic
example of how many people get their foot in the door of the Christian
publishing industry today:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Come up with an intriguing
scenario that's at least marginally scriptural but that's a little bit
"out there" that's guaranteed to grab the attention of many prophetically
inclined believers, and then continue to push and sell that idea and support it
for all you're worth to maximize sales.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">Works like a charm.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">So, in spite of any surface
similarities some claim these two conflicts possess (like I foolishly did five
years ago), the fact that the grand finale of Psalm 83 and the grand finale Gog-Magog clearly do not mesh scripturally is a telling difference. And what it's
telling me loud and clear is these two conflicts simply <i><u>cannot</u></i> be
the same.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;">Armageekiel:</span></i></b><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;"> This reminds me of one
reason why I am inclined to disagree with those who want to cast Ezekiel 38–39
as the battle of Armageddon. (Yes, some <u>do</u>, as I discovered to my
surprise recently.) I mean, I get it...yes, there are some similarities—but I
would respond to that the same way I respond to post-tribbers who want so desperately
to read the Rapture in place of the Second Coming in Matthew 24:29–31:</span></i></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt 0in; text-align: center;"><b><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;">Similarity doth not equivalence make.</span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;">For example, they'll
say...</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;">"Hey, there's a big
earthquake in Ezekiel 38:19, and there's a big earthquake in Revelation 16:18
associated with Armageddon. So they could be the same!"</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;">Well, yeah...but during
the end times, there are more earthquakes occurring than you can shake a
seismograph at (Matt. 24:7; Rev. 6:12; Rev. 8:5; Rev. 11:13; Rev. 11:19). So...with
all due respect, this isn't necessarily the strongest of arguments.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">So the bottom line is that I was stone-cold
wrong when I posited five years ago that Psalm 83 and Ezekiel 38–39 share the
same outcomes and so are quite likely the same conflict.</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">They <i><u>don't</u></i> and they <i><u>aren't</u>.</i></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">(But hey, I'm lovin' that set
of steak knives I got out of it.)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">In this section, we have focused on God's
ultimate answer to the prayer of Psalm 83, and that involves Him judging and
punishing the inner-ring nations that conspire against and attack Israel to
wipe it off the map, which He does when He judges the nations of the world
during the Tribulation. In contrast, the Gog-Magog players are decimated by the
hand of God as soon as they get their attack in gear <i>before</i> the
Tribulation.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">Now let's turn out attention to the
actual attack described in the psalm.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;">What about the attack
itself?</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">Psalm 83 starts out by describing 10
people groups that immediately surround Israel who seek to do the following:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">4</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a
nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.<br><br>
(Psalm 83:4 AKJV)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">Clearly, any discussion of Psalm 83
must deal primarily with this attack, not just God's judgment of the
perpetrators. In the Salus scenario, the assumption is that this attack has <i>never</i>
been fulfilled in the past, but <i>will</i> be prior to the attack described in
Ezekiel 38–39. In other words, his scenario is based on the idea that those
inner-ring countries surrounding Israel have never attacked it all at one time in
the past, and so Psalm 83 must be describing an attack that is still in our future.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif">But is it?</span></i><span face=""",sans-serif"> I had actually wondered about this
before, but I had never gotten around to really looking into it to any degree.
Up until I sat down to write this article, I had always kinda gone along with
the widespread assumption that the attack of Psalm 83 was yet future—my big goof
was that I wrongly suspected it was the same attack as Gog-Magog.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">So as I looked into this question a
little deeper, I was surprised to learn that there are highly respected, highly
capable proponents of Bible prophecy that are fully satisfied that the attack
described in Psalm 83 <i><u>has</u></i> occurred before.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">According to some, more
than once.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">I have long been a fan of Amir
Tsarfati, a native Israeli who has become a leading voice in prophecy-related
news and teaching, and who is the founder of </span><a href="https://beholdisrael.org/"><span face=""",sans-serif">Behold
Israel</span></a><span face=""",sans-serif">, a<span style="color: #111111;"> non-profit organization whose stated mission is to
"provide reliable and accurate reporting on developments in Israel and the
region."</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #111111;">While preparing to write
this article, I discovered that Amir </span><a href="https://beholdisrael.org/why-i-believe-we-are-not-watching-the-fulfillment-of-psalm-83/"><span face=""",sans-serif">believes</span></a><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #111111;"> that the attack
described in Psalm 83 was carried out during the Israeli War of Independe</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">nce (May 1948–March 1949),
aka the First Arab-Israeli War, in which a coalition of the surrounding Arab
states attacked Israel on May 15, 1948—the day after </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #111111;">they declared themselves
an independent nation.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #111111;">Later, I stumbled across
an interview with Amir (that I <i>cannot</i> find the link to now) in which he
states that he believes that not only was Psalm 83 carried out in 1948, but
that it happened <i>again</i> in June 1967 during the Six Day War in which Israel
recaptured Jerusalem, the West Bank, and the Golan Heights.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #111111;">Still later, I
discovered t</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">hat
Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum of </span><a href="https://www.ariel.org/">Ariel
Ministries</a><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">, a
highly respected Jewish Bible teacher, also believes the attack described in
Psalm 83 occurred in 1948, and also that Gary Ray of </span><a href="https://www.unsealed.org/">Unsealed</a><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;"> is convinced it occurred in </span><a href="https://www.unsealed.org/2017/07/psalm-83-six-day-war.html">1967</a><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;"> during the Six Day War,
as does Amir Tsarfati.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #111111;">These were bolts from
the blue for me—I had scarcely given any thought to the idea of the attack
described in Psalm 83 occurring <i>in the past.</i> Let alone <i>in modern
times.</i> Let alone <i>twice.</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">Even though I disagreed with Bill
Salus and his "Israel takes over a huge chunk of the Middle East" scenario,
like many people I casually assumed that he had at least done enough research to
be confident that the attack of Psalm 83 had never occurred in the past and so it
was a legitimate prophecy with its fulfillment still pending...and thus he felt
motivated to write a prophecy bestseller and enlighten us all about it. I mused
"Well, maybe Bill Salus knows something Amir Tsarfati doesn't know—maybe
he dug up some information that refutes what Arnold, Amir, Gary, and others think."
After all:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">When you sit down to
write a book, it goes without saying that you gotta do a lot of research so you
know what you're talking about, right?</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">Then I ran across a written response from
Bill Salus to Amir Tsarfati's opinion that the attack of Psalm 83 had already occurred
in 1948. I was genuinely curious to see what Bill had to say, because I had
never heard anyone make the type of claims about Psalm 83 that Amir and others
were making. It had never even occurred to me that the attack of Psalm 83 might
have already been carried out, since I assumed that surely Bill Salus was right
on the basic point that its fulfillment was yet future, even if I disagreed
with his overall scenario. Bill's response as to why Psalm 83 <i><u>couldn't</u></i>
have been fulfilled in 1948 centered around the following point (and I am
summarizing for brevity and clarity):</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">The very first people
group that Psalm 83 mentions as conspiring to wipe Israel off the map is referred
to as "the tents of Edom" (Ps. 83:6). The image of them living in
tents is giving us a prophetic clue that this is a reference to <i>Palestinian
refugees.</i> And since the Palestinians didn't become refugees until <i><u>after</u></i>
the First Arab-Israeli War, that means it would have been impossible for those
represented by "the tents of Edom" to participate in the conflict itself.
For more on this, buy my book.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Yes, that's actually how
Bill Salus refutes the idea that Psalm 83 couldn't possibly have been fulfilled
in 1948: The "tents of Edom" is clearly a prophetic reference to
Palestinian refugees who wouldn't exist until <i><u>after</u></i> the war that
began in 1948. Seriously. Oh, and by the way, I didn't make up that last
bit...he didn't pass up an opportunity to plug his book.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Uhh, no. I'm sorry, but the
psalmist uses the phrase "the tents of Edom" for a very special,
highly technical reason that flies over the heads of many Bible scholars. Follow
along carefully, because this gets deep. The psalmist makes the most erudite
use of the phrase "the tents of Edom" because...</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">They. Lived. In. Tents.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">According to some Bible scholars, the
Edomites hated the Israelites so deeply that they sought to remain in a
condition of readiness to join in with any attack on Israel that cropped up—and
they did so on numerous occasions. Thus, there were periods of time when they kept
a large number of soldiers camped near the border (in <i><u>tents</u></i>) so
they would be prepared to mount up and move out quickly join in any such
attack. Ergo "the tents of Edom"—which is <i><u>not</u></i> a desperately
strained reference to a group of Palestinian refugees that would exist three
millennia in the future.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">Plus, the expression "the tents
of (someone)" is used in other places in the Old Testament, with no
apparent reference to any future group of modern-day refugees of any kind. For
example:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">•</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> The tents of Joseph (Ps. 78:67)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">•</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> The tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram (Num.
16:27)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">•</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> The tents of Cushan (Hab. 3:7)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #001320;">Not sure about you, but
I'm not aware of there being any tent-dwelling Cushite refugees in the area
surrounding Israel at any time in recent years.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif">Sigh...</span></i><span face=""",sans-serif"> If there is a moral to the story, it
might be:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">Think twice before you
buy the latest prophecy bestseller.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Personally, I tend to agree
with Amir Tsarfati. Since I am now inclined to believe that Psalm 83 is <i>not</i>
a prophecy, it doesn't cause me any heartburn at all to think of this attack as
being carried out both in 1948 <i><u>and</u></i> 1967. It just demonstrates how
nothing has ever changed in regard to Israel's enemies and their hatred for
God's people and their desire to destroy Israel.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">In AD 136, following the
Bar Kokhba revolt, the Romans tried to erase the Jews' identity by renaming the
region in honor of one of their most hated enemies, the Philistines. It became
known as Syria Palestina, and the Romans wanted the name of Israel to be
forever forgotten. But in 1948, the name of Israel was remembered once again
when Israel became a nation, and that rekindled the Arabs' desire to ensure it
would be quickly forgotten and remain so. But with one miracle after another,
Israel won round one.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">In 1967, it was rinse and
repeat: Israel won round two.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Hold that thought. So as
we look at the current situation in the Middle East, we turn our attention to the
question on everyone's mind:</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Where is this going?</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">OK, quick time out for something
that's important. I know there are a lot of good prophecy folks out there right
now, watching events unfold in Israel on a daily basis, and many of them are asking
the same question:</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">Is what is happening in
the Middle East leading to the fulfillment of Psalm 83, Ezekiel 38–39, both, or
neither? Just where is this going?!</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">It's an important
question, because if we go too far astray on this, then we won't properly
understand what is happening in the Middle East and the surrounding region today.
As a result, instead of boldly pointing people to the Savior because His
prophetic Word is coming to pass just as written, we will sink ever deeper into
the quicksand of confusion at this critical prophetic juncture and get bogged
down contemplating our navels and fumbling through our Bibles for answers that,
ideally, we should already have at the ready.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">And I guarantee that
people who know you are a believer will be asking you questions about this
situation.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">I've been worn slick in
some of my adult English classes in the last few weeks by wonderful Taiwanese
people who are keenly aware that I am a born-again believer in the gospel of
Jesus Christ and seem to know a few things about the Bible and all that wacky
end-time stuff—and who are genuinely curious about what is going on and what
this is all about.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Our message to a lost and
dying world that is being fast-tracked to an eternity of separation from a holy
God who loves them enough to sacrifice the life of His Son so they could be
saved should be something along the following lines:</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">The events we see
happening in the world today are following an outline given to us in the Bible
thousands of years ago, and that allows us to know for a fact that the Bible is
true and that it's exactly what it says it is: God's prophetically confirmed
Word. But that prophetically confirmed Word also tells us we are spiritually
separated from a holy God who loves us. If we simply seek Him and ask Him in
faith to forgive our sins based on the sacrifice Christ made on our behalf, He is
faithful and just to forgive us and we will spend eternity with Him in heaven.
Otherwise, we will soon endure the storms of judgment that we can see rapidly gathering
on the horizon...not to mention face the possibility of being separated from
Him for eternity unless we change our minds.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">But we need to <i>understand</i> a few
things about what the Bible says concerning those prophesied end-time events in
order to do that in a way that will show people the truth of God's Word, and
that the Holy Spirit can possibly use to get their attention and do what He's
been doing to people for the last 2,000 years: penetrating their hearts,
convicting them of sin, and drawing them to Christ.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">Just as He did with </span></i><a href="https://www.alittlestrength.com/articles/2017/1707-long-arm.htm"><i><span face=""",sans-serif">me</span></i></a><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;"> so many years ago.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">So don't presume this is just a
technical, academic matter—<i>it's <u>not</u>.</i> We need to get our story
straight, so to speak, if we are going to have much influence on a world
steeped in lies and deception and in desperate need of the Savior.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">Now, the first major question I want
to address pertains to this lament psalm that some are anxiously expecting to
come to pass in the near future.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;">Should we be looking for
Psalm 83?</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">So, first question:</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Q.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> Should we be looking at
what is happening in the Middle East now and expecting to see the inner-ring
countries of Psalm 83 gather to attack Israel?</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">In a word, no. One thing
we have to remember is that we are <i>not</i> seeing the sovereign nations mentioned
in Psalm 83 coming against Israel, as Scripture plainly describes. What we are
seeing are terrorist organizations that are funded, armed, and controlled by
Iran that just happen to operate on the soil of some of these countries come
against Israel.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Big difference, and that
difference matters. This tells us that what we are looking at now is <i><u>not</u></i>
the beginning of another round of the Psalm 83 attack.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">For example, Gary Ray at
Unsealed does a great job in his </span><a href="https://www.unsealed.org/2017/07/psalm-83-six-day-war.html">article</a><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;"> of giving a rundown of
virulently anti-Israel statements made by Arab <i>leaders</i> in the run-up to
the Six Day War, and it clearly demonstrates that this was not just some gang
of terrorists funded and directed by another Muslim power, as it is now. These include
Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser, Syrian President Nureddin al-Atassi,
Syrian Information Minister Mahmoud Zoubi, Syrian Defense Minister Hafez Assad
(who later became president), and Iraqi President Abdul Salam Arif, not to
mention numerous statements made on various Arab radio broadcasts in the area,
all brashly and belligerently calling for Israel to be wiped off the map and
the name of Israel to be remembered no more.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">The fact that anti-Israel terrorist
groups like Hamas, Hezbollah, and a few other lesser groups are puppets that
are funded, armed, and controlled by Iran and are simply operating out of other
Arab nations surrounding Israel effectively squelches the notion that what we
are witnessing is a round of the attack of Psalm 83—be it the third round (following
1948 and 1967), the second round (following either one of the two), or even the
very first round.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">It's <u>not</u>—this is pretty
much all on Iran...at least so far.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Bottom line: I wouldn't
waste my time looking for a repeat of Psalm 83. Now, it's <i>possible</i> a few
of those countries could still attack Israel, but don't get hung up looking for
a full-blown repeat of it. I look at it this way:</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">•</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> If Psalm 83 really <i><u>is</u></i>
prophetic in nature, then the attack portion of it has already been fulfilled <i>at
least</i> once, and many would argue twice. Why would it need to be fulfilled a
second or even a <i>third</i> time?</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">•</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> If Psalm 83 is <i><u>not</u></i> prophetic
in nature (as I am now inclined to believe), then again, there is even less
reason to expect that attack to come together a third time. The psalm is simply
painting a picture of the never-ending hatred and animosity of those inner-ring
countries toward Israel—and the God of Israel.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">•</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> Either way, the psalmist's prayer for
God's judgment will be answered during the Tribulation, <i><u>not</u></i> by
the IDF before the Tribulation even begins.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">So any way you slice it,
I think we can safely dispense with Psalm 83 at this point—I think we are past
a full recycling of it.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">There is another reason,
however, why I don't believe anything like the Salus scenario fits well into
the end times. Consider: In many previous situations in which Israel was
attacked by enemies, God miraculously helped His people <i>defend <u>themselves</u>.</i>
But as the Tribulation draws near, things change. Now God will allow His people
to reach the point where they face certain annihilation utterly alone and
hopelessly overpowered. Why? Because now He wants them to turn to <i>Him alone</i>
rather than their own strength. They will watch in awe as He miraculously and singlehandedly
saves them from certain destruction and in so doing turns His face back to them
after 2,000 years in order to re-establish His relationship with them. And why
can He do that?</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">Because He has wrapped
things up with the Church, if you catch my drift.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">OK, now it's time to look
at the big kahuna.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #202c46; font-size: 14pt;">Should
we be looking for Ezekiel 38–39?</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">OK, second question:</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Q.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> Should we be looking at
what is happening in the Middle East now and expecting to see the fulfillment
of Ezekiel 38–39?</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">In a word, <i><u>yes</u></i>
(although we're not there yet). In regard to Ezekiel 38–39, one of the first
things to consider is what conditions must exist in Israel before the attack of
Gog-Magog can be launched. As it turns out, we see three such conditions all in
one verse:</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">11</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">And you shall say, I
will go up to the <b>land of unwalled villages</b>; I will go to them that
are <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">at rest</b> </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[Hebrew:
a form of <em><span face=""",sans-serif" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "DejaVu Sans";">shaqat</span></em>]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">, that <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">dwell safely </b></span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[Hebrew:
a form of <i>betach</i>]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars
nor gates,<br><br>
(Ezekiel 38:11 AKJV / emphasis & </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[comments]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> added)</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #001320;">These three conditions are
as follows (and I have listed them in a different order than they appear in
Scripture because, as we shall see, no. 3 is the key):</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(201, 246, 255); color: #0000aa;">1. Israel
must be a land of unwalled villages.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(201, 246, 255); color: #0000aa;">2. Israel must be dwelling safely.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(201, 246, 255); color: #0000aa;">3. Israel must be at rest.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #001320;">Note that the second item
about "dwelling safely" is also mentioned in verse 8 (same Hebrew
word), so there's no need to look at that verse separately.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(201, 246, 255); color: #0000aa;">1.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(201, 246, 255); color: #0000aa;"> <b>Israel
must be a land of unwalled villages.</b></span><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> </span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Many want to interpret this verse in view of the fact that Israel
<i>does</i> have walls today. For example, it has walls along most of the
border of the West Bank. So, they say the West Bank Wall and any other walls
along Israel's border must all come down before Gog-Magog can be fulfilled. But
is <i>that</i> what is being talked about here?</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">The verse speaks of
"unwalled villages," which refers to cities and towns not being
protected by walls. In Ezekiel's day, it was common for cities to be fortified—to
be protected by walls and gates, and that's clearly the picture the prophet has
in mind here. In other words, this verse speaks of Israel as...</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="background: rgb(230, 230, 249); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #000077;">...literally, a land of <b>open
places</b>, </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 187); color: black;">[that is, places that are easy to attack]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #000077;"> as opposed to <b>fortified
cities</b>—i.e. of <b>towns without walls</b> </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 187); color: black;">[towns and cities, <i>not</i>
the nation's border]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #000077;">, </span><span style="color: #000077; font-family: Roboto;">and
having neither bars nor gates</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #000077;">.<br><br>
(emphasis & </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 187); color: black;">[comments]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #000077;"> added)<br><br>
— Pulpit Commentary [<span style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="https://biblehub.com/commentaries/ezekiel/38-11.htm">Source</a></span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #000077;">]</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">In other words, this
verse doesn't have to be interpreted as Israel having <i>no walls anywhere along
its border.</i> That's not the same thing.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">What that means is that
Israel today, even with walls along parts of its border, could certainly be
considered a "land of unwalled villages," because its <i>villages don't
have walls.</i> That is, it appears Israel's cities could readily be attacked
by any invading army. As a result, it is entirely possible that folks who think
all of Israel's border walls have to be dismantled before Gog-Magog can be
fulfilled may be reading a wee bit too much into this verse.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">So, in my opinion Israel
could easily be considered good to go on this one.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(201, 246, 255); color: #0000aa;">2.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(201, 246, 255); color: #0000aa;"> <b>Israel
must be dwelling safely.</b></span><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> </span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">When verse 11 says Israel will be "dwelling safely,"
the Hebrew word used is a form of <i>betach,</i> which conveys the idea of
confidence, security, safety, etc. One common way to interpret this word,
especially when used in regard to a nation, is "security based on
confidence in one's own strength and ability to defend oneself." So...are
the people of Israel living in a state of <i>betach</i> today?</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Well, they sure were up
until October 7, but it's safe to say that the sudden terrorist attack that occurred
that day may have put a bit of a dent in their <i>betach,</i> at least
temporarily. But having said that, consider:</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Q.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> Ever since the dust
settled from that initial attack, what have we seen coming from the Israelis?</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">A.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> A steely-eyed resolve to
defend themselves through their own strength and do whatever is necessary to
eliminate the threat these terrorists pose, coupled with a robust degree of
confidence that they can do just that.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">So, in spite of all the deluded,
pro-Hamas drivel spewing forth from liberal dipsticks, it sounds like Israel got
its <i>betach</i> back in a big hurry...assuming it ever really wavered in the
first place.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">So, in my opinion Israel
is good to go on this one as well.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(201, 246, 255); color: #0000aa;">3.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(201, 246, 255); color: #0000aa;"> <b>Israel must be at rest.</b></span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> As I have discussed in a previous <a href="https://www.alittlestrength.com/articles/2021/2112-before-or-after.htm#betach">article</a>, the Hebrew word translated "at rest" is <i>shaqat</i>, which generally means to be quiet, undisturbed, calm, etc. When the word is used in reference to a <i>nation</i>, however, the common meaning associated with it is simply <i>to <u>not</u> be in a state of war with anyone</i> (Josh. 11:23; 14:15).</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Some can't resist the
temptation to interpret this to mean that life in Israel must be like the
opening scene from <i>The Sound Of Music,</i> with absolute peace and harmony
on every street corner and no disturbances or violence of any kind. But since
when is life like that in <i><u>any</u></i> country, anytime? That's extremely unrealistic,
and it's <i><u>not</u></i> what the verse is saying.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Up until the recent terrorist
attack, the word <i>shaqat</i> certainly applied to Israel: <i>They were not at
war with anyone.</i> But since October 8, the day Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu made an official declaration of war, it no longer does.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">The first obvious
possibility this suggests to me is that before the attack described in Ezekiel
38–39 can be launched, Israel must stand down from its declaration of war. It
may be that Israel has to deal with the terrorist groups that threaten it to
the point where it feels it can return to a state of <i>shaqat,</i> which at
the time of this writing hasn't happened yet.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">So, this one is still pending.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #001320;">In other words, it's go
for launch on (1.) Israel being a land of unwalled villages and (2.) being
securely confident in their own strength and ability to defend themselves, so
the focus is on point no. 3 concerning <i>shaqat.</i> Scripturally speaking, a
nation simply <i>cannot</i> be considered to be in a state of <i>shaqat</i> or
"at rest" when they are officially in a state of war. No can do.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #001320;">So the first possibility
is that all that remains to green-light the attack of Gog-Magog is for Israel
to stand down from its declaration of war against Hamas, which I assume would
occur as soon as they get these demon-oppressed creatures in a headlock and
neutralize the threat they pose to a Jewish nation that seeks only to live in peace.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #001320;">This possibility seems
most in line with a plain text reading of Ezekiel 38. Before Russia and friends
descend on Israel to "take a spoil," there is only one item that remains
to be dealt with and ticked off the list:</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Israel must be satisfied
that it has dealt</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">with the immediate terrorist
threat, and</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">stand down from its
declaration of war.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #001320;">Then, at some point after
that, an evil thought will arise in Gog's mind, and the Gog-Magog coalition
will gather and move in to destroy Israel in order to help themselves to its vast
deposits of natural gas.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">But there is another
possibility that appears to be lurking in the shadows that warrants being
mentioned. Israel would <i>not</i> have to stand down from its current
declaration of war and return to a state of <i>shaqat</i> if in fact <i>that
evil thought already entered Gog's mind,</i> prior to the attack by Hamas on
October 7 and while Israel was still in a state of <i>shaqat.</i> In other
words:</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">What if the wheels of Gog-Magog have already begun turning, but instead of kicking off with the main players of Russia, Iran, Turkey, and several Northern African countries all descending on Israel, things
get off the ground and start getting warmed up with some preliminary
hostilities from Iran's puppets rather than from Iran directly, just to get
Israel riled up and fighting back in order to justify a greater onslaught
against the Jewish nation? Then at some point after these preliminaries, when
Israel has responded with force and done some damage of its own, things break out
bad with Ezekiel's listed players just as he describes in chapter 38.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Now, I'll be the first to admit
that this could legitimately be considered a somewhat "stretchy" interpretation
of Ezekiel 38, however, primarily because the prophet makes no mention of any such
"preliminary hostilities" that lead up to the main attack—Ezekiel jumps
right into it with the main players. I mention this possibility mainly for the
sake of being thorough, and because I honestly can't rule it out completely. Just
because Ezekiel doesn't specifically describe it that way doesn't necessarily
mean it can't happen that way.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Not only that, but more Russian
fingerprints are being found on this Hamas terror attack with each passing
day...so much so that it is looking very much as if Russia and Iran were in
cahoots with each other on this from the very start, so maybe this idea isn't
quite as crazy as it sounds.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">The point is that if
Israel <u>doesn't</u> have to stand down from its declaration of war to
green-light Gog-Magog, I pray you understand what that means:</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">It means we could be a
lot closer to</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">the Rapture than any of us realize.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #001320;">But either way, the LORD
decimates Gog's forces before they can lay a hand on God's people, and He will
do it in a manner that will make both Israel and the nations of the world recognize
that He is the LORD. And I've said it before and I have no plans to stop saying
it:</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">Before Gog-Magog goes
down,</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">the body of Christ must go up.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #001320;">In the aftermath of this
decimation of Israel's enemies (not to mention the sudden disappearance of
several hundred million people in the Rapture), the world will briefly stagger
in the general direction of peace. Before you can say "the man of sin,"
a charismatic, up-and-coming global peacemaker will step up to help negotiate
and ultimately confirm or enforce a peace treaty between a newly emboldened
Israel and its now humbled enemies that will pave the way for the Jews to
finally rebuild the temple they have been dreaming of for 2,000 years, and a
weakened Arab bloc won't have the wherewithal to do anything to stop the
"desecration" of what they fancy as their holy place.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">And Daniel's 70th Week will
be off and running.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #001320;">Now, no one can say for
certain what events may contribute to the shaping and molding of this scenario,
but that appears to be the fundamental outline given to us in God's Word.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;">A ruinous heap?</span></i></b><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;"> Many believe the run-up
to the Tribulation will also include the destruction of Damascus, since they are
convinced this is another end-time prophecy that remains to be fulfilled (Isa.
17:1). I decided to take a raincheck on Isaiah 17 in this discussion, however,
because there certainly isn't universal agreement in the prophecy community on
this one. I long believed, like many, that its fulfillment was pending in the
end times, but I have recently discovered that a surprising number of respected
prophecy commentators see Isaiah 17 as already being fulfilled in its totality
in the eighth century BC by the Assyrians, and see no requirement for an
end-time version of its fulfillment.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;">For example, Mark
Hitchcock writes:</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="background: rgb(230, 230, 249); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #000077;">I believe it makes more
sense to hold that Isaiah 17 was fulfilled in the eighth century BC when both
Damascus, the capital of Syria, and Samaria, the capital of Israel, were
hammered by the Assyrians. In that conquest, <b>both Damascus and Samaria were
destroyed, just as Isaiah 17 predicts</b>. According to history,
Tiglath-pileser III (745–727 BC) pushed vigorously to the west, and in 734 the
Assyrians advanced and laid siege to Damascus, which fell two years later in
732. </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 187); color: black;">[Contrary to the opinions of some, Isaiah 17:1 doesn't actually
<u>say</u> that Damascus would <i>never be inhabited again,</i> which is an
interpretation that causes many today to see its fulfillment as being yet
future. According many commentators, what Isaiah 17:1 is saying is that
Damascus would be removed from being the independent city-state that it was
before the Assyrians got done with it—which was (and remains) fulfilled. And
that means a "long-term final fulfillment" may not necessarily be in
view here.]</span><br><br>
<span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #000077;">(emphasis & </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 187); color: black;">[comments]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #000077;"> added)<br><br>
— Mark Hitchcock, <em><span face=""",sans-serif" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "DejaVu Sans";">Middle
East Burning: Is the Spreading Unrest a Sign of the End Times?</span></em> [</span><span style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="https://jashow.org/articles/has-the-destruction-of-damascus-been-fulfilled/">Source</a></span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #000077;">]</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">So, forgive me if I cool
my tool just a tad on the idea of Damascus going up in a mushroom cloud sometime
in the next few months, because Isaiah 17:1 simply doesn't <i>have</i> to be
interpreted the way many prophecy folks are interpreting it these days (and as
I did for years). But at the same time, of course, no one can totally rule out
the possibility.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">For example, it startled
me when I read that in the early hours of the current conflict, Israeli leaders
were meeting and feverishly tossing around ideas, and the possibility of nuking
of Damascus actually came up! Yikes! I'd like to think somebody just had a
little too much coffee and got carried away in the heat of the moment, but
still...the way things are going these days, who knows?</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 14pt;">How close
are we?</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">I believe what I have
described in this article is a generally valid scenario based on a literal,
straightforward reading of Scripture, although in the final analysis the bits
that are based on my personal opinions are worth precisely the same as anyone
else's opinions, and that would be <i>zilch point nada.</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">I believe the answer to
the title question "Where is this going?" is scripturally clear and
becoming clearer with each passing day:</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">It is absolutely leading
to the</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">fulfillment of Ezekiel 38–39.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">It's just a matter of how
long it will take to get there, and what other events and geopolitical
gyrations will transpire along the way. That said, however, I am inclined to
believe it will bypass another full-blown round of Psalm 83. I'm not going to
bother looking for that because I think we are headed straight for a date with the
Gog-Magog crew.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">The unspoken question
lurking behind the title, however, relates to timing:</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">How close are we?</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Of course, no one (especially
yours truly) can answer that. But there is one additional item I neglected to
mention earlier about the conditions that must exist in Israel before Gog-Magog
can be launched. There is actually a fourth condition that must be true before
the attack of Ezekiel 38–39 can go down, but it doesn't apply to Israel:</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">It applies to the United
States.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">As I have discussed in a previous </span><a href="https://www.alittlestrength.com/articles/2020/2011-lion.htm#lions">article</a><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">, Ezekiel 38:13 says that
"the merchants of Tarshish, and all the <i>young lions</i> thereof"
sit idly by and do nothing but meekly complain when the Gog-Magog gang attacks
Israel, and those "young lions" absolutely include the United
States—long Israel's most reliable friend and supporter.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">That is, Ezekiel makes it
clear that Israel's most reliable friend and supporter sees the countries of
the Gog-Magog coalition descending on Israel to wipe it out in order to take
control of its huge deposits of natural gas, and sits by and does nothing but
spout whiny, whimpering rhetoric instead of doing anything to help them. So,
there's no. 4:</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(201, 246, 255); color: #0000aa;">4.
America's support for Israel must completely end.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">So clearly the U.S.
doesn't come to Israel's aid when they are threatened in Gog-Magog. The next
question that leaps to mind is...</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: center;"><b><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Why not?!</span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Even now, in spite of a
laundry list of noteworthy exceptions, American leaders are still showing at
least some outward support for Israel, and we are still sending them some aid. For
Pete's sake, we're sending carrier strike groups to the Mediterranean (including
my old ship the Ike). But that is simply <i>not true</i> when Gog-Magog goes
down—our country will see the launching of an existential attack on Israel, and
we will sit on our hands and do nothing but whimper and whine about why those
big bullies are attacking poor little Israel.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">There are really only two
possibilities:</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">1.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> We are <i>unwilling</i>
to come to Israel's aid.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">2.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> We are <i>unable</i> to
come to Israel's aid.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">If not both. What strikes
me, however, is how difficult it is for me to imagine the United States
reaching the point where we have <i>no political will whatsoever</i> to help
Israel in any way, even when its very existence is at stake. <i>Really??</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Now, we've certainly had
no shortage of spats and squabbles with the Jewish state over the years, and
our relationship has survived some rocky times. My point is that if America's relationship
with Israel can survive two terms under the likes of Barack Hussein Obama, and now
a <i>third</i> term with the help of his personal marionette Joe Biden (who
just handed Israel's archenemy Iran six billion dollars to help them fund
groups like, say, Hamas and Hezbollah), plus all the anti-Israel rhetoric
spewing from the mouths of clueless left-wing liberals who apparently actually <i>miss</i>
Obama (oh, do be careful what you wish for, you foolish, foolish people), I'd
be tempted to say it can survive <i>anything.</i> But the simple fact remains—Ezekiel
is crystal clear:</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">Our relationship with
Israel <u>doesn't</u> survive.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Come the attack of Gog-Magog, it's <i>finito.</i> But considering what America's relationship with
Israel has endured at various times over the last 75 years, it's extremely
difficult for me to imagine <i><u>any</u></i> geopolitical event that could so absolutely
<i>terminate</i> it.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">And that makes me
suspect that perhaps it's not a geopolitical event.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">As I have discussed on various
occasions, I believe the Rapture will cut the legs out from under America and
plunge it into chaos from which it will probably not emerge until Christ
returns to establish His kingdom. And not to put too fine a point on it, but it
will also remove every single born-again, Israel-supporting believer from our Congress
(and there <i>are</i> some).</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">So as to the question of
what could bring America to the point where it is unwilling or unable to do
anything but watch helplessly as the Gog-Magog coalition descends on Israel to destroy
it, no geopolitical event I can think of would cut the mustard. But I know an
event that would:</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">And that's a "twinkling
of an eye" event.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">And I suppose that's a
fitting place to end this discussion, because the most important question certainly
isn't...</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Where is this going?</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">The most important
question is...</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">Where are <i><u>you</u></i>
going when that</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">"twinkling of an eye" event occurs?</span></b></p>
<br><b>From Greg Lauer @ <a href="https://www.alittlestrength.com/articles/2023/2310-where-is-this-going.htm">A Little Strength—OCT '23</a></b><br>Greg L.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13488517852547324706noreply@blogger.com50tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-923571518579487836.post-63451784277793094602023-10-09T11:30:00.003-05:002023-10-09T11:50:14.930-05:00THIS IS WAR! The Battle Belongs To The LORD<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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We spend so much time focusing on ourselves and our shortcomings and wallowing in our self-doubt that we effectively remove ourselves from the fight. That is exactly what the enemy wants. Once you realize that <a href="http://www.unsealed.org/2017/07/atonement-dividing-line.html">Christ has completely eliminated the penalty for your sin</a> and <a href="http://www.unsealed.org/2016/09/what-is-repentance.html">all you must do is believe</a>, you are freed and empowered to help others. Those stuck in works-righteousness can never see the forest for the trees because they still fail to understand that the Gospel has decisively solved the sin problem. <b><u>We are free</u>.</b> And now that we are free, we can engage in the broader war and help our brothers and sisters in this bloody fight while we try to snatch more from the fire.<span><a name='more'></a></span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">The Scenario</span></b></div>
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<b>1.</b> The world has collectively chosen to reject God and His rightful rule.<br />
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<b>2.</b> The world is presently controlled by the devil and his servants.<br />
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<b>3.</b> Those who have rejected God are suppressing the truth and bringing the whole world to annihilation.<br />
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<b>4.</b> Mankind is in a spiritual, zombie-like state and headed towards destruction because of sin.<br />
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<b>5.</b> When we were completely hopeless and powerless God made the first move by springing a trap that caused the penalty of mankind's sin to fall upon Himself (Acts 20:28) thus setting free those who were enslaved by the Devil. From an individual perspective, men and women break free from the Devil's invisible spiritual prison once they accept Jesus' atoning sacrifice and believe in Christ.<br /><br />
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<b>6.</b> Mankind is closer than ever to complete physical and spiritual self-destruction and Jesus is returning very soon to put a decisive end to man's self-rule and the Devil's tyrannical reign, yet He won't do it until the Church is complete and <a href="http://www.unsealed.org/2017/08/who-is-male-child-of-revelation-12.html">the Body of Christ is joined to the Head</a>. For this reason we have <b><u>a very short intervening time</u></b> to win a more decisive victory over the enemy and to rescue a few more off the battlefield.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">The Objectives</span></b></div>
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<b>1. </b>Hold faithfully to <a href="http://www.unsealed.org/2015/04/the-gospel.html">the truth of the Gospel</a> until we are removed from the battlefield by physical death or the trumpet of God. That means rejecting all forms of heresy that are creeping into the Church, which twist the Gospel. Some heresies stem from infiltrators who push liberalized doctrines like universalism, moral deism, New Age syncretism, and the like. <i>Equally deadly</i> heresies come from those who purport to be the most faithful and religious—those who to their own doom claim that the Cross was not enough (Gal. 5:4). These modern Pharisees push works-righteousness, a standard that they themselves never meet. No two Pharisees ever agree on what the list of requirements is, but they demand that you meet their particular list. Woe to them!<br />
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<b>2.</b> Snatch as many from the fire as possible before the clock strikes midnight. The time we have left to fight is exceedingly short. This means finding meaningful ways to share your faith and testimony. Evangelism is often intimidating, but always easier than it seems. The intimidation is an incessant satanic illusion. Evangelism is easy. If in person, just ask a question... "do you have a faith?" People love questions and will usually open up. That gives you an instant, non-awkward "in." There are even easier ways to evangelize: 1. Write letters to prisoners. They are a captive audience and love to receive mail. 2. Share Christian and Gospel material on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, etc. All it takes is a click or two and you don't even have to face anyone directly if you tend toward timidity. 3. Start a website or blog and share your faith. If God has given you more courage then be winsomely vocal. Hand out tracts. Give out Bibles. Find some way to share publicly. Give big tips to your servers and write "God loves you... John 3:16." Strike up conversations. Let's go!<br />
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<b>3.</b> Hold down your own fort. That means to do everything in your God-given power to teach your own children and family the truth of God and His word. Make faith a normal subject of discussion. In a family that doesn't often discuss spiritual things, talking about God can be awkward, but push through. It might take time, but the goal should be to get to a place where your spouse and children feel loved and comfortable with making God a normal part of discourse. If you want your family to live out their faith and stay faithful then you can't relegate Christianity to Sunday at 10:00 AM. It should be a normal part of life. Endure hardships and beatings with grace. Be kind, forgiving, and <b><u>authentic</u></b> with your children and spouse. Pray for them <b><u>daily</u></b>.<br />
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<b>4.</b> Fight the societal battles, too, but in a better way—<i>a heavenly way</i>. Most people perceive silence as acquiescence, and Christians have become woefully silent. Political power is often given to the most active and vocal. We have to speak out <a href="http://www.ccc.one/p/positions.html" target="_blank">on the issues</a> and present a biblical worldview. Don't be silent on current events because God has given you so much to say. Just remember to be kind and winsome—you're not trying to win an argument, you're trying to lovingly persuade and plant seeds. Everyone is yelling, but let's be those who stand on the side kindly saying, <i>"look, there's a better way."</i> Try to find ways to be physically active in the fight, too. Hardly a day goes by without a mass prayer, walk for life, or local mission opportunity. Search on Google or Facebook for local groups and opportunities and participate.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">The Obstacles</span></b></div>
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<b>1.</b> The Church <i>appears</i> to be overwhelmingly outnumbered on this earthly battlefield and this causes many to lose heart, give in, or give up. Yet this obstacle is only an illusion, because the truth is that <b><u>more are with us than are with the enemy</u></b> (2 Kings 6:16–17, Matt. 26:53, Rev. 12:7–9). When we choose to fight and engage in the battle we <i>usually</i> win, but we have to <b><u>fight</u></b>.<br />
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<b>2.</b> The Devil has infiltrated our ranks with his own. They often claim to follow Christ, but they try to steer you away from the Gospel in one way or the other. Realize that they are usually just confused and ignorant and have simply never known Christ. They don't understand the message of the Gospel, which proclaims that Christ is the only way and simultaneously that our sin is completely, 100% atoned for. Whether <a href="http://www.unsealed.org/2017/07/stay-on-narrow-way.html">the ultra-conservative Pharisees or the liberal Sadducees</a>, if you listen to them they will steal your faith, or, at the very least, cause you to become unproductive in the fight.<br />
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<b>3.</b> Self-doubt. We've been forgiven, freed, and promised eternal life, but so often we remain in our chains, fretting over our past regrets and the seemingly impossible obstacles ahead. Yet so often the obstacles are merely illusions, and the ones that do exist God tramples over, removing them miraculously, if you will simply step forward in faith. Regarding your sin and your past, just remember that the darkness is <b><u>dark</u></b>. If you spend all of your time focusing on the darkness then your life will be filled with darkness. Acknowledge that you are a wretched sinner in need of the Great Savior, but then put the darkness behind you and march forward, fixing your eyes on Christ, "the Author and Finisher of our faith." Fix and amend what you can, but accept that Christ's blood covers you completely and meets your every moral need and then enter the battle <b><u>so you can help rescue others</u></b>.<br />
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We need not compare ourselves to those we perceive to be more successful in the spiritual fight—the Luthers, Spurgeons, and Grahams. Each were <i>very </i>broken men that by God's <b><u>grace</u></b> were used as vessels of the Spirit. God gave each of them the opportunities, abilities, and courage to achieve what they achieved, and the truth of the matter is that it wasn't them achieving anything, but the God who they allowed to dwell inside them. For every Luther or Graham there is that believer hidden in the shadow of obscurity, unknown in the annals of history, who was faithful with what God gave them; and because of their faithfulness, the Luthers and Grahams came to know the Lord. They may not be famous on earth, but they are very, <i>very </i>famous in Heaven.<br />
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Some are called to be Pauls who seem to reap a great harvest on earth, and others are called to be Stephens who seem unsuccessful in the world's eyes, but in a single moment of faithfulness achieve a spiritual harvest of equal worth that isn't revealed until the story further unfolds. Yet we are all called to fight faithfully, courageously, and with unrelenting fervor.<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Eph. 6:12)</blockquote>
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Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. (Jn. 14:12)</blockquote>
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Allow me the liberty to apply Winston Churchill's most famous speech to the Church and our present mission:<br />
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I have, myself, full confidence that if all do their duty, if nothing is neglected, and if the best arrangements are made, as they are being made, we shall prove ourselves once again able to defend the Gospel, to ride out the storm of war, and to outlive the menace of tyranny, if necessary for years, if necessary alone. At any rate, that is what we are going to try to do. That is the resolve of Our Lord's Government—every man of His. That is the will of Christ and Heaven. The Church and the Host of Heaven, linked together in their cause and in their need, will defend to the death their heavenly land, aiding each other like good comrades to the utmost of their strength. Even though large tracts of earth and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip of Beelzebub and all the odious apparatus of satanic rule, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in our homes, we shall fight on the streets and in our schools, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength against the prince of the air, we shall defend the Gospel, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight in the culture, we shall fight in our churches, we shall fight on land and at sea, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, the Church or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our brotherhood beyond the seas, armed and guarded by divine power, would carry on the struggle, until, in God’s good time, Heaven's armies, with all their power and might, step forth to the rescue and the liberation of us all.
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<br /><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtXpMk_F9A5IvZz4L1EFjwYdRMUXA8CJZOCfbIu2i96q5LElS_ZGuq48qoXeYoa-DQ1ZBDtqMhhiluLEXReM2GYJ0LWCKIbAUF-iErRcr8UZMQTyrumd1DjAKxSjCe6ArORd6X0Kl78lHrzQqvrvhZ7_mM6mHLZAZl2DHkfDDwhJffJxBwfROhmWe39w/s632/WhatHappenedQR.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="632" data-original-width="632" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtXpMk_F9A5IvZz4L1EFjwYdRMUXA8CJZOCfbIu2i96q5LElS_ZGuq48qoXeYoa-DQ1ZBDtqMhhiluLEXReM2GYJ0LWCKIbAUF-iErRcr8UZMQTyrumd1DjAKxSjCe6ArORd6X0Kl78lHrzQqvrvhZ7_mM6mHLZAZl2DHkfDDwhJffJxBwfROhmWe39w/w400-h400/WhatHappenedQR.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03907296435997404954noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-923571518579487836.post-43577114691003945852023-10-07T01:09:00.007-05:002024-01-01T12:31:31.624-06:00BREAKING: ISRAEL'S 9/11, ISRAEL AT WAR, ROCKETS RAIN DOWN, MILITANTS IN STREETS<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOmWBhicm029VYOxAWCpl6O7-SgWIDMolsjoz7ugNroT48KmedwINA4pyft921w5s-ZMR1mPz90DyMJ8xj7R1dj-61XJmu_M_zbYw0tTlUl6SnQzkKGp9geQqHIiqeOx1anxvU3Ga4TyLAi97EIpCYt21Z2-ETgCHO_RMpv_ODOOf1IIKT1xoXxnLwsA/s2000/attackonisrael.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="2000" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOmWBhicm029VYOxAWCpl6O7-SgWIDMolsjoz7ugNroT48KmedwINA4pyft921w5s-ZMR1mPz90DyMJ8xj7R1dj-61XJmu_M_zbYw0tTlUl6SnQzkKGp9geQqHIiqeOx1anxvU3Ga4TyLAi97EIpCYt21Z2-ETgCHO_RMpv_ODOOf1IIKT1xoXxnLwsA/w640-h288/attackonisrael.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /></div><div><br /></div><b>BREAKING NEWS OUT OF ISRAEL:</b> Reports are coming in of a massive and unexpected attack from Hamas against Israel. Possibly 5,000 rockets fired. Buildings and homes have been hit. Dozens of militants have crossed the Gaza border and are pressing an attack <i>inside </i>Israeli territory. Israeli soldiers and civilians targeted. Tel Aviv hit. Rockets over Jerusalem. <b><u>Israel is now at war</u>.</b><span><a name='more'></a></span><div><br /></div><div>This may be Israel's 9/11. I hope you're awake now (see <a href="https://www.unsealed.org/2023/05/on-precipice.html">here</a>, <a href="https://www.unsealed.org/2023/07/agenda-2030-covenant-with-many.html">here</a>, and <a href="https://www.unsealed.org/2021/11/remember.html">here</a> for the big picture).</div><div><br /></div>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">More than 5,000 missiles were launched towards <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Israel?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Israel</a> during the past 3 hours.</p>— 𒀭𒆗 لاماسو Lamassu (@LamassuX) <a href="https://twitter.com/LamassuX/status/1710531396907717100?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 7, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BREAKING?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BREAKING</a> : Multiple civilian infrastructures hit by rockets fired by terrorists of Gaza in Tel Aviv Of Israel. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IsraelUnderAttack?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#IsraelUnderAttack</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PrayForIsrael?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PrayForIsrael</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IndiaWithIsrael?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#IndiaWithIsrael</a> <a href="https://t.co/9vhfAwoc2x">pic.twitter.com/9vhfAwoc2x</a></p>— Baba Banaras™ (@RealBababanaras) <a href="https://twitter.com/RealBababanaras/status/1710507104296169911?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 7, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Breaking🚨⚡ Israel🇮🇱 <br /><br />First Casualties in Ashkelon and Tel Aviv <br />800 rockets have been launched towards Israel.<br /><br />Israel Unser Attack <a href="https://t.co/Vc5NqFoXSH">pic.twitter.com/Vc5NqFoXSH</a></p>— Izlamic Terrorist (@raviagrawal3) <a href="https://twitter.com/raviagrawal3/status/1710505414645707200?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 7, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Attempts to invade Israel by sea, air, and on foot. Israel is under attack right now! This is a surprise attack coming from Gaza, also using missiles that are targeting civilians.</p>— נריה קראוס Neria Kraus (@NeriaKraus) <a href="https://twitter.com/NeriaKraus/status/1710509738373320755?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 7, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">🚨 Initial/unconfirmed :<br /><br />Paratrooper landing operation behind the lines east of Jabalia has resulted in the killing of at least 10 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Israel?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Israel</a>-i soldiers so far</p>— Middle East Observer (@ME_Observer_) <a href="https://twitter.com/ME_Observer_/status/1710511290622373994?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 7, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">UPDATE: Ongoing exchange of gunfire between armed Palestinians and ISF in several areas near the TF and inside Israeli territories.<a href="https://t.co/wfL0SLVCyL">https://t.co/wfL0SLVCyL</a> <a href="https://t.co/bNMwT1f3g2">pic.twitter.com/bNMwT1f3g2</a></p>— Local Focus - Security Alerts (@LocalFocus1) <a href="https://twitter.com/LocalFocus1/status/1710510743605383523?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 7, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">BREAKING: Israel's defence force declares a state of war</p>— World Times (@WorldTimesWT) <a href="https://twitter.com/WorldTimesWT/status/1710524614965916069?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 7, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">im 39 and lived in israel for half of my life, for first and second intifada. this is by far, the worst attack on israel territory since 82</p>— Uncle Avi (vibe polluter) (@nevocon) <a href="https://twitter.com/nevocon/status/1710524498985034044?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 7, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<br />Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03907296435997404954noreply@blogger.com44tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-923571518579487836.post-74329110464079762992023-09-30T08:27:00.013-05:002024-03-02T00:58:13.211-06:00End-Time Imitation<div class="WordSection1">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYROZ6KwPfePXeWG8Ijcc6ySqT6NBAvof67yTI-2xMujINQGWlkkyhqgCFJ13BjTSjIuIlbVBpCuujztsgz7Gnk4-YvgCaclz70pNmbXEh1dZsCPQgD2cpxeh2k5-tidBooGg3jpQmzrbKkNCkhDHMPLGh8FtRMz5OMgUx6JnlOKJ3dfPBUTDeDvMGjQ/s680/169582249879617463.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="372" data-original-width="680" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYROZ6KwPfePXeWG8Ijcc6ySqT6NBAvof67yTI-2xMujINQGWlkkyhqgCFJ13BjTSjIuIlbVBpCuujztsgz7Gnk4-YvgCaclz70pNmbXEh1dZsCPQgD2cpxeh2k5-tidBooGg3jpQmzrbKkNCkhDHMPLGh8FtRMz5OMgUx6JnlOKJ3dfPBUTDeDvMGjQ/w640-h350/169582249879617463.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">The Bible contains a number of names for
Satan, such as Beelzebub ("lord of the flies"), the adversary, the god
of this world, the prince of the power of the air, the father of lies, the
accuser of the brethren, and a number of others. My own personal favorite has
long been the Great Wannabe.</span></p><span><a name='more'></a></span>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">During the Tribulation, however,
another one of Satan's devious attributes will be on full display, and that is
his propensity to imitate whatever God does—so much so that I am tempted to add
"the Great Imitator" to the list. As I have pointed out on a few
occasions in the past, Satan may possess superhuman intelligence, but it strikes
me that he's not all that creative. Many of the things that Satan does are in
fact little more than lame attempts to imitate things that God has already done
to world-shaking perfection.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">Now, if you have studied the end-time
scenario to any substantive degree, you may already be kicking around the idea in
the back of your mind that during the Great Tribulation the role of the
Antichrist is Satan's way of imitating Christ—and you would be 100 percent
correct. But it occurred to me recently that Satan's imitation of things God
has done—especially in the end times—is deeper and more multilayered than that.
During Daniel's 70th Week, Satan is going to pull out all the stops to
establish his kingdom in place of Christ's kingdom, and in the process there's
gonna be a whole lotta imitatin' goin' on...more than I ever realized.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;">2B or not 2B:</span></i></b><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;"> Note that the
Antichrist is not <u>really</u> the Antichrist until he is "revealed"
at his coming out party at the midpoint of the Tribulation. Only then does he truly
become Satan's man the Antichrist. In the run-up to and during the first half of
the Tribulation, he is just a charismatic world leader who is jockeying for
position to take control of the global government that is congealing. I want to maintain this distinction, so throughout this
article I will refer to him as the <b>AC2B</b> if I want to emphasize that I'm
talking about him prior to the midpoint of the Tribulation. If I'm emphasizing
the second half of the Tribulation or referring to his role in general, he's
the <b>Antichrist</b>.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">The first thing we're going to do here
is back up and briefly cover a bit of Old Testament ground, and some of this is
stuff I've discussed in other articles. But we need to pull a few things
together to get the full prophetic spectrum of the different ways in which Satan
is going to imitate God in the run-up to and during both halves of the Tribulation.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">So with that said, let's take a quick
trip to Mount Sinai.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;">Moses</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">While the Jewish people were enslaved
down in Egypt, God chose Moses to go to Pharaoh and ask for the release of the
Hebrew people. God hardened Pharaoh's heart, and proceeded to unleash a series
of ten plagues on the Egyptians. After the 10th and final plague, which
involved the death of the firstborn male child in every family that failed to
have the blood of a lamb on their doorposts (which gave rise to the Jewish <i>moed</i>
of Passover), Pharaoh wasn't just ready to let them go—he was ready to send
them packing:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">31</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">And he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up,
and get you forth from among my people, both you and the children of Israel;
and go, serve the LORD, as you have said. <b><sup>32</sup>Also take your flocks
and your herds, as you have said, and be gone;</b> and bless me also.<br><br>
<b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">33</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">And the Egyptians were urgent on the people, that they might
send them out of the land in haste; for they said, We be all dead men. <b><sup>34</sup></b>And
the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading troughs
being bound up in their clothes on their shoulders.<br><br>
(Exodus 12:31–34 AKJV / emphasis added)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">This was the first major mission that
God had for Moses: to be the tool He used to deliver His people from bondage. But
as soon as Moses led the people of Israel out of Egypt, God had another job
waiting for him.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">Not long after the people of Israel left
Egypt, Moses received the Law at Mount Sinai. The next mission God had for Moses
was to establish the foundation for Israel's Old Covenant relationship with Him:
obedience to His Law.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">Moses spent the last 40 years of his
life struggling to get it through the heads of a stiff-necked people what God
required of them under the Law, and arguably succeeded about as well as anyone could
have. When they finished their 40 years of wandering through the desert as a
judgment for their faithless refusal to enter the Promised Land the first time,
the Jewish people finally entered the land God had Promised them...but without
Moses:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">48</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">And the LORD spoke to Moses that selfsame day, saying, <b><sup>49</sup></b>Get
you up into this mountain Abarim, to mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab,
that is over against Jericho; and behold the land of Canaan, which I give to
the children of Israel for a possession: <b><sup>50</sup>And die in the mount
where you go up, and be gathered to your people;</b> </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[God
tells Moses straight out that he will die on Mount Nebo]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> as Aaron your brother
died in mount Hor, and was gathered to his people: <b><sup>51</sup></b>Because
you trespassed against me among the children of Israel at the waters of
MeribahKadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because you sanctified me not in the
middle of the children of Israel. <b><sup>52</sup>Yet you shall see the land
before you; but you shall not go thither to the land which I give the children
of Israel.</b> </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[In other words, Moses would go to the top of the mountain to <i>see</i> the Promised Land, but he wouldn't <i>enter</i> it.]</span><br><br>
<span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">(Deuteronomy 32:48–52 AKJV / emphasis & </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[comments]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> added)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">Moses had disobeyed God at Meribah
Kadesh by striking a rock twice instead of speaking to it to obtain water as
God had instructed (Num. 20), and as a result God told him he would only get to
see the Promised Land from a distance—but not enter it. God led Moses to the
top of Mount Nebo and let him have a panoramic view of the Promised Land, and
there he died with no one ever knowing what became of his body.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">The point I want to highlight here,
however, is simply this:</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">It was through Moses that God established</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">the fundamental basis of
the Jewish people's</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Old Covenant
relationship with Him—the Law.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in;"><span face=""",sans-serif">Hold that thought.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">Now let's take a spin through the
Northern Kingdom.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;">+ Elijah</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">Not long after the reign of King
Solomon, the Jewish people split into two major groups: two tribes to the south
known as the Kingdom of Judah and the remaining ten tribes to the north known
as the Kingdom of Israel. Sadly, throughout <i>both</i> regions idol worship
had become a festering problem that was steadily growing worse.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">In the ninth century BC, an evil king
named Ahab had taken power in the Northern Kingdom (ruling from 874 to 853 BC),
and he openly and brazenly promoted the worship of false gods, Baal in
particular. But like they say:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">God always has a
remnant.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">The prophet Elijah prophesied a
drought on the entire region in response to Ahab's evil, and after three and a
half years without rain (James 5:17) God used Elijah to confront Ahab at full throttle
and bring the issue to a head in a classic showdown that would have a major
impact on the spiritual condition of the Jewish people (not to mention make a
killer movie script).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">Elijah asked Ahab to gather the people
of Israel, 450 prophets of Baal, and 400 prophets of the groves to Mount Carmel
for one of the greatest spiritual face-offs in biblical history:</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">20</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">So Ahab sent to all the
children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together to mount Carmel. <b><sup>21</sup></b>And
Elijah came to all the people, and said, <b>How long halt you between two
opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him.</b> </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[It's
decision time, folks: the LORD or Baal.]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> And the people answered him not a word. <b><sup>22</sup></b>Then
said Elijah to the people, I, even I only, remain a prophet of the LORD; but
Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men. <b><sup>23</sup></b>Let them
therefore give us two bullocks; and let them choose one bullock for themselves,
and cut it in pieces, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: and I will
dress the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: <b><sup>24</sup>And
call you on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the LORD: and
the God that answers by fire, let him be God.</b> </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[In
other words, we'll both prepare a sacrifice, and whoever brings down fire to
consume that sacrifice—the LORD or Baal, <i><u>that's</u></i> the God you'll
worship.]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">
And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken.<br><br>
<span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"><b>25</b></span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">And Elijah said to the
prophets of Baal, Choose you one bullock for yourselves, and dress it first;
for you are many; and call on the name of your gods, but put no fire under. <b><sup>26</sup></b>And
they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on
the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But
there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped on the altar which
was made. <b><sup>27</sup>And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them,
and said, Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing,
or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleeps, and must be awaked.</b> </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[Elijah
doesn't hesitate to rub it in their faces.]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> <b><sup>28</sup></b>And they cried aloud,
and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood
gushed out on them. <b><sup>29</sup></b>And it came to pass, when midday was
past, and they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening
sacrifice, that <b>there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that
regarded</b>. </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[Baal: fail.]</span><br><br>
<span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"><b>30</b></span>And Elijah said to all
the people, Come near to me. And all the people came near to him. And he
repaired the altar of the LORD that was broken down. <b><sup>31</sup></b>And
Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of
Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD came, saying, Israel shall be your name: <b><sup>32</sup></b>And
with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD: and he made a trench
about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed. <b><sup>33</sup></b>And
he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid him on the
wood, and said, Fill four barrels with water, and pour it on the burnt
sacrifice, and on the wood. <b><sup>34</sup></b>And he said, Do it the second
time. And they did it the second time. And he said, Do it the third time. And
they did it the third time. <b><sup>35</sup>And the water ran round about the
altar; and he filled the trench also with water.</b> </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[Soaking
everything in water served to put an exclamation mark on what Elijah knew was
about to happen.]</span><br><br>
<span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"><b>36</sup></b>And it came to pass at
the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came
near, and said, LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this
day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have
done all these things at your word. <b><sup>37</sup>Hear me, O LORD, hear me,
that this people may know that you are the LORD God, and that you have turned
their heart back again.</b> <b><sup>38</sup></b>Then the fire of the LORD fell,
and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust,
and<b> licked up the water that was in the trench</b>. </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[Sacrifice
soaking wet? No problemo.]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> <b><sup>39</sup>And when all the people saw it, they fell on
their faces: and they said, The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God.</b>
<b><sup>40</sup></b>And Elijah said to them, Take the prophets of Baal; let not
one of them escape. And they took them: and Elijah brought them down to the
brook Kishon, and slew them there.<br><br>
(1 Kings 18:20–40 AKJV /
emphasis & </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[comments]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> added)</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">God 1 — Baal 0</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">The point of what Elijah
did is stated in verse 37: It was to give God an opportunity to turn the hearts
of the Jewish people back to Him again after they had essentially abandoned Him
in favor of false gods (a lingering legacy of their days in Egypt). The rains
returned in short order, and history confirms that this dramatic confrontation on
Mount Carmel marked the beginning of the end for widespread idolatry among the
Jewish people.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Elijah was ultimately
taken alive up into heaven in a chariot of fire, in the presence of his
successor Elisha:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">9</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said
to Elisha, Ask what I shall do for you, before I be taken away from you. And
Elisha said, I pray you, let a double portion of your spirit be on me. <b><sup>10</sup></b>And
he said, You have asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if you see me when I am
taken from you, it shall be so to you; but if not, it shall not be so. <b><sup>11</sup></b>And
it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there
appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; <b>and
Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven</b>.<b> </b></span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[Elijah
is the only the second man to be taken up to heaven without dying (Enoch was
the first).]</span><br><br>
<span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">(2
Kings 2:9–11 AKJV / emphasis & </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[comments]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> added)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">But as with Moses, there
is one key point I want to highlight here:</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">It was through Elijah that God turned the hearts</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">of His people from their
rebellious, idolatrous</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">ways and back to
worshiping the one true God.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">God used Elijah to utterly
thrash the false gods the Jews had been foolishly worshiping and give them a
stark reminder of who they never should have stopped worshiping in the first
place. And as I mentioned, the Jews' burgeoning idolatry began to go into
decline after this incident, although it could be argued that it wasn't
completely extinguished until their Babylonian captivity in the sixth century
BC.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">So, these are two key
points I want you to stick in your back pocket:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 136); color: black;">1. Moses
led the Jews into their Old Covenant relationship with God.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 136); color: black;">2. Elijah
turned the hearts of the Jews back to worshiping God.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">With those two ideas in
mind, let's fast forward to the last days and check in with two characters who
will figure prominently in what transpires in the first half of the
Tribulation.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 14pt;">= the Two
Witnesses</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">I wrote an </span><a href="https://www.alittlestrength.com/articles/2023/2302-witnesses.htm"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">article</span></a><span face=""",sans-serif"> about the Two Witnesses a
few months ago, and in that article I went into some depth about who they are,
what they will do, and how and when they will do it.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">I ultimately argued for the
view that the Two Witnesses would be two Jewish men that God would raise up in
the last days in the spirit and power of Moses and Elijah to minister primarily
to the Jewish people. But what I somehow managed to miss was a compellingly clear
reason why Moses and Elijah are the biblically quintessential pair to connect
to the Two Witnesses:</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">The major thrust of the ministry of the</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Two Witnesses combines the
major thrusts</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">of the ministries of
both Moses and Elijah.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">In other words, what Moses
and Elijah did in the Old Testament foreshadows what the Two Witnesses will do in
the end times. The Two Witnesses will begin their ministry at the beginning of
the Tribulation, and for one thing they will encourage Israel in the rebuilding
of the Third Temple. But they will do much more than that—something much more
important.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Recall that God placed a
partial hardening on the Jews after the ministry of Christ, whom they rejected
and crucified:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">25</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">For I don't desire you to be ignorant, brothers, of this
mystery, so that you won't be wise in your own conceits, <b>that a partial
hardening has happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come
in,</b> </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[Paul is making it quite clear that this hardening will not
be removed until after the Rapture]</span><br><br>
<span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"><b>26</sup></b></span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">and so <b>all Israel</b> </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[all of <i>spiritual</i> Israel, that is, aka
the believing Jewish remnant]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> will be saved. Even as it is written, "There will come out
of Zion the Deliverer, and he will turn away ungodliness from Jacob.<br><br><b>27</b>This is my covenant with them, when <b>I will take away their
sins</b>." </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[That is, God's <i><u>New</u></i> Covenant with
them. The old one didn't <i>take away</i> their sins—it merely <i>covered them
temporarily.</i>]</span><br><br>
<span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">(Romans 11:25–27 / emphasis & </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[comments]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> added)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">After the Church is
removed at the Rapture and we get to the launching of the Tribulation, it is
time for God to remove the hardening He placed on Israel so He can bring a
remnant of them to faith in the atoning work that Christ accomplished for them
two thousand years ago. This is the message they have been too hardened to hear
for the last two millennia, but God will remove that hardening and turn their
hearts back to Him, and introduce them to the covenant that will remove their
sin (the New Covenant), rather than merely cover their sin temporarily as did
their previous one (the Old Covenant).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">That is, after the Church
is removed, God will begin to do something with His people Israel that was prefigured
by what He did through Moses and Elijah. Only <i>this</i> time He will do it
through the ministry of the Two Witnesses. As the Tribulation begins, God will
use the Two Witnesses to:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 136); color: black;">1. Draw
His people into a <i><u>New</u></i> Covenant relationship with Him.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 136); color: black;">2. Turn
the hardened hearts of His people back to worship Him.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">So, in a sense the Two
Witnesses imitate Moses and Elijah. Also, notice some of the methods they use: They
use fire and drought (much like Elijah):</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">5</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">If anyone desires to harm them, <b>fire proceeds out of their mouth
and devours their enemies</b>. </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[1 Kings 18:38]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> If anyone desires to harm them, he must be
killed in this way. <b><sup>6</sup></b>These have the power to <b>shut up the
sky, that it may not rain</b> during the days of their prophecy. </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[1
Kings 17:1]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">
They have power over the waters, to turn them into blood, and to strike the
earth with every plague, as often as they desire.<br><br>(Revelation
11:5–6 / emphasis & </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[comments]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> added)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Not only that, but even
the grand finale of the Two Witnesses is foreshadowed to some degree by what
happened to Moses and Elijah.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">At the midpoint of the
Tribulation, the ministry of the Two Witnesses will draw to a close. The now
satanically possessed and controlled Antichrist will be able to kill the Two
Witnesses, and their bodies will lie in the streets of Jerusalem for three
days. Then they will be resurrected, and will be taken alive up into heaven in
full view of a stunned world (no doubt thanks to the mainstream media). This is
prefigured by what happened to both Moses and Elijah:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">• </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Moses went to the top of Mount Nebo, up and
away from the people, where he could view the Promised Land before he died and
was never seen again.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">• </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Elijah was taken straight to heaven in a
chariot of fire as Elisha looked on.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;">A little advance
planning, perhaps?</span></i></b><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;"> You may have wondered what Moses and Elijah might have been talking
with Jesus about at the Transfiguration:</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">1</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">After six days, Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John his
brother, and brought them up into a high mountain by themselves. <b><sup>2</sup></b>He
was changed before them. His face shone like the sun, and his garments became
as white as the light. <b><sup>3</sup>Behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them
talking with him.</b><br><br>(Matthew
17:1–3 / emphasis added)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;">People have speculated
about this for two thousand years. But at this point, I'd be willing to bet my
bottom New Taiwan Dollar that their conversation was in some way connected to
the future ministry of the Two Witnesses:</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;">"All right, men, listen
up: As soon as you see them getting ready to confirm that treaty Daniel talked
about, double-check your gear. Got it?"</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;">"Roger that, Lord. So...you
want us to use fire and drought like last time?"</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;">"Affirmative...let 'er
rip. But lay off Satan's Stooge—he's all mine!"</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Now let's turn our
attention to a couple of the crude ways Satan will attempt to imitate what God did
through Moses and Elijah.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 14pt;">Imitating
Moses...again</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">The Tribulation is
officially launched by the confirmation of a seven-year treaty with Israel, and
it is presumably a treaty with the surrounding Arab nations—nations that have
been Israel's sworn enemies since the days of the Patriarchs and who desire to
see Israel wiped off the face of the earth:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">27</span></sup></b><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[i.e.
seven years]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">
and in the middle 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 on the
desolate.<br><br>(Daniel
9:27 AKJV / emphasis & </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[comments]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> added)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Some folks take issue with
the interpretation of the word "many" in this verse, but there is
agreement among a number of excellent </span><a href="https://www.preceptaustin.org/daniel_927"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">commentators</span></a><span face=""",sans-serif"> that it refers to the Jews. Daniel uses the same Hebrew word in Daniel
11:33, 39, and 12:3, where it clearly refers to the Jews. So, rather than
taking a scalpel and surgically removing that one single word from verse 27 and
examining it under a microscope, what say we let Scripture interpret Scripture
as usual. With no context clearly suggesting otherwise, that alone is sufficient
to tell us verse 27 is most likely referring to a treaty made with the Jews. Of
course, there will be a number of other nations on the other side of the table,
but it's reasonably clear they are making a treaty <i>with <u>Israel</u>.</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">No? Consider: If this
treaty is made with "many" nations and <i><u>not</u></i> Israel, read
the rest of verse 27 and ask yourself one simple question:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">Why does Daniel mention
this seven-year treaty, and then in the very next clause and without missing a
beat go on to say he's going to cause the sacrifices to cease in the middle of that
treaty?</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Straight up: If this
treaty <i>isn't</i> with Israel, this takes non sequiturs to a whole new level—this
is a leap that would make Evel Knievel green with envy. We know the sacrifices
are made in a rebuilt Third Temple because when Daniel says "he shall make
<b><u>it</u></b> desolate," the <b><u>it</u></b> refers to that temple, or
at least the Holy Place contained within it.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Also, the way verse 27 is worded
makes it sound very much as if allowing the sacrifices to begin in the first
place was part of that treaty—you almost have to <i>want</i> it to mean
something else. Hence one basic question is this:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Q.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> If this treaty is <i>not</i>
with Israel, then how much sense does it make to have the Antichrist breaking
this treaty at its midpoint and then causing sacrifices to cease and desecrating
a rebuilt <i>Third Temple.</i> In <i>Jerusalem.</i> In <i>Israel?</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">A.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> Only as much as you can
deliberately read into it.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;">Steady as she goes:</span></i></b><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;"> Now, I am keenly aware
that a lot of people are gripped with excitement these days due to Satan's
useful idiots at the U.N. and their grand plan for "seven years of
accelerated, transformative action" that kicks off this September, but this
doesn't change the inconvenient fact that Daniel's treaty is made with Israel. Of
course, Daniel's treaty could come to fruition more quickly than many realize, and
it may even grow out of the chaotic aftermath of the Rapture itself (which
means we might not be here to see it coming anyway). It's possible that Daniel's
treaty is an outgrowth of or an addition to this agreement that gets hammered
out in the wake of Gog Magog. But the fact remains that in its current form
without Israel, this ain't it...at least it ain't it <u>yet</u>. So...let me
just say that it might be wise to refrain from leaping to conclusions in regard
to this U.N. agreement and the Rapture. Oh, and if you think the Rapture is
inextricably linked to the Feast of Trumpets, feel free to take a look at </span><a href="https://www.alittlestrength.com/articles/2020/2010-shavuot.htm"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">something</span></a><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;"> I wrote in 2020. (Warning:
Don't balk at the title—you have to read the whole article to understand what
I'm actually saying.)</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">So the Tribulation is
launched when the AC2B confirms the treaty of Daniel 9:27 with Israel, and as
he does so we have the first case of Satan imitating what God did through Moses
and Elijah that I want to mention.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Recall that Moses led the
Jews into their Old Covenant relationship with God, which was based on obeying
His Law. However...</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">At the outset of the Tribulation, Satan will</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">have the AC2B imitate
Moses by leading</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Israel into a very
different covenant.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Remember that God will
have just recently supernaturally intervened to save Israel from annihilation in
the battle of Gog Magog, and as a result their Muslim enemies will be weakened and
won't be in a position to say no to this treaty—a treaty that will do something
that is unthinkable in the Muslim world: give Israel permission to start
rebuilding their anxiously anticipated Third Temple, and start rebuilding it on
what the Muslims see as <i><u>their</u> property.</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">I also believe that Israel
will be magnanimous in victory, just as they were after their victory over the
Arabs in the Six Day War in 1967, when Moshe Dyan charitably allowed Jordan to
maintain control over the holiest site in Judaism: the Temple Mount. They will
give the Palestinians some kind of state, and the whole shebang will be hailed
as World Peace at long last.</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">And the AC2B will be hailed as</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">the world's Great
Peacemaker.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">The AC2B will deceive
Israel and lead them into a covenant with their sworn enemies that the Jews will
foolishly enter into in the vain hopes they will be able to live in peace with people
groups that seek their death and destruction (not to mention their <i><u>land</u></i>).
But arguably the juiciest worm on that hook will be the chance to finally rebuild
their <i>(pant...drool...)</i> Third T-e-m-p-l-e!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">The Bible has a graphic way
of describing this covenant that the AC2B will lead Israel into, which is
obviously <i><u>not</u></i> a covenant with God. It is nothing more than the
result of Satan's paltry imitation of what God did with His people through
Moses with the Old Covenant, except its goal is the destruction of Israel and
the death of the Jews. To see this, all we have to do is read how the prophet Isaiah
describes it in chapter 28:</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">14</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Why hear the word of the
LORD, you scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.<br><br><b>15</b>Because you have said, <b>We
have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement;</b> </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[this
looks forward prophetically to the treaty that launches the Tribulation, when
God will purge His people and bring a believing remnant through the fire and
destroy the unbelieving remainder]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> when the overflowing whip shall pass through, it shall not come
to us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid
ourselves:<br><br><b>16</b>Therefore thus said the
Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a
precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believes shall not make
haste.<br><br><b>17</b>Judgment also will I lay
to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away
the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.<br><br><b>18</b>And your covenant with
death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand;</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> when the overflowing
whip shall pass through, <b>then you shall be trodden down by it</b>. </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[It
will lead to the death of all Jews except the believing remnant, who will be
protected by God.]</span><br><br>
<span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">(Isaiah
28:14–18 AKJV / emphasis & </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[comments]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> added)</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">Isaiah doesn't mince words about the
true nature of this future covenant the AC2B will establish with the Jews:</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Isaiah calls the treaty
Israel makes</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">with its enemies a covenant with</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">death and an agreement with hell.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">So Satan arranges for the
AC2B to imitate Moses' establishing of the Old Covenant by establishing a very different
covenant with God's people, only <i>this</i> is a covenant designed to lure
Israel to their destruction. God uses this covenant as the means by which He places
Israel in a position where He can purge them using the Antichrist as the rod of
His anger (Isa. 10:5), even as He saves a believing remnant during the Great
Tribulation.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">But as we get to the
second half of the Tribulation and the AC2B officially becomes the full-tilt
Antichrist (the first beast of Rev. 13:1–10), a second beast (Rev. 13:11–18)
arises to work with this global tyrant to lead an apostate global religion. And
guess what? Satan is just as adept at using this second beast to imitate what
God has done as he was with the AC2B.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 14pt;">Imitating
Elijah...again</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">At the midpoint of the Tribulation,
as the Antichrist launches his 42-month kingdom, the second beast, aka the False
Prophet, rises to support him in his satanic charade, and he calls fire down
from the sky to intimidate people into worshiping the Antichrist as God. If
they don't, they will be killed.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">This is clearly Satan's
imitation of what God did through Elijah in 1 Kings 18:37–39, when Elijah prayed
that God would show the people of Israel that He would turn their hearts back
to Him and God sent fire down to consume the sacrifice Elijah had prepared.
When the people saw that fire, they forgot all about Baal and fell on their
faces and cried:</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">"The LORD, He is God!"</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">But when people see the
False Prophet call down fire from the sky, it is precisely the opposite. Now it
is for the express purpose of deceiving them into believing a lie and
worshiping Satan's man the Antichrist as if he were God—as if he were the
divine Messiah sent from God (as is Christ):</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">11</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">I saw another beast
coming up out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a
dragon. <b><sup>12</sup></b>He exercises all the authority of the first beast
in his presence. He makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the
first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. <b><sup>13</sup>He performs great
signs, even making fire come down out of the sky to the earth in the sight of
people.</b> </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[Just like Elijah.]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> <b><sup>14</sup></b>He deceives my own people who dwell on the
earth because of the signs he was granted to do in front of the beast, saying
to those who dwell on the earth that they should make an image to the beast who
had the sword wound and lived. <b><sup>15</sup></b>It was given to him to give
breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both
speak, <b>and cause as many as wouldn't worship the image of the beast to be
killed</b>. </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[Worship the Antichrist as God or die.]</span><br><br>
<span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">(Revelation 13:11–15 / emphasis
& </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[comments]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> added)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Now people who have
refused to love the truth will fall on their faces and cry:</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">"The Antichrist, <i><u>He</u></i> is God!"</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Or whatever name they will
use to refer to him. At that point Satan's deception will reach its zenith and
his short-lived kingdom will be off and running.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 14pt;">Just like
dear old Dad</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Of course, there are a
number of other forms of imitation that occur during the Tribulation, such as
the Antichrist imitating Christ and striving to be accepted in His place as the
promised Messiah (I'm betting you thought of that one). We also have the mark
of the beast, where people are required to take the Antichrist's mark to participate
in the global economy:</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">16</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">He causes all, the small
and the great, the rich and the poor, and the free and the slave, <b>to be
given marks on their right hands or on their foreheads</b>; <b><sup>17</sup></b>and
that <b>no one would be able to buy or to sell</b> unless he has that mark,
which is the name of the beast or the number of his name.<br><br>(Revelation 13:16–17 / emphasis
added)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Here is what Satan is attempting
to imitate:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">2</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">I saw another angel ascend from the sunrise, having the seal of
the living God. He cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was
given to harm the earth and the sea, <b><sup>3</sup></b>saying, "Don't
harm the earth, the sea, or the trees, <b>until we have sealed the bondservants
of our God</b> </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[the 144,000]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> on their foreheads!"<br><br>(Revelation
7:2–3 / emphasis & </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[comments]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> added)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">This is Satan's imitation
of the way God "marks" or seals the 144,000 Jewish evangelists in the
early part of the Tribulation to take the gospel to the world in place of the
Church, which is long gone. This seal offers the 144,000 divine protection that
enables them to complete their mission before they are martyred (some say the
mark protects them for the entire duration of the Tribulation, but I happen to </span><a href="https://www.alittlestrength.com/articles/2022/2201-and-one.htm"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">disagree</span></a><span face=""",sans-serif"> based on my understanding
of pertinent Scripture). In other words:</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">In the Tribulation, God marks those who</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">are His—and then Satan
follows suit.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Incidentally, as I have
pointed out in a previous </span><a href="https://www.alittlestrength.com/articles/2020/2012-mark.htm"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">article</span></a><span face=""",sans-serif">, the fact that this mark
is "the name of the beast or the number of his name" means that it
makes little sense to think that anything that comes along prior to the revelation
of the Antichrist is in fact his mark. In other words:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">How can you have the
mark of the beast until you have the <u>beast</u>?</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">So chill. Don't get into a
tizzy over taking something that is secretly the mark of the beast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Scripture makes it fairly clear it doesn't
work that way.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">The bottom line is that it
had never occurred to me how the ministries of Moses and Elijah clearly prefigure
the ministry of the Two Witnesses, and then how Satan imitates the ministry of both
Moses and Elijah through the actions of both the AC2B and the False Prophet in
the first and second halves of the Tribulation, resp.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">In this article, we've
been discussing Satan's imitation of things God has done, and his imitations
are invariably shabby, inferior counterfeits that bring about harmful, destructive
results. But obviously imitation isn't always like that. Like the old saying
goes: "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery."</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Now, I think I can say
without fear of contradiction that Satan isn't trying to <i>flatter</i>
God—imitating God really <i><u>is</u></i> the best he can do because he is
nothing but a liar, a thief, and a murderer. He comes to steal, kill, and
destroy. To seek whom he may devour. That's it—that's his entire résumé in a
nutshell.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">The Bible actually has
quite a bit to say about imitation, which can obviously be done in either a good
or a bad sense. Here's a quick taste of the good kind:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">7</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Remember your leaders, men who spoke to you
the word of God, and considering the results of their conduct, <b>imitate</b>
their faith.<br><br>(Hebrews 13:7 / emphasis
added)<br><br>
<b>6</b>You became <b>imitators</b> of us and of the
Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit,<br><br>(1 Thessalonians 1:6 /
emphasis added)<br><br>
<b>11</b>We desire that each one of you may show the
same diligence to the fullness of hope even to the end, <b><sup>12</sup></b>that
you won't be sluggish, but <b>imitators</b> of those who through faith and
perseverance inherited the promises.<br><br>(Hebrews 6:11–12 / emphasis
added)<br><br>
<b>1</b>Be <b>imitators</b> of me, even as I also am
of Christ.<br><br>(1 Corinthians 11:1 /
emphasis added)<br><br>
<b>1</b>Be therefore <b>imitators</b> of God, as
beloved children. <b><sup>2</sup></b>Walk in love, even as Christ also loved us
and gave himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a
sweet-smelling fragrance.<br><br>(Ephesians 5:1–2 /
emphasis added)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #001320; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Be therefore imitators of God, as beloved children.</span></i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #001320; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> That's an <i>amazing</i> thing to
contemplate! Paul is telling us to imitate a supremely loving, infinitely holy,
and perfectly just God...and it's an understatement of the first magnitude to
say that's a mighty tall order for even the best among us.</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">But that's exactly what the Word</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-right: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">is telling us to do—imitate God,</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-right: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">just as a child imitates his father.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The longer I sit and think about that verse, the
more it just blows me away. And the more it humbles me. And the more it
motivates me...and I pray it motivates you as well:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">I hope it motivates us all to take a deeper and more
thoughtful look at the character of God with the humble intention of emulating
it to the best of our limited abilities in our earthly lives.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">And I pray it motivates us all to pursue the goal of
living lives that reveal that we are making progress in our efforts to be more like
our Heavenly Father.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Or maybe I should say our dear old Heavenly Dad.</span></p>
</div>
<br><b>From Greg Lauer @ <a href="https://www.alittlestrength.com/articles/2023/2307-imitation.htm">A Little Strength—JUL '23</a></b><br>Greg L.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13488517852547324706noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-923571518579487836.post-23378517808668851922023-09-07T12:35:00.025-05:002023-11-29T16:00:46.609-06:00Messiah: From Concealed to Revealed<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">God’s plan of redemption to provide blood atonement through the coming Messiah is woven throughout the Old Testament in not only prophecy, but also in types, shadows, and patterns. In Genesis, the first prophecy of a coming Messiah is revealed to Adam and Eve right before God killed an animal to provide clothing to cover their nakedness, for which they had become ashamed, after having sinned by disobeying God’s command to not eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><i><span style="line-height: 107%;"></span></i></p><blockquote><i>But of the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou
shalt surely die. <b>Genesis 2:17</b></i></blockquote><i><b></b></i><p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><i><span style="line-height: 107%;"></span></i></p><blockquote><i>And I will put enmity between thee and the
woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou
shalt bruise his heel. <b>Genesis 3:15</b></i></blockquote><i><b></b></i><p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><i><span style="line-height: 107%;"></span></i></p><blockquote><i><span style="line-height: 107%;">Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and
clothed them. <b>Genesis 3:21</b></span></i></blockquote><p> </p><b><i><span style="line-height: 107%;"></span></i></b><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">Perhaps if Cain had reflected on the death
necessary to provide coats of skins for his parent’s disobedience, then he
might have realized why God was pleased by Abel offering the blood of a lamb.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><i><span style="line-height: 107%;"></span></i></p><blockquote><i><span style="line-height: 107%;">And she again bare his brother Abel. And
Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in process
of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an
offering unto the LORD. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his
flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his
offering: But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was
very wroth, and his countenance fell. </span></i><b><span style="line-height: 107%;">Genesis 4:2-5</span></b></blockquote><p> </p><p style="text-align: center;"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigy6N2YgT38y82kklrbzmmdWkrclJZFWK8gPjH8BrkqCwjaT-LjqAQixbFbi9Tb0f6b6IiUJGRU5UNR4vVFiSuCNVZwe7tFsjEt-hJXKxMWFMG881QatS-a-gjeUJls5BA2wtep4xe-mXZ9aPTOqYTqIMcQo_QzkOnarAiI0JiLeVBTpUSVkAyfyeUoA/s614/AbrahamandIsaac.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="474" data-original-width="614" height="494" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigy6N2YgT38y82kklrbzmmdWkrclJZFWK8gPjH8BrkqCwjaT-LjqAQixbFbi9Tb0f6b6IiUJGRU5UNR4vVFiSuCNVZwe7tFsjEt-hJXKxMWFMG881QatS-a-gjeUJls5BA2wtep4xe-mXZ9aPTOqYTqIMcQo_QzkOnarAiI0JiLeVBTpUSVkAyfyeUoA/w640-h494/AbrahamandIsaac.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><br /><span style="text-align: left;">Through Abraham and Isaac, we’re also given a glimpse of how God would provide himself, through the Son of God, the Messiah, as an offering for sin.</span><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i></i></p><blockquote><i>And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. <b>Genesis 22:2</b></i></blockquote><i><b></b></i><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i></i></p><br /><blockquote><i>And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together. <b>Genesis 22:7-8</b></i></blockquote><p> </p><i><b></b></i><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">In Exodus, a spotless lamb was to be selected on the tenth day of the month and then killed 4 days later. The lamb's blood was then to be put on the doorframes for the death angel to pass over a house. This foreshadowed how the Messiah would be offered on the “fourth” millennial day, to deliver his people from the bondage of sin.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i></i></p><blockquote><i>Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. <b>Exodus 12:5-6</b></i></blockquote><i><b></b></i><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i></i></p><br /><blockquote><i>For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night. <b>Psalm 90:4</b></i></blockquote><i><b></b></i><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i></i></p><br /><blockquote><i>But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. <b>2 Peter 3:8</b></i></blockquote><p> </p><i><b></b></i><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">To the same people that experienced the Passover in Egypt, God revealed his name, which today is translated as "Jehovah" in a King James Bible. I’ve quoted the LSV below, to show the actual name, rather than the generic “Lord" seen in the KJV.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i></i></p><blockquote><i>And God Speaks to Moses and says to him, “I [am] YHWH, and I appear to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty; as for My Name YHWH, I have not been known to them; <b>Exodus 6:2-3, LSV</b></i></blockquote><i><b></b></i><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i></i></p><br /><blockquote><i>Therefore say to the sons of Israel: I [am] YHWH, and I have brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and have delivered you from their service, and have redeemed you by an outstretched arm, and by great judgements, and have taken you to Myself for a people, and I have been to you for God, and you have known that I [am] your God YHWH, who is bringing you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians; <b>Exodus 6:6-7, LSV</b></i></blockquote><p> </p><i><b></b></i><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPRKOHIhQcxSSF-oR94U8w0b6cAwnV0-QaDxVtSoxrPkiqKr9L6c8dWJSC7NttDZfF-jPDowh4hQg4PBFq9cLgnVY7CgnKtBUBtM8VgZuCaSM8Q-KwpbEXn802p_zoeBFVQnZcyaZQFj5Rd5855m-Ecl_0GhbTt7HZmYLJU7U1QRtDXo0iOISybM_t5jQ/s609/YHVH%20Behold%20the%20Nail%20Behold%20the%20Hand.JPG" style="font-style: italic; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="491" data-original-width="609" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPRKOHIhQcxSSF-oR94U8w0b6cAwnV0-QaDxVtSoxrPkiqKr9L6c8dWJSC7NttDZfF-jPDowh4hQg4PBFq9cLgnVY7CgnKtBUBtM8VgZuCaSM8Q-KwpbEXn802p_zoeBFVQnZcyaZQFj5Rd5855m-Ecl_0GhbTt7HZmYLJU7U1QRtDXo0iOISybM_t5jQ/w327-h264/YHVH%20Behold%20the%20Nail%20Behold%20the%20Hand.JPG" width="327" /></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-style: italic; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">As is illustrated above, the very name of God revealed the Messiah’s love for his creation of man and woman, which he made in his own image. The ancient pictorial symbols of YHWH correlate to the Hebrew alphabet to interpret as, “Behold the Nail, Behold the Hand.” How breathtakingly beautiful for God to identify his love for us so intimately through his name.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-style: italic; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-style: italic;"><blockquote style="text-align: left;">And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. <b>Genesis 1:26</b></blockquote><p> </p><b></b></div><p style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The coming Messiah is prophetically foreshadowed in Leviticus through the lamb without blemish symbolism, by the shedding of innocent blood being the means for the atonement of sins.</p><p style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-style: italic;"><blockquote style="text-align: left;">And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. <b>Hebrews 9:22</b></blockquote><p> </p><b></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-style: italic; text-align: left;"><b>“Atonement” H3722: כָּפַר, kâphar, kaw-far'</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">1.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>to cover, purge, make an atonement, make reconciliation, cover over with pitch</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">2.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>figuratively to expiate or condone, to placate or cancel: appease, make (an) atonement, cleanse, disannul, forgive, be merciful, pacify, pardon, to pitch, purge (away), put off, (make) reconcile (-liation).</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-style: italic;"><blockquote style="text-align: left;">If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish: he shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD. And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him. <b>Leviticus 1:3-4</b></blockquote><p> </p><b></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The blood atonement sacrifices were made on the "mercy seat." They were done right atop the Ark of the Covenant, which God instructed how to be made when giving Moses the Law. The presence of God dwelled in the Ark of the Covenant, in which is contained Aaron’s budding rod, the law given at Mt. Sinai, and the jar containing some of the manna that God provided to the Israelites, to eat while they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. These 3 elements in the Ark foreshadow the Messiah, who would come as the bread of life (manna), to fulfill the law for us as our unblemished perfect atonement (law given at Mt Sinai), in order to bring life (Aaron’s rod was self-sufficient like Jesus, who is the vine that gives life to his branches).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Interestingly, like the tree Jesus was crucified on, the branches from which Moses’ ark was created, and the wood from which Noah’s Ark was built; the Ark of the Covenant was not made out of pure gold, but likewise had a core made of humble wood.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-style: italic;"><blockquote style="text-align: left;">And they shall make an ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof. <b>Exodus 25:10</b></blockquote><p> </p><b></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-style: italic; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfKN37UMz9kTleWcSDN_QjXhiHtGVTK8Vy2D5fYKWLkb5dD20H5kHezPDj2Rkxkg_0aZJ8nJpkrbe031Fo3qmv4tRDlIkFfg2lJEtPGIQhlhPWIlkS40kD2sGg32Zg4tiqvifBUaLYaH3ads9ZTb6NSprPWNm4WtttK5gHQNk1Z7ypJAXFsnGcHKvLas0/s1536/biblephile-sealed-in-for-salvation.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1536" height="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfKN37UMz9kTleWcSDN_QjXhiHtGVTK8Vy2D5fYKWLkb5dD20H5kHezPDj2Rkxkg_0aZJ8nJpkrbe031Fo3qmv4tRDlIkFfg2lJEtPGIQhlhPWIlkS40kD2sGg32Zg4tiqvifBUaLYaH3ads9ZTb6NSprPWNm4WtttK5gHQNk1Z7ypJAXFsnGcHKvLas0/w389-h259/biblephile-sealed-in-for-salvation.jpg" width="389" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><p style="text-align: left;">Therefore, it’s of no surprise for God to have used an Ark made of wood to deliver Moses and Noah in a manner foreshadowing the coming Messiah’s deliverance at the crucifixion on a simple tree. Per God’s instruction, the Ark was built with protective "pitch" covering the outside and inside to prevent leaks. The Hebrew word “and shalt pitch” is the Hebrew word <i>kaphar </i>that also can be interpreted as "atonement."</p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><div style="font-style: italic;"><blockquote>And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river's brink. <b>Exodus 2:3</b></blockquote><b></b></div><div style="font-style: italic;"><br /><blockquote>Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. <b>Genesis 6:14</b></blockquote><p> </p><p></p><blockquote>The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. <b>Acts 5:30</b></blockquote><p></p><b></b></div><div style="font-style: italic;"><br /><blockquote>I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. <b>John 10:9</b></blockquote><b></b></div><div style="font-style: italic;"><br /></div></div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5K0jtVVUVFucJ8-sKFS4-j-55DJCxtqga2FaWZC44240ZvF2QBGTTnwbQekuMdNWmTwejPe0GOoYIJ16Jk7LHwnyii50a3AY-1qAYENcqWd4TJC-pPe_UrewVFPcBJ_FWbVJ_Fr0M9ulzKIiS9x-nOQS-NYchLNc34G1EYTXCqdps2-CS6JePE2VWS2I/s515/Jesus%20the%20Shepherd%20Door.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="383" data-original-width="515" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5K0jtVVUVFucJ8-sKFS4-j-55DJCxtqga2FaWZC44240ZvF2QBGTTnwbQekuMdNWmTwejPe0GOoYIJ16Jk7LHwnyii50a3AY-1qAYENcqWd4TJC-pPe_UrewVFPcBJ_FWbVJ_Fr0M9ulzKIiS9x-nOQS-NYchLNc34G1EYTXCqdps2-CS6JePE2VWS2I/w404-h299/Jesus%20the%20Shepherd%20Door.jpg" width="404" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div>Like God, who sealed in those being delivered in the Ark, the Messiah, who is our good shepherd, also seals his sheep in for protection, by being our door, and by sending the Holy Spirit to indwell the Body of Christ. This indwelling of the Holy Spirit will be covered in more detail, further down below.</div><div><br /></div><div><i><blockquote>And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in. <b>Genesis 7:16</b></blockquote><b></b></i></div><div><i><br /><blockquote>I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. <b>John 10:11</b></blockquote><b></b></i></div><div><i><br /><blockquote>For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. <b>1 Thessalonians 5:9-10</b></blockquote><p> </p><b></b></i></div><div>Before the judgment of the Tribulation starts, Jesus will catch up his sheep, so that they can be protected from his wrath.</div><div><br /></div><div><i><blockquote>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. <b>Isaiah 26:20</b></blockquote><p> </p><b></b></i></div><div>The book of Psalms shows God as Israel’s deliverer, their coming Messiah, who would purge their sins.</div><div> </div><div><i><blockquote>Iniquities prevail against me: as for our transgressions, thou shalt purge them away. <b>Psalm 65:3</b></blockquote></i></div><div><i><br /><blockquote>Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name: and deliver us, and purge away our sins, for thy name's sake. <b>Psalm 79:9</b></blockquote><p> </p><b></b></i></div><div>Let’s take a quick look as the “Crown of Thorns” placed on Jesus’ head during the crucifixion. Jesus was reversing the curse by dying as our atonement on the cross, just like the substitutionary ram caught in the thicket to replace Abraham’s only son, who likewise to Christ, came by a miracle birth promised by God.</div><div><br /></div><div><i><blockquote>And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; <b>Genesis 3:17-18</b></blockquote><b></b></i></div><div><i><br /><blockquote>And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. <b>Genesis 22:13</b></blockquote><br /><b></b></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHJguyDyj0QLUDX18gMNZA4ScbOhoxnlWgTRPx7zMFrEs_tRCSuZ94w3l3aLsPhUl3GY9tbumfmqnfjKXIbo5YlGdS804SHwDQ7UDHEtcdawGAJG-kLw9umbJ4U215zLhMwjIAlhOIaE_Ns2c4W_fQUB4efBj3CCpHAhkax9ScRgcf7n0xb6r-i4RaOd0/s895/d1c7b7bb195cb652e73d850a1c0998bb.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="884" data-original-width="895" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHJguyDyj0QLUDX18gMNZA4ScbOhoxnlWgTRPx7zMFrEs_tRCSuZ94w3l3aLsPhUl3GY9tbumfmqnfjKXIbo5YlGdS804SHwDQ7UDHEtcdawGAJG-kLw9umbJ4U215zLhMwjIAlhOIaE_Ns2c4W_fQUB4efBj3CCpHAhkax9ScRgcf7n0xb6r-i4RaOd0/w354-h350/d1c7b7bb195cb652e73d850a1c0998bb.jpg" width="354" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">How the Messiah would accomplish that deliverance is shown in great detail in Psalms.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><blockquote>For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. <b>Psalm 22:16</b></blockquote><p> </p><b></b></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Long before Roman crucifixion ever became a form of capital punishment, prophecy had revealed that the Messiah would be forsaken, despised, scorned, and pierced in the hands and the feet; </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><blockquote>(To the chief Musician upon Aijeleth Shahar, A Psalm of David.) My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? <b>Psalm 22:1</b></blockquote><b></b></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><br /><blockquote>And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? <b>Mark 15:34</b></blockquote><p> </p><b></b></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">While being crucified on the cross, Jesus yelled out a phrase that should have caused the people around to remember Psalm 22. If they had but made the connection, they would have known that Psalm 22 was being fulfilled before their very eyes. Jesus was so despised that a murderer was freed instead of him. They scorned him by mocking him to come down from the cross. Modern science has discovered that "takotsubo cardiomyopathy," typically induced by extreme stress, causes water to pool around the weakened heart walls, which I suspect is why blood and water poured out from Jesus' pierced side and was why the Psalmist compared his heart to wax. One might conclude that Jesus willingly gave up his spirit, while suffering with a "broken heart." Additionally, the hyssop used to maliciously respond to his thirst was likewise foreshadowed in Psalm 22.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><blockquote>But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people. <b>Psalm 22:6</b></blockquote><b></b></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><br /><blockquote>All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him. <b>Psalm 22:7-8</b></blockquote><b></b></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><br /><blockquote>I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. <b>Psalm 22:14</b></blockquote><b></b></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><br /><blockquote>My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death. <b>Psalm 22:15</b></blockquote><b></b></i></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">In fact, hyssop is also found with the blood of the lamb being put onto the doorframes, before the Passover in Egypt.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><blockquote>Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth. <b>John 19:29</b></blockquote><b></b></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><br /><blockquote>And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the bason, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the bason; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning. <b>Exodus 12:22</b></blockquote><p> </p><b></b></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">This “suffering servant” prophecy is also found in the book of Isaiah, which shows specifically how the Messiah would come to suffer and die as the acceptable Lamb of God, who would make atonement for all sins.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><blockquote>Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God. <b>Isaiah 44:6</b></blockquote><b></b></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><br /><blockquote>I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. <b>Revelation 22:13</b></blockquote><b></b></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi2KQutyeZET3cYbJkcNPmx3xI1dAhGBEhKaTGPHP5tjUenEQN9BQRPqjZdWXv_yIP60Ot47g6VUcpgGlULj9y2d3hVkiGfcFL_8ymJFMrjrRckJVfsK6r0eJVo4HOShLjt2twuQ76oDi24d9Egnvb80QP7CrBMLgXXsTEoLV1uFdwllaSvopwkoEViFE/s1018/aleph-tav.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="763" data-original-width="1018" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi2KQutyeZET3cYbJkcNPmx3xI1dAhGBEhKaTGPHP5tjUenEQN9BQRPqjZdWXv_yIP60Ot47g6VUcpgGlULj9y2d3hVkiGfcFL_8ymJFMrjrRckJVfsK6r0eJVo4HOShLjt2twuQ76oDi24d9Egnvb80QP7CrBMLgXXsTEoLV1uFdwllaSvopwkoEViFE/s320/aleph-tav.webp" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdD48uZ4X0Mxk7EvSbtbr82n6K7QdATMDCWEoek030HN4wAc6YGpTPYxLGw5YPd6a7xBSD6hdojVxHcomk_11EKSfKuoHMmdJvihv_oHizyMnpH-kffOkHLDo2vAM_O3mfYC2At8_vDrhrsVE016HQ4mA-XnszVcyxO3sKSbKpb2Q0npmxy2l2-pDy2Ys/s613/Alpha%20AND%20Omega.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="493" data-original-width="613" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdD48uZ4X0Mxk7EvSbtbr82n6K7QdATMDCWEoek030HN4wAc6YGpTPYxLGw5YPd6a7xBSD6hdojVxHcomk_11EKSfKuoHMmdJvihv_oHizyMnpH-kffOkHLDo2vAM_O3mfYC2At8_vDrhrsVE016HQ4mA-XnszVcyxO3sKSbKpb2Q0npmxy2l2-pDy2Ys/s320/Alpha%20AND%20Omega.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><blockquote>But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. <b>Isaiah 53:5-8</b></blockquote><p> </p><b></b></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Through the angel Gabriel, God even revealed to Daniel the exact timing of when the Messiah would arrive.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><blockquote>Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. <b>Daniel 9:24</b></blockquote><b></b></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><br /><blockquote>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. <b>Daniel 9:26</b></blockquote><p> </p><b></b></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">God also provided a prophet to bear witness of the Messiah’s arrival. That prophet was John the Baptist, who’s ministry of preparing the way of the Lord was prophesied by Isaiah.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><blockquote>The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. <b>Isaiah 40:3</b></blockquote><b></b></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><br /><blockquote>For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. <b>Matthew 3:3</b></blockquote><p> </p><b></b></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">When John identified Jesus as the Lamb of God, he was not only revealing to the people that Jesus was the Messiah, but also was pointing them back to the words of Isaiah’s prophecy mentioned above, which revealed the Messiah would come as a suffering servant, to die as a sacrifice for their iniquity.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><blockquote>The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. <b>John 1:29</b></blockquote><b></b></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><br /><blockquote>And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God! <b>John 1:36</b></blockquote><p> </p><b></b></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">While John was baptizing Jesus, the truth of John’s identification of the Messiah was confirmed by the voice of God and the descending of the Spirit of God, in the form of a dove. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><blockquote>And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased. <b>Luke 3:22</b></blockquote><p> </p></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">For these reasons, John’s “baptism of repentance” is of the utmost importance to understand. His baptism of repentance solidified what the whole of the Old Testament prophets and law had foreshadowed. The promised “seed” that would come from Eve, the lamb who would die for sins, the anointed one, was at hand.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><blockquote><i>For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. <b>Matthew 11:13</b></i></blockquote><p> </p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Paul and Mark show that John’s “baptism of repentance” was specifically stated to be a call to believe on the coming Messiah, for the remission of sins. He was preparing the people of Israel to believe that the Messiah would bring about the remission of sins.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><blockquote>John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. <b>Mark 1:4</b></blockquote></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /><blockquote style="font-style: italic;">Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. <b>Acts 19:4</b></blockquote><p style="font-style: italic;"> </p><p>Talking directly about John's ministry, Jesus also connected belief directly to repentance.</p><p style="font-style: italic;"><br /></p><p style="font-style: italic;"></p><blockquote>For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him. <b>Matthew 21:32</b></blockquote><b></b><p></p><p style="font-style: italic;"><b><br /></b></p></div></div></div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b>Repentance G3341: μετάνοια, metanoia, met-an'-oy-ah</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">1.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>change of mind, repentance</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b>Remission G859: ἄφεσις, aphesis, af'-es-is: </b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">1.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>release from bondage or imprisonment </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">2.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>forgiveness or pardon, of sins (letting them go as if they had never been committed), remission of the penalty </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b>Believe G4100: πιστεύω, pisteuō, pist-yoo'-o</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">1.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>to think to be true, to be persuaded of, to credit, place confidence</div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">2.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>to entrust a thing to one, i.e. his fidelity</div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Having repentance “toward God” by believing on the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, as taught by John the Baptist, was the appropriate response of faith toward God that mankind was called upon to have, prior to the crucifixion.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b>Repentance Toward God: </b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><blockquote>Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. <b>Acts 19:4</b></blockquote></i></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">However, mankind is now also called to have faith “toward our Lord Jesus Christ.” What exactly does that mean? Well, I believe faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ is typified in scripture as a fully persuaded belief in Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection being God's substitutionary atoning sacrifice for mankind, when Jesus, the Messiah, took upon himself the penalty of the world's sins, by the offering of his own innocent life in our place.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b>Faith Toward our Lord Jesus Christ: </b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><blockquote>Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: <b>1 Corinthians 15:1-4</b></blockquote></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><br /><blockquote>Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God. <b>1 Peter 1:21</b></blockquote><p> </p></i></div></div><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;">Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. </span><b style="font-style: italic;">Acts 20:21</b></blockquote><b style="font-style: italic;"></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">When combined together, "repentance toward God" and "faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ" represents faith in God's now fully revealed gospel, which was typically only understood in part and by few, until preached through Holy Spirit-inspired men of God, after the crucifixion. This once concealed, but now revealed gospel was planned before the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8), to the praise of the glory of his grace (Ephesians 1:6). Concealing the magnitude of what would be accomplished through the cross, was used by God to cause the enemy to do what the enemy would NOT have done, if the result had been fully understood. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><p style="font-style: italic;"></p><br /><blockquote>Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. <b>1 Corinthians 2:8</b></blockquote><p> </p><b></b><p></p><p>Jesus had a better baptism to provide after his victory over death. Beginning in the upper room on Pentecost, the Holy Spirit filled the room and sat upon each of them, appearing as "cloven togues like as of fire" (Acts 2:3). This marked the beginning of the "Church" which is not a building, but rather is best described as the body of believers, who have believed the gospel of salvation. This current "Church Age" is a time when the Holy Spirit has been sent to baptize those with such faith, into the "Body of Christ" and thereby into the Messiah's eternal life. Those "in Christ" are borne again, being now fully identified with the Messiah; having been crucified with Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection. Jesus is the head of the church and the Saints are his body. This is an incomprehensible blessing that God made possible through his death, burial, and resurrection. Woe, woe to those who deny Christ and the riches of his grace!</p><p><br /></p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><b style="font-style: italic;"></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><blockquote>I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: <b>Matthew 3:11</b></blockquote><p></p><br /><blockquote>I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. <b>Galatians 2:20</b></blockquote><b></b><p></p></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><br /><blockquote>That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory. Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, <b>Ephesians 1:12-15</b></blockquote><p></p><br /><blockquote> And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. <b>Ephesians 1:22-23</b></blockquote><p> </p><b></b><p></p></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Today, the Holy Spirit’s sealing baptism still remains in effect. However, please be warned, the very soon coming redemption of the purchased (Acts 20:28) possession, for those baptized into Christ, will end this age of grace with the departure of the Saints being caught up to God. Then the time of Jacob’s Troubles (Jeremiah 30:7), Daniel's 70th Week (Daniel 9:27), will be at hand. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><blockquote>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. <b>1 Thessalonians 4:17</b></blockquote></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><br /><blockquote>In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. <b>1 Corinthians 15:52</b></blockquote><p> </p></i></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The scriptures reveal that redemption always has been, and always will be, obtainable only through "faith" (Hebrews 11:4-13) by God's grace. However, during this coming time of Jacob's Trouble, the Holy Spirit will operate differently, such as was during the Old Testament ages; expect that additionally those taking the Mark of the Beast will be forever damned.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b>Current Dispensation: </b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><blockquote>By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. <b>Hebrews 10:10</b></blockquote><b></b></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><br /><blockquote>For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. <b>Hebrews 10:14</b></blockquote><b></b></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><br /><blockquote>Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. <b>Hebrews 12:2</b></blockquote><b></b></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b>Soon Coming Dispensation: </b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><blockquote>But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. <b>Matthew 24:13</b></blockquote><p><b></b></p></i></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Many speculate that the mark will perhaps defile one's humanity, due to having one's God-given image corrupted through the acceptance of the Mark of the Beast. This would mirror well with Satan's previous attempt to corrupt humanity (Genesis 6:2, Genesis 6:4, Genesis 6:9) "as in the Days of Noah" through the angel's taking of women to produce giant "Nephilim" offspring. Interestingly, people are currently trying to figure out how to use nano lipids to induce a DNA change from a double helix to a triple helix chain. Beware of those quantum dot digital tattoos likely coming in the future, as a means to connect oneself to the image of the beast. Regardless of what form the mark of the beast takes in the future, the Bible's truth still remains that those who take the mark will eventually spend forever in the Lake of Fire. That is surely one baptism that nobody should want as their eternal state of existence.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;">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. </span><b style="font-style: italic;">Revelation 14:11</b></blockquote><b style="font-style: italic;"></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><b></b></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Unfortunately, most “grace” teaching churches, in the context of salvation, confuse the meaning of repent. Instead of teaching “repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ”, what is errantly taught is “repentance from the act of sinning” + “repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ,” or sometimes they even just teach repentance is turning from the act of sinning.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><blockquote>And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work. <b>Romans 11:6</b></blockquote><p> </p></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The tragedy of these errors is that false gospels (2 Corinthians 4:4, Galatians 1:6-7, 2 Corinthians 11:3-4, 2 Corinthians 11:15) are being presented to those hearing such a message, which makes faith in that message unable to save the individual. They’re being told that to be saved they must effectively change their mind about their sins, by trying their best to stop sinning, by doing a 180 degree “turn” away from their sinful nature. This “turn” from sin is then defined as “repentance.” Such preachers, who say salvation is a free gift, are actually teaching that salvation is not a free gift, but rather is an agreement made as one commits to obeying the law <i>(by turning from sin)</i> as a prerequisite for God to agree to bless that person with his “free” gift of salvation. This is the rubbish thinking that Paul addressed extensively in the Book of Galatians, when the early Christian Jews wanted the Gentiles to be circumcised and therefore identify with them as law keepers!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><blockquote>For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law; but desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh. <b>Galatians 6:13</b></blockquote><p> </p></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The Galatians, who could never fulfill the law, had returned to their own self-righteous attempts to fulfill the law through their own law keeping, rather than by standing in faith that the Lord Jesus Christ had fulfilled the law for them.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><blockquote>Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. <b>Matthew 5:17</b></blockquote><p> </p></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Not only did Jesus fulfill all of the law by keeping the law throughout all of his life, but also, he permanently fulfilled the Levitical atonement requirements for us, by dying as our sacrifice.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><blockquote>Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this he did once, when he offered up himself. <b>Hebrews 7:27</b></blockquote></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><br /><blockquote>But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; <b>Hebrews 10:12</b></blockquote></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><br /><blockquote>For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. <b>Hebrews 10:14</b></blockquote><p> </p></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">My friends, “turning from sin” is not biblical repentance seen under the New Covenant. The salvation of one’s soul comes by having faith in the Messiah’s sacrificial death, burial, and resurrection, when Jesus, who is the Messiah, the Lamb of God, shed his innocent blood and died on the cross and rose again in victory over death. Christ’s baptism by the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ is the only way to be saved. This “turning from sin” by obeying the law, is negatively described in Hebrews 6:1 as “dead works.” We’re called to change our mind about trying to please God though the “dead works” of trying to keep the Old Covenant, the law. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><blockquote>Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, <b>Hebrews 6:1</b></blockquote><b></b></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><br /><blockquote>For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? <b>Hebrews 9:13-14</b></blockquote><p> </p></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Throughout the book of Hebrews, Paul addressed the Levitical rituals that the professing Jewish Christians had trusted in, before their faith in Christ. He shows how Christ’s once and final sacrifice has superseded and was much better than that old Levitical system.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Stated another way, for those borne again in Christ, who were baptized into his death, burial and resurrection, the law has become dead to them and the keeping of the law has become dead works to them. If you’re teaching people that God’s salvation is received by turning from one’s sins, please stop focusing on fulfilling the law and instead rest in faith toward Jesus Christ by believing in his finished work. Rest in true repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ, by believing that Jesus the Christ <i>(aka Messiah)</i> has reconciled you to God through his death, burial, and resurrection. Please cease calling on the unsaved to do that which you yourself did not do to be saved <i>(assuming at one point you were saved by grace alone through faith alone)</i>; don’t be like the foolish Galatians to whom Paul was addressing, who had forgotten God’s grace.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><blockquote>I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: <b>Galatians 1:6</b></blockquote></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><br /><blockquote>For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: <b>Ephesians 2:8</b></blockquote><p> </p></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Let's take a quick look at those who had not repented from their dead works, but rather were still clinging to them, even at the judgement seat.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><blockquote><i>Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. <b>Matthew 7:22-23</b></i></blockquote><p> </p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">In a nutshell, “perfection” is found only by grace through Jesus' imputed righteousness. Perfection is not found by our striving to obey the law, by our sorrow over the wicked evil we’ve done, by our hatred of sins, by our commitment to live a godly life, but yet that is what most preachers want you to believe is necessary to be saved! They’re calling for the mixing of God’s all-encompassing “It Is Finished” sacrifice, with “dead works!”</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><blockquote><i>But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. <b>Isaiah 64:6</b></i></blockquote><p> </p><p>So why do many well-intending preachers believe "turning from sin" is biblical repentance? Well, the Nation of Israel was constantly turning away from God by breaking the law that he had given to them.</p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><blockquote>Thou shalt have no other gods before me. <b>Exodus 20:3</b></blockquote></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><br /><blockquote>But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them;<b> Deuteronomy 30:17</b></blockquote></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><br /><blockquote>And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known. <b>Deuteronomy 11:28</b></blockquote><p> </p></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Therefore, God called them to turn back to him, by turning from wickedness to obedience by keeping his laws, in order for the Nation of Israel to be forgiven of their sins committed by breaking God’s laws.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><blockquote>When the heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; yet if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou dost afflict them; Then hear thou from heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, when thou hast taught them the good way, wherein they should walk; and send rain upon thy land, which thou hast given unto thy people for an inheritance. <b>2 Chronicles 6:26-27</b></blockquote></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><br /><blockquote>If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. <b>2 Chronicles 7:14</b></blockquote></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i></i></div><i><br /><blockquote>When heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou afflictest them: <b>1 Kings 8:35</b></blockquote></i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><br /><blockquote>Yet the LORD testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, and by all the seers, saying, Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets. <b>2 Kings 17:13</b></blockquote><b></b><b></b></i></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><br /><blockquote>Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord GOD. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin. <b>Ezekiel 18:30</b></blockquote></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><br /><blockquote>But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul. When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the LORD thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice; (For the LORD thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them. <b>Deuteronomy 4:29-31</b></blockquote></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><br /><blockquote>If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn unto the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul. <b>Deuteronomy 30:10</b></blockquote><p> </p></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Unfortunately, the old covenant, the Law, was a covenant of death and was only a shadow of good things to come. It failed to make anyone perfect because nobody could keep it. Therefore, God’s holy covenant of the law, worked only to prove mankind’s sinfulness and inability to satisfy it. Basically, through the law the world’s need for the Messiah as our blood atonement was strongly manifest.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><blockquote>For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God. <b>Hebrews 7:19</b></blockquote></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><br /><blockquote>For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. <b>Hebrews 10:1</b></blockquote></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><br /><blockquote>Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. <b>Galatians 3:24</b></blockquote><p> </p></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">To the praise of the glory of his grace, we can be forever thankful for God’s love towards us and willingness to replace the law with a new covenant. A covenant cut not by the shedding of animal blood, by the shedding of the Messiah's very own blood, which was provided at just the right prophesied time, for the sins of the world, by Jesus who fulfilled the law where we could not. There's a reason his name in Hebrew means Salvation!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><blockquote>And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: <b>Colossians 1:20-22</b></blockquote><p> </p></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Better than any animal blood atonement, Jesus is the perfect high priest, whose once and final blood sacrifice has brought complete reconciliation!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i></i></div><blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i>For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. <b>Hebrews 10:14</b></i></div></blockquote><p> </p><blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i>To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; <b>Ephesians 1:6-7</b></i></div></blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><br /><blockquote>Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. <b>Hebrews 2:17</b></blockquote></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><br /><blockquote>Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. <b>2 Corinthians 5:17-19</b></blockquote><p> </p></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">We’re not even under the law anymore. Being washed in the precious blood of our high priest, Jesus the Christ, has made us “unblameable and unreproveable,” which means God is “not imputing” our trespasses against us! Sharing this “ministry of reconciliation” is part of the good news that the body of Christ is responsible to share. Jesus can in righteousness grant this reconciliation that removes us from being under the law because he fulfilled the law for us. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><blockquote>But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. <b>Galatians 4:4-5</b></blockquote></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><br /><blockquote>Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. <b>Romans 7:4</b></blockquote></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><br /><blockquote>For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. <b>Romans 8:2</b></blockquote></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i></i></div><i><br /><blockquote>For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. <b>Romans 10:4</b></blockquote></i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><br /><blockquote>Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; <b>Ephesians 2:15</b></blockquote><b></b></i></div></div><p><br /> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b>Imputed Righteousness </b> </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC0SNOLQ977gqJK5ERw1qb4ERzOW8fTD9VhcwkvKDWupA2MegUfDMxNRyHqJSqA4Lo_DkBj4JBDSWxDPlS-8Sh8fO0BXX5BzGNcISfcVU4T6kG_LsuPSQgHY5A9AtV7eiIpFZMC1x-jbXUsWwxkfV5_icVQKjQtAdxGfM7FqrGy6qYSj4RNuD3Tdg1XRI/s1600/threeimputations%20UPSCALED.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="764" data-original-width="1600" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC0SNOLQ977gqJK5ERw1qb4ERzOW8fTD9VhcwkvKDWupA2MegUfDMxNRyHqJSqA4Lo_DkBj4JBDSWxDPlS-8Sh8fO0BXX5BzGNcISfcVU4T6kG_LsuPSQgHY5A9AtV7eiIpFZMC1x-jbXUsWwxkfV5_icVQKjQtAdxGfM7FqrGy6qYSj4RNuD3Tdg1XRI/w453-h217/threeimputations%20UPSCALED.jpg" width="453" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div><div>Jesus took the sins of the world upon himself, so that his righteousness could be given to all who believe.</div><div><br /></div><div><i><blockquote>Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: <b>Galatians 3:13</b></blockquote></i></div><div><i><br /><blockquote>His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance. <b>Deuteronomy 21:23</b></blockquote></i></div><div><i><br /><blockquote>For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. <b>2 Corinthians 5:21</b></blockquote><p> </p></i></div><div><b>Not Under the Law = No Imputed Sin</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Can a Christian sin? Yes, Christians can and do sin. Can those sins be held against us by God? No, God is not holding sins against Christians, because their life has already been fully known by God and their sins paid for by Jesus Christ the Messiah.</div><div><br /></div><div><div><i><blockquote>I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. <b>Galatians 2:20</b></blockquote><b></b></i></div><div><br /><blockquote style="font-style: italic;">Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. <b>Romans 6:11</b></blockquote><p style="font-style: italic;"> </p><p>To those who are redeemed, having been already baptized into Christ through faith in the gospel, consider carefully before you drop to your knees to confess your sins before God, in order to “ask for forgiveness.” By doing so, you’re disagreeing with God that there is sin that Jesus didn’t already atone for at the cross. Instead, through the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2), let us reckon ourselves dead to sin (Romans 6:11). Let us stand in faith thanking God for already setting us spiritually free from the penalty and dominion (Romans 6:9) of those sins; that we may by faith walk in newness of life.</p></div></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div><div><i><blockquote>For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. <b>Romans 5:13</b></blockquote><b></b></i></div><div><i><br /><blockquote>Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. <b>Psalm 32:2</b></blockquote><b></b></i></div><div><i><br /><blockquote>Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. <b>Romans 4:8</b></blockquote><b></b></i></div><div><i><br /><blockquote>Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression. <b>Romans 4:15</b></blockquote><b></b></i></div></div><div><i><p><br /></p><p></p></i></div><div><b>Imputed Righteousness by Faith (Not the Law!)</b></div></div></div></div></div><div><br /></div><div>The gospel is the good news of Jesus' sacrifice alone being the propitiation for the sins of the world, to all who believe it. The gospel is not a lifestyle to be followed, but rather is good news to be believed; Christ's life to be received.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="font-style: italic;"></div><div style="font-style: italic;"><blockquote>Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. <b>Galatians 2:16</b></blockquote><b></b></div><div style="font-style: italic;"><br /><blockquote>I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. <b>Galatians 2:21</b></blockquote><b></b></div><div style="font-style: italic;"><br /><blockquote>This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? <b>Galatians 3:2</b></blockquote><b></b></div><div style="font-style: italic;"><br /><blockquote>But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. <b>Galatians 3:11</b></blockquote><b></b></div><div style="font-style: italic;"><br /><blockquote>And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses. <b>Acts 13:39</b></blockquote><b></b></div><div style="font-style: italic;"><br /><blockquote>And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: <b>Philippians 3:9</b></blockquote><b></b></div><div style="font-style: italic;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="font-style: italic;"><b><br /></b></div><div>This once and forever eternal payment for our sins is all made possible because of the sufficiency of his blood shed for our sins and his own willingness to take the penalty of our sins upon himself.</div><div><br /></div><div><div><b>Propitiation” G2434: ἱλασμός, hilasmos, hil-as-mos'</b></div><div>1.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>a means of appeasing </div><div>2.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>a propitiation, atoning sacrifice </div><div>3.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>atonement</div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div style="font-style: italic;"><blockquote>Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. <b>1 John 4:10</b></blockquote><b></b></div><div style="font-style: italic;"><i><div><br /><blockquote>Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; <b>Romans 3:25</b></blockquote><b></b></div><div><br /><blockquote>And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. <b>1 John 2:2</b></blockquote><b></b></div></i></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div><div><p><br /></p><p>Let us stand firm on the rock of our salvation, being fully persuaded that Christ, who is faithful in all things, gives as promised a new life and identity to those that believe he is the Messiah, who died, was buried, and rose again. His blood was more than sufficient.</p><p style="font-style: italic;"> </p></div><div><i><blockquote>But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. <b>Galatians 5:18</b></blockquote><p></p><br /><blockquote><i>For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. <b>Romans 8:15</b></i></blockquote><i><b></b></i><p></p></i><i><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWJclU00Psvpm92bRqH5rAasLWMGQF4YiFxmFk9d8Q_2NMIm70Oa8rc3ZLDk5Qh4toU_4N8fVtluYgsE3lAedzbE45FJA6SvPhz5gcCKlTPOvs7Mqpu-AIXCM0jcmSyuwBMcEquXIL6ZFSm62lwP-8XcWmDpVGZru3eDFXZMdSdbbYpCHYVomXYcwCAfU/s1167/israeliteencampment.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="613" data-original-width="1167" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWJclU00Psvpm92bRqH5rAasLWMGQF4YiFxmFk9d8Q_2NMIm70Oa8rc3ZLDk5Qh4toU_4N8fVtluYgsE3lAedzbE45FJA6SvPhz5gcCKlTPOvs7Mqpu-AIXCM0jcmSyuwBMcEquXIL6ZFSm62lwP-8XcWmDpVGZru3eDFXZMdSdbbYpCHYVomXYcwCAfU/w495-h260/israeliteencampment.jpg" width="495" /></a></div><br /><p></p></i></div></div><div><i><br /></i></div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The wonderful blessing that is the New Covenant was hidden in plain sight, but yet not revealed until at the right time. Today is our day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2). Today the Messiah has been revealed. Believe on him. Believe in the shedding of his blood. Believe in his death, burial, and resurrection. The testimony of his word is true. It’s life. The cross has always been YHWH's only plan of salvation.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxJuZWdH3NXBsSRw8IintJ-dT7XvXhp0hq2LE4SnmJnls1tuXgYMUDCP9cY3AyFcMa4Uk_Cz8kByn01do_2kS08UtZ4W_y_8n9Y-soju2e5Yx7xnUKxwfZbgNUBQG7xNJkdNWdbX0jzRA47xVepUGoYEUnd7ePix0V0V97_jLFLlrs4-dl6BoWthInc5k/s990/7946c189ec7b8dae68009df0d546cb61.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="990" data-original-width="736" height="448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxJuZWdH3NXBsSRw8IintJ-dT7XvXhp0hq2LE4SnmJnls1tuXgYMUDCP9cY3AyFcMa4Uk_Cz8kByn01do_2kS08UtZ4W_y_8n9Y-soju2e5Yx7xnUKxwfZbgNUBQG7xNJkdNWdbX0jzRA47xVepUGoYEUnd7ePix0V0V97_jLFLlrs4-dl6BoWthInc5k/w333-h448/7946c189ec7b8dae68009df0d546cb61.jpg" width="333" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div>Just as there was only one way into the Tabernacle that God had built, there is only one way to enter into God’s presence to receive atonement: that way is by grace alone through faith alone in the blood of the Lamb. Have faith in I AM. Have faith in YHWH. Have faith in Jesus the Messiah, who came and died on that cross in YOUR place. Have faith in God’s love for YOU. </div><div><br /></div><div>Consider wisely he who has declared the end from the beginning. The Aleph <i>(Alpha/Beginning/strong bull)</i> and Tav <i>(Omega/End/cross)</i> testify to the Messiah coming as a suffering servant, as is recorded throughout all of the scriptures. It’s ALL true and the roaring lion of the tribe of Judah—the King of Kings and Lord of Lords—is coming again so very soon! Only God declares the end from the beginning. Only God could have orchestrated the prophetic revealing of his Word over thousands of years into one cohesive theme that not only tells in advance what has now and will still happen, but also does so in a way that shows his character, nature, and love for all of mankind.</div><div><br /></div><div><i><blockquote>Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. <b>John 14:6</b></blockquote></i></div><div><i><br /><blockquote>Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. <b>John 15:13</b></blockquote></i></div><div><i><br /><blockquote>And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. <b>Revelation 19:11-16</b></blockquote><p> </p></i></div><div>Thank you, Jesus, for offering yourself on the mercy seat for our sins. May we be swift to share the good news of the gospel, for the ministry of reconciliation that you have so graciously called us to receive and share. May all praise and glory and honor be yours alone forevermore.</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">If you wish to share this web address via a QR code, this below image can be used.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuqpw4wY03danN0MrsreiFDmVkQU3pQQlUPxa8iDgMEVLixa3sV149W_OR1I8Ca5diRNhs52kZsOC7DeihGm0wKj-gOwr3KXPlo0uUvoMZTVp5OiGzuBtH3efGDMXWIPuiz1vDnBFyueknXFHAWU6iHmhDTfA_cIFio8YacZkEpN4SGQRxDiSExZFFAtA/s368/Messiah%20Concealed%20to%20Revealed%20QR%20CODE.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="368" data-original-width="367" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuqpw4wY03danN0MrsreiFDmVkQU3pQQlUPxa8iDgMEVLixa3sV149W_OR1I8Ca5diRNhs52kZsOC7DeihGm0wKj-gOwr3KXPlo0uUvoMZTVp5OiGzuBtH3efGDMXWIPuiz1vDnBFyueknXFHAWU6iHmhDTfA_cIFio8YacZkEpN4SGQRxDiSExZFFAtA/s320/Messiah%20Concealed%20to%20Revealed%20QR%20CODE.JPG" width="319" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Recommended Articles about Repentance:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://bible.org/seriespage/2-doctrine-repentance-old-testament">"Repentance Old Testament" Journal of the Grace Evangelical Society, Volume 2, No. 1 -- Spring 1989</a></li><li><a href="https://unsealed.boards.net/thread/213/repentance">What is Repentance? (Unsealed.org Discussion Board Thread)</a></li><li><a href="https://www.gracegospelpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Salvation-In-Romans-10_9-13.pdf">Salvation In Romans 10:9-13: Clarified by Its Dispensational Context (Thomas L. Stegall)</a></li></ul></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div><br /></div><div>For those wanting to download this document as a Word .doc, here's a link. The document also has some extra study content at the bottom that makes a case for the names YHWH and Jesus Christ being both mathematically and also scientifically connected to the human body; and other science & math related evidence showing the Word to be faithful and true. We are created in his image!</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li> <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kn5SHesHsqwAij0nxeSeFrbnUFs9XT97/edit?usp=drivesdk&ouid=106569610045853192356&rtpof=true&sd=true">Messiah: From Concealed to Revealed & Messiah: The Source of Life</a></li></ul></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b>Boy Reveals Jesus in every book of the Bible</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div style="height: 0px; padding-bottom: 56.25%; position: relative; width: 100%;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5USsyIXQ9gw" style="height: 100%; left: 0px; position: absolute; top: 0px; width: 100%;"></iframe><br /></div></div><div style="height: 0px; padding-bottom: 56.25%; position: relative; width: 100%;"><br /></div></div></div></div>Brandonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13787980881048482626noreply@blogger.com72tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-923571518579487836.post-13640609195033297092023-07-28T15:06:00.003-05:002023-07-30T14:35:35.219-05:00The Summer Harvest (Part II)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY6dqEoTdZI4YghLfnm9zZEa7I2OPGeKTSAsXMRAhqbC8FaM9kYyOHwpuP6xW1P3JJw4Vfq9bP6zOvVPOGvhopf_RVCew2ta-a2TzKqVWnHhbSJp_54yM6Pbn2ot1wTfCrfP1NPRlGHI0Ldv3gDpG40dMdMqFKKBOyijpK2IWJSmGxuxGEGENTc9BISg/s1280/summerharvestshofar.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY6dqEoTdZI4YghLfnm9zZEa7I2OPGeKTSAsXMRAhqbC8FaM9kYyOHwpuP6xW1P3JJw4Vfq9bP6zOvVPOGvhopf_RVCew2ta-a2TzKqVWnHhbSJp_54yM6Pbn2ot1wTfCrfP1NPRlGHI0Ldv3gDpG40dMdMqFKKBOyijpK2IWJSmGxuxGEGENTc9BISg/w640-h360/summerharvestshofar.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: 700; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-weight: 700; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The Church as the First-Fruits of the Summer Harvest</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-31f0ac41-7fff-d4dc-790e-00c1df6af356"><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Introduction</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“Church of the Firstborn(s)” - Hebrews 12:23</span></p><br /><h1 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.32; margin-bottom: 6pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #202a43; font-size: 23pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 339px; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><img height="348" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/UjFtotNvf_3RV-NuqSC3qAAdVmG1kq5ffEoRSi9510TNeBTKDVk51Yt7mifbDSPkLXowlebewsXC1aD5JJ-xfnv-TEL9K-1sTEB2EPUCVJBqbnWGFSdaGl5Lx8iGwiKu1fqxN2PW3XIywKPho_4zmas=w640-h348" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="640" /></span></span></h1><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">We (the Church) are the “firstborn ones” in the sense that we are born again (or born from above/glorified) </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">first</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> prior to Old Testament saints, Tribulation saints, the remnant of Israel, Millennium saints, et al—exclusively because we are baptized by the Spirit into Christ’s body during this Age of Grace (1 Cor. 12:13; Gal. 3:27; Eph. 3:2-6).</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The parallel image or pattern is taken from the agricultural realm: we are also “</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">firstfruits</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">.” There are multiple New Testament passages that affirm our status as, not only “firstborn ones,” but also “firstfruits” of the Lord’s ongoing harvest of souls (for an in-depth study, see the Unsealed article, “</span><a href="https://www.unsealed.org/2018/06/church-of-firstborn-part-i-certified.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Church of the Firstborn Part I</span></a><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">”).</span></p><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Bikkurim</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The Hebrew plural </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">bikkurim, </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“first-fruits” (</span><a href="https://biblehub.com/hebrew/1061.htm" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Strong’s 1061</span></a><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">), stems from the root word </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">bakar</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">, “first-born” (</span><a href="https://biblehub.com/hebrew/1069.htm" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Strong’s 1069</span></a><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">). Humans are not only referred to as </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">bakar</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> (“first-born”) in the Bible, but they are also metaphorically represented by the various fruits from God’s Land (think parables involving: figs, wheat, grapes, olives, etc.). See Wiki article, “</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Species" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Seven Species</span></a><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">.”</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: yellow; color: #001320; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Exodus 23:19, </span><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: yellow; color: #001320; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“The first of the firstfruits of your land you shall bring into the house of the LORD your God…”</span></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Make note of this principle: The “firstfruits” of the harvest are reaped, gathered, and taken directly to be stored in God’s house!</span></p><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The Feast of the Harvest of Firstfruits & Pentecost</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The word </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">bikkurim</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> “firstfruits” is </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">not</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> associated with Tabernacles (the third major season of appointed times more broadly referred to as “the Feast of Ingathering” - Ex. 23:16; 34:22). </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Also, the season of “Pentecost” isn’t so much a single day as it is a series of “weeks” which account for the entire summer harvest season. “Pentecost” simply means “fifty-count,” it is the same word from Acts 2:1 and also used in Leviticus 25:10 (LXX) in regard to the “fiftieth” year of jubilee.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">There are several first-fruit gatherings in addition to barley and wheat/grain: wine, oil (olives), figs, dates (honey), etc.</span></p><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The Firstfruits (Tenths/Tithes) Go Into the Storerooms of God’s House</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">See Nehemiah 10:37, 39; 13: 5, 12 </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: large; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">(“first-fruits” = tenths/tithes that go into God’s house)</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 12pt 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Nehemiah 10:35-39: “And </span><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">we made ordinances</span><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> to </span><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">bring</span><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: yellow; color: #001320; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">the firstfruits</span><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> of our ground and </span><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: yellow; color: #001320; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">the firstfruits</span><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> of all fruit of all trees, year by year, </span><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">to the house of the </span><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: small-caps; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Lord</span><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">; to </span><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">bring the firstborn</span><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> of our sons and our cattle, as </span><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">it is</span><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> written in the Law, and the firstborn of our herds and our flocks, </span><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">to the house of our God</span><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">, to the priests who minister in the house of our God; to </span><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">bring </span><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: yellow; color: #001320; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">the firstfruits</span><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> of our dough, our offerings, the fruit from all kinds of trees, </span><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">the</span><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> new wine and oil, to the priests, </span><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">to the storerooms of the house of our God</span><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">; and to bring the tithes of our land to the Levites, for the Levites should receive the tithes in all our farming communities. And the priest, the descendant of Aaron, shall be with the Levites when the Levites receive tithes; and the Levites shall bring up a tenth of the tithes </span><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">to the house of our God, to the rooms of the storehouse</span><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 12pt; text-align: justify;"><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">For the children of Israel and the children of Levi shall </span><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: yellow; color: #001320; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">bring the offering of the grain, of the new wine and the oil</span><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">, </span><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">to the storerooms where the articles of the sanctuary </span><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">are, where</span><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> the priests who minister and the gatekeepers and the singers </span><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">are;</span><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> and we will not neglect the house of our God</span><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">.</span></p><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The LORD Takes Away the Firstfruits of the Summer Harvest and Stores Them in His House!</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Based on our previous video (<a href="https://www.unsealed.org/2023/07/the-summer-harvest-part-i.html" target="_blank">Part I</a>), prophets such as Amos, Jeremiah, and Isaiah agree and attest to a disappearing summer harvest prior to Israel’s day of trouble (a.k.a., Daniel's 70th week/the 7-year Tribulation period). There are several more prophets who agree on this key biblical teaching:</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Micah 7:1-2: First-fruits of summer and Israel’s judgment connected again—with grapes and figs specifically mentioned in parallel to the absence/removal of godly people.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Joel 1:5, 9: (Sweet/fresh wine and grain taken away) and no offering of summer fruit available for Israel (1:12-20). The context of new wine removal occurs prior to Day of the Lord (chapter 2:1). New wine/Spirit poured out in connection with Joel 2:28-31/Acts 2. The new wine that was taken away from Israel is given to the Church and finally restored to God’s Land </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">after</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> the Tribulation (Joel 3:18).</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Isaiah 18:1-7: At the sound of a trumpet blast (18:3), angels gather a “gift” to bring to God on Mount Zion (18:2, 7), and summer harvest + grapes mentioned (18:4-6). Cross-reference John 15 (vine & branches + pruning).</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: yellow; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Hosea 2</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">: Grain, wine, and oil are mentioned as gifts from God (Hos. 2:8). Remember that these products of the ground/earth also figuratively (or typologically) represent people who are first-fruits unto the Lord. These chosen first-fruits (grain, wine, oil) are sent to proclaim the truth/good news to a disobedient and defiant people, but they are rejected. As a result of this rejection, God judges Israel (and the rest of the world).</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">**Key Highlights in Text of Hosea 2:8-22**</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Hosea 2:9: God “returns” and “takes away” grain & new wine at the appointed time (curiously, no mention of the oil being removed). He takes away the covering of the Lamb to expose Israel's "nakedness."</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Hosea 2:14-15: Judgment follows with Israel later brought into the wilderness (cf. Ezek. 20:33-38; Rev. 12:6). </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Hosea 2:18-23: The </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">eretz</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> (land that is representative of Israel) finally responds to </span><span style="font-size: 16px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">the grain, wine, and oil</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">after</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> the Tribulation (see especially Hosea 2:22). In other words, the remnant of Israel has been won back to the Lord by believing the message of the Gospel.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Other passages of Scripture seen in new light based on this teaching of the <i>bikkurim</i>, or Christ/Church as the first-fruits of God's summer harvest: </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Isaiah 26:20-21 (come, My people, go into your rooms)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Malachi 3 & 4 (the tithes and the storehouse)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Revelation 4 & 5 (God’s house/sanctuary with the newly harvested FIRSTFRUITS of the summer harvest: the glorified CHURCH).</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dsal983lUkY" style="height: 100%; left: 0px; position: absolute; top: 0px; width: 100%;"></iframe><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: large; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b>Further Reading:</b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: large; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b><a href="https://www.unsealed.org/2019/07/hidden-in-hosea-churchs-death-defying.html" target="_blank">Hidden in Hosea</a> </b>(the Rapture of the Church in Hosea)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://www.unsealed.org/2020/06/here-comes-son-shining-light-on-temple.html" target="_blank"><b>Here Comes the Sun</b></a> (the Rapture of the Church in Malachi 3 & 4)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://www.unsealed.org/2021/03/shocking-new-proof-this-is-final.html" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Shocking (NEW) Proof This is The Final Generation</a><b> </b>(the Rapture of the Church and the Chiastic Pattern of Israel's "Rebirth," Global Government, "Aliens," and Atomic Warfare)</p></span>Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05481514981109300522noreply@blogger.com106tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-923571518579487836.post-18482891656113558682023-07-26T09:27:00.036-05:002023-10-09T11:31:20.994-05:00BREAKING: Israel on Cusp of Civil War While Congress Begins UFO Hearings<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZL6ZwS6vtGvWuWGm1edqb1rOCfxFur5cNr87SLfv6tMaX4WyUQ-fomnXGDj1Oy_pGAPJaCgOen1ku3q0XGl_zWS2_BhGvXcl__P8mEUWYlFtknvtyaCPMSSFqjT03bwSuigGbEh9Ojrgxdwhvu5VtnFHZs4qiWIuE24N_1HRX3Voennhw6LFx-4sOxg/s1516/Israel.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="853" data-original-width="1516" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZL6ZwS6vtGvWuWGm1edqb1rOCfxFur5cNr87SLfv6tMaX4WyUQ-fomnXGDj1Oy_pGAPJaCgOen1ku3q0XGl_zWS2_BhGvXcl__P8mEUWYlFtknvtyaCPMSSFqjT03bwSuigGbEh9Ojrgxdwhvu5VtnFHZs4qiWIuE24N_1HRX3Voennhw6LFx-4sOxg/w640-h360/Israel.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Israel in major turmoil in the aftermath of passage of the judicial reform bill. Tens of thousands have taken to the streets. Moody's has just <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/07/26/moodys-sees-significant-risk-besieging-israels-economy.html" target="_blank">threatened Israel's credit rating</a> in a dramatic attack by the United States on the Israeli economy.</div><div><br /></div><div>...And now, Congress has just begun historic hearings on the UFO/UAP phenomenon, an issue that is perceived by many students of Bible prophecy as the substance behind the "strong delusion" the apostle Paul warned about in 2 Thessalonians 2 (see <a href="https://www.unsealed.org/2017/05/the-coming-ufo-disclosure-intergalactic.html">here</a> and <a href="https://www.unsealed.org/2017/04/the-strong-delusion.html">here</a>). This is quite likely to be the primary explanation given to explain away the disappearance of millions around the globe <a href="https://www.unsealed.org/2019/05/prophecy-basics-setting-record-straight.html">at the resurrection and rapture event</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b><span style="font-size: large;">Watch live now:</span></b></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KQ7Dw-739VY" style="height: 100%; left: 0px; position: absolute; top: 0px; width: 100%;"></iframe><br /></div><div><br /></div>
<br /><b><span style="font-size: large;">
Live Notes:</span></b><div><br /></div><div>11:22 AM CT - Hearing adjourned.</div><div><br /></div><div>11:07 AM CT - Mr. Grusch confirms that individuals have been injured during reverse engineering and is also aware of specific individuals working on reverse engineering; this information can be provided to Congress behind closed doors.</div><div><br /></div><div>11:04 AM CT - All witnesses asked and confirm that UAPs appear to be probing military for capabilities and vulnerabilities; in other words, the claim is made that they are basically serving as reconnaissance for a non-human entity.</div><div><br /></div><div>10:56 AM CT - Mr. Grusch makes startling claim that U.S. government has recovered "non-human biologics" and evidence can be reviewed behind closed doors.</div><div><br /></div><div>10:54 AM CT - Mr. Graves estimates only 5% of pilot UAP encounters are reported. All witnesses confirm UAPs appear to defy the laws of physics.</div><div><br /></div><div>10:48 AM CT - Rep. Gaetz recounts a recent incident at Eglin Airforce Base in which he, Rep. Luna, and Rep. Burchett were invited to see recordings and interview the flight crew from the incident. The UAP was beyond any human capability.</div><div><br /></div><div>10:43 AM CT - Mr. Grusch claims that a number of individuals were physically injured by UAPs. Implies he has seen alien spacecraft but the details can only be revealed to Congress behind closed doors, but has not seen alien bodies. A discussion begins about these objects being either extraterrestrial or trans/interdimensional.</div><div><br /></div><div>10:30 AM CT - Matt Gaetz and Rep. Burchett confirm any government/military operations not operating under Congressional oversight are operating outside the boundary of the law. Mr. Grusch reiterates there has been a multi-decade disinformation campaign to prevent disclosure.</div><div><br /></div><div>10:27 AM CT - Mr. Grusch is asked by Rep. Burchett about when the U.S. military first became aware of extraterrestrial intelligence; Grusch explains that "non-human" is better terminology (alluding to the possibility these are not biological entities from other planets but could also be interdimensional).</div><div><br /></div><div>10:25 AM CT - Rep. Frost overviews the march toward disclosure, beginning with the release of confirmed military UAP footage in 2020 and the preliminary UAP report in 2021. Commander Fravor notes that the stigma was removed "in 2017."</div><div><br /></div><div>10:18 AM CT - Rep. Foxx asks Grusch about his claims that the U.S. government has retrieved spacecraft of non-human origins and asks him to address a government individual's claim that there is no evidence of extraterrestrial craft. Grusch rebuts this claim.</div><div><br /></div><div>10:15 AM CT - Mr. Grusch confirms he is familiar with individuals and knowledge of persons and programs who work on vehicles of "non-human origins." Grusch explains how the funding of these programs occurs: misappropriation of Congressional funds and corporate overcharging. Implication is that there is a military-corporate alliance.</div><div><br /></div><div>10:11 AM CT - Mr. Graves recounts a well-documented encounter at Vandenberg Airforce Base in 2003 in which a square, football field-sized object was twice seen over the base by multiple witnesses and showed aggressive behavior.</div><div><br /></div><div>10:08 AM CT - Commander Fravor asked about his personal interpretation. He replies that he's not a UFO fanatic, but whatever it is is beyond any human technology.</div><div><br /></div><div>10:04 AM CT - Mr. Graves says sightings by Navy personnel are not confined to the East Coast but have now been confirmed all over the world, "wherever the Navy operates."</div><div><br /></div><div>10:01 AM CT - Mr. Grusch says some have been physically harmed by authorities in an attempt to cover up. </div><div><br /></div><div>10:00 AM CT - Rep. Burchett says today's hearings are a first and a "miracle." Asks Mr. Fravor if any other country has technology that could account for UAPs. Mr. Fravor says no other country does.</div><div><br /></div><div>9:58 AM CT - Mr. Grusch claims that craft technology was recovered and is hosted at a number of different military installations. The full list has been provided to the Inspector General.</div><div><br /></div><div>9:57 AM CT - Mr. Graves and Commander Fravor confirm that UAP technology is beyond present American military technology.</div><div><br /></div><div>9:53 AM CT - Mr. Graves notes that 30+ fellow pilots experienced corroborated (confirmed by radar and other tools) encounters with UAPs in the 2014-15 timeframe.</div><div><br /></div><div>9:52 AM CT - Commander Fravor says that, based on his recorded encounter with a UAP/UFO, there is a significant national security risk involved.</div><div><br /></div><div>9:48 AM CT - Mr. Graves says there is not a proper reporting mechanism in the military or commercial sectors and that repercussions for reporting have been severe.</div><div><br /></div><div>9:45 AM CT - Opening statements concluded. Questions begin.</div><div><br /></div><div>9:35 AM CT - Witnesses called for opening statements. Mr. Graves up first.</div><div><br /></div><div>9:30 AM CT - Mr. Moscowitz: "...the American people deserve to hear more about special access programs; Congress has a right to know if there is any unsanctioned weapons development . . . in its initial analysis there are 171 uncharacterized UAP reports . . . it's time for Congress to reinsert ourselves. If there is nothing to conceal, let Congress go to Wright-Patterson Airforce Base, the Dugway Proving Grounds, or even Groom Lake in Nevada; we should have disclosure today, we should have disclosure tomorrow—the time has come."</div><div><br /></div><div>9:21 AM CT - Current focus began with "a groundbreaking article by the New York Times..."</div><div><br /></div><div>9:00 AM CT - Hearings underway.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b><span style="font-size: large;">Further Reading:</span></b></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.unsealed.org/2017/05/the-coming-ufo-disclosure-intergalactic.html"><b>The Coming U.F.O. Disclosure</b></a></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><a href="https://www.unsealed.org/2017/04/the-strong-delusion.html"><b>The Strong Delusion</b></a></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><a href="https://www.unsealed.org/2023/07/disclosure.html"><b>Disclosure</b></a></div><div><br /></div>Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03907296435997404954noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-923571518579487836.post-7320597304310444872023-07-18T23:13:00.004-05:002023-07-18T23:16:10.850-05:00The Summer Harvest (Part I)<div><span id="docs-internal-guid-18c9f5fd-7fff-318c-2a52-59cb15d7b4ef"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRFF9COzoVRpEngfwuvo4tm2W-civJeHzw5980ODgzapHgczc_C6vbs2pjc9mUGFiYz6mF1zqwcSJ5f0yBzq1xUU27FFFd0Pc3k4ITON4h389rqRzMGaCPvUjBldOJ16jZI70W3pQKI2Zi5gJ6w419aU3qgMKw8viOB6_HgOTr2DSEjQcMfiw2PBqrzg/s898/grapes%20and%20figs%20Amos%20retro.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="648" data-original-width="898" height="462" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRFF9COzoVRpEngfwuvo4tm2W-civJeHzw5980ODgzapHgczc_C6vbs2pjc9mUGFiYz6mF1zqwcSJ5f0yBzq1xUU27FFFd0Pc3k4ITON4h389rqRzMGaCPvUjBldOJ16jZI70W3pQKI2Zi5gJ6w419aU3qgMKw8viOB6_HgOTr2DSEjQcMfiw2PBqrzg/w640-h462/grapes%20and%20figs%20Amos%20retro.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700; white-space-collapse: preserve;">A Basket of Summer Fruit: The Sign of the End for Israel</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">What does the “basket of summer fruit" in Amos 8 represent? Does this vision of the end correspond to any other summer harvest imagery in the Law and the Prophets?</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span></p><blockquote><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">And He said, ‘Amos, what do you see?’ So I said, ‘A basket of </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: yellow; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">summer fruit</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">.’ Then the LORD said to me: ‘</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: yellow; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The end</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> has come upon My people Israel; I will not pass by them anymore.” </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">(</span><span style="font-size: 16px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Amos 8:1-2, </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">NKJV).</span></blockquote><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;"></span><p></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The Hebrew word often translated as “summer fruit” is </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">qayits </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">(</span><a href="https://biblehub.com/hebrew/7019.htm" style="text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Strong’s 7019</span></a><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">). In Amos’ recorded vision, “summer fruit” (</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">qayits</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">) is in parallel to “the end,” which is the Hebrew word </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">qets </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">(</span><a href="https://biblehub.com/hebrew/7093.htm" style="text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Strong’s 7093</span></a><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">). This play-on-words emphasizes and reinforces the connection between the reaping of a summer harvest and the time of Israel’s judgment.<span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Amos’ vision sets the tone for Jeremiah’s lament over Israel’s time of judgment:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 23pt; margin-right: 23pt; margin-top: 12pt; margin: 12pt 23pt 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“</span><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: yellow; color: #001320; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I will take away their harvest</span><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 45pt; margin-right: 23pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin: 0pt 23pt 0pt 45pt; text-align: justify;"><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">declares the LORD.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 23pt; margin-right: 23pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin: 0pt 23pt; text-align: justify;"><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">There will be no grapes on the vine,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 45pt; margin-right: 23pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin: 0pt 23pt 0pt 45pt; text-align: justify;"><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">nor figs on the tree,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 23pt; margin-right: 23pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin: 0pt 23pt; text-align: justify;"><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">and even the leaf will wither.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 45pt; margin-right: 23pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin: 0pt 23pt 0pt 45pt; text-align: justify;"><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Whatever I have given them will be lost to them.” (Jer. 8:13, BSB)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 45pt; margin-right: 23pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin: 0pt 23pt 0pt 45pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">A few verses later in the same context, Jeremiah confirms the connection between God’s harvest/removal of summer fruit and Israel’s judgment (i.e., they are “left behind”):</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 23pt; margin-right: 23pt; margin-top: 12pt; margin: 12pt 23pt 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">My sorrow is beyond healing;</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 45pt; margin-right: 23pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin: 0pt 23pt 0pt 45pt; text-align: justify;"><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">my heart is faint within me.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 23pt; margin-right: 23pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin: 0pt 23pt; text-align: justify;"><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Listen to the cry of the daughter of my people</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 45pt; margin-right: 23pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin: 0pt 23pt 0pt 45pt; text-align: justify;"><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">from a land far away:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 23pt; margin-right: 23pt; margin-top: 12pt; margin: 12pt 23pt 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“Is the LORD no longer in Zion?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 45pt; margin-right: 23pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin: 0pt 23pt 0pt 45pt; text-align: justify;"><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Is her King no longer there?”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 23pt; margin-right: 23pt; margin-top: 12pt; margin: 12pt 23pt 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“Why have they provoked Me to anger</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 45pt; margin-right: 23pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin: 0pt 23pt 0pt 45pt; text-align: justify;"><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">with their carved images,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 45pt; margin-right: 23pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin: 0pt 23pt 0pt 45pt; text-align: justify;"><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">with their worthless foreign idols?”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 23pt; margin-right: 23pt; margin-top: 12pt; margin: 12pt 23pt 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“</span><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: yellow; color: #001320; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The harvest has passed, the summer (</span><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: yellow; color: #001320; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">qayits</span><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: yellow; color: #001320; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">) has ended,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 45pt; margin-right: 23pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin: 0pt 23pt 0pt 45pt; text-align: justify;"><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: yellow; color: #001320; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">but we have not been saved</span><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #001320; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">.” (Jer. 8:18-20, BSB)</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Note the familiar pattern that is found elsewhere in Scripture, specifically regarding the coming 70th week or Tribulation period: </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Israel is in distress, because the King has left (Jesus + Church/Resurrection & Rapture); Deuteronomy 32:21 is fulfilled:</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">They have made Me jealous by [what is] not God, | They made Me angry by their vanities; And I make them jealous by [what is] not a people, | I make them angry by a foolish nation.”</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> (LSV)</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">And a gathering/reaping of the summer harvest has been accomplished (Amos 8:1-2).</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“The Basket” (Amos 8:1, 2)</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The Hebrew word </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">kelub</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> (</span><a href="https://biblehub.com/hebrew/3619.htm" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Strong’s 3619</span></a><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">) is related to the word </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">keleb, </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“dog” (</span><a href="https://biblehub.com/hebrew/3611.htm" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Strong’s 3611</span></a><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">). The Hebrew consonants are similar: </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">kaph, lamed, bet</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">. The vessel in Amos’ vision containing the end-time summer fruit (</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">kelub</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">) sounds like “dog,” a word that is also related to Joshua’s companion, </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Kaleb/Caleb</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">, (</span><a href="https://biblehub.com/hebrew/3612.htm" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Strong’s 3612</span></a><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">, son of </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Jeph</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">). Caleb is another type of a Gentile who was grafted into God’s royal family!</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Compare with Isaiah 17:10-11 (another vision of a summer harvest reaping + a Gentile branch grafted in + a connection to a specific Gentile from Scripture, “</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Naamans</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">”):</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“For you have forgotten the God of your salvation and have not remembered the Rock of your refuge; therefore, though you plant </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: yellow; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">pleasant plants</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> (naamanim) and sow the vine-branch of a stranger, though you make them grow on the day that you plant them, and make them blossom in the morning that you sow, </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: yellow; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">yet the harvest will flee away</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> in a day of grief and incurable pain.” </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">(ESV).</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">See </span><a href="https://www.unsealed.org/2018/04/isaiah-1718-root-shoot-and-fruit-of.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Isaiah 17–18: The Root, Shoot, and Fruit of Jesse</span></a></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">In the Greek translation of Amos 8:1, 2, the vessel or container is referred to as an </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">aggos/aggeion</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">, (</span><a href="https://biblehub.com/greek/30.htm" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Strong’s 30</span></a><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">). In the New Testament, this term is connected to Gentiles…gathered into a basket/container/vessel…at the end of the age.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Matthew 13:48-50, “</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Again, the kingdom of the heavens is like to a net that was cast into the sea, and gathered together of every kind, which, when it was filled, having drawn up again on the beach, and having sat down, </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">they gathered the good into </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: yellow; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">vessels</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> (aggos), and the bad they cast out, so will it be in the full end of the age, the messengers will come forth and separate the evil out of the midst of the righteous, and will cast them into the furnace of the fire; there will be the weeping and the gnashing of the teeth.”</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Also, the “basket” of fish in the feeding of the 4,000 (Mark 6) is connected to the gathering of the fullness of Gentiles during the Church Age (John 21/Romans 11) and signified by Paul’s deliverance in a “basket” from his enemies in Damascus (see </span><a href="https://www.unsealed.org/2022/07/rapture-typology-in-acts-9-dramatic.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Rapture Typology in Acts 9</span></a><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">).</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Bonus: The Greek word <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opora_%28mythology%29#cite_note-FOOTNOTESlater1969s.v._[httpswwwperseustuftseduhoppertextdocPerseustext1999040072entryopwra_%E1%BD%80%CF%80%CF%8E%CF%81%CE%B1]-2" target="_blank">opora</a></i><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> “(summer) fruit” is connected to the </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">dog</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> star (Sirius); harvest time and the </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">dog days</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> of summer.</span></p><div><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></div></span></div><div>
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<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fviV_fUqxwNu0PC1OdFohWJYJlWnA1s1/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=111706241892534228213&rtpof=true&sd=true"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Click here to view and download the study notes</b></span></a></div><div><br /></div><br />
<p><b>Further Reading:</b></p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://www.unsealed.org/2018/04/isaiah-1718-root-shoot-and-fruit-of.html"><b>Isaiah 17–18: The Root, Shoot, And Fruit Of Jesse (Part I)</b></a></p><div><b><br /></b></div><div><div><a href="https://www.unsealed.org/2018/05/isaiah-1718-root-shoot-and-fruit-of.html"><b>Isaiah 17–18: The Root, Shoot, And Fruit Of Jesse (Part II)</b></a></div></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b><a href="https://www.unsealed.org/2022/07/rapture-typology-in-acts-9-dramatic.html">Rapture Typology In Acts 9: The Dramatic Escape From Damascus</a></b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><p><a href="https://www.unsealed.org/2022/12/the-final-four.html"><b>The Final Four</b></a></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><a href="https://www.unsealed.org/2023/07/agenda-2030-covenant-with-many.html"><b>Agenda 2030: The Covenant With Many?</b></a></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><a href="https://www.unsealed.org/2021/08/the-seven-year-tribulations.html"><b>The Seven-Year Tribulations</b></a></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b><a href="https://www.unsealed.org/2019/05/prophecy-basics-setting-record-straight.html">Prophecy Basics</a><br /><br /></b></p><p><a href="https://www.unsealed.org/2021/11/remember.html"><b>Remember</b></a></p><p><br /></p></div>Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05481514981109300522noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-923571518579487836.post-17975076903765405142023-07-07T14:56:00.003-05:002023-07-07T14:56:30.897-05:00The First "Day of the LORD" (Part II)<p>Recap of <a href="https://www.unsealed.org/2023/06/the-first-day-of-lord-part-i.html" target="_blank">Part I</a>:</p><p><br /></p><p>1 John 2:28 is a commonly misunderstood passage of Scripture. For starters, many misinterpret the masculine singular pronouns as referring to "Jesus" and not the Father. As a result of this misunderstanding, John's thematic connection to Genesis 3 gets lost in translation (i.e., the Father's first "appearing" and the first "Day of the LORD"). Worse yet, because of this fundamental misstep, we've got paraphrased English versions saying things like: "stay with Christ" (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20John%202%3A28&version=MSG" target="_blank">The Message</a>) and "remain in fellowship with Christ" (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+John+2%3A28&version=NLT" target="_blank">NLT</a>). Legalistic Christians <i><u>love</u> </i>a text like this, especially when self-effort and man-power are bolstered by a mistranslation. And if the mistranslation alone doesn't get you, the legalist will still try to convince you that John's command to "abide in Him" is somehow attained/maintained by good Christian behavior such as constant prayer, going to church, regular tithing, not sinning as much (whatever that means), and so on and on and on...<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p><br /></p><p>And while the legalist goes on "priding in his abiding," the sincere believer cries out to the Lord for clarity. And rightly so. There is <u><i>no way</i></u> that John endorses salvation through self-effort in 1 Jn. 2:28. According to the apostle's theology, "abiding"<i> </i>is <i>believing</i>. And to "abide in Him" is <i>to believe in the One sent by the Father</i> (1 Jn. 4:13-16; cf. Rom. 8:9). Conversely, to "not abide" is to <i>not believe</i> (Jn. 5:38). It's that simple.</p><p><br /></p><p>To start Part II, we'll revisit the Old Testament background of 1 Jn. 2:28. Curiously enough, the idea of the Father "appearing" and "coming" to His children in a Day of Judgment is obscured (albeit ever so slightly) by yet another mistranslation.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>A Not-So-Cool Day...</b></span></p><p><br /></p><p>Many words and phrases from the King James Version are woven into the fabric of Western culture. For example, familiar expressions such as "my brother's keeper" (Gen. 4:9), "out of the mouth of babes" (Ps. 8:2), and "the apple of his eye" (Zech. 2:8) can be found in classic literature, movies, television, and the everyday conversations of English speakers worldwide. These KJV-inspired expressions have become so entrenched and hard-wired into our minds that it can be difficult to accept an alternative translation of a well-known passage of Scripture.</p><p><br /></p><p>However, in order to clear up confusion and cut through the fog of culture and tradition, sometimes a sacred cow has to be slaughtered (how else are we going to "eat the meat and spit out the bones"?). </p><p><br /></p><p>Next up on the chopping block is the KJV-inspired phrase "in the cool of the day" from Gen. 3:8:</p><p><br /></p><blockquote><p>And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden <b>in the cool of the day</b>: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.</p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p>Of all the various sermons and life-applications derived from this text, one of the most creative (yet misguided) explanations I've heard is that God was on His way to meet Adam and Eve for their regularly scheduled afternoon stroll (naturally, God's walking buddies failed to call ahead and reschedule before going M.I.A.). Apparently, the phrase "cool of the day" has been commonly understood to be some sort of crisp, refreshing breeze that occurred at the end of a hot day in paradise. And not wanting to rock the boat, and also in fear of possibly upsetting the target audience and the bottom line, many contemporary English translations preserve and perpetuate the questionable translation of "the cool of the day" (e.g. NKJV, NASB, NIV, ESV, et al.). Some English versions go even further (in the wrong direction) by putting a fresh new spin on this old familiar phrase; for example, "when the evening breezes were blowing" (NLT), and "at the breezy time of the day" (NET).</p><p><br /></p><p>And to reinforce just how deeply ingrained this understanding of "the cool of the day" is in contemporary thought, here is The Message's rendering of Gen. 3:8:</p><p><br /></p><blockquote><p>When they heard the sound of God strolling in the garden in the evening breeze, the Man and his Wife hid in the trees of the garden, hid from God.</p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p>So there you have it. According to the popular and prevailing consensus, the LORD God was ready for a routine sunset stroll through Eden with His children <i>in the cool of the day</i>. It sounds pleasant. But is the "late afternoon, leisurely stroll" idea really what the Holy Spirit intended to communicate in the original text?</p><p><br /></p><p><i>Hardly</i>. Especially when you take the Hebrew text of Gen. 3:8 at face value and compare its key terms with the rest of Scripture.</p><p><br /></p><p>The LSV (Literal Standard Version) gets us closer to the original intent of the author (with one slight modification in bold):</p><p><br /></p><blockquote><p>And they hear the sound of YHWH God walking up and down in the garden at the <b>wind</b> of the day, and the man and his wife hide themselves from the face of YHWH God in the midst of the trees of the garden.</p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p>Note: based on a surface-level reading of the Hebrew text, the KJV's "cool of the day" is more literally rendered "<i>the wind</i> of the day." If you survey the KJV's various translations of the Hebrew term <i>ruach</i> (<a href="https://biblehub.com/hebrew/7307.htm" target="_blank">Strong's 7307</a>, "breath, wind, spirit"), you will see that "cool" is found only <b><u><i>one time</i></u></b> out of 370+ occurrences in the Old Testament (for a quick reference, see <a href="https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h7307/kjv/wlc/0-1/" target="_blank">Blue Letter Bible</a>). In short, "cool" just doesn't cut it as a logically equivalent translation for the common Hebrew term that is more aptly translated as <i>breath</i>, <i>spirit</i>, or, in the context of Gen. 3:8, <i><u>wind</u></i>.</p><p><br /></p><p>While "the wind of the day" may sound awkward and clunky to modern ears, I can assure you that it is still a better translation than the beloved but misleading "cool of the day" (to any KJV-only readers, please don't shoot the messenger; I'm pretty sure that I have not blasphemed, apostatized, or altered God's word while writing this plea for personal inquiry and investigation).</p><p><br /></p><p>Contrary to popular conceptions of brisk afternoon walks in the park (i.e., "the cool of the day"), the more contextually appropriate "<i>wind</i> of the day" evokes powerful Day of the LORD-type imagery and connects to other like-minded texts such as the "<a href="https://www.gotquestions.org/theophany-Christophany.html" target="_blank">theophanic</a>" appearances of Exodus 19 (God thunderously appears to Moses and the Israelites at Sinai); 1 Kings 19 (God thunderously appears to Elijah...also at Sinai); and Job 38-42 (God thunderously appears to Job). Thus, based on the lexical and thematic connections to other passages in the Bible, one could say that Genesis 3:8 contains the essential terms and phrases which form the very first "Day of the LORD" template.</p><p><br /></p><p>Three Hebrew terms from Gen. 3:8 in particular are embedded throughout other "Day of the LORD" passages in the Bible:</p><p><br /></p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><u style="font-style: italic;"><a href="https://biblehub.com/hebrew/6963.htm" target="_blank"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Qol</span></b></a></u> - "Voice," "Sound," or even "Thunder" (see Ex. 19:19; 20:18; the word is also connected to the shofar/trumpet blast)</li><li><i><u><a href="https://biblehub.com/hebrew/7307.htm" target="_blank"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Ruach</span></b></a></u></i> - "Breath," "Spirit," or "Wind" (see especially the relationship between the "east wind" and God's judgment in texts such as Gen. 41:6; Ex. 10:13; Jer. 18:17; Ps. 48:7; Hos. 13:15; <span style="background-color: #fcff01;">Isa. 27:8)</span></li><li><b><i><u><a href="https://biblehub.com/hebrew/3117.htm" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">Yom</span></a></u></i> </b>- "Day" or possibly "Storm" (on the intriguing possibility of a storm connection, see Niehaus, "<a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=nvUUjTrGrwwC&pg=PA156&lpg=PA156&dq=Akkadian+umu&source=bl&ots=o3OQMmNX2D&sig=ACfU3U3JOhkklceUdUgdg2REFwiU3NYOgQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjY6Iih6_j_AhUZlWoFHQpnAT4Q6AF6BAgoEAM#v=onepage&q=Akkadian%20umu&f=false" target="_blank">God at Sinai</a>," pages 156-157)</li></ol><p></p><p><br /></p><p><i>Qol, Ruach, Yom. </i>Thunder, Wind, Day (not exactly a walk in the park).</p><p><br /></p><p>These three terms signal the <i><u>DAY</u> </i>of the LORD's appearance or manifestation to mankind which is accompanied by strong <i><u>WIND</u> </i>and loud <u style="font-style: italic;">THUNDER</u>.</p><p><br /></p><p>In the New Testament, these three terms show up again all in one verse just like Gen. 3:8 (the Greek terms are the precise equivalents of the Hebrew words: <i>qol, ruach, </i>and <i>yom</i>). The last book of the Bible contains the greatest detail in regard to the final Day of the LORD:</p><p><br /></p><blockquote><p>I was in the <b><u>Spirit</u></b> [<a href="https://biblehub.com/greek/4151.htm" target="_blank">pneuma</a>] on the LORD’s <b><u>Day</u></b> [<a href="https://biblehub.com/greek/2250.htm" target="_blank">hemera</a>], and I heard a great <b><u>voice</u></b> [<a href="https://biblehub.com/greek/5456.htm" target="_blank">phone</a>] behind me, as of a trumpet...(Rev. 1:10, LSV).</p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p>As you can see, these three terms variously translated as "Spirit/Wind" + "Day" + "Voice/Sound/Thunder" are indicative of the sudden presence and manifestation of the LORD. Moreover, when the Father appears to Adam and Eve in Gen. 3:8, He's not whistling "Take Me Home, Country Roads" while taking a leisurely stroll through the garden. <i>He's storming through the foliage like an F5 tornado to confront His wayward and disobedient children!</i></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCgc81kNbratsoWNaTh0VO9Cydfz2AFA4ei1n1s16d_a-0M1Xj83NwW-QfZUv611JYoQmfZRUBhmX9cyEQZ2zJ2ZX4Q82gYP9Iw8pOCbcCnJ3-ii5XsbeiaxzgKUSnkTyRPRTyV6n7EX0-q-uDlEwvd2bogrDDfd4LytKloNwKGzw86kOJGqbKwy44Zg/s801/tornado.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="529" data-original-width="801" height="422" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCgc81kNbratsoWNaTh0VO9Cydfz2AFA4ei1n1s16d_a-0M1Xj83NwW-QfZUv611JYoQmfZRUBhmX9cyEQZ2zJ2ZX4Q82gYP9Iw8pOCbcCnJ3-ii5XsbeiaxzgKUSnkTyRPRTyV6n7EX0-q-uDlEwvd2bogrDDfd4LytKloNwKGzw86kOJGqbKwy44Zg/w640-h422/tornado.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>Turns out, it's not such a "cool" day after all. It's a <i>windy</i>, stormy Day. Hence, Adam and Eve's reaction in the second half of 3:8:</p><p><br /></p><blockquote><p>When God arrives in theophany in 3:8, Adam and Eve are immediately afraid. They know God is not coming on a pleasant afternoon stroll when the day has cooled down. They react with fear and seek to hide among the trees because God is after them! <b>This is a judgment visit, a legal inquisition, and they react accordingly</b>. The divine arrival and subsequent grilling by the Judge is theophanic, not a friendly meeting between Creator and creatures at a comfortable time of day. (Douglas K. Stuart, "The Cool of the Day," Bibliotheca Sacra 171, July-September 2014, 264-65).</p></blockquote><p><i><br /></i></p><p>So, if you really want to understand where the apostle John is coming from in 1 Jn. 2:28, then you need to appreciate what is really going on in the early chapters of Genesis. The <i>first</i> Day of the LORD is Genesis 3:8-24. At the time of the Fall, the Father first appears in judgment to the first man and woman, but in His mercy, He delays final judgment until the Seed of the Woman can come into the world to accomplish victory over the serpent for all who believe (Gen. 3:15; cf. 1 Jn. 3:5-6; 5:4-5).</p><p><br /></p><p>Therefore, Jesus alone is the reason and basis for John's confidence at the time of the final Day of the LORD. For believers, it <i style="text-decoration-line: underline;">will not</i> be<i> </i>the same story of Genesis 3:8-24 repeated. On the the contrary, the Church (the Body of Christ) will be spared from final judgment and hidden away safely in the Father's house (Isa. 26:20-21; Jn. 14:1-2; Rev. 3:10; 12:5). For unbelievers, it <i><u>will be</u></i> the same story of Genesis 3:8-24 repeated <i>and magnified! </i></p><p><br /></p><p>When the Father appears again and comes storming in to confront the world, fallen humanity will try to hide themselves once more:</p><p><br /></p><blockquote><p>And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich, and the chiefs of thousands, and the mighty, and every servant, and every freeman, <b>hid themselves</b> in the dens, and in the rocks of the mountains, and they say to the mountains and to the rocks, 'Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him who is sitting on the throne, and from the anger of the Lamb, because the great day of His anger has come, and who is able to stand? (Rev. 6:15-17, LSV).</p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p>**For anyone who would like to see two other witnesses proposing a translation change to the KJV's "cool of the day," please reference the articles below:</p><p><br /></p><p>"<a href="https://www.teii.org/biblical-theology-education/the-thunder-and-wind-of-yahwehs-judgment-the-meaning-of-genesis-38/" target="_blank">The Thunder and Wind of Yahweh's Judgment: The True Meaning of Genesis 3:8</a>" by John C. Rankin (2014)</p><p><br /></p><p>"<a href="https://alphachihonor.org/headquarters/files/Website%20Files/Aletheia/Volume%201%20Issue%202%20Fall%202016/Defense-of-Genesis-3-Verse-8-as-a-Storm-Theophany.pdf" target="_blank">A Defense of Genesis 3:8 as a Storm Theophany</a>" by Christopher Chandler (2016)</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>A Blameless Bride for the Last Adam</b></span></p><p><br /></p><p>If you were scheduled to teach the Pre-Trib Rapture of the Church at your home Bible study, local church, or even the next prophecy conference, where is the first place you would go? If you were asked to trace the typology of Christ joining His Bride in perfect union prior to the Day of judgment, where does the biblical pattern begin?</p><p><br /></p><p>When it comes to the first mention of the mystery of Christ and the Church in the Bible, you may want to confer with the apostle Paul before putting together those presentation notes:</p><p><br /></p><blockquote><p>So also husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. The one loving his wife loves himself. For no one at any time hated his flesh. But he nourishes and cherishes it just as Christ also does the church. For we are members of His body. 'Because of this, a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will be into one flesh.' <b>This mystery is great; but I speak as to Christ and as to the church</b>. (Eph. 5:28-32, Berean Literal Bible).</p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p>Don't overlook the significance of the particular Old Testament passage that Paul uses to justify and support the spiritual union between Christ and the Church. The apostle finds the spiritual root of his teaching at the <i>very</i> beginning of Scripture. <i><u>Before</u></i> the exile from Eden, <u><i>before</i></u> the Fall of Adam and Eve, and <i><u>before</u></i> the first Day of the LORD when the Father appears in judgment, a Bride is created from Adam's side and presented to Him <i>holy</i> and <i>blameless</i>.</p><p><br /></p><p>At the present time, the Church continues to be in an already-but-not-yet state of becoming one with Christ. However, we know that this spiritual union will soon be completed and consummated when the Bride is perfected and presented to Him, holy and blameless at the time of the Resurrection/Rapture (Eph. 1:4; 5:27; cf. 1 Thess. 4:16-17; Rev. 4:1; 12:5).</p><p><br />According to the Genesis template, the typology of the Resurrection & Glorification of the Bride begins in chapter 2 (last time I checked, this comes <i>before </i>chapter 3). God puts Adam to sleep, creates a blameless Bride, and then walks the Bride down the aisle and presents her to the man. One flesh. Perfect union. No shame, no guilt, no judgment (Gen. 2:21-25).</p><p><br /></p><p>And check this out: Jesus (the last Adam; 1 Cor. 15:45) also went to "sleep" (i.e. His sacrificial death), and out of that sleep, God was able to make a new creation (Isa. 43:19; Eph. 2:15). And just as Eve was presented to Adam, set apart (holy) and without sin (blameless), so also the Bride of Christ (the Church) will be presented to Jesus spotless and without the stain of sin! And all of this Genesis 2 typology is fulfilled <i><u>before</u></i> the first Day of the LORD in chapter 3. It's the big day <i><u>before</u></i> the BIG DAY (you dig?). This Pre-Trib pattern goes from new creation all the way to bridal presentation—all accomplished <i><u><b style="background-color: #fcff01;">BEFORE</b></u></i> the DAY of God's judgment!</p><p><br /></p><blockquote><p>Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the One having blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms, <b>just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world for us to be holy and blameless before Him</b>...Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water by the word, <b>so that He might present to Himself the church in glory, not having spot or wrinkle or any of the such things, but that it would be holy and blameless</b>. (Eph. 1:3-4; 5:25-27, Berean Literal Bible).</p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p>So, if you really want to bring the house down (up?), how about kicking off your next Pre-Trib presentation with <i>Genesis 2!</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p>**Your outline of the Genesis 2/3 Pre-Trib Rapture template can be something like this: </p><p><br /></p><p>(1) The creation and presentation of the Bride - Gen. 2:21-25</p><p><br /></p><p>(2) The Bride is presented <i>perfect</i> (holy and blameless) to Adam BEFORE the serpent's arrival and great deception - Gen. 3:1-7</p><p><br /></p><p>(3) The Bride is presented <i>perfect</i> (holy and blameless) to Adam BEFORE the first Day of the LORD commences (remember: it's not such a "cool" day after all) - Gen. 3:8-24</p><p><br /></p><p>Maranatha! The final Day of the LORD is approaching <i>quickly</i>. Keep loving and exhorting the Bride, cause I can almost hear those heavenly Church bells ringin'...</p><p><br /></p><blockquote><p>And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, <b><u><span style="font-size: large;">as ye see the day approaching</span></u></b>. (Heb. 10:24-25, KJV).</p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p> </p>Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05481514981109300522noreply@blogger.com33tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-923571518579487836.post-25384401241361953572023-07-04T16:54:00.010-05:002024-01-01T12:31:18.814-06:00Agenda 2030: The Covenant With Many?<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9eZcNzMwpb6QrYBfysD_Sa-QYw0RrwuBwOL7nf2HArTSiXoMkh7ukvC-7-HRyq_K043bSbr84gkI8vWW5a5dzrriO8ydZU2xWAbWLtRSKml2TZCjcBvGr__8eTmM7bDX4YD7zwqK08r3JkzPJMDSD16YgtKSVTXwxDj_n9hLU2YBIYmG4ZdyYsWYyiA/s1400/Agenda%202030.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="850" data-original-width="1400" height="388" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9eZcNzMwpb6QrYBfysD_Sa-QYw0RrwuBwOL7nf2HArTSiXoMkh7ukvC-7-HRyq_K043bSbr84gkI8vWW5a5dzrriO8ydZU2xWAbWLtRSKml2TZCjcBvGr__8eTmM7bDX4YD7zwqK08r3JkzPJMDSD16YgtKSVTXwxDj_n9hLU2YBIYmG4ZdyYsWYyiA/w640-h388/Agenda%202030.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><br /></p><p>The United Nations, in concord with key world leaders, is calling for <a href="https://www.un.org/en/desa/we-need-7-years-accelerated-transformative-action-achieve-sdgs" target="_blank"><b>"7 Years of Accelerated, Transformative Action"</b></a> per an article released on June 13th. If you can imagine, this has caught the attention of students of Bible prophecy. Integral to the biblical end-times scenario is a seven-year period of global judgment and devastation called the <i>Tribulation </i>or <i>Daniel's 70th Week</i>. This seven-year period is demarcated by a certain agreement ("covenant") that is strengthened for a duration of seven years. The seven-year period is bisected by the "Abomination of Desolation," a blasphemous event in which the Antichrist declares himself to be God in Jerusalem. This event is followed by three and a half years of <i>Great </i>Tribulation, which Jesus says will be the worst time in human history (Mt. 24:21). This period of catastrophic judgment will conclude with Jesus' physical return to earth (Rev. 19).</p><p><br /></p><p>The basis for the seven-year Tribulation is found in the first half of Daniel 9:27:</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p></p><blockquote>And <i>he </i><b>[the Antichrist described in v. 26]</b> has strengthened a covenant with many [for] one period of seven . . . (LSV)</blockquote><p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Given that the prophet Daniel describes the Abomination as occurring in the <i>middle</i> of the Tribulation period (Dan. 9:27b; 11:31; 12:11), and Jesus directly affirms the connection of the Abomination to the subsequent Great Tribulation (Mt. 24:15, 21), the seven years can be deduced from not only Jesus' teaching, but also the Book of Revelation (Rev. 11:2–3; 12:6, 13–17). In other words, Daniel 9 <i>explicitly </i>affirms the looming seven years, and Jesus affirms it through deduction in both the Olivet Discourse and the Book of Revelation. Furthermore, <a href="https://www.unsealed.org/2021/08/the-seven-year-tribulations.html"><b>numerous biblical patterns</b></a> point to the seven-year length of the Tribulation. You can be sure these future seven years are coming, and they're coming <u><b>soon</b></u>.</p><p><br /></p><p>Dissecting the excerpt from Daniel 9:27 above, we notice five key details:</p><p><br /></p><p><b>1. "He":</b> The antecedent of the pronoun "he" is none other than the "prince who is to come" whose people "destroy the city and the sanctuary" in verse 26. This is the Antichrist.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>2. "Strengthened":</b> The Antichrist doesn't necessarily create or establish a new agreement; rather, he strengthens <i>an existing agreement</i>. The grammar here is clear.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>3. "Covenant":</b> A covenant is an agreement, usually enacted with the shedding of blood (although not always).</p><p><br /></p><p><b>4. "Many":</b> The agreement that the Antichrist strengthens is "with many." This "many" is not explicitly defined in the text, although "many" has the sense of many people, nations, etc.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>5. "Seven":</b> The agreement is strengthened for a period of seven years.</p><p><br /></p><p>Now other seven-year agreements have surfaced from time to time, including the European Neighbourhood Partnership Instrument (ENPI) which involved Israel and initially ran from January 2007 to December 2013 (and was subsequently renewed). More recently, Pope Francis launched a seven-year plan in 2021 called <a href="https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/247777/pope-francis-launches-7-year-laudato-si-action-plan" target="_blank"><b>Laudato si'</b></a>. Yet these plans, both of which have been proposed by some as fulfilling Daniel 9:27, suffered from inadequacies in one form or another. The former was not for a single seven-year period, but has been renewed on an ongoing basis. The latter has various seven-year periods overlapping, based on when individual ecclesiastical communities initiated their Laudato si' programs. In both instances, the plans were not strengthening existing agreements, nor were they particularly notable.</p><p><br /></p><p><i>Now Agenda 2030 enters the ring</i>. It was initially signed during the 70th session of the United Nations on September 25, 2015, just three days before the "Super Blood Moon" which was the last of the blood moons in the 2014–15 tetrad; it occurred on the first day of Sukkot (Tabernacles). You can view and/or download the original agreement by clicking <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1N_jSZ9MzHE2whOWmRUb8DQdAR5u-8q3e/view?usp=sharing"><b>this link here</b></a>. Below is the Preamble.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN5LCbvJcIbfxt0LsZh0pJuX5vufBmOK5bvRFC8YJrl-btjnjUDiCl_hyfasroi3--HENr2dExH_XvpYfncpbTAKGA_45QKEKEYehzWU_kpXd5i7H4NY12-cjc3s0VxoFiyC9Q-5_Sj57zpP0AlHhRhWYqE2ulA1zYKVOl2HYNXQimPqn4m0ePPBz46g/s835/Agenda2030Preamble.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="835" data-original-width="661" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN5LCbvJcIbfxt0LsZh0pJuX5vufBmOK5bvRFC8YJrl-btjnjUDiCl_hyfasroi3--HENr2dExH_XvpYfncpbTAKGA_45QKEKEYehzWU_kpXd5i7H4NY12-cjc3s0VxoFiyC9Q-5_Sj57zpP0AlHhRhWYqE2ulA1zYKVOl2HYNXQimPqn4m0ePPBz46g/w506-h640/Agenda2030Preamble.jpg" width="506" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>First, notice that this agreement is not just from a particular region (like the ENPI) or sect (Laudato si'). It was enacted by the General Assembly of the United Nations, <i>representing all the countries of the world</i>. It isn't nuanced or particular—it's a dramatic plan of action for the <i>entire world</i>, touching virtually every aspect of human life. The goal is essentially a utopian future—"heaven on earth," if you will—where extreme poverty is completely eradicated, health care is available to all, gender equality is fully achieved, the environment is protected, economies are made "sustainable," and every man, woman, and child on the face of the earth is ID'd (see pg. 25). These, in addition to dozens of other dramatic, utopian goals are listed on pages 14–27 of the plan.</p><p><br /></p><p>Second, notice in the Preamble, under paragraph #2, how this agreement is a <i>promise </i>("will implement") of "all countries and all stakeholders." A promise is more than a plan. It is a binding contract—<i>a covenant</i>. This is the very definition of "a covenant with many."</p><p><br /></p><p>Third, this covenant contains the most dramatic verbiage possible: "Transforming our world," "strengthen universal peace," "eradicating poverty in all its forms," "greatest global challenge," "free the human race," "heal and secure our planet," "determined to take the bold and transformative steps . . . to shift the world," "this collective journey," "no one will be left behind," and "critical importance for humanity and the planet." It is billed as a sort of globalist Gettysburg Address or Magna Carta. It is easy to see this as a Babylonian "Final Solution" ushering in the new age and a new world order. Indeed, globalist leaders the world over are diligently working to accomplish the goals outlined in this binding covenant.</p><p><br /></p><p>And now, with scarcely a mention among mainstream sources, <b><u>the United Nations and key stakeholders are planning to accelerate and strengthen this covenant with many for a period of seven years starting this fall at the SDG Summit 2023</u></b> so that the goals, which are now falling behind, can be achieved by 2030. The summit will be held from September 18–19, shortly after Rosh Hashanah (September 15–17).</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghFoOXJYg9A3DMCmXKAxzhveyUkGJqZZzNsNaOmXcSyydAEd5RFp1KXZT-VT0RWIg36WrGm9teyoWDR0-r5VZyUts_1TzMBqQVRX-85H3rU_KYbpZ-EYAp4LpRWdvBEUfRKXlS7x_kuQsNPWl-ydmwAfHyX6tWrlQPpWtjBlty2liKY9A4Q85sEzn0vw/s1300/un7951473web.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="629" data-original-width="1300" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghFoOXJYg9A3DMCmXKAxzhveyUkGJqZZzNsNaOmXcSyydAEd5RFp1KXZT-VT0RWIg36WrGm9teyoWDR0-r5VZyUts_1TzMBqQVRX-85H3rU_KYbpZ-EYAp4LpRWdvBEUfRKXlS7x_kuQsNPWl-ydmwAfHyX6tWrlQPpWtjBlty2liKY9A4Q85sEzn0vw/w640-h310/un7951473web.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>As outlined <a href="https://www.unsealed.org/2022/08/monumental-change-could-be-coming.html"><b>in great detail last fall</b></a>, a seven-year Shmita cycle either began then or is about to begin <i>this </i>September. In other words, there is a biblically-mandated seven-year period running from 2022 to 2029 or 2023 to 2030. With 2022 behind us, 2023 suddenly looks much more likely. 2023 is also one of the <a href="https://www.unsealed.org/2022/12/the-final-four.html"><b>four likeliest years</b></a> for the rapture and onset of Daniel's 70th Week.</p><p><br /></p><p>If Agenda 2030 is the underlying covenant that gets strengthened for seven years, it is interesting to note some of the prophecy and Bible-related words contained within the word "Agenda":</p><p><br /></p><p><b>END</b></p><p><br /></p><p><b>AGE</b></p><p><br /></p><p>And then two tribes of Israel:</p><p><br /></p><p><b>DAN</b></p><p><br /></p><p><b>GAD</b></p><p><br /></p><p>These two tribes are listed together in Genesis 49:16–19 and Deuteronomy 33:20–22. Dan is of course the unmentioned tribe in Revelation 7.</p><p><br /></p><p>Dan is also the abbreviation for <i>Daniel</i>, from which we get the seven-year covenant. This is all predicated on the final generation. The abbreviation for generation is "gen," which is also contained in "agenda."</p><p><br /></p><p><b>"Agenda":</b></p><p><br /></p><p><b>Age </b>= <i>the age is complete</i></p><p><br /></p><p><b>Gen </b>= <i>the final generation is over</i></p><p><br /></p><p><b>Dan </b>= <i>Daniel's prophecy is here</i></p><p><br /></p><p><b>End </b>= <i>the end has come</i></p><p><br /></p><p>Could this "seven years of accelerated, transformative action" in fact be the fulfillment of Daniel 9:27? If you have eyes to see, then keep those eyes wide open.</p><p><br /></p>Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03907296435997404954noreply@blogger.com31tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-923571518579487836.post-13753510983850507902023-07-02T04:35:00.010-05:002024-03-02T01:02:08.750-06:00Disclosure<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCZcG7LMz1nL767McLJpJKv8bVReh1v1efMgLJhRhhH5QCHZDY5aDjg-1ZYQBUemfkgCLS82E8WF3_vzPVsCCpDPFr-5K-gRKHwLvgK8-JZt0vZUC8nKJXNfE8GRcN6ZS-Zxs4DQxWh8iem4o1Y78Y_hjyrEH_J6F5K2XogMfHiJQecRefBv7vhPvnww/s1100/ufo.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="825" data-original-width="1100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCZcG7LMz1nL767McLJpJKv8bVReh1v1efMgLJhRhhH5QCHZDY5aDjg-1ZYQBUemfkgCLS82E8WF3_vzPVsCCpDPFr-5K-gRKHwLvgK8-JZt0vZUC8nKJXNfE8GRcN6ZS-Zxs4DQxWh8iem4o1Y78Y_hjyrEH_J6F5K2XogMfHiJQecRefBv7vhPvnww/s600/ufo.jpg" width="600" /></a></div>
<br /><br />
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif"></span></p><p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">For a number of years, I have been the
type of person who pays attention to news items about UFOs. As such, it has not
escaped my notice that some type of UFO-related story typically appears in most
mainstream media outlets at least once every month or two. Nothing major—someone
reports seeing some kind of strange object in the sky, or a pilot reports
spotting some unusual aerial activity of some kind, stuff like that. Just
enough to keep images of those little green men (gray men?) percolating in the
back of people's minds.</span></p><span><a name='more'></a></span>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">This past month, however, a couple of
UFO-related news items came to my attention that took things to a new level.
And not to sprain my elbow patting myself on the back or anything, but these
are more or less the kind of stories I have been quietly anticipating for the
last several years.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">If you've read very many of my
articles, you may know that I am 100 percent convinced that the UFO/alien
narrative has been painstakingly crafted by Satan and his demonic workforce to
play an essential role in the end-time scenario. Some of the background for what
I want to discuss here is from an article I wrote back in October of 2018
entitled "</span><a href="https://www.alittlestrength.com/articles/2018/1810-delusion.htm"><span face=""",sans-serif">Delusion</span></a><span face=""",sans-serif">," and also one I wrote in
December of 2018 entitled "</span><a href="https://www.alittlestrength.com/articles/2018/1812-the-event.htm"><span face=""",sans-serif">The Event</span></a><span face=""",sans-serif">." So if you have never done so,
I want to encourage you to take a look at these two previous pieces when you
have a chance—although out of necessity I will rehash some of that material here
to allow this article to stand on its own two feet.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;">The narrative is born</span></b></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">First, never forget that Satan knows
Scripture. He knows that the key prophetic fulfillment that screams <b>"END
TIMES: DEAD AHEAD!"</b> is the nation of Israel being reborn in the Jews'
biblical homeland.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">Before this became a reality on May
15, 1948, however, Satan was all over the events that occurred following the
end of World War II. Satan was watching carefully in 1946 as the British made
it known to the fledgling United Nations that they wanted out of their Mandate
for Palestine. He was watching with keen interest as the UN sent the <span style="color: black;">United Nations Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP)</span>
to that region on June 16, 1947 to speak to both the Jews and the Arabs about
the plan to form two independent states: one for Israel, and one for the Arabs.
That is, basically the same two-state solution the Palestinians caterwaul about
to this day: It was offered to the Arabs on a silver platter in 1947 and they turned
their noses up at it and spit in the UN's face.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">But when the Arabs boycotted meetings
with UNSCOP in open hostility while the Jews warmly welcomed them,<span style="color: black;"> Satan laced up his Nikes.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">In June of 1947, it became clear to
anyone paying attention that <span style="color: black;">UNSCOP was quickly
warming up to the idea of going back to their bosses at the UN and turning in a
report that gave a big thumbs-up to the formation of an independent Jewish
state, which resulted in Resolution 181 that November.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">And now you know who <u>was</u>
paying attention.</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Although it wouldn't be
until May of the following year that Israel would officially declare themselves
an independent state, in June of 1947 Satan was 99 percent certain that it was
finally showtime. The minute Satan was 99 percent sure this bellwether prophecy
concerning Israel being reborn as a nation was finally going to be fulfilled, however,
the very first thing he did might strike a lot of people as a bit unusual:</span></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">He arranged for a man and his son</span></b></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">to find an odd-looking
pile of debris</span></b></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">on the other side of the
world.</span></b></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">In June 1947, about the
same time it was beginning to look like a green light for the formation of a
Jewish state, Satan caused some strange lights to appear in the skies over the
American Southwest. (Can he do that? Yes, the prince of the power of the air
can do that.) These lights had the locals a bit keyed up, and strange theories
began circulating. Then he arranged for a man and his young son who were
driving through the countryside near Roswell, New Mexico to stop and investigate
a peculiar pile of debris they noticed off in the distance. The debris consisted
mostly of wooden sticks, rubber, tape, paper, and some material that looked
like tinfoil.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">A couple of weeks later,
he called the local sheriff, who ended up calling the Roswell Army Air Field,
who ended up sending an officer out to investigate. The officer who came to
check out the debris—who, like everyone else in the area, was well aware of the
strange lights in the sky that had been seen recently—was quick to put two and
two together. But instead of four, he got 927. The debris was hastily gathered
up, one thing led to another, far-flung conclusions were jumped to, and a phone
call was made to the local newspaper.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">On July 8, 1947, the </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roswell_incident"><span face=""",sans-serif">headline</span></a><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;"> of the <i>Roswell Daily Record</i> read:</span></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">RAAF Captures Flying Saucer</span></b></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">On Ranch in Roswell Region</span></b></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">And that's a quote. But it <i><u>wasn't</u></i>
a "flying saucer." The next day the RAAF made <i>another</i> phone call
to the newspaper, insisting that the debris was that of a weather balloon—but
it was too late. The damage was done, and the genie was out of the bottle. It
was later revealed that in reality it was the product of a top-secret military
program that was tasked with developing a balloon that could be flown at extremely
high altitudes over the USSR to detect any telltale radiation that would be
emitted from the testing of nuclear weapons by the Soviets. That's why they
were forced to put out the cover story about a weather balloon in the first
place. Since only two years earlier the U.S. had emphatically ended World War II
by using such weapons against Japan, the Soviets were in a lather to follow
suit—and the Cold War was underway.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">Photos taken of the debris at the time
are clear: The debris consisted of bits and pieces of some type of kite or balloon.
But more importantly...</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">It <u>wasn't</u> an
advanced alien spacecraft piloted by an alien species with technology far
beyond anything we can imagine that traveled tens of <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>trillions of miles from another star system to
visit our little planet in our little corner of the Milky Way...before crashing
in a field in New Mexico.</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">But good luck trying to convince
anyone of that after the publishing of the above headline. In a flash, the
UFO/alien narrative was ignited, and it soon burst into flames with a little
help from Hollywood. And in no time at all, it was clear: This was one genie
that was never going back into that bottle.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">Virtually overnight both people in the
Roswell area and curiosity-seekers from elsewhere began generating buzz and concocting
every conceivable flavor of Kool-Aid to imbibe. "I saw these Army guys
carrying out a body on a stretcher!" says one. "I saw them carry out <i>three</i>
bodies!" says another. "I saw them load what looked like a large disk
into the back of a truck!" says another. "Have you seen those alien
autopsy photos?!" says yet another, <i>ad infinitum, ad insania.</i> I
think you get the idea.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;">Conspiracy theorists
extraordinaire:</span></i></b><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;"> Over the decades, the events at Roswell have been smothered
with one slathering of unfalsifiable, unverifiable gravy after another by <u>real</u>
conspiracy theorists: The photos taken of the debris were staged. The
government's analysis was clearly botched. Several alien bodies were found and
spirited away, never to be seen again. Wreckage of an alien spacecraft was
found...and spirited away, never to be seen again. And of course, the
government is lying and covering it all up. And there are people in the world
today who want to believe this so badly they could wet their britches. This is
why as soon as someone casually refers to Roswell with the unspoken assumption
that it was a real UFO event, I know I can safely ignore whatever they say from
that point on. Refill on the Kool-Aid? Comin' right up.</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">My point is that <i><u>this</u></i> is
the sequence of events Satan kicked off the moment he knew that Israel was
finally going to be re-established as a nation in fulfillment of prophecy: He launched
the UFO/alien narrative. From its humble beginnings in a fly-speck town in the
American Southwest, this grew into an elaborate, exotic tale of how advanced
species of extraterrestrials are routinely visiting Earth and interacting with
humans for various reasons. Not only that, but the government is obviously hiding
proof of such contact in the form of partially if not wholly intact spacecraft
and the bodies of aliens—some burnt to a crisp and some alive and kicking. In
other words, Satan gave us something he plans to put to good use: the greatest
conspiracy theory of all time.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">But the fact that Satan got this story
going as soon as he knew for certain Israel would become a nation again tells
us everything we need to know:</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">Satan plans to use his
UFO/alien narrative as an important tool in helping his man the Antichrist establish
his short-lived kingdom by explaining end-time events <u>his</u> way, not God's
way.</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">Over the years this tale has been
fleshed out in fantastical detail by people who sincerely believe they are
channeling some of those extraterrestrial beings until it has evolved into a full-blown
narrative that could provide a plausible explanation for the most bizarre event
imaginable:</span></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">The sudden disappearance of</span></b></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">several hundred million
people.</span></b></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">Details vary a bit from channeler to
channeler, but the basic scenario being laid out claims that Mother Earth (who
is a living being named Gaia, didn't ya know) must cleanse herself of dark,
negative energy and evolve to a four-dimensional reality (some say five, but I won't
quibble over the details because the whole thing is a load of nonsense). That
means that mankind must also evolve spiritually in order to enter into the
four-dimensional paradise that awaits after Gaia gets through this period of
changes (this corresponds to the judgments that God will unleash on the earth
during the Tribulation period).</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;">The Age of Aquarius:</span></i></b><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;"> Yes, a wonderful world <u>does</u>
await after the earth gets through this period of "changes," and it will
be far better than the so-called "Age of Aquarius" people have been
singing about for decades: It's called the Millennial Kingdom. But sadly people
who foolishly swallow Satan's lies about extraterrestrials and evolving
spiritually and attaining a four-dimensional spirituality or the
"Christ-consciousness" and all the associated man-centered schlock won't
be part of it. This is <u>Christ's</u> kingdom, and it will initially only be
inhabited by people who have come to faith in the work of atonement for sin that
Christ accomplished on a cross at Calvary.</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">According to New Age beliefs that have
been built around and incorporate the UFO/alien narrative, an occurrence is
looming on the horizon known simply as the Event, or the sudden evacuation of
several hundred million people. This will tell us the show is underway, and
Gaia is ready to begin a major phase of her self-cleansing process. Evolving to
a higher level of consciousness awaits those who are left behind, as those evacuees
were all those who were simply not prepared for this spiritual leap forward.
The narrative will be that these poor souls have been zapped over to a fleet of
spacecraft awaiting nearby to be lovingly, patiently retrained until they are prepared
to rejoin the rest of the world, which consists of people who <i><u>are</u></i>
ready to ascend spiritually.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;">Satan has it
backwards...as usual:</span></i></b><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;"> According to the UFO/alien narrative, if you are
"evacuated" it's because you aren't ready to evolve spiritually. According
to God's Word, if you are "evacuated," it's because you have been <u>regenerated</u>
spiritually and have been caught up to meet the Lord in the air.</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">Of course, people left behind after
the Event will be under pressure not to give in to the dark, negative energy
and intolerant, archaic superstitions that got the world in the fine mess it's
in to begin with, and anyone who foolishly turns to those same low-vibrational superstitions
(by believing the <i>gospel</i>) will be seen as someone who is seriously
hindering Gaia's ability to complete her transition to this wonderful new
four-dimensional reality. As a result, they must all be eliminated for the benefit
of Mother Earth and all of mankind.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">But in spite of torrents of disinformation,
lies, propaganda, warnings, threats, intimidation, persecution, crackdowns,
arrests, imprisonments, and executions, untold millions will do just exactly
that.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">They will see the
Antichrist as the deluded, satanic stooge that he is and his plans as the evil,
satanic designs that they are, and come to a saving faith in the One who will cast
him into the lake of fire at His return.</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">So, before we continue, let's
establish a couple of basic truths that result from what we have discussed up
to this point:</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(201, 246, 255); color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">1. There are no alien spacecraft.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif"> No one anywhere is hiding any kind of
alien spacecraft of any kind, neither partially nor wholly intact. There isn't
so much as a hubcap from any such alien spacecraft being hidden anywhere on
earth, including a highly classified United States Air Force facility within
the Nevada Test and Training Range colloquially known as "Area 51." Now,
can the demonic realm cause people to see strange things in the sky? You betcha.
But I don't care who claims to have seen what, where, and when...and the reason
is simple: Alien spacecraft are a lie from the father of lies.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(201, 246, 255); color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">2. There are no aliens.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif"> Similarly, there are no creatures of some advanced alien
species that are piloting these (nonexistent) spacecraft through the earth's
atmosphere and crashing in the desert on a surprisingly regular basis. No one
anywhere on earth has the body—burnt to a crisp or alive and kicking—of a
single creature of some advanced alien species. Or so much as a fingernail
thereof. It's precisely the same as it is for the nonexistent spacecraft they
supposedly pilot: Aliens are a lie from the father of lies.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">I don't care how many blockbuster movies
they make featuring contact with aliens. I don't care how many sequels of <i>Avatar</i>
they make. There are no aliens flying around out there who have been visiting Earth
in their advanced spacecraft. <i>None.</i> And that leads to the following
inevitable conclusion:</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(201, 246, 255); color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">3. There is nothing to disclose.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif"> Many people today, including some
high-ranking government officials, are buzzing about "alien
disclosure." Well, not to be a party-pooper or anything, but the fact of
the matter is clear. As far as so-called "alien disclosure" is
concerned...</span></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">No one really has anything to disclose.</span></b></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">No alien spacecraft. No
aliens. Nothing.</span></b></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">What, some grainy videos or
photographs taken by military pilots? Please. Now, if you wish to believe they
really <i><u>do</u>,</i> fine—go right ahead. But it is clear to me that Roswell
is one of Satan's greatest scams, and the joke is on people who desperately
wish to believe the fantasy that we are about to be visited by an advanced
alien race from another star system who has come to save us from ourselves and
lift us up by the spiritual bootstraps and lead us into a four-dimensional
paradise. Or maybe just show us a bunch of cool technology.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">Now, having said all that, I am
convinced that Satan's deception didn't stop in the summer of 1947. Oh no. I believe
this demonic charade was just getting in gear, and ever since then Satan has
been at work, deceiving people through various means to convince them a
spacecraft really <i>did</i> crash at Roswell, that alien bodies (dead <i>and</i>
alive) really <i>were</i> retrieved, and so on. That way, when people like me
argue that there are no real spacecraft and no real aliens, we can be casually dismissed
as clueless, uninformed skeptics. So be it.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">Incidentally, one extremely popular counter-argument
you hear from some very intelligent, very sincere people goes like this:</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">"But don't you
see?! The universe is so unimaginably vast...how on earth can anyone be so
small-minded as to believe we are the only intelligent species of life in it?!
This mathematical formula we have derived proves there must be <i>millions</i>
of planets capable of supporting life out there, and so it just makes common
sense that there are other forms of life in the universe, certainly including some
that are highly intelligent and capable of developing technology far beyond our
own. There simply <i><u>has</u></i> to be. So do us all a favor and take your
little Bible and go back to your cave."</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">OK, here's the deal. Are there other
forms of life out there? <b>YES!!!</b> Is there ever! And I can prove it from
Scripture. In the <i>spiritual dimension,</i> that is. In other words, in
dimensions we don't currently have access to. There are billions and trillions
of angelic and demonic beings out there, heaven only knows how many. And the
Bible also refers to <span style="color: black;">"principalities and powers
in heavenly places" (Eph. 3:10)...and so you've got <i>those</i> guys—who or
whatever <u>they</u> are.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">But are there physical beings flying
around in physical spacecraft from other planets in the same three-dimensional
space-time continuum we inhabit? That's a toughie, but at this point it doesn't
really matter whether there are or not—and you'll see why I say that in a
moment.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">Personally, I am inclined to think
there are not—but that's my opinion. Now, some religious folks might reason
that if there <i><u>are</u></i> such physical beings in the universe, they were
created by the same holy, just, loving God who created us along with the
unimaginably vast physical universe we all live in. The next question would be
whether or not God breathed a spirit into them and gave them free will...and if
so, did they disobey God and fall into sin like we did? If so, they would need
Christ's work of atonement to pay the penalty for their sin just as we do. They
would need to hear the gospel to believe in faith to be forgiven and reconciled
to their holy Creator just like us. How will they receive that message? Who
will go to them to preach it? And if they come <i><u>here</u>,</i> surely they
could get saved, right?</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">There's a problem with this line of
thinking, however, that doesn't occur to most people. The Bible makes it
crystal clear that God only has <i><u>one</u></i> Son (Jesus), who was sent to
only <i><u>one</u></i> place (our world, on planet Earth, in the Milky Way Galaxy),
and He was born into this world to redeem <i><u>one</u></i> species: <i>Homo
sapiens,</i> whose sin had separated them spiritually from God. This means He
had to be born on <i><u>this</u></i> planet in the physical body of <i><u>our</u></i>
species in order to take the judgment for the sin of <i>Homo sapiens</i> on the
cross, and He only did it <i><u>one</u></i> time for all time (two thousand
years ago).</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">In other words, when the
pope says he would be willing to baptize an alien, he is making an utter
mockery of God's Word (and considering his profound ignorance of it, probably
unwittingly).</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">So, as you can see, if there <i><u>are</u></i>
other forms of intelligent life in our physical universe, the religious aspects
get murky. That is, if we stick to a biblical worldview. That explains why the
world is so willing and eager to believe there <i><u>are</u></i> aliens out
there—most people think the Bible is just a bunch of myths. Sadly, so do a lot
of professing Christians who name the name of Christ.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">But the Bible is <i><u>not</u></i> a
bunch of myths—it is the prophetically self-confirming Word of the Creator. That
is, reams of historically verifiable fulfilled prophecy confirm it as being
precisely what it claims to be: the inerrant Word of God. And if you are
reading this, I assume you understand what I am talking about.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;">Black and white:</span></i></b><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;"> (*sigh*) There are
those who argue that the Bible itself describes UFOs and aliens, such as in Ezekiel's
"wheel within a wheel" vision in Ezekiel 10, and so forth. Such
people tend to have the attitude that they are doing us Bible-believing dolts a
favor by sagaciously interpreting such passages of Scripture in accordance with
reality, and then almost seem to expect believers to say "Gosh, Mr. UFO Guy,
thanks for clearing <u>that</u> up for us!"</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">The problem is that the
Word of God doesn't work that way. Ezekiel wasn't talking about UFOs and aliens—he
was describing the actions of cherubim in a vision given to him by God that
showed the prophet that God's glory was departing Solomon's Temple prior to its
impending destruction by the Babylonians, who would take the Jews into
captivity for 70 years as a judgment from God. But how do I <i>know</i> that's
what it was?</span></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: black; color: white;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>GOD'S. WORD. SAYS. SO. </span></b></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">You see, here's the
thing—and if it sticks in your craw, even better: You either have a <u>biblical</u>
worldview, or you have a <u>nonbiblical</u> worldview. Period. It's black and
white—there is no gray. <i>There is no in-between.</i> In-between is
nonbiblical. Why? Because God doesn't do in-between. Why? Because He's God and
His Word is truth. My point is that things go completely off the rails when we
insist on sticking our own stupid, half-baked ideas into His Word.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">If you want in-between,
Satan's your go-to guy.</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">Now, as for the argument that there <i><u>must</u></i>
be other forms of intelligent life out there simply because the universe is so
unimaginably vast, let me stir your pure mind to remembrance that we worship an
unimaginably vast God, and according to His Word the unimaginably vast physical
universe He created for us simply puts His unimaginably vast glory on full, glorious
display:</span></p>
<p style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">1</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows
his handiwork.<br><br>
(Psalm 19:1 AKJV)</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">So with all that said, good luck
trying to extend and apply this to other species of extraterrestrials somewhere
else out there in this unimaginably vast universe we inhabit, no matter how
similar their DNA is to ours (more on this later). Oh, or maybe they are
creatures into whom God never breathed a spirit and to whom He never gave free
will and so never sinned...any takers on that one? But seriously...the reason I
said that at this point it really doesn't matter if there <i>are</i>
intelligent beings out there somewhere in the unimaginably vast universe we
live in is because it's irrelevant to the current discussion. And I say that
because our own UFO/alien narrative and the accompanying flurry of speculation
about "alien disclosure" is pretty much all based on the events at
Roswell in 1947, and I <i><u>can</u></i> say one thing for absolute certain:</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">The current UFO/alien
narrative that has overtaken our world in the last 70-odd years that has its
beginnings in a pile of debris found in the desert near Roswell, New Mexico in
the summer of 1947 is a lie from the father of lies, as are all the fanciful
extraterrestrial imaginings that are based on it and that have grown up around
it. What happened at Roswell was a well-orchestrated satanic hoax that was launched
as soon as Satan realized Israel would be reborn as a nation in fulfillment of
prophecy, and he intends to use this elaborate narrative to deceive the world
into worshiping <i>him</i> in place of God, and <i>his</i> son the Antichrist
in place of God's Son the Christ during the Tribulation (as well as neatly explain
away the Rapture). As a result, what is tantalizingly referred to as
"alien disclosure" is also a lie from the father of lies, because in
spite of the fact that no government on the planet has anything real or substantive
to disclose, the world is being groomed to buy into these lies hook, line, and
sinker in order to ultimately fall for the Antichrist's futile, wannabe effort
to establish <i>his</i> kingdom on earth in place of Christ's kingdom.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Say it with me:</span></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Ain't gonna happen.</span></b></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">I apologize for taking such a winding
path to get there, but this brings us back to square one, and that's a couple
of news items I ran across recently that motivated me to write this article in
the first place.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;">A word from the DoD</span></b></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">David Grusch (rhymes with "crush")
worked in the U.S. Department of Defense for 14 years, and as a member of the <span style="color: #292929;">All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), he co-led
the analysis of unexplained anomalous phenomena (UAP, basically a slick new term
for UFOs) with the UAP Task Force.</span></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #292929;">According to every available
source, Grusch has impeccable credentials and a reputation beyond reproach, and
could easily pass as a Boy Scout leader (and with a bit more hair, an actual
Boy Scout). In a 2022 performance review, he was </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jun/06/whistleblower-ufo-alien-tech-spacecraft"><span face=""",sans-serif">described</span></a><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #292929;"> as "an officer
with the strongest possible moral compass."</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #292929;">Grusch has stated that
his UAP Task Force was denied access to a crash retrieval program, and he is
claiming that information about retrieved vehicles (<i>alien</i> vehicles, that
is) is being illegally withheld from Congress.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #292929;">Grusch says that when he
pressed to gain direct access to (or be "read into") the crash
retrieval program, a program he insists he had every administrative right to
have access to and which he claims has retrieved at least a dozen alien spacecraft
over the years ("non-human" seems to be the preferred term), the door
was effectively slammed in his face. He says he endured reprisals and
retaliation from higher-ups within the Defense Department, and this motivated
him to do what any good Boy Scout leader would do:</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">Blow the whistle.</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #202122; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">As a result, Grusch finally decided to file a whistleblower complaint, and
after leaving the Department of Defense in April of this year he decided to </span><a href="https://www.newsnationnow.com/space/ufo/we-are-not-alone-the-ufo-whistleblower-speaks/"><span face=""",sans-serif">go p</span></a><a href="https://www.newsnationnow.com/space/ufo/we-are-not-alone-the-ufo-whistleblower-speaks/"><span face=""",sans-serif">ublic</span></a><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #202122; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> out of what he describes as a "sense of duty."</span></p>
<div style="border: 1pt none black; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in;">
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Grusch has basically been
the first high-level intelligence official to come forward and "spill the
beans," so to speak, on what the government supposedly has and knows about
extraterrestrials and their activities. He claims the U.S. is in possession of
a number of alien spacecraft (at least a dozen), and is urging the U.S. government
to come clean about it with the American public.</span></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">There are a couple of
things about both Grusch and his story, however, that strike me as noteworthy.</span></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">1.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"> First of all, Grusch himself. If you searched the ranks
of the U.S. government (or the entire <i>country</i> for that matter),
I promise you that you would be hard-pressed to find anyone who comes across as
a more honest, trustworthy, believable person of impeccable integrity. The
reason I mention this is because it plays into the fact that he is being
heralded by the mainstream media as a "whistleblower." OK, pop quiz:</span></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Q.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"> What comes to mind when you hear the word
"whistleblower"?</span></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">A.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"> Someone who has the moral courage to proclaim the
truth and call out the questionable conduct of those above them, even at great personal
risk.</span></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">In spite of the shady
but laughable antics of Adam "Shifty" Schiff during the Trump
administration several years ago, the term "whistleblower" still
carries a good deal of weight for most people. The term influences people to
trust and believe that person, and it didn't escape my notice that the term has
been effectively bestowed on Grusch <i>by the mainstream media itself.</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Now, call me a cratchety
old skeptic, but considering what the mainstream media in America has
degenerated into over the last few years, that suggests something to me loud
and clear:</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">It suggests that
David Grusch and his</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">story are part of a sanctioned
narrative.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Which is what the mainstream
media peddles these days in place of news. In other words, this story about a squeaky-clean,
highly respected, high-ranking member of the intelligence community going
public with what comes across as an honest, downright believable story about
how the U.S. has a number of alien...er, "non-human" spacecraft hidden
away and how the government possesses and is withholding undeniable proof that aliens
are real and have been visiting us for years is part of a larger agenda being
carried out by the globalist power brokers who are calling the shots behind the
scenes.</span></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">2.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"> In spite of Grusch's homespun sincerity and clean-cut
believability, one thing that his story lacks (unsurprisingly) is <i>specifics.</i> No photos. No videos. Not so much in the way of specific,
verifiable details. A lot of "He saids" and "They haves"
and "I heards," but not a whole lot more than that. In other words, a
lot of huff-n-puffery that may sound highly believable coming from a straight
arrow like Grusch, but still. In that sense, Grusch's story comes across much like
the same species of unfalsifiable, unverifiable fluff that the UFO/alien community
at large is legendary for.</span></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Color me surprised. What's different <i>this</i> time around, however, is who Grusch is: a highly respected, high-ranking member of the intelligence community—an insider in every sense of the word. Not an addlebrained New Ager with a blog. This is of
critical importance for one simple reason:</span></p>
</div>
<div style="border: 1pt none black; margin-left: 0.2in; margin-right: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in;">
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">It represents a tectonic shift in the dynamics of the UFO/alien narrative.</span></i></p>
</div>
<div style="border: 1pt none black; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in;">
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">This has actually
been happening slowly and gaining traction for several years, but in a very
real sense this is a breakout moment. The UFO/alien narrative—the fact that
aliens are real and are really visiting us—is officially beginning to go mainstream
like it never has before. In other words:</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">UFOs and aliens are
rapidly becoming</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">less about conspiracy theories
and</span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">more about government
transparency.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">You know, the <i>government.</i> The same thugs who pulled out all the stops in
their ungrounded (and unsuccessful) efforts to destroy a sitting president
because he wasn't part of their agenda. The same racketeers who conspired to
steal a presidential election in 2020 and got away with it scot-free. The same power-hungry monsters who pushed dangerous, ineffective vaccines on millions for what amounted to little more than the flu (after you strip away all the phony, inflated statistics). The same lowlife scuzzballs who are pushing pornographic filth and gender-bending perversion down the throats of your innocent children in the name of being "tolerant" and "inclusive" and to pay homage to the gods of the LGBT movement.</span></p>
</div>
<div style="border: 1pt none black; margin-left: 0.2in; margin-right: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in;">
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">And now that same government has apparently decided to
accelerate the process of making people believe aliens are real and are
visiting us in order to ultimately push an even more sinister agenda.</span></i></p>
</div>
<div style="border: 1pt none black; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in;">
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">One whistleblower at
a time.</span></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">...and
a word from the CIA</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">As I read up on the
Grusch story, however, I came across another news item that had some
interesting things to say in regard to UFOs and aliens and the disclosure
thereof that definitely got my attention.</span></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">John Ramirez was an operative for the CIA for 25 years, and the now retired Ramirez sat down late last year for an </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-style: normal;"> </span><a href="https://curiosmos.com/ex-cia-agent-says-major-ufo-revelation-will-take-place-in-2027/"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="font-style: normal;">interview</span></a><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-style: normal;"> wit</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">h Martin Willis. I ran across this video while checking out the story about David Grusch, and I listened to it out of sheer curiosity.</span></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">According to Ramirez,
when videos of UAP taken by Navy pilots in 2015 were disclosed (leaked?) in
2017, a 10-year clock began ticking. He says government officials have been
made aware of an event set to occur in 2027 that he describes as "quite
significant," and the word is getting out about it among those in certain
government circles.</span></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">The point of what
Ramirez has to say is that the government has knowledge of the fact that
extraterrestrials are planning a major event in 2027—an event that will amount
to "self-disclosure," in a manner of speaking. Although hinting at
the possibility of a mass landing, Ramirez is rather vague on what form this
Revealing will take, basically leaving it open to speculation (and I will refer
to it as the "Revealing" for the remainder of this article for the
sake of clarity). But the message is unmistakable: The aliens are making it
clear to us that they are perfectly capable of disclosing themselves at a time and
a place and in a manner of their choosing.</span></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">But whatever form the
Revealing ultimately takes, the government's primary responsibility is to get
people <u><i>prepared</i></u> for it so that the world isn't plunged into chaos
and mass panic at the Revealing. What must be done in the meantime (over the
next four years, that is) is to prepare the world for the Revealing by gradually
getting the world's population acclimated to the idea that aliens are real, they
mean us no harm, and they only wish to help us through the coming time of earth changes. So, the government's <i>real</i> task until then is to sell the public on the idea that we really <i>aren't</i> alone. And yes, that may ultimately involve the government's "disclosure" of a handful of grainy videos and maybe even a truckful of phony junk that will be enough to lead the public by the nose down the desired path.</span></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">This all sounds
pretty wild, of course, but with all due respect it's not coming from some
whacked-out member of a doomsday cult. This is coming from a man who was a trusted,
well-respected CIA operative for 25 years—and according to Ramirez, he's not
the only one who is saying these things.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;">Show me your driver's license:</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;"> One thing Ramirez shares that cracked me
up is what he learned from certain other individuals while in the CIA about how
UFOs are piloted. According to what he was told, UFOs have no visible means of
propulsion—they are apparently powered by some type of self-generated waves of
energy from the minds of the aliens themselves. In other words, the aliens
pilot their craft through the power of their minds. Well, isn't <u>that</u>
special. Seriously. So, we're supposed to believe that these advanced aliens
are coming to Earth from star systems many light-years away and are zipping
around in their super-duper advanced spacecraft through some exotic
mind-controlled propulsion system that is beyond human comprehension, yet for
some strange reason they keep <u>crashing</u>. Huh...go figure. So what are
they doing, "willing" themselves to plow into the desert in remote
areas like Roswell?! (And for some strange reason not, say, the White House lawn)
And to hear David Grusch tell it, at least a dozen times! Really?! I mean, c'mon...forget
women drivers. We should be making jokes about <u>alien</u> drivers!</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Together, these two
news items tell me two fundamental things:</span></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">1.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"> We can expect to see the UFO/alien narrative steadily
pushed into the mainstream media spotlight to a greater extent than ever
before, and see it increasingly decoupled from its tinfoil-hat background and
taken more seriously by serious people, which in turn will encourage millions
of average people to begin to take it more seriously.</span></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">2.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"> There are people expecting to see a major
extraterrestrial event in 2027 that will amount to a form of self-disclosure on
the part of the aliens. Plus, they are saying that the government needs to help
prepare the public for such disclosure before the time comes for the Revealing.</span></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">OK, so what do we do
with this?</span></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Thoughts</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">There is so much I
could say about these things that it's almost giving me vertigo—it's a
challenge to find a way to summarize my thoughts clearly in a few pages...but
with the Lord's help I'll do my best.</span></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">In regard to point <b>1.</b>,
or that the UFO/alien narrative will see a bigger push into the mainstream media
and into serious conversations, here are a couple of thoughts I want to share
with you.</span></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">First of all, I believe
that some of the disinformation about aliens that will be disseminated in the
coming few years will be for the purpose of making the idea of Earth visited by
an alien race sound more fascinating than frightening—more intoxicating than
intimidating. For example, insiders have claimed that the government is in
possession of alien DNA samples, and reportedly the word is out that this alien
DNA is extremely similar to human DNA.</span></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Well, <i>of course</i> it is. Later, this will lend support to the idea
that we humans were seeded here by an extraterrestrial race long ago, and so
these benevolent aliens are really in effect our long-lost "Space Brothers"
(and hence nowhere near as scary as the skinny, gray, bug-eyed creatures we see
in sci-fi flicks). Obviously no one can be sure how the details of this tale might
play out, but in my opinion that appears to be the drift of what's coming. And it
seems clear to me that getting the population to buy into this idea would
certainly help ease the fear and dread of disclosure to at least some degree (whether
or not we ever actually get to <u><i>meet</i></u> our Space Brothers—more on this later).</span></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">This also helps
explain the increased number of wild-eyed anecdotes coming from ordinary people,
such as the </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-style: normal;"> </span><a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/06/08/aliens-las-vegas-back-yard-police-investigation/70304429007/"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="font-style: normal;">recent one</span></a><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-style: normal;"> about people seeing eight-foot-tall monsters they
took to be alien creatures. Please understand: That's long been an integral part
of the drill. Systematically create fear through one set of lies, and later systematically assuage that fear through another <i>desired</i> set of lies. It's classic—and it has taken many forms over the years.</span></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Another thought that
occurs to me in regard to the effort to gradually get the world warmed up to
the idea that aliens are real and are going to reveal themselves to us at some
point is the fact that as this heats up, it will begin to take on increasingly
religious overtones. Probably not so much until after the Church is removed at
the Rapture, but I believe the whole UFO/alien narrative will ultimately take
on a noticeably more religious character than anything we've seen up to now. The
reason is simple, and this is something important that you need to keep in
mind:</span></p>
</div>
<div style="border: 1pt none black; margin-left: 0.2in; margin-right: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in;">
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">The entire point of the UFO/alien narrative from day one has
been to ultimately sell the world on the idea that the Antichrist is the divine
son of God. The world's savior. The promised Messiah—which certainly wasn't Jesus,
who was actually just an Ascended Master from the Pleiades sent to enlighten us
(as was Muhammed, presumably).</span></i></p>
</div>
<div style="border: 1pt none black; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in;">
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Or a Grand Poobah
from the Googly-Poogly Galaxy...whatever. That has been its intended purpose ever
since the day a man and his son stopped to investigate a pile of debris in the
desert near Roswell, New Mexico in June of 1947.</span></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">One problem is that
with the Church still on earth, attempting to couch the UFO/alien narrative in more
religious terms would cause a strong backlash from millions of born-again
believers (at least you'd like to think so), and do little more than call
unwanted attention to how biblically absurd it is. I'm sure Satan would like to
avoid that to the greatest extent possible. So, I wouldn't expect this to be a significant
issue until after the world gets past the Rapture and heads into the
Tribulation. With the Church raptured and Satan unrestrained, it's going to be deception
à go-go.</span></p>
</div>
<div style="border: 1pt none black; margin-left: 0.2in; margin-right: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in;">
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">And the lie that the Antichrist is divine and so should be
worshiped as God will be deception numero uno. Remember: "<u>Anti</u>christ"
doesn't just mean "<u>against</u> Christ"—it also means "<u>in
place of</u> Christ."</span></i></p>
</div>
<p style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">4</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">He opposes and exalts himself against all that is
called God or that is worshiped, <b>so that he sits as God in the temple of
God, setting himself up as God</b>.<br><br>
(2 Thessalonians 2:4 / emphasis added)</span></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="background: white; border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; mso-shading: transparent; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">The fact that the UFO/alien narrative will
ultimately be cast in overtly religious terms also makes perfect sense for
another reason. Satan knows that we are born with an innate awareness of a
Creator (Rom. 1:20), and Satan won't hesitate to use this old standby to his
advantage during the Tribulation more than he has at any time in history. And I
say that because he already <i>has</i> used this old </span><a href="https://www.alittlestrength.com/articles/2016/1611-red-herrings.htm"><span face=""",sans-serif">standby</span></a><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"> for millennia by creating literally thousands of
different religions and bodies of religious beliefs and denominations, in most
cases along with their associated false gods. Pop quiz:</span></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="background: white; border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; mso-shading: transparent; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Q.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"> What's the best
way to hide a truth you can't get rid of?</span></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="background: white; border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; mso-shading: transparent; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">A.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"> Bury it in a huge pile
of similar-sounding lies so people assume that the truth is just one more of
those lies. Works like a charm.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;">There is no Dog:</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;"> Romans 1:20 is clear. No
matter how stridently atheists whine and wail about how there is no God, that
awareness still lies buried in their DNA. They have simply squelched it by
making an emotional decision to reject the God of the Bible that Christians
preach about, which inspired my pet characterization of atheists: fleas
squealing "There is no Dog!"</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="background: white; border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; mso-shading: transparent; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">But as this compelling idea sweeps the world that a
charismatic world leader has the demonstrable backing of an extraterrestrial race
and is revealed as the world's savior and God dwelling in a body of flesh (as was Jesus, the <i>real</i> Savior) through a phony "resurrection" and
so warrants being worshiped as God, I believe atheists, along with most others,
will lap it up and ask for seconds. Why? Because of that awareness that lies buried
in our DNA to believe in a Creator. You can hide and watch: Atheism will become
the least hip thing imaginable faster than you can say "You have no evidence!"
I suppose I'm being a bit soft on atheists, however, because after all...</span></p>
<div style="border: 1pt none black; margin-left: 0.2in; margin-right: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in;">
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">During the Antichrist's kingdom in the Great Tribulation,
atheism won't merely be uncool—it will be a capital crime.</span></i></p>
</div>
<div style="border: 1pt none black; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in;">
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">I saved point <b>2.</b>
for last, since the fact that John Ramirez and others are claiming this
Revealing will occur in 2027 is enough to make me and every watchman I know
break out our thinking caps and the midnight oil.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;">Doin' our best:</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;"> I have already begun to see a few others put out articles about UFOs and aliens due to recent events, and I already know that some of what I discuss in this article will be at variance with some of what others may say. That's perfectly fine, however, and to be expected. Remember: We're <u>all</u> treading on some highly speculative ground here. We're just trying to mesh some of the things we are hearing and reading about with what God has revealed to us in His Word to the best of our abilities. As time goes on, the Lord will give us more insight into these things. And I guarantee you that none of us is foolish or prideful enough to claim he has all the answers. Trust me, we don't. At least <u>this</u> watchman doesn't.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-style: normal;">Unlike some folks I have seen, however, I am
going to refrain from attempting to give you a blow-by-blow account of the
entire Tribulation in terms of the ways in which Satan will employ his phony UFO/alien
narrative. There are just too many things to try and explain at this point—it's
a bit overwhelming, and quickly turns into a speculative extravaganza.</span></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-style: normal;">I don't feel the need to do that...at least not in <i>this</i> article. (Of course, I can't rule out the possibility that I might revisit some of these issues in a future article.) What I <u><i>am</i></u> going to try to do, however, is just go over what I believe are a few key parameters or elements of this situation that I believe will help us understand how Satan will carry out certain aspects of his kingdom during the Tribulation, and that will hopefully help explain a few things that will occur or be true during that time.</span></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-style: normal;">First of all, let's get this one out of the way:</span></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 136); color: black; font-style: normal;">1. Satan does <i>not</i> know the year of the Rapture.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-style: normal;">Profound, I know. Now, I'm sure he doesn't know the <i>exact date,</i> but I wavered a bit on him knowing the <i>year.</i> In the end, I went with the default scriptural view that he doesn't. I'm just saying that this is a legitimate point to at least consider because all of a sudden Satan is apparently tossing out a specific year for the Revealing of his phony aliens: 2027. But if he <i>doesn't</i> know the year of the Rapture (which is what kicks his program into gear), why on earth would he be leaking info about a specific year? Just what is Old Scratch up to?</span></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-style: normal;">Honestly, I agonized over this one to no end,
considering many different angles and scenarios. For example, maybe Satan is convinced
the Rapture will occur in 2023 or 2024, the Tribulation will begin soon
afterwards, and the christening of his son the Antichrist will occur in 2027 at
the abomination of desolation, accompanied by the landing of a fleet of what I
will refer to as good-guy aliens to back him up. Hmmm...but <u>that</u> makes
it sound like he knows for certain the Rapture will happen in 2023–2024. <i>Aarrgghh!!</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;">Hold that thought:</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;"> In 2015 the UN announced Agenda 2030, which is a 15-year plan to save the world with a list of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Well, we're at the midway point of that agenda, and now the UN is sounding the alarm. They have just announced that this September the SDG Summit must "signal a genuine turning point," and that seven years of "accelerated, transformative action" are required to reach those goals. In other words, it's time to shift this global agenda into overdrive like there's no tomorrow, because according to the UN if we don't, there won't be:</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="background: rgb(230, 230, 249); border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #000077; font-style: normal;">There is a narrowing window of opportunity over the next seven years to redouble our efforts to eliminate poverty and hunger, advance gender equality and overcome the triple planetary crisis. Failure to heed this call will fuel greater political instability and displacement, further erode trust in public institutions, upend economies, and lead to irreversible existential changes to our natural environment. Above all, it will cause immense suffering for current and future generations—especially among the world's poorest and most vulnerable people and countries.<br><br>
The SDG Summit, in September 2023, must signal a genuine turning point. It must mobilize the political commitment and breakthroughs our world desperately needs. It must deliver a rescue plan for
people and planet.<br><br>
— UN <span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #000077; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Department of
Economic and Social Affairs [</span><span style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="https://www.un.org/en/desa/we-need-7-years-accelerated-transformative-action-achieve-sdgs">Source</a></span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #000077; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">]</span></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;">Not to play Joe Datesetter, but it's hard to miss the fact that this
fits well with the 2023–2024 Rapture scenario I described above. Maybe a little too well.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-style: normal;">See <a href="https://www.alittlestrength.com/articles/2023/2306-disclosure.htm#note">this</a> for a note regarding the UN's September 2023 SDG Summit.<br><br>— Greg (8/11/23)</span></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-style: normal;">Anyway, I'm sure Satan has no intention of
placing himself in a position where he looks wrong or disorganized—he has too
much at stake for that. That means he's got to leave himself some wiggle room in
terms of timing.</span></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-style: normal;">Speaking of wiggle room, another thing finally
dawned on me:</span></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 136); color: black; font-style: normal;">2. Satan can speculate as
well as we can.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-style: normal;">I finally came to the conclusion that Satan is
just doing a little of what many of us do all the time: engaging in some reasonable,
guarded speculation about the possible timing of the Rapture. No? Well, then let
me ask you a question:</span></p>
</div>
<div style="border: 1pt none black; margin-left: 0.2in; margin-right: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in;">
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">Do you think the Rapture will occur no later than 2027?</span></i></p>
</div>
<div style="border: 1pt none black; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in;">
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-style: normal;">I know I sure do, as does every watchman I know.
The signs are converging on the next couple of years, and frankly I scarcely
see how it could be any later than that. Yes, we really <u><i>are</i></u> that close. In other words, 2027 would make a very reasonable no-later-than year for
the Rapture, and that's the point.</span></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-style: normal;">Satan's speculation tells me that he's 99 percent sure the Rapture will occur <i>no later than 2027.</i> This is the Event, and when it occurs Satan
will immediately break out his UFO/alien-based explanation to kick things into
gear. He will push his narrative on a stunned and terrified world that a fleet
of good-guy aliens has arrived in our vicinity to help us through the period of
changes Mother Earth is about to go through, and the first thing they did was
evacuate several hundred million people to a fleet of nearby spacecraft where
they will be patiently retrained until they are prepared to rejoin the rest of
the world to enter into the paradise that awaits after Mother Earth gets
through that period of changes. As I said, since those low-vibrational evacuees
were entrenched in archaic superstitions (i.e. the gospel), their evacuation will
make it easier for the remainder of mankind to evolve to a four-dimensional
spirituality, which those left behind are clearly better prepared to do (those
lucky stiffs).</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;">The Event vs. the Revealing:</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;"> Although the Event could certainly be spun
to be something that does in effect "reveal" or disclose the reality
of the good-guy aliens in a sense, I am inclined to see it as being something
that precedes and motivates the world to prepare for the Revealing that's apparently
penciled in for 2027. I tend to think the Event/Rapture will be portrayed as
the launching of the first phase of preparation for a more significant
revelation of the good-guy aliens at a later date to assist mankind through
Mother Earth's period of cleansing (more on this shortly), and I will proceed
as if that is the case.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-style: normal;">Note that I considered the possibility of the
Event and the Revealing being one and the same, but it strikes me that this
creates enough problems that I don't think that's Satan's intention. If the
Event comes first, then the message will be that the good-guy aliens are nearby
and it's time to get with the program and prepare to meet our Space Bothers and
begin to ascend spiritually so we can ultimately help Mother Earth get through
her cleansing process. The exact nature and timing of this Revealing can be spun
and tweaked as desired.</span></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-style: normal;">But if the Event <u><i>is</i></u> the Revealing, and it occurs <u>before</u> 2027 (which it almost certainly will), the shock may be too much and the world could descend into utter chaos—and Satan doesn't want that. <i>He wants a world he can control.</i> He would have lost a carrot to dangle under the world's nose, have no good excuse why the Revealing is much earlier than 2027, and his program would seem disorganized. I think Satan is smart enough to not let that happen.</span></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-style: normal;">I'm literally giggling as I write this, because
when I first watched the interview with John Ramirez and he mentioned that the
aliens were planning a "major event" for 2027, I almost swallowed my
keyboard. But after struggling long and hard to sort through some of this, it
finally began to dawn on me that the fact that Satan is injecting a specific
year into the mix is not really as big a deal as I initially thought. It basically
serves as a no-later-than year for the Rapture (and a pretty safe one at that),
plus whenever the Rapture <i>does</i> occur between now and then, Satan can easily tweak the nature and timing of this (vaguely characterized) Revealing that comes later to suit the facts on the ground. Satan wants to spur the world into getting prepared for his coming kingdom, but he has to be a bit careful with the lies he puts out until the Rapture actually occurs to lift the curtain on his program—and that's exactly what he's doing.</span></p>
</div>
<div style="border: 1pt none black; margin-left: 0.2in; margin-right: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in;">
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">Satan may be evil, but give credit where credit is due: He is intelligent, he has a plan, and some clear ideas about how best to carry it out.</span></i></p>
</div>
<div style="border: 1pt none black; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in;">
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 136); color: black; font-style: normal;">3. There will be no mass landing
of good-guy aliens.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-style: normal;">I used to think we would see legions of good-guy
aliens arrive on Earth at some point during the Tribulation, here to help the
people of the world ascend spiritually and reach the Christ Consciousness and
so forth.</span></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-style: normal;">But the more I think about it, the more I am
inclined to believe this will never actually occur—and largely for scriptural
reasons. First of all, never forget that the good-guy aliens, the bad-guy
aliens, or any other kind of aliens are demonic beings under the control of
Satan that he uses to carry out his plans. But I noticed something in Scripture
recently in regard to this topic that had never occurred to me before:</span></p>
</div>
<div style="border: 1pt none black; margin-left: 0.2in; margin-right: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in;">
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-style: normal;">In the entire description of the Tribulation
in the book of Revelation (Rev. 6–18), there isn't <i>one single word</i> that could be interpreted as any kind of good-guy aliens doing anything to help
anyone. It's all pain, suffering, death, destruction, and judgment, from start
to finish. There is no mention of anything that could be attributed to good-guy
aliens. <i>Nothing.</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-style: normal;">Conversely, we clearly have some things that
could easily be attributed to <u><i>bad-guy</i></u> aliens, which the Bible correctly identifies
as demonic creatures. We need look no further than the fifth and sixth trumpet
judgments to find demons attacking mankind.</span></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-style: normal;">At the fifth trumpet, demonic creatures are
released that are described as locusts that are like horses prepared for
battle, with faces like men, crowns of gold, teeth like lions, breastplates of
iron, and tails like scorpions that sting men and torment them for five months
(Rev. 9:1–11).</span></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-style: normal;">At the sixth trumpet, 200 million demonic
horsemen are released from the Euphrates River with breastplates of fire, heads
like lions, tails like serpents, and with fire, smoke, and brimstone emanating
from their mouths. These go out to slay one third of mankind (Rev. 9:13–19).</span></p>
</div>
<div style="border: 1pt none black; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in;">
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-style: normal;">So yeah, these could certainly be spun as bad-guy aliens who are here to torment mankind. But I think the complete absence of <i>anything</i> that could be attributed to an arriving fleet of good-guy aliens is telling—<i>and what it's telling me is that they never show.</i> Not only that, but the argument could be made that there is really no need for such a thing. After all...</span></p>
</div>
<div style="border: 1pt none black; margin-left: 0.2in; margin-right: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in;">
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">It's not as if Satan actually wanted to <u>help</u> us in some way.</span></i></p>
</div>
<div style="border: 1pt none black; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in;">
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-style: normal;">I suspect that the mass landing of a large fleet
of good-guy aliens is a big, juicy carrot that the Antichrist dangles under the
nose of the world to manipulate and motivate people to do what he and his boss Satan
want them to do.</span></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-style: normal;">I believe that after the Rapture, the world will be told that it is essential that they prepare to meet their Space Bothers and to assist Mother Earth in the cleansing she is about to go through. This will involve people striving to achieve a higher level of spirituality, and even more importantly ridding society of the increasing number of people who are
foolishly reverting to the same old intolerant, archaic superstitions from
which Mother Earth must cleanse herself (i.e. death to all the fools who are
following in the footsteps of those deceived cretins who were removed by the
Space Brothers at the Event).</span></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-style: normal;">But job one during the Great Tribulation will be
to finally exterminate the one group of people who, according to the world's Divine
Leader who is worshiped as God and who speaks for our Space Bothers, continues
to cause more trouble for this planet and for mankind than any other group in
history:</span></p>
</div>
<div style="border: 1pt none black; margin-left: 0.2in; margin-right: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in;">
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">God's Chosen People.</span></i></p>
</div>
<div style="border: 1pt none black; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in;">
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 136); color: black; font-style: normal;">4. Satan's most urgent
priority will be to wipe out the Jews.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-style: normal;">Speaking of God's Chosen People...Satan knows
Scripture, and he knows that it is the Jews who will call on the LORD to save
them from complete annihilation in the Great Tribulation (Hos. 5:15), which
triggers the Second Coming.</span></p>
</div>
<div style="border: 1pt none black; margin-left: 0.2in; margin-right: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in;">
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">Unless, of course, he manages to kill them all first.</span></i></p>
</div>
<div style="border: 1pt none black; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in;">
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-style: normal;">Satan knows the only way he can keep this world
as his own little kingdom where he can enjoy his fantasy to be like the Most
High is to destroy the Jews so they cannot do this, and in his pride and
arrogant repudiation of God's authority and His Word, he believes he can. This
is by far Satan's overriding priority, and virtually everything he does or does
through his representative the Antichrist during the Tribulation has that as
its ultimate goal (you could argue that this has been Satan's prime directive
for the last two millennia).</span></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 136); color: black; font-style: normal;">5. Mankind will anxiously anticipate
the arrival of the good-guy aliens</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 136); color: black; font-style: normal;"> <b>until the bitter end.</b></span></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-style: normal;">As I said, I don't think there will ever be a
mass landing of good-guy aliens. But as <i>bad-guy</i> aliens such as those in the fifth and sixth
trumpet judgments show up and wreak havoc on mankind, it may be that the people
of the world are told they need to do <u><i>more</i></u>—they've got to prove their mettle and make an even greater effort to finish off those cretinous "believers" before the good-guy aliens are willing and/or able to land en masse in the promised Revealing to finally save mankind and the planet they inhabit.</span></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-style: normal;">I believe the message will be clear: We must
successfully rid our world of the Tribulation saints and the Jewish remnant, or
the bad-guy aliens will prevail and succeed in destroying mankind. But if we can
just eliminate those undesirables, a four-dimensional spiritual paradise
awaits. So go get 'em!</span></p>
</div>
<div style="border: 1pt none black; margin-left: 0.2in; margin-right: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in;">
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">But the drive to rid the world of these believers cannot succeed—and
those Space Brothers will remain a carrot on a stick.</span></i></p>
</div>
<div style="border: 1pt none black; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in;">
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 14pt; font-style: normal;">The ultimate disclosure</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-style: normal;">I sometimes try to imagine what it would be like
to be someone on earth waiting for the Second Coming. I realize the details
might not work out exactly this way, but I have this weird fantasy where I see millions
of desperate people at the end of the Tribulation, anxiously searching the
skies, waiting for those good-guy aliens to show up—their vaunted Space
Brothers who promised to come and usher in a four-dimensional spiritual paradise.
That is, if the world could just finish weeding out all the superstitious
cretins who clung to those archaic myths and who were holding everyone back
spiritually and hindering Mother Earth's efforts to cleanse herself.</span></p>
</div>
<div style="border: 1pt none black; margin-left: 0.2in; margin-right: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in;">
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">That is, all those who are anxiously waiting for something quite
different.</span></i></p>
</div>
<div style="border: 1pt none black; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in;">
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-style: normal;">And in their pain and suffering, the people I
see cling to the hope that their Space Brothers will finally show up to save them—those
elite, enlightened beings they have been waiting for ever since they first
learned about them in the aftermath of the Event.</span></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-style: normal;">But those poor, desperate people are not going
to see any spacecraft filled with good-guy aliens filling the skies. Instead,
they are going to see something that will make them feel even worse:</span></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-style: normal;">29</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-style: normal;">Immediately
after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon
shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers
of the heavens shall be shaken: <b><sup>30</sup>And then shall appear the sign
of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn,
and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and
great glory.</b> <b><sup>31</sup></b>And he shall send his angels with a great
sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four
winds, from one end of heaven to the other.<br><br>
(Matthew 24:29–31 AKJV / emphasis added)</span></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-style: normal;">No good-guy aliens. No Space Brothers. Just the
sign of the Son of Man.</span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-style: normal;">Followed by the Son of Man Himself.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoEnvelopeReturn" style="border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;"><u><i>That's</i></u> going to be the ultimate disclosure...and we'll be bringing up the rear.</span></p>
</div>
<br><b>From Greg Lauer @ <a href="https://www.alittlestrength.com/articles/2023/2306-disclosure.htm">A Little Strength—JUN '23</a></b><br>Greg L.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13488517852547324706noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-923571518579487836.post-73380607401485336922023-06-21T23:00:00.009-05:002023-07-26T09:27:20.330-05:00The First "Day of the LORD" (Part I)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXktkZ6MzpVUgSNC153EN44m_yKvATmOs7RvLb3vg3nZLR85nfSbC_vRnWJBi7zLY7w297yfMlqu2nAD54rgqJh358GZQ1qRZI7-wGF_-fh6Yi_W2KOVba5sTZ6xzbs7GRnR8WTrmRhGbEbmQHD5kT_rZ33phnwesw0zpd1C2v2RdGN_qkYlJPMsPMgg/s1392/AdamEve.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="788" data-original-width="1392" height="362" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXktkZ6MzpVUgSNC153EN44m_yKvATmOs7RvLb3vg3nZLR85nfSbC_vRnWJBi7zLY7w297yfMlqu2nAD54rgqJh358GZQ1qRZI7-wGF_-fh6Yi_W2KOVba5sTZ6xzbs7GRnR8WTrmRhGbEbmQHD5kT_rZ33phnwesw0zpd1C2v2RdGN_qkYlJPMsPMgg/w640-h362/AdamEve.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Raise your hand if you know that context is everything when it comes to correct Bible interpretation?</div><div><br /></div><div>All right. You can put your hand down.<span><a name='more'></a></span></div><div><br /></div><div>Raise your hand if you know that the Old Testament matters when it comes to correctly interpreting New Testament texts?</div><div><br /></div><div>Great. You can put your hand down again.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now raise your hand if you know the precise referent of the masculine singular pronouns in the following passage of Scripture (in other words, who is John specifically referring to with his use of the pronouns Him, He, and His?):</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><blockquote><div>And now, little children, abide in <b>Him</b>, so that when <b>He</b> appears we might have boldness and not shrink away from <b>Him</b> in shame at <b>His</b> coming. (1 Jn. 2:28, Berean Literal Bible)</div></blockquote><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Did you answer "Jesus"? If so, put your hand down.</p><p><br /></p><p>Is your hand still up? <i>Really?</i> (You're on the honor system here). Did you know that John is referring to "the Father"? (note: "God" as a response doesn't count...at least on this particular assessment). Ok, if you answered correctly that the Father is the primary referent of John's pronouns, you can take your raised hand and pat yourself on the back.</p><p><br /></p><p>Everyone else. You've got homework...</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">The Father's First Appearing</span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">If you fell short of 100% after that pop quiz, don't let it get you down. <i>You are definitely not alone! </i>It's completely understandable why so many Christians gravitate toward reading "Jesus" into the pronouns <i>He, Him, His</i> in 1 John 2:28 (as well as many other pronoun-filled passages in the letter). After all, other New Testament verses explicitly state that believers <i><u>abide</u></i> in God's Son, the Second Person of the Trinity, and reveal that the resurrected Jesus is <i><u>coming</u></i> back to make a sudden, glorious <i><u>appearance</u>.</i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">However, as card-carrying Trinitarians (i.e., holding to the belief that Scripture reveals the One True God as Three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), we need to reevaluate our knee-jerk interpretation and response to the commonly misunderstood text of 1 John 2:28.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">For the sake of comparison, take a look at another commonly misinterpreted and misapplied verse:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><blockquote><div style="text-align: left;">If we should say that we have fellowship with <b>Him</b>, and yet should walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. (1 Jn. 1:6, Berean Literal Bible)</div></blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Without any context or background, it appears that John is calling into question those who say that they know Jesus but otherwise live like hell. On the surface of it, this verse in isolation is every legalistic Christian's dream, because they can use this convicting passage to call out the lazy, nominal, and "suspect" Jesus-confessors in their midst. However, there's just one big problem with this approach...</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">The pronoun "Him" in 1 John 1:6 refers to God the Father, <u>not</u> Jesus! </span></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In fact, the following verse confirms and clarifies this crucial point of distinction:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><blockquote><div style="text-align: left;">But if we should walk in the light as <b>He</b> is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus <b>His Son </b>cleanses us from all sin. (1 Jn. 1:7, Berean Literal Bible)</div></blockquote><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Did you catch that? Look at it again, and note the masculine singular pronoun "He" in 1:7 (the same referent as the "Him" in 1:6) <i><u>has to be</u></i> God the Father, because John goes on to say that "<i><u>His</u></i> Son" (Jesus) is the reason and basis for fellowship with the Father. Seeing "Jesus" as the "Him" in 1:6 and the "He" in 1:7 violates both the rules of grammar and common sense.</p><p><br /></p><p>Now go thump that legalist over the head with 1 John 1:7.</p><p><br /></p><p>Just kidding.</p><p><br /></p><p><i>Maybe...</i></p><p><br /></p><p>After the super-clarifying combo of 1 John 1:6–7, let's return to the text of 1 John 2:28, note again that the Father is the referent of all the masculine singular pronouns. And when 2:28 is seen in light of 2:29 and 3:1, the fog begins to dissipate:</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><blockquote><p>If you know that <b>He</b> is righteous, you know also that everyone practicing righteousness has been begotten of <b>Him</b>. Behold what love <b>the Father</b> has given to us, that we should be called children of God—and we are! Because of this, the world does not know us, because it did not know <b>Him</b>. (Berean Literal Bible)</p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>The Father is the One who begets ("<i>begotten of Him"</i>) and gives love by sending His Son into the world ("<i>the Father has given to us"</i>). And in 2:28, <u>He is also</u> the One who is <i>"coming"</i> and will <i>"appear"</i> in order to gather His children and take them home.</p><p><br /></p><p>I realize that it might seem strange at first to think of the Father as <i>coming</i> and <i>appearing</i>, when other texts refer to Jesus as the One who <i>physically</i> comes and appears to His people to resurrect and glorify them. However, if we are going to correctly believe and rightly teach the Word of God (2 Tim. 3:16–17), then we must align our thoughts with the apostle John here, think in a Trinitarian manner, and teach a Trinitarian theology.</p><p><br /></p><p>Now that we've got some immediate context under our belts, what about the all-important Old Testament background? Let's figure out what John has in mind as he associates the Father's appearance with the concepts of fear and shame: "...<i>when He appears we might have boldness <u><b>and not shrink away</b></u> from Him <u><b>in shame</b></u> at His coming."</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p>Know of any places in the Old Testament where the LORD God suddenly appears to His children, a momentous event that is also accompanied by His children shrinking away in shame?</p><p><br /></p><p>Ah, yes. The beginning, you say? Ok, let's go waaaaaaaaaaaaaay back.</p><p><br /></p><p>Here is the <b>Father's <u><i>first</i></u> appearing</b>; which is the conceptual backdrop of 1 Jn. 2:28. And for the sake of our present study, let's first look at the well-known KJV version:</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><blockquote><p>And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and <b>Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God</b> amongst the trees of the garden. And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and <b>I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself</b>. And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat (Gen. 3:8-13).</p></blockquote><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p>And there you have it. This is the primary source and inspiration for John's New Testament message in 1 John 2:28. Note the following thematic connections: </p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>the Father appearing to His children ("the presence of the LORD God")</li><li>the concept of shrinking away/fear ("I was afraid")</li><li>the concept of shame ("I was naked")</li><li>the concept of not abiding but <i>hiding</i> ("I hid myself")</li></ul><div>John's argument in his First Epistle is a reversal of this disastrous scene in the Garden. The apostle declares that those born of God through belief in His Son (Jesus) will <i><u>not</u> </i>shrink back, go into hiding, and seek to cover their sin with self-righteous works (represented by the fig-leaf covering; Gen. 3:7). How can the children of God be so confident on Judgement Day this time around? Because the blood of Jesus cleanses the children of God from "all sin" (1 Jn. 1:7) and "all unrighteousness" (1 Jn. 1:9); <a href="https://www.unsealed.org/2019/04/understanding-bible-promised-seed.html">the Seed of the Woman</a> (Gen. 3:15) <i>abides</i> in all those who are born of God (1 Jn. 3:9); therefore, because of the Righteous Seed, the children of God <u>will <i>abide</i></u> in the Father forever and will never be banished from His presence again (1 Jn. 2:28; 4:13–16).</div><div><br /></div><p></p><p>Toward the end of his letter, John affirms that fear, shame, and punishment are not meant for the children of God. In other words, the Father is coming back in order to give them their reward for believing in his Son: <i>eternal life</i>. He is coming to hug them, not harm them!</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><blockquote><p>In this, love has been perfected with us, so that we may have <b style="background-color: #fcff01;">confidence in the day of judgment</b> that, <b>just as He is</b>, <b>also are we in this world</b>. There is <b><u>no fear</u></b> in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has punishment; and the one fearing has not been perfected in love. We love because He first loved us. (1 Jn. 4:17–19, Berean Literal Bible)</p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Are you looking for confidence on the Day of Judgment? Are you seeking complete and total assurance of your salvation the next time the Father comes around? You can rest easy if you have already placed your faith in the Son of God. Jesus is <u>the only WAY</u><i style="text-decoration-line: underline;"> to the Father</i> (Jn. 14:6); Jesus is the only Refuge and Escape from God's wrath (Jn. 3:36; 1 Jn. 5:12; Ps. 2:12).</p><p><br /></p><p>If you don't know Jesus, you don't know the Father! Therefore, if you don't know the Father, get to know Him today, ASAP, by believing <a href="https://www.unsealed.org/2019/09/the-whore-and-beast-two-lanes-one-road.html">the GOOD NEWS about His Son</a>: Jesus paid your sin-debt completely by His death on the cross. His once-for-all sacrifice was perfect, final, and never to be repeated. And since Jesus has risen victoriously from the dead, you can ask Him to save you today. Any time, any place. He will respond, if you call to Him in faith. The Day of the LORD is coming (again), so don't delay!</p><p><br /></p><p><i>Stay tuned for Part II...</i></p><p><br /></p><hr style="background-color: grey; border-width: 0px; color: grey; height: 2px;" /><p><br /></p><p><b><span style="background-color: #fcff01;">A NOTE FROM GARY AND JEFF:</span> The <i>Unsealed </i>crew has been quite busy behind the scenes. We are very pleased to announce the imminent publication of a commentary on Hebrews, James, and 1 John: <i>The Hard Books</i>. <u>Stay tuned</u>! Details from this article and Part II are explored in depth in the book. We can't wait to tell you more.</b></p><p><br /></p><hr style="background-color: grey; border-width: 0px; color: grey; height: 2px;" /><p><br /></p>Jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05481514981109300522noreply@blogger.com29tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-923571518579487836.post-52608974604059176832023-06-05T08:09:00.033-05:002024-03-02T01:00:06.040-06:00A Salvation Primer<div class="WordSection1">
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSLhI4J7s_0FA00k_ExrIahspJfc5UodLc9tMEvsQ1tl8gZfp7yMPfl31T4-f5KHStxBN8aq1Vmr-U3o3gzoJKw0d7_WwlpyyVcpX5J0QqfgrfXPS7OxekXWu_efkMd0jxbOgkiXvOtbbFdc2cxn985S1e-mhMYoN45F0SULEF62bcdZJW-M7WMck/s932/AdamEve.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="529" data-original-width="932" height="364" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSLhI4J7s_0FA00k_ExrIahspJfc5UodLc9tMEvsQ1tl8gZfp7yMPfl31T4-f5KHStxBN8aq1Vmr-U3o3gzoJKw0d7_WwlpyyVcpX5J0QqfgrfXPS7OxekXWu_efkMd0jxbOgkiXvOtbbFdc2cxn985S1e-mhMYoN45F0SULEF62bcdZJW-M7WMck/w640-h364/AdamEve.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span face=""",sans-serif"><br /></span><p></p><p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;">The idea
for this article has actually been gnawing at me for a long time, but I finally
got the clear sense that it was time to go ahead and pull the trigger on this
one. As the title suggests, we're going to be talking about <i>salvation. </i>And
as the title also suggests, it is intended to be a <i>primer</i> of sorts, or a
short, informative introduction to some particular subject.<span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">Straight
up: There's really not a lot that's "new" in this article. As I have
done in the past on occasion, I wrote this primarily to have a full answer at
the ready to respond to people's questions about a particular topic—in this
case, the nature of salvation, especially as it applies to different periods of
time. I have touched on many of these issues in various articles over the
years, but I just felt led to bring it all together into one package.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">To that
end, we will discuss the following:</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">1. </span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Pre-Church salvation</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">2.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> Church Age salvation</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">3.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> Post-Church salvation</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">One thing
that helped get me stoked to finally sit down and write this was a few of the
responses I got to my most recent article "</span><a href="https://www.alittlestrength.com/articles/2023/2304-parables.htm"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">The Parables of Matthew 25</span></a><span face=""",sans-serif">,"
in which I discuss the fact that Gentile Tribulation survivors will be required
to have maintained a faithful witness in order to be granted entrance into the
Millennial Kingdom after the Second Coming. Apparently the idea that salvation
won't quite be the same during the Tribulation as it is during the Church Age
is a disturbingly alien concept that doesn't sit well with some, and I had a
couple of folks who hit me with vague passages of Scripture taken out of
context in fuzzy, futile efforts to refute what I had written.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">Now, that
last bit doesn't bother me—it comes with the territory. I am generally content
to let others hold the opinions they do. But it drove home the point that there
really <i>are</i> some things about the nature of salvation that some
believers—although they're as saved as saved can be—don't fully understand,
partly because some of this doesn't apply to the Church and partly because some
of this is <s><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>seldom </s><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i>never</i> taught in a lot of churches
today.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">So with
that said, it's back to the beginning.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;">1. Pre-Church salvation</span></b></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">In the
Garden of Eden, God gave Adam and Eve one simple command:</span></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: black; color: white;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: black; color: white;">DON'T EAT THAT FRUIT! </span></b></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">Any
questions? Black and white, clear and simple. "That fruit," of
course, being the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. And you
know the story: Satan used a serpent to speak to Eve, got her all
discombobulated about what God had actually said, fed her the lie about how
"you shall be as gods" (or "you shall be like God,"
depending on the translation) and tempted her to eat the fruit. Which she did,
and she promptly offered Adam a slice.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">When God
confronted Adam and Eve about their sin, they did what we all tend to do: They
made excuses. Adam blamed God ("the woman <i><u>You</u></i> gave to be
with me") as well as Eve ("<i><u>she</u></i> gave me from the
tree"), and Eve blamed the serpent ("the <i><u>serpent</u></i>
deceived me"). First, God proceeded to place a curse on the literal snake
(i.e. snakes <i>do</i> crawl on their bellies in the dust).</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;">Science confirms the Bible—again:</span></i></b><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;"> Scientists have <a href="https://www.livescience.com/56573-mutation-caused-snakes-to-lose-legs.html">discovered</a> that some snake species (namely pythons and boa constrictors)
possess tiny vestigial legs, a finding that has been attacked by other
scientists—and the reason is simple: They feel compelled to attack anything
that lends support to the biblical account. But those other scientists can howl
away, because it has also been discovered that snakes still possess the genetic
potential in their DNA to <u>grow limbs</u>—a genetic mechanism that was
"broken" somehow in the distant past. Oh wait...don't tell me, let me
guess: It's a clear evolutionary advantage for a terrestrial species to have no
arms or legs. Right?</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif">Then God
turned His attention to Satan in the form of the serpent and announced what is
known as the <i>protoevangelium</i>—the "first gospel."</span></p>
<p style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">15</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between
your seed and her seed; <b>it shall bruise your head</b> </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[many translations read "crush"—this
is a fatal wound]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">, and <b>you shall bruise his heel</b>
</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[the Crucifixion, a wound that turned out to be
not so fatal a couple of days later]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">.<br><br>
(Genesis 3:15 AKJV / emphasis & </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[comments]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> added)</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #081c2a;">There is arguably more packed into this one verse than almost
any other single verse in Scripture, but I just want to point out three
important items:</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">1.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> The "seed of the woman"
is Jesus, God's Son and our Savior. Every person born since Adam and Eve is the
seed of <i>Adam</i> (from whom we inherit a sin nature through our fathers).
Jesus was the lone exception. Skeptics can attack Isaiah 7:14 <i>(Behold, a <u>virgin</u>
shall conceive...)</i></span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">till they're blue in the face, but
they're wasting their time. Genesis 3:15 speaks with absolute clarity to the
virgin birth of Christ: A woman alone set the stage for the curse, and this
tells us that through a woman alone would come the One who would remove it.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">2.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> Just as the seed of the woman is a
person (Christ), so is the seed of the serpent a person (the Antichrist). The
final battle in this conflict will be between the Son of God and the son of
perdition, and it will end in Christ's consummate victory over the Antichrist
when He returns to establish the Millennial Kingdom (Rev. 19:20). Satan gets
his at the end of the millennium (Rev. 20:7–10).</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">3.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> Note that God is effectively
telling us that He will send a Savior into the world through a virgin birth to
remove the curse of sin and death and to undo the damage inflicted on us and
our world by Satan. In other words:</span></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">He's promising to send us a
Redeemer.</span></b></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">The point is this:</span></p>
<p style="background: rgb(230, 230, 249); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #000077;">The verse </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 187); color: black;">[Gen. 3:15]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #000077;"> introduces two elements previously unknown in the Garden of
Eden, elements that are the basis of Christianity—<b>the curse on mankind
because of Adam's sin</b> </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 187); color: black;">[we are cursed
with a sin nature due to Adam's sin, but <i>Adam's</i> sin came about as a
result of <i>Eve's</i> sin]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #000077;"> and <b>God's provision for a
Savior from sin</b> who would take the curse upon Himself.<br><br>
[...]<br><br>
The protoevangelium shows us that God always had the
plan of salvation in mind, <b>and informed us of His plan as soon as sin
entered the world</b> </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 187); color: black;">[<i><u>not</u></i>
when Jesus showed up two thousand years ago (see remarks below)]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #000077;">.</span><br><br>
<span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #000077;">(emphasis & </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 187); color: black;">[comments]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #000077;"> added)<br>
—GotQuestions.org [<a href="https://www.gotquestions.org/protoevangelium.html">Source</a>]</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;">Where did they get <u>that</u> idea?</span></i></b><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;"> I do a full gainer of a facepalm when I hear clueless skeptics
attack the gospel by claiming that Christianity is nothing but a pack of
reworked ideas borrowed from ancient religions from different parts of the
world, many of which contain surprisingly similar stories about a God-man
coming to earth to heroically set things in order, right wrongs, etc. Nope,
sorry. The idea that God would send a Redeemer to the world to save men from
their sinful condition goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden, and later
was taken all over the world by different people groups—especially after the
dispersion of people from Babel (Gen. 11). So, the idea that the basic elements
of Christianity show up in many ancient religious beliefs all over the world
actually does far more to <u>confirm</u> the truth of the biblical account,
rather than call it into question. Duh...(*smack*).</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #081c2a;">Now, note with care what Adam and Eve did after they ate the
fruit:</span></p>
<p style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">7</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">And the eyes of them both were opened, and they <b>knew that
they were naked</b>; and they <b>sewed fig leaves together</b>, and made
themselves aprons.<br><br>
(Genesis 3:7 AKJV / emphasis added)</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #081c2a;">They (a) suddenly realized they were naked, and (b) sewed fig
leaves together to fashion garments to cover their nakedness. When God finally
tracked them down in the Garden, He wasted no time in confronting them over
their now radically changed condition:</span></p>
<p style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">11</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">And he said, Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of
the tree, whereof I commanded you that you should not eat?<br><br>
(Genesis 3:11 AKJV)</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Of course, it's obvious that God knew <i>exactly</i> what they had
done. And after placing a curse on the serpent and then on Adam and Eve as well
as the earth itself, God prepared a temporary remedy for them:</span></p>
<p style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">21</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">To Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God <b>make coats of
skins, and clothed them</b>.<br><br>
(Genesis 3:21 AKJV / emphasis added)</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">He clothed them with the skins of animals. And this is crucial:</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Adam and Eve had covered their nakedness with garments made by
sewing fig leaves together—<i>the work of their own hands</i>. God taught them
that the work of their own hands was not sufficient to cover their nakedness,
and proceeded to clothe them in the skins of animals.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Now, let's put on our thinking caps: What did God have to do in
order to clothe them in the skins of animals? That's easy: <i>He had to
slaughter a couple of animals.</i> He had to shed the innocent blood of animals
to get those skins to make those garments to cover their nakedness—their
unrighteous spiritual condition. In other words:</span></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">Covering their sin required the</span></b></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">shedding of innocent blood.</span></b></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Not <i>removing</i> it, <i><u>covering</u></i> it (it only
prefigured the act that would <i>remove</i> it). Hey, skins or no skins, Adam
and Eve still got kicked out of the Garden.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Now, did God teach Adam and Eve that it was necessary to continue
this practice of shedding the innocent blood of animals to cover their sin?
Well, their son Abel did it...where do you think he learned that from? And God
commended him for it. But their son Cain <i>failed</i> to do it, instead
offering the LORD the work of his hands—and God chastised him for making the
same mistake his parents made (Gen. 4:1–7). So yes, clearly God <i><u>did</u></i>
teach Adam and Eve to continue sacrificing animals—and they clearly taught
their children to do the same.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">My point is that we have to understand that right off the bat, as
soon as Adam and Eve headed for the exit of the Garden of Eden, two fundamental
principles had been set in place in regard to man's sinful condition:</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">1.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> God promised to send a Redeemer
someday to undo the damage Satan had done and save them from their sinful
condition.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">2.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> God expected them to believe His
promise of a Redeemer, and offer animal sacrifices as an act of worship that
demonstrated that belief.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Many Christians naively assume that it was the <u>Jews</u> who
started the idea of sacrificing animals to cover their sin, but that's not
true. It came right out of the Garden of Eden, and continued on from there. For
example, Noah had "clean" animals available in order to offer
sacrifices after exiting the ark when the flood waters receded (roughly nine
centuries before the Jews received the Law of Moses according to some Old
Testament timelines):</span></p>
<p style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">20</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">And Noah built an altar to the LORD; and took of every <b>clean
beast</b>, and of every <b>clean fowl</b>, and <b>offered burnt offerings on
the altar</b>.<br><br>
(Genesis 8:20 AKJV / emphasis added)</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">The point is that the basics of how people were saved in Old
Testament days had been established:</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">They were required to have faith in God and believe His promise
of a coming Redeemer, and offer animal sacrifices to worship Him and
demonstrate their faith in that promise.</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">It's also worth noting that faith in God and the sacrifices that
demonstrated it had to go hand in hand—one without the other was a non-starter.
In fact, God makes it crystal clear that He <i>hates</i> sacrifices made in the
absence of a life characterized by justice, mercy, humility, and a broken and
contrite spirit before Him (Hos. 6:6; Amos 5:22–23; Ps. 51:16–17; Mic. 6:6–8;
Isa. 29:13).</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Notes on the Holy Spirit:</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> It is
important to be aware of the nature of the ministry of the Holy Spirit during
this entire pre-Church period. There is <i>nothing</i> in the entire Old
Testament about the Holy Spirit sealing and indwelling believers at the moment
they came to believe in faith in God's promise of a coming Redeemer or when
they began to offer animal sacrifices to demonstrate that belief. Neither is
there a single word about the Holy Spirit having His temple on earth in the
hearts of believers during this time.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Now, we <i><u>do</u></i> see the Holy Spirit
"circumcising" the hearts of people (Deut. 30:6), and "coming on"
people in order to empower them to do certain things at certain times. For
example: Joshua (Num. 27:18); David (1Sam. 16:12–13); and Saul (1Sam. 10:10).
But this "coming on" people was selective and often temporary, and
could be withdrawn. We see this clearly as David agonizes over his sin with
Bathsheba:</span></p>
<p style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">11</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Cast me not away from your presence; and take not your holy
spirit from me.<br><br>
(Psalm 51:11 AKJV)</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">But the chief difference is that Old Testament believers were
not sealed and permanantly indwelt with the presence of the Holy Spirit from
the moment they believed as are Church Age believers, as we shall see in the
next section.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">But what <i>about</i> this promise of a coming Redeemer? Is that
all mankind had, just God's original statement given in the Garden of Eden to
Adam and Eve? Is that it? You'd think God would elaborate a bit more at some
point on something as important as this Redeemer business.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">And indeed He did.</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">The Old Testament contains quite the trail of clues in regard to
this coming Redeemer, containing <i>at the very least </i>300 prophecies
concerning Him (some Bible commentators put this at nearly twice that
number)—each of which was fulfilled to the letter in the genealogy, birth,
life, ministry, miracles, death, and resurrection of Jesus. And I would be remiss
if I didn't mention a handful of the prophecies that made it possible for
people in Old Testament days to not only follow the trail of the coming
Redeemer and ID Him when He showed up, but even be aware of the approximate <i>time</i>
He would show up:</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">1.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> He would be a descendant of
Abraham (Gen. 12:3; 22:18).</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">2.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> He would be a descendant of
Abraham's son Isaac (Gen. 17:19; 21:12).</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">3.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> He would be a descendant of
Isaac's son Jacob (Num. 24:17).</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">4.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> He would be a descendant of
Jacob's son Judah (Gen. 49:10).</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">5.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> He would be a descendant of King
David (2Sam. 7:12–16).</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">6.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> He would be born of a virgin (Gen.
3:15; Isa. 7:14).</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">7.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> He would be born in the town of
Bethlehem (Mic. 5:2).</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">8.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> Although born in Bethlehem, He
would come out of Egypt (Hos. 11:1).</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">9.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> He would make the lame walk, the
blind see, the deaf hear, the dead live, and preach the Good News to the poor
(Isa. 26:19; 35:5–6; 61:1).</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">10.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> He would be killed somewhere
around AD 30–33 (Dan. 9:24–27).</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Please understand that Daniel 9:24–27, properly interpreted, indicates
when that Redeemer would be "cut off" or killed with a surprising
degree of accuracy (some purport to have pinned it down to the </span><a href="http://www.alittlestrength.com/articles/2022/2211-anticipation.htm#anderson"><i><span face=""",sans-serif">exact day</span></i></a><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">). But any way you look at it, this allows us to deduce the
general time frame in which He would be <i>born</i>—the late first century BC
or the early first century AD.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">Which He <u>was</u>, around 6–3 BC, give or take.</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">As far as animal sacrifices are concerned, one thing the Law of Moses
did was codify in excruciating detail the types of sacrifices that were
required for specific situations and the proper procedures for carrying them
out. What the Law of Moses <i>didn't</i> do was pull the idea of sacrificing
animals to demonstrate one's faith in God's promise of a Redeemer out of the
clear, blue sky.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Sadly, over the centuries the Jews succeeded in reducing the Law
of Moses to a burdensome morass of petty rules and regulations that, if
slavishly followed, would make one righteous in God's eyes. They stripped God's
Word clean of any of the love, mercy, and grace that God wanted to demonstrate
to man through His Son the Redeemer. So when Jesus came and pointedly revealed
what petty, hardhearted legalists the Jewish religious leaders had become, they
hated Him, rejected Him, and ultimately had Him arrested, falsely tried, and
executed by their Roman masters like a loathsome criminal.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Of course, the grave couldn't hold Him. After Christ completed His
perfect work of atonement through His crucifixion, burial, and resurrection,
what had been promised since the Garden of Eden, prophesied through God's
servants the prophets, and painted in types and shadows throughout the Old
Testament had became thundering reality.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">And it was a whole new ballgame.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 14pt;">2. Church Age salvation</span></b></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Aah...back on home turf.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">During the Church Age, which started on <i>Shavuot</i> or the day
of Pentecost 50 days after the Resurrection, the moment a person hears the
message of the gospel, responds to the conviction of the Holy Spirit, humbles their
heart before God and asks Him for the forgiveness of sin that Christ purchased
for them with His perfect sacrifice on the cross (not necessarily all at the
same time), God forgives every sin they have ever committed or ever will
commit, and imputes His Son's perfect righteousness to them. From that moment
on, He no longer sees them as sinners, but as being as righteous as His perfect
Son because they are now part of His Son's body—<i>they are in Christ.</i> They
are sealed with the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit for the rest of
their earthly lives, and the Holy Spirit works to convict them of sin and
gradually conform them to the image of Christ over the course of their
lifetimes.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">And I'm not trying to make it sound complicated or anything (you
could argue that it comes down to two simple words: <b>I BELIEVE</b>). I'm just
trying to paint a clear, thorough picture of what we're talking about.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Actually, I could end this section right here—that's the long and
the short of Church Age salvation in a nutshell. But there are a couple of
aspects of it that I want to flesh out a bit.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Of course, central to Church Age salvation is the message of the
gospel:</span></p>
<p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 136); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Just as had been prophesied in His Word, God finally sent
the Redeemer into the world in the form of His perfect sinless Son, who gave
His life as a ransom for many. Jesus redeemed us by taking the penalty for sin
we were due by shedding His blood on a cross at Calvary and satisfying His
Father's perfect justice on our behalf. In so doing, He<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>made it possible for those who believe in
faith to be forgiven of sin, have His perfect righteousness imputed to them by
faith, and be eternally reconciled to a holy, just, loving God.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">For the last two thousand years, every person who has heard and
believed this message in faith and asked for the forgiveness Christ offers has
been saved. Born again. Born of the Spirit. Spiritually regenerated. Redeemed
by the Redeemer Himself. And every single one of them will spend eternity in a
place He has prepared for us that is beyond anything we can currently imagine.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">But one of the key points about salvation during the Church Age is
this:</span></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">What I just described is all that</span></b></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">God requires of us: <i>belief in faith.</i></span></b></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">We are not required to sacrifice any animals to demonstrate our
faith and belief in God's promises. We're not required to meticulously obey a
mountain of petty rules and regulations to be considered righteous in God's
eyes, as per the Jewish religious leaders of Jesus' day. It's Believe. The.
Gospel.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">In other words, once we are saved, we remain that way. Why?
Because we are a new creation in Christ (2Cor. 5:17). Salvation during the
Church Age is not something we must work to maintain or can lose through
negligence. Church Age salvation is eternally possessed the moment we receive
it in faith, and this doctrine is commonly referred to as "eternal
security." This fundamental truth is often expressed by the phrase
"Once saved, always saved" (OSAS), or...</span></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">You are <i>forever</i> saved,</span></b></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">or you were <i>never</i> saved.</span></b></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">The scriptural support for the eternal security of the Church Age
believer is nothing short of overwhelming. Here's a taste:</span></p>
<p style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">28</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">And I give to them eternal life; and they shall never perish,
neither shall any man <b>pluck them out of my hand</b>. <b><sup>29</sup></b>My
Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to <b>pluck
them out of my Father's hand</b>.<br><br>
(John 10:28–29 / emphasis added)</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Neither the Father nor the Son has butterfingers.</span></p>
<p style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">39</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">This is the will of my Father who sent me, <b>that of all he has
given to me I should lose nothing, but should raise him up at the last day</b>.
<b><sup>40</sup></b>This is the will of the one who sent me, that everyone who
sees the Son and believes in him <b>should have eternal life</b>; and I will
raise him up at the last day.<br><br>
(John 6:39–40 / emphasis added)</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">He's not going to lose <i><u>any</u></i> of us, and will raise us
all up on the last day.</span></p>
<p style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">25</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Therefore he is also able to <b>save to the uttermost</b> those
who draw near to God through him, seeing that he lives forever to make
intercession for them.<br><br>
(Hebrews 7:25 / emphasis added)</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">"To the <i>uttermost</i>"—I don't think we can be any
more saved than that.</span></p>
<p style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">17</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Therefore if any man be in Christ, <b>he is a new creature</b>:
old things are passed away; behold, <b>all things are become new</b>.<br><br>
(2 Corinthians 5:17 AKJV / emphasis added)</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">After we are saved, we are literally a new species: <i>Homo redempti.</i></span></p>
<p style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">13</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">In whom you also trusted, after that you heard the word of
truth, the gospel of your salvation: <b>in whom also after that you believed,
you were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,</b> <b><sup>14</sup></b>Which
is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased
possession, to the praise of his glory.<br><br>
(Ephesians 1:13–14 AKJV / emphasis added)</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">We are <i>sealed.</i> And show me a place in Scripture where we
can get <i>unsealed.</i></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">And that's just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. But you know
how some people are: <i>"If it sounds too good to be true, it probably
is."</i> Over the centuries, many well-intentioned people have struggled
mightily with this idea, and have trawled God's Word for ways to worm their way
around it and argue that you can indeed lose your salvation if your walk with
the Lord doesn't measure up to some nebulously defined standard. So you'd
better toe the line, pal, or you may find yourself spending eternity in the
lake of fire with You Know Who.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">I have touched on eternal security here and there over the years,
but I devoted an entire article to the subject entitled "</span><a href="https://www.alittlestrength.com/articles/2017/1704-cold-feet.htm#top"><span face=""",sans-serif">Cold Feet</span></a><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">" about six years ago. I won't rehash it here, but one thing
I discuss in that article is several common ways the anti-OSAS ship runs aground:</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">1.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> Misinterpreting verses that speak
of rewards as speaking of salvation.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">2.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> Misinterpreting verses that refer
to unbelievers as referring to believers.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">3.</span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> Misinterpreting verses that are
directed at other groups of believers (i.e. Tribulation saints, etc.) as being
directed at the Church.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Again with the iceberg.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">One of the major lines of attack on the doctrine of eternal
security of Church Age believers centers around the idea of <i>works.</i> In
reality, this is little more than our sin nature creeping in through the crack
under the door, whispering in our ears things such as...</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">—</span></i><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> </span></i><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">You get what you pay for...</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">—</span></i><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> </span></i><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">There's no free lunch...</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">—</span></i><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> </span></i><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">No pain, no gain...</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">And so on. The idea that we need works to merit/maintain/manifest
our salvation just seems so <i>right</i> to our flesh, which goes a long way in
explaining why it has been regurgitated in countless forms through every
man-made religion in the history of mankind (with a <i>lotta</i> help from You
Know Who). This is a topic I address in an article entitled "</span><a href="https://www.alittlestrength.com/articles/2015/1504-one-trick.htm#top"><span face=""",sans-serif">The Great One-Trick Pony</span></a><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">."</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">One passage of Scripture that has become the go-to verse for
anti-OSAS marauders is a well-worn passage from the pen of James:</span></p>
<p style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">26</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">For as the body without the spirit is dead, so <b>faith without
works is dead</b> also.<br><br>
(James 2:26 AKJV / emphasis added)</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">"Got that, hoss? Faith without works is <u>dead</u>! So I
guess that drives a stake through the heart of your little 'eternal suh-kur-ity'
idea, huh?"</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Oh yeah, drives a stake right through it—it sure does...but only
for people who fail to understand what James is saying. The logic underpinning
what James is trying to communicate to us goes something like this:</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Genuine, saving faith—which results in the indwelling presence
of the Holy Spirit—will always manifest itself in <i>at least some</i>
Spirit-led works (albeit more in some than in others). Thus the complete<i>
absence</i> of Spirit-led works indicates the complete<i> absence</i> of
genuine, saving faith.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">In other words:</span></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Spirit-led works are not what saves
you—</span></b></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">they are the evidence that you are saved.</span></b></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">I want to emphasize the idea of "Spirit-led" works here,
because this key distinction all too frequently slips through the cracks. We're
not talking about generic "good deeds" that may be perfectly good
things in and of themselves, but may be done through strictly human motivation
to boost the self-esteem and elevate the ego of the doer.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">We're talking about things you do at the prompting of and in obedience
to the Holy Spirit, who seeks to glorify and draw men to Christ. Note that some
works-related verses don't always make this distinction jump out at you, but
the distinction is there nonetheless. We're talking about allowing the Holy
Spirit to put you into action anytime, anyplace, and for reasons that may not
be obvious to you in order to play your small role in advancing the Holy
Spirit's ministry. After all, Church Age believers are the temple of the Holy
Spirit on earth, so that's a natural part of our role as born-again believers.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Before we move on, I want to let the Word deliver the smackdown to
the salvation-by-works argument, because Scripture could scarcely make it any
clearer that we are saved by faith alone and not works. It really is that simple.
That means when people come along and think they have a verse that says
something to the contrary, they need to look a little deeper because I
guarantee you they're missing something somewhere. Here's a taste:</span></p>
<p style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">28</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">They said therefore to him, <b>"What must we do, that we
may work the works of God?"</b> <b><sup>29</sup></b>Jesus answered them,
"This is the <b>work</b> of God, that you <b>believe</b> in him whom he
has sent."<br><br>
(John 6:28–29 / emphasis added)</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">The "work" of God is that we believe in faith in His
Son.</span></p>
<p style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">4</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">But when the kindness of God our Savior and his love toward
mankind appeared, <b><sup>5</sup>not by works of righteousness which we did
ourselves, but according to his mercy, he saved us</b> through the washing of
regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, <b><sup>6</sup></b>whom he poured
out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior; <b><sup>7</sup></b>that being
justified by his grace, we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal
life.<br><br>
(Titus 3:4–7 / emphasis added)</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">He saved us according to <i><u>His</u> mercy,</i> not according to
<i><u>our</u> works.</i></span></p>
<p style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">8</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">for by grace you have been <b>saved through faith,</b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> and that not of yourselves; it is the gift
of God, <b><sup>9</sup>not of works, that no one would boast</b>.</span><br><br>
(Ephesians 2:8–9 / emphasis added)</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">If our works could save us, we'd have something to brag about. <i>But
we <u>don't</u>.</i></span></p>
<p style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">5</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">But to him who <b>doesn't work, but believes in him</b> </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[i.e. belief in faith is not a work]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for
righteousness.<br><br>
(Romans 4:5 / emphasis & </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[comments]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> added)</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Same deal: It's all about faith, not
works.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">"Woo hoo, I got ya dead to rights this time, Bible Dude! You
forgot all about the poor schmuck that shows up at the bema and has <u>all</u>
his works burned up and has to walk away empty-handed, saved "as through
fire"! HA! So much for your theory that every true believer has at least
some good works to show for themselves...this schmuck had zilch!"</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Ah, yes...the sad story I like to call "The Schmuck at the
Bema":</span></p>
<p style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">14</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">If any man's work remains which he built on it, he will receive
a reward. <b><sup>15</sup></b>If any man's work is burned, he will suffer loss,
but he himself will be saved, but as through fire.<br><br>
(1 Corinthians 3:14–15)</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><strong><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #001320; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">"He himself
will be saved, but as through fire."</span></i></strong><strong><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #001320; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> So it appears Paul
is referring to this schmuck who has <i><u>all</u></i> his earthly works burned
up like so much wood, hay, and stubble, but is <i><u>still</u></i> saved and
enters heaven with zero rewards.</span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><strong><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #001320; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">This is the bema,
or the judgment seat of Christ that all Church Age believers will stand at
shortly after the Rapture (and before returning with Christ at the Second
Coming) to be rewarded for the Spirit-led works in their earthly lives that
warrant them.</span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><strong><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-weight: normal;">However, I am convinced, based on Scripture,
that Paul does <i><u>not</u></i> literally mean that some believers will leave
the bema empty-handed. Paul, as he often does, is using hyperbole to get his
point across that we are saved because of our faith in Christ and absolutely <i><u>nothing</u></i>
else, and that our works report card can't touch that with a
nine-kazillion-foot pole. I won't rehash it here, but if you're interested in
running through the details of my argument, take a look at the following
section of my article entitled "<a href="https://www.alittlestrength.com/articles/2018/1801-gold.htm#bema">Go for the Gold</a>."</span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><strong><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-weight: normal;">And that pretty well covers Church Age
salvation. So, the Church Age ends at the Rapture, which is right about where
we are now. And that means the world is almost ready to be introduced to...</span></strong></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><strong><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 14pt;"><b>3. Post-Church salvation</b></span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><strong><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-weight: normal;">As I indicated earlier, this seems to be the
one some people have a hard time dealing with—but Scripture is pretty clear.</span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><strong><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-weight: normal;">At the Rapture, the Church—the temple of the Holy
Spirit on earth—will be removed, and as a result Paul's prophetic words to the
believers in Thessalonica will be fulfilled:</span></strong></p>
<p style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">7</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">For the mystery of lawlessness already works. Only there is <b>one who restrains</b> </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[this can be no one but the Holy Spirit]</span><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-weight: normal;"> </span></b><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">now</span></b><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-weight: normal;"> </span></b><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black; font-weight: normal;">[i.e. during the Church Age]</span></b><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-weight: normal;">, until he is </span></b><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">taken out of the way</span></b><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-weight: normal;"> </span></b><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black; font-weight: normal;">[at the Rapture]</span></b><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-weight: normal;">. </span></b><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">8</span></sup></b><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-weight: normal;">Then the </span></b><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">lawless one</span></b><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-weight: normal;"> </span></b><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black; font-weight: normal;">[the
Antichrist]</span></b><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-weight: normal;"> </span></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-weight: normal;">will be revealed, whom the Lord will kill
with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the manifestation of his coming;<br><br>
(2 Thessalonians 2:7–8 / emphasis & </span><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black; font-weight: normal;">[comments]</span></b><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-weight: normal;"> added)</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><strong><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-weight: normal;">Notice that this one passage alone tells us
that there <i><u>must</u></i> be something fundamentally different about the
nature of salvation following the end of the Church Age at the Rapture. During
the Church Age, we have the Holy Spirit sealed in us and dwelling within us,
making us His temple on earth. While His temple is on earth, the Holy Spirit
acts to restrain evil—but that comes to an abrupt end at the Rapture, when both
the Restrainer and His Container are taken out of the way and He ceases this
restraining ministry. But that tells us something important:</span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0in; text-align: justify;"><strong><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000; font-weight: normal;">That means after the Rapture, salvation is <u>different</u>.
You can kiss that sealing and indwelling of the Holy Spirit business
goodbye—that's finished. That's how the Church is "blessed" (John
20:29), and we're <u>gone</u>.</span></i></strong></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><strong><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-weight: normal;">After His (and <i>our</i>) departure, it's not
long before the Antichrist is allowed to come to the fore and be revealed as
such, which I am inclined to believe officially occurs at the midpoint of the
Tribulation at His coming-out party at the abomination of desolation.</span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><strong><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-weight: normal;">In other words, I don't see the Antichrist's
"revelation" occurring immediately after the Rapture—I think there is
a brief window of time when he rises to his position of global prominence
before he is officially revealed for who and what he truly is at the
abomination of desolation. (For more, see the following section of an article I
wrote 10 years ago entitled "<a href="https://www.alittlestrength.com/articles/2013/1305-yes-he-can.htm#revealing">Yes He Can!</a>")</span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><strong><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-weight: normal;">The Word gives us several unmistakable clues
that believers during the Tribulation will <i>not</i> enjoy the same blessing
of eternal security that the Church does, and will be responsible for
maintaining a faithful witness, rather than letting their spiritual lights go
out, so to speak. Here are a couple:</span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">12</span></sup></b><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-weight: normal;">Because <b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">iniquity will be multiplied</span></b><strong><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-weight: normal;"> </span><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black; font-weight: normal;">[because evil is no longer
being restrained because the Restrainer has been taken out of the way]</span></b><b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-weight: normal;">, the love of many will grow cold. </span></b><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">13</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"><b>But he who endures to the end will
be saved.</b><br><br>
(Matthew 24:12–13 / emphasis & </span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black; font-weight: normal;">[comments]</span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-weight: normal;"> added)</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><strong><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-weight: normal;">Jesus is talking about the Tribulation period
preceding His return at the Second Coming, and He is referring to people who
have come to faith in Him during that period. He says they will have to
"endure to the end to be saved"—in other words, they will have to
maintain a faithful witness to maintain their spiritual condition. And it won't
be easy, either. In fact, legions will be martyred for their faith (these are
the folks showing up in heaven in Rev. 7:9–17).</span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><strong><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-weight: normal;">Another place where this theme of
"enduring to the end to be saved" is touched on is right after the
sixth bowl judgment is released, and things are getting gnarly as the world
approaches the climax of the Tribulation:</span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">15</span></sup></b><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-weight: normal;">Behold, I come
like a thief. <b>Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his clothes,</b></span><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-weight: normal;"> so that he
doesn't walk naked, and they see his shame.<br><br>
(Revelation 16:15 / emphasis added)</p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><strong><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-weight: normal;">Clothes are a reference to one's spiritual
condition, and keeping them on and not being found naked here means to maintain
one's spiritual relationship with God through obedience and maintaining a
faithful witness. And the thrust of the verse is clearly that during the
Tribulation, some will and some won't.</span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-weight: normal;">Finally, as I discuss in depth in my last </span><a href="https://www.alittlestrength.com/articles/2023/2304-parables.htm"><span face=""",sans-serif; font-weight: normal;" style = "font-weight: normal;">article</span></a><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-weight: normal;">, the Parable of the 10 Virgins and the Parable
of the Talents in Matthew 25 both serve to characterize the nature of the Sheep
and Goat Judgment, where Gentile survivors of the Tribulation who got a
sufficient taste of God's grace and mercy to at least enable them to refuse the
mark of the beast and survive the Great Tribulation stand before Christ, but
only those who maintained a faithful witness to the end (the sheep) are granted
entrance to the kingdom. The others (the goats) ran and hid when the going got
tough, and are denied entrance.</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><strong><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-weight: normal;">The bottom line is this: During the
Tribulation, salvation will take its most harrowing form. One might also say
its most tenuous. Legions of people will respond to the gospel, largely through
the preaching of the 144,000 Jewish evangelists God seals early in the
Tribulation to take the gospel to the post-Rapture world. And many of those who
come to faith in Christ will be martyred. But others among them, who manage to
avoid being beheaded, will have to maintain a faithful witness under great
duress all the way through the bowl judgments and the final conflict at
Armageddon to the bitter end in order to gain entrance into the kingdom.</span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><strong><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;">Put...the stones...down:</span></i></strong><strong><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070; font-weight: normal;"> Just to be clear, I have not forgotten that
God knew before the foundation of the world who would be saved and who would
not. That is 100 percent true according to Scripture. So understand that when I
seem to convey that a Tribulation survivor's salvation isn't a "done
deal" until that person passes muster at the Sheep and Goat Judgment, I'm
speaking from <u>our</u> point of view—not <u>God's</u>. His thoughts are
higher than our thoughts (Isa. 55:9), and all events for all time are spread
out before Him like a panorama. I'm not talking about an omniscient God's
sovereign knowledge—I'm talking about how it appears to our little
three-dimensional pea-brains here on earth.</span></i></strong></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><strong><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-weight: normal;">This is no doubt one reason why after the third
angel flies around the earth in Revelation 14:9–12, proclaiming that everyone
who takes the mark of the beast will suffer the wrath of God, we have this:</span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><strong><sup><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">13</span></sup></strong><strong><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-weight: normal;">I heard a voice
from heaven saying, <b>"Write, 'Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.'"</b> "Yes," says the Spirit, "that
they may rest from their labors, for their works follow with them."<br><br>
(Revelation 14:13 / emphasis added)</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><strong><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-weight: normal;">This is just before the outpouring of the bowl
judgments, the final and most devastating round of judgments of the
Tribulation. In verse 13, God makes no secret of the fact that it's going to be
so bad that those who "die in the Lord" from that point on will
actually be <i>blessed.</i> In other words:</span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0in; text-align: justify;"><strong><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000; font-weight: normal;">The final round of God's judgment on a world
that has shaken its fist in His face will be so devastating that for those in
the Lord, it will be a <u>blessing</u> to die and not have to suffer through
it.</span></i></strong></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><strong><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070;">Sealed...but not <u>blessed</u>??</span></i></strong><strong><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #700070; font-weight: normal;"> This is yet another reason why I am
convinced that I am correct in my position that the 144,000 Jewish evangelists
are martyred before the bowl judgments ever begin. Many highly respected
commentators see the seal the 144,000 receive in Revelation 7:3 as making it
possible for them to survive all the way to the end of the Tribulation—but this
must be read into Scripture, because nowhere does it say that. But if that's
the case, then according to the above verse the 144,000 are <u>not</u> blessed.
In other words, why would God force them to endure the unspeakable horrors of
the bowl judgments when their task is already complete, rather than blessing
them by allowing them to escape all that by being martyred like their prototype
Paul? It makes absolutely no sense to me—but more importantly it makes
absolutely no sense in light of Revelation 14:13.</span></i></strong></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><strong><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-weight: normal;">If only people could see the terrifying hole
they are digging for themselves when they casually pooh-pooh the gospel and
blow off the decision to trust Christ for their salvation <i><u>now</u></i>,
during the Age of Grace when it's <i>easy.</i> It breaks my heart to see people
get so distracted by the fleshly foolishness that the world spews out that they
give no thought to a holy God who loves them and sacrificed the life of His
beloved Son to save them.</span></strong></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: center;"><strong><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Yes, He <i><u>loves</u></i> us, and that's why He</span></strong></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><strong><i><u><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">wants</span></u></i></strong><strong><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> to save us...enough to sacrifice</span></strong></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><strong><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">the life of His perfect Son to do
so.</span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><strong><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-weight: normal;">And saving us is what salvation is all
about—regardless of the parameters associated with any given era.</span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><strong><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Summary:</span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><strong><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 136); color: #0000aa;">Pre-Church salvation</span></strong><strong><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-weight: normal;"> required faith in God's promise of a coming
Redeemer, faith demonstrated by the shedding of the innocent blood of animals,
and later by obedience to the Law of Moses and all the stipulated animal
sacrifices that effectively covered their sin until the promised Redeemer
arrived.</span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><strong><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 136); color: #0000aa;">Church Age salvation</span></strong><strong><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-weight: normal;"> requires only belief in faith in Christ's
perfect work of atonement for the forgiveness of sin, and nothing else. The
resultant sealing by and indwelling of the Holy Spirit, however, produces a
changed life from which Spirit-led works are able to flow naturally. The Bible
makes it clear that our salvation is not contingent on such works—they simply
give evidence of it.</span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><strong><span face=""",sans-serif" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 136); color: #0000aa;">Post-Church salvation</span></strong><strong><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; font-weight: normal;"> will also require belief in faith in
Christ's perfect work of atonement for the forgiveness of sin, but these people
will not enjoy the blessing of eternal security as did members of the Church.
Unlike Church Age believers, these people will have to demonstrate a faithful
witness to maintain their salvation under great persecution. Some will and will
enter the kingdom, and some won't and will be denied entrance.</span></strong></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: center;"><strong><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-weight: normal;">*<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>*<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>*<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>*<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>*</span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="background: rgb(201, 246, 255); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><strong><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black;">Whither the kingdom? </span></strong><strong><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-weight: normal;">I made a conscious decision to stop with the
Second Coming and the launching of the Millennial Kingdom in this article, and
refrain from discussing the nature of salvation during the kingdom.<br><br>
Of course, salvation in <i><u>any</u></i> era
is always based on belief in faith in Christ's atoning work for the forgiveness
of sin (looking <i>forward</i> or looking <i>back</i> to the cross). I will
admit that I am inclined to believe that salvation during the kingdom will be
somewhat similar to salvation during the Tribulation in the sense that
believers will still be expected to maintain a faithful witness (talk about
"blessed are those who have not seen, and yet believe"...they will
see the Messiah ruling the world with a rod of iron from Jerusalem with their
own eyes). Of course, believers during the Millennial Kingdom will obviously
not face anything remotely resembling the persecution of Daniel's 70th Week.<br><br>
I believe things will also resemble the Old
Testament in certain ways, however, because there <i>will</i> be a temple and
there <i>will</i> be animal </span></strong><span style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="https://www.alittlestrength.com/articles/2018/1806-bulls.htm#blood"><span face=""",sans-serif" style="text-decoration: none; text-underline: none; font-weight: normal">sacrifices</span></a></span><strong><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-weight: normal;">, but <i>not</i> for the express purpose of
atoning for the personal moral guilt of sin. Christ took care of that forever
on the cross at Calvary.<br><br>
Overall, I believe we're simply not told enough
detail in Scripture about the precise nature of how things will work during the
Millennial Kingdom to easily formulate a scripturally sound soteriological
analysis, and so any such analysis would presumably require a modest amount of
speculation. As you can see, I have a few opinions of my own (just like
everybody else). But I'm not writing this just to offer up my personal opinions
for your consideration. I want this to be based on the Word.</span></strong></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: center;"><strong><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-weight: normal;">*<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>*<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>*<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>*<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>*</span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><strong><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 14pt;">The backdrop</span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><strong><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-weight: normal;">I've touched on this before, but one thing I
want to emphasize before I wrap this up is that each one of these three periods
of time we've discussed has a backdrop that lends support to the nature of
salvation in that period.</span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><strong><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-weight: normal;">During Old Testament days, God often expressed
His power and presence to the world, especially His people Israel. He
dramatically delivered Israel from slavery in Egypt through a series of 10
miracles, each of which He had Moses announce to Pharaoh before they occurred.
He parted the Red Sea so they could cross on dry ground. His presence was
clearly evident as He guided them through the wilderness for 40 years before
entering the Promised Land.</span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><strong><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-weight: normal;">And let's just cut to the chase: There was the
greatest expression of God's power and presence of all time in the form of His
Son, whose miracles confirmed His identity as the promised Redeemer and who
rose from the grave on the third day as He promised and as was prophesied in
the Word.</span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><strong><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-weight: normal;">It's like I keep saying: With the revelation of
God's power and presence comes responsibility, and with the absence of the
appropriate response comes judgment. That's why God expected the Jews to
maintain their faith and trust in Him and obey the Law of Moses to demonstrate
that faith in Him and His promises. He had repeatedly revealed Himself to them
in mighty, miraculous ways, and as a result He expected the appropriate
response from them in terms of faith and trust. And the Old Testament makes one
thing abundantly clear:</span></strong></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: center;"><strong><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">When He got it, He <i>blessed</i> them.</span></strong></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><strong><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">When He didn't, He <i>judged</i>
them.</span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><strong><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-weight: normal;">And if that causes you any heartburn, repeat
after me:</span></strong></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: center;"><strong><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">He. Is. The. Creator.</span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><strong><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-weight: normal;">Deal with it. This culminated two thousand
years ago in Israel's rejection and crucifixion of His Son, the Redeemer He had
promised from the very beginning—and as a result, His judgment fell. And it
fell <i>hard.</i></span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><strong><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-weight: normal;">But with the advent of the Redeemer, the Church
was conceived and grafted into His covenant with His people Israel. With Phase
1 (Old Testament days) complete, in Phase 2 (the Church Age) you might say the
Father and the Son essentially took a step back and allowed the Holy Spirit to
come to earth and establish His temple in the hearts of believers. For nearly
the entire duration of the Church Age, God has not manifested His power and
presence to the world in any overt or tangible manner, and so the
responsibility that came with witnessing previous manifestations of His power
and presence were waived, in a sense. In its place came the sealing and
indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and the associated blessing of eternal security
for Church Age believers.</span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><strong><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-weight: normal;">After the Church is removed at the Rapture and
Phase 2 is complete, however, Phase 3 is a whole new deal. Now, stop and think:
People during the Tribulation will be those who witnessed the Rapture—God's
greatest supernatural intervention in the affairs of man since His Son walked
the earth two thousand years ago. Then they will witness what they openly
acknowledge is God's mighty hand moving in judgment (Rev. 6:16–17).</span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0in; text-align: justify;"><strong><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000; font-weight: normal;">Not exactly small potatoes.</span></i></strong></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><strong><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-weight: normal;">Also, keep in mind that many of those who come
to faith in Christ during the Tribulation will be people who casually blew off
the message of the gospel their entire lives, in spite of having that message
so readily available that they had to make a conscious effort to turn from it. <i><u>Good</u></i>
News?? They will be those who have allowed the pleasures and the pressures of
the world to completely distract them from the <i><u>Greatest</u></i> News in
the history of the universe, and thoughtlessly lived their lives blindly
accepting whatever load of satanic schlock the world dished out to them.</span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0in; text-align: justify;"><strong><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000; font-weight: normal;">Unlike "those who have not seen, and yet
have believed," these people will only be shaken from their spiritual
stupor by overt displays of God's power and presence. They're gonna see w-a-y
more than they bargained for.</span></i></strong></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><strong><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-weight: normal;">As a result, a holy, just, loving God is
justified in requiring more from these people in securing their salvation and a
place in His kingdom. With the Holy Spirit relocating His base of operations
back to heaven after the Rapture, that sealing and indwelling business will be
a thing of the past. God will make them understand the foolishness of their
choices prior to being plunged into the judgments of the Tribulation, and
countless legions of such people <i>will</i> respond to the gospel message and
at the end of the Tribulation <i>will</i> be saved and <i>will</i> enter the
kingdom, glory to His name!</span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><strong><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-weight: normal;">I think it is important for us to have a clear
understanding of the particulars of salvation, both in our own era of the
Church Age as well as <i>before</i> and <i>after</i> the Church Age. That's
because I am convinced that when we <i><u>do</u></i>, we can't help but
cultivate a deeper appreciation of God's nature, and here's a tip:</span></strong></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: center;"><strong><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">He's <i>not</i> Santa and He's <i>not</i> the Grinch.</span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><strong><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-weight: normal;">He is a supremely loving, infinitely holy, and
perfectly just Creator God—the Righteous Judge and a loving Heavenly Father,
and the differing parameters of salvation in these three different eras amply
reflect that fact. And even more importantly for us <i>now</i> as Church Age
believers, it helps us gain a deeper appreciation of the unsearchable riches
and blessings we have in Christ!</span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><strong><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-weight: normal;">And <i>that,</i> in turn, can only cause us to
cultivate a deeper and more profound love for our Lord and Savior, who shed His
blood on a cross at Calvary so that we could be saved, have His perfect
righteousness imputed to us through faith, and be eternally reconciled to the
Father.</span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><strong><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-weight: normal;">And, at least in <i>our</i> case...</span></strong></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0in; text-align: justify;"><strong><i><span face=""",sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000; font-weight: normal;">Remain that way until we hear the sound of a
trumpet.</span></i></strong></p>
</div>
<br><b>From Greg Lauer @ <a href="https://www.alittlestrength.com/articles/2023/2305-salvation.htm">A Little Strength—MAY '23</a></b><br>
Greg L.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13488517852547324706noreply@blogger.com52tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-923571518579487836.post-7671775345032946982023-05-26T11:51:00.004-05:002023-07-07T14:56:45.387-05:00On the Precipice<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJOGgy11LxP6CKCU7MLVjN3ReL_62N5nd24MkYwxVyHvk2lOu8gZUxLLJ50SocS8Q_MyFuiebd4U_XJ5iUxm4C2Co2ZNN0j9P1LtEQ19TFDZ202F2BVbixqhQSH9oPO8487W1mFvtAeZ8v7Z5U1Y9l-wM3ClsmRURFncEXXwr3COSlAXfyVHKsoVI/s1280/traincliff.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJOGgy11LxP6CKCU7MLVjN3ReL_62N5nd24MkYwxVyHvk2lOu8gZUxLLJ50SocS8Q_MyFuiebd4U_XJ5iUxm4C2Co2ZNN0j9P1LtEQ19TFDZ202F2BVbixqhQSH9oPO8487W1mFvtAeZ8v7Z5U1Y9l-wM3ClsmRURFncEXXwr3COSlAXfyVHKsoVI/w640-h360/traincliff.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>The world is racing toward the cliff at breakneck speed, like a bat out of hell, and the most painful thing to watch is that the answers for <i>why</i>, <i>when</i>, and <i>how </i>are readily available in that dusty old book that sits unread and untouched on so many shelves the world over, yet few—<i>even Christians</i>—realize.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p></p><blockquote>A revelation of Jesus Christ that God gave to Him <b><u><span style="background-color: #fcff01; font-size: x-large;">to show</span> to His servants what things must quickly come to pass</u></b> . . . (Rev. 1:1, LSV)</blockquote><p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>When it comes to prophetic awareness (i.e., "watching": Mt. 24:42–51; Rev. 3:3), there is a healthy middle ground that the church has historically failed to maintain: <i>eagerly watching for Christ's return with faith in His prophetic promises without resorting to "thus saith the LORD" predictions</i>. In other words, avoiding the two extremes: "no one can ever know" on one end, and "Tuesday at 2 o'clock" on the other. Most of the church has been lulled to sleep by normalcy bias (2 Pt. 3:3–7); yet on the other side, a vocal minority have appointed themselves prophets and speak when the LORD hasn't spoken. These two extremes are often accompanied by many false teachings and false gospels.</p><p><br /></p><p>As watchmen firmly rooted in Christ, with eyes wide open, we must press on with full assurance and firm conviction, "and so much the more as you see the Day coming near" (Heb. 10:25). Ironically, our message—<a href="https://www.unsealed.org/2019/09/the-whore-and-beast-two-lanes-one-road.html">the Gospel</a>—is extremely simple, and our mission clear: share the Good News with as many as possible while there are still a few fleeting moments left (Mt. 28:18-20; Acts 1:8). Yet how many have we witnessed these past number of years "tossed to and fro" (Eph. 4:14, ESV) by divisive and false teachings, entrapped by the cunningness of others? My brothers and sisters are the ones who have remained steadfast under trial, who have held unswervingly to the truth of the Gospel while eagerly "waiting for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ" (Tit. 2:13, LSV). Regardless of our circumstances, and regardless of the spiritual infidelity of others, we will press on.</p><p><br /></p><p>The signs are evident that <a href="http://www.unsealed.org/2016/05/the-20-biggest-signs-showing-end-of-age.html">this is the final generation</a>; moreover, the final generation <a href="https://www.unsealed.org/2022/12/the-final-four.html">is reaching its end</a>. While it's sensible to avoid specific date predictions, it's also utter blindness not to recognize that this <i>is</i> the season of Christ's return (see <a href="http://www.unsealed.org/2016/07/10-reasons-jesus-will-come-back-in-our.html">here</a>, <a href="https://www.unsealed.org/2022/09/awake-watching-and-ready-to-go-nearing.html">here</a>, <a href="https://www.unsealed.org/2021/11/remember.html">here</a>, <a href="https://www.unsealed.org/2017/07/as-it-was-in-days-of-noah.html">here</a>, <a href="https://www.unsealed.org/2022/04/no-more-intervals-transition-phase.html">here</a>, <a href="https://www.unsealed.org/2018/05/the-sign.html">here</a>, and <a href="https://www.unsealed.org/2019/01/prophetic-milestones.html">here</a>). Count your lucky stars it's not some other generation! This is great news for those who know Jesus, but frightening news for those who do not.</p><p><br /></p><p>I have long suspected that as we draw nearer to the trumpet call, the world would look increasingly fit for the Tribulation, yet we would not witness large-scale war in the Middle East or nuclear war between the East and West—these are things reserved for The Time of Jacob's Trouble, the 70th Week of Daniel (e.g., Ps. 83; Ezek. 38–39; Rev. 6:3–4). The world certainly looks primed in every conceivable way: CBDCs are being rolled out <i>this year</i>, Global Recession is imminent (Rev. 6:5–6), AI has gone mainstream (cf. Rev. 13:15), Mark of the Beast technology is ready in the form of <a href="https://www.unsealed.org/2022/03/the-ubiquitous-qr-code-could-this-be.html">QR codes</a>, <a href="https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/gates-funded-vaccine-patch-infants-gambia/">microneedle patches</a>, quantum-dot tattoos, and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/science/elon-musks-neuralink-gets-us-fda-approval-human-clinical-study-brain-implants-2023-05-25/" target="_blank">Neuralink</a>, and the globalist aristocracy is nearing seven years out from their coveted <a href="https://sdgs.un.org/2030agenda" target="_blank">2030 date for global governance and world transformation</a>.</p><p><br /></p><p>Despite my aforementioned suspicion, it's becoming increasingly difficult to see how the world holds itself together for even weeks or months:</p><p><br /></p><p><b>1.</b> Iran has crossed every red line Israel has. <i>The Hill</i> <a href="https://thehill.com/opinion/national-security/4018271-is-iran-unlocking-the-gates-to-armageddon/">now reports</a> that Iran has enough enriched uranium for at least three nuclear warheads, and that was as of three months ago!</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p></p><blockquote><p>Now, according to a February 2023 official International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report to the United Nations Security Council, Iran has portentously amassed a stockpile of 193 pounds of U-235 enriched to 60 percent, or enough mass to produce three full-scale atomic weapons. It has also, alarmingly, demonstrated a menacing capacity to enrich U-235 particles to 83.7 percent. Equally disconcerting was 'two cascades of IR-6 centrifuges at Iran’s Fordo facility' were 'configured' to facilitate reaching a weaponized grade of 90 percent.</p><p><br /></p><p>Iran clearly knows now how to unlock the doors to a nuclear Armageddon. There is a growing sense in Israel that Jerusalem is quickly running out of time to prevent Iran from becoming a regional nuclear power. Moreover, it is highly likely that, as part of Tehran’s partnership to supply Russian President Vladimir Putin with drones for use in Ukraine, Moscow is helping Iran overcome the last of several remaining technical obstacles to producing, weaponizing, delivering and detonating a nuclear bomb.</p></blockquote><p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Israel recently struck Gaza and is apparently about to strike Hezbollah in Lebanon in preparation for open war with Iran. What has been decades in the making is now here.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>2.</b> U.S. senators have <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/senators-issued-satellite-phones-new-security-measures/" target="_blank">suddenly been issued satellite phones</a> for emergency communication in apparent preparation for telecommunication failures and impending disasters of unspecified sort.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>3.</b> The Russian leadership is now making direct nuclear threats on Europe; this via the former Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev:</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p></p><blockquote><p>Europe has lost its mind. The US usually acts according to its pragmatic interests, they don't fight themselves, they just make money. As for Europe, for me it's an amazing story. They constantly heat up and enthuse the situation with their decisions. In this situation they will supply planes to the Kiev regime. More than that, they might also give the Ukrainians nuclear weapons.</p><p><br /></p><p>But then that means a missile with a nuclear warhead will reach them, and there are irreversible laws of war. If it is a nuclear weapon, a pre-emptive strike would be necessary. <i>The Anglo-Saxons don't quite get it and think it won't come to that</i>. It will happen, under certain conditions.</p></blockquote><p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><b>4. </b>This Pentecost Sunday ends <a href="https://www2.cbn.com/news/israel/millions-christians-mobilize-fasting-and-prayer-israel-pentecost">21 days of concerted prayer for Israel</a> by millions of Christians for God to finally fulfill His promises to Israel. What if God answers these prayers? What if invoking God actually begins the process of Israel's redemption?</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p></p><blockquote><p>The call to pray begins May 7th and runs through the 28th. Bickle says the response to this call has now gone viral, and global. </p><p><br /></p><p>'Well, it’s blown up on us and we did not understand ... we quit counting at the 1 million mark about April 1st, three weeks after giving this call, and there’s thousands of ministries participating at this point in time,' he said, and added, 'I’m guessing well over 5 million will participate.'</p><p><br /></p><p>The scripture chosen for the time of prayer is Isaiah, Chapter 62.</p><p><br /></p><p>'I don’t know any chapter that has more divine information about God’s purpose for Jerusalem than Isaiah 62,' Bickle explained. </p><p><br /></p><p>Bickle believes that number may eventually grow to as many as 100 million Christians praying for Israel. The initiative will culminate on the Southern Steps of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount on the day of Pentecost, (the Jewish day of Shavuot), May 28th.</p></blockquote><p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>I can't, with any reasonable level of confidence, speculate on a day, but I recently expressed my personal belief that this past fall began <a href="https://www.unsealed.org/2022/12/the-final-four.html">the final four years</a> of the Church Age. That is not to say the ship stays afloat even that long; rather, any of these four years could be the year of the trumpet—the year of the open door in Heaven (Rev. 4:1; cf. Rev. 3:8–10; Isa. 26:19–21; Jn. 14:1–3). Normalcy bias makes it exceedingly hard for many to entertain this possibility, but God's prophetic promises are <b><u>not</u></b> delayed. His promises will <u><b>not</b></u> fail. His plan has a definite end—the prophetic scenario will not be some far-off distant future forever. <i>It's here and now</i>.</p><p><br /></p>Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03907296435997404954noreply@blogger.com42tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-923571518579487836.post-89438969561289710342023-05-01T15:46:00.102-05:002024-03-02T01:03:35.501-06:00The Parables of Matthew 25<div class="WordSection1">
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBGcpKhghAWg2538Zvzis84ItWbM9JkzYAAnI451cNgAiOUHFDQXPu3dk__rneAOy0PB0vjvBzmYvttsJCdbD8Mc6PEO4_eHHsDAWQnn7FZPsWV__sqGbx-_mWwRHcKb_qBpY5Lvz89HpgAVQrMHbzS8iVHNDrUAr1xBnQexh5LnRthQKD6sFSZZKg/s1200/10virgins.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="765" data-original-width="1200" height="408" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBGcpKhghAWg2538Zvzis84ItWbM9JkzYAAnI451cNgAiOUHFDQXPu3dk__rneAOy0PB0vjvBzmYvttsJCdbD8Mc6PEO4_eHHsDAWQnn7FZPsWV__sqGbx-_mWwRHcKb_qBpY5Lvz89HpgAVQrMHbzS8iVHNDrUAr1xBnQexh5LnRthQKD6sFSZZKg/w640-h408/10virgins.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif">In this
article, I want to deal with a topic that has nipped at my heels for as long as
I can remember. Like many believers out there, I have long struggled to
properly sort out some of the details of certain aspects of the Olivet
Discourse, arguably the premier teaching on the end times that Jesus delivered
to four of His disciples during the last week of His earthly ministry.<span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif" style="color: black;">And in this case, the heel-nipping of which I speak pertains to
the three parables that appear at the beginning of Matthew 25:</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">1.</span></b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> The Parable of the 10 Virgins (Matt.
25:1–13)</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: justify;"><b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">2.</span></b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> The Parable of the Talents (Matt.
25:14–30)</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: justify;"><b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">3.</span></b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> The Sheep and Goat Judgment (Matt.
25:31–46)</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif">(I came <i>t-h-i-s</i>
close to calling this article "Ladies, Loot, and Livestock," but
luckily the Holy Spirit was able to wring that one out of me...although I admit
it took a couple of trips to the woodshed.)</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif">I will
end up focusing a bit more attention on the Sheep and Goat Judgment than I will
on the first two parables because, as we shall see, I believe the Parable of
the 10 Virgins and the Parable of the Talents both speak directly to the Sheep
and Goat Judgment in ways many people miss.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">And I can say that with a clear conscience because <b><u>I</u></b>
missed this for years.</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif">On a
somewhat technical note, be aware that although a lot of people casually refer
to all three of these teachings in Matthew 25 as parables for the sake of
simplicity (this writer included, most of the time), many Bible commentators do
not consider the Sheep and Goat Judgment to be a parable per se—and I must say
that I agree. In other words, there is a reason why it is called the Sheep and
Goat Judgment (aka the Judgment of the Nations), and <i>not</i> the Parable of
the Sheep and Goats. I'm just saying...so when I refer to the
"parables" of Matthew 25, as I did in the title, just be aware that
I'm tossing in the Sheep and Goat Judgment.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif">Rather
than a parable in the traditional sense (i.e. a succinct, fictional story that
serves as a metaphorical analogy that is intended to teach or illustrate one
primary, overarching principle without excessive reliance on minor structural
details), in reality it reads more like a slightly parabolic description of an
actual event. The majority of Bible commentators agree that it refers to a <i>real</i>
judgment involving <i>real</i> people that will take place in a <i>real</i>
geographic location at a <i>real</i> point in time, and that Jesus is merely
injecting a couple of symbolic images into it. In other words:</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">This is a real judgment, but Jesus isn't judging barnyard
animals here.</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif">But whatever
you want to call the Sheep and Goat Judgment, as I worked on my last </span><a href="https://www.alittlestrength.com/articles/2023/2303-hints.htm"><span face="sans-serif">article</span></a><span face="sans-serif"> I began
to see a few things that helped clear the fog that had caused me to struggle
with some of the interpretive details of these parables in certain ways for a
long time. So, in a sense this article finishes something I started in my last
one.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif">First,
however, I want to deal with an important topic that will help the rest of what
I want to discuss fall into place much more easily...and it concerns what I am
convinced is one of the key stumbling blocks that causes good people to go
stumbling off in any number of wrong directions in regard to the interpretation
of these three parables. Again, I touched on some of this in my last </span><a href="https://www.alittlestrength.com/articles/2023/2303-hints.htm"><span face="sans-serif">article</span></a><span face="sans-serif">, but I
want to look at it now in a bit more detail.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face="sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;">An end-time Who's Who</span></b></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif">I think
I've come to understand and appreciate the reason why so many people go off in
a variety of wrong directions in their effort to correctly interpret the
parables of Matthew 25, and I certainly can't blame them for it. It's a very
easy problem to fall victim to, and I'm in a perfect position to say so because
<b><i><u>I</u></i></b> fell victim to it for many years. It takes a wee bit of
logic and grunt work, but it's not really a difficult problem to solve once we
confront it straight on. It's a simple problem, and it is simply this:</span></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Not every piece of information we
need to</span></b></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">correctly interpret the parables in the Olivet</span></b></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Discourse is found in the Olivet Discourse.</span></b></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif">Profound,
I know. (And note that this same principle applies to <i>many</i> passages of
Scripture, not just these three parables.) In other words, many people tend to
look at these parables in a relatively isolated context, and then proceed to
rub their chins and muse:</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">"Gosh, who could these wise virgins, foolish virgins,
faithful servants, lazy servants, sheep, and goats possibly <u>be</u>?! Let me
put on my thinking cap!"</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif">And it's
off to the speculative races without first stopping to give any serious
consideration to who they <i><u>can</u></i> be, who they <i><u>can't</u></i>
be, and <i><u>why</u>.</i> The point is that we have to avail ourselves of
pertinent details that are found in other places in Scripture to get some clear
ideas about who these characters are (and <i>aren't</i>) before we even try to
interpret what the Lord is communicating to us about the end times. So with
that thought in mind, it's a-hunting we will go.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif">First
off, timing. I'm sure this is old hat for many of you, but the first step is to
ascertain the <i>time</i> these three parables are associated with...and
luckily the plain text of Scripture makes this surprisingly easy:</span></p>
<div style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); border: 1pt none black; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in;">
<p style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">1</span></sup></b><b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Then</span></b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> </span><span face="sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[Greek:
<i>tote</i> (then; at that time)]</span><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> the <b>Kingdom of Heaven</b> </span><span face="sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[i.e. the Millennial Kingdom]</span><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to
meet the bridegroom.</span></p>
<p style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">(Matthew 25:1 / emphasis & </span><span face="sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[comments]</span><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> added)</span></p>
<p style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">14</span></sup></b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">For <b>it</b> </span><span face="sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[the Millennial
Kingdom—same thing discussed in the previous parable]</span><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> is like a man going into another country, who called his own
servants and entrusted his goods to them.</span></p>
<p style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">(Matthew 25:14 / emphasis & </span><span face="sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[comments]</span><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> added)</span></p>
<p style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">31</span></sup></b><b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">But when the Son of Man comes in his glory </span></b><span face="sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[same deal—when He returns at the Second Coming
to establish the Millennial Kingdom]</span><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">, and all the holy angels with him,
then he will sit on the throne of his glory.</span></p>
<p style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">(Matthew 25:31 / emphasis & </span><span face="sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[comments]</span><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> added)</span></p>
</div>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><i><span face="sans-serif">Tote</span></i><span face="sans-serif">—the
opening word of chapter 25 tells us everything we need to know about the
timing, but each of the other two teachings reinforce the same idea in their
very first verse:</span></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">At. That. Time.</span></b></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif">OK, at <i>what</i>
time? Now, don't let yourself be lulled to sleep by the fact that these are the
opening words of a new chapter...back up. That's right, keep backing up...back
into chapter 24. Back...back...back...AH HA! There it is—the previous event
that pins down the time being referred to:</span></p>
<p style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">29</span></sup></b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be
darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from
heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: <b><sup>30</sup></b>And
then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the
tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the
clouds of heaven with power and great glory. <b><sup>31</sup></b>And he shall
send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together
his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.</span><br /><br />
<span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">(Matthew 24:29–31 AKJV)</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif">The
Second Coming of Christ to the earth to establish His kingdom. So that puts a
timestamp on these three parables:</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">All three occur at (or at least shortly after) the time Christ
returns to the earth, and is in the initial process of setting up the
Millennial Kingdom.</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif">This is a
crucial detail, because it gives us the ammunition we need to determine who the
players can (and cannot) be in these parables.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif">Now,
let's break this down and carefully consider all the distinct groups of people
who <i>could at least <u>theoretically</u></i> be around at the Second Coming,
and what their potential relationship to the Sheep and Goat Judgment and the
subsequent decisions concerning entrance into the kingdom might be. And note
that I'm focusing attention on the Sheep and Goat Judgment because, as we shall
see, the Parable of the 10 Virgins and the Parable of the Talents both speak
directly to this judgment.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face="sans-serif" style="background: rgb(201, 246, 255); color: black;">a. The Church </span></b></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif">Nope,
sorry. Let's knock this one out right now. The body of Christ is long gone at
this point, because we are raptured before the Tribulation even gets started.
However, since the Church will be returning <i><u>with</u></i> Christ at the Second
Coming, technically speaking the Church <i><u>will</u></i> be around for the
initial proceedings that take place prior to the launching of the kingdom—just
in our <i>glorified bodies.</i> But that doesn't count in this discussion—we're
only talking about natural-bodied people here.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif">Minus the
Church, which includes both Jewish and Gentile believers, we can separate the
remainder of humanity into Jews and Gentiles who were <i>not</i> part of the
Church and so entered into Daniel's 70th Week. However, let's first dispense
with all those who fall victim to the deception of the Antichrist:</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face="sans-serif" style="background: rgb(201, 246, 255); color: black;">b. Those who took the mark </span></b></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif" style="color: black;">I mentioned this in my last <a href="https://www.alittlestrength.com/articles/2023/2303-hints.htm">article</a> but I'm afraid I was a bit sloppy in the way I said what I said.
So, I want to clarify this and be a bit more precise:</span></p>
<p style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0000aa;">19</span></sup></b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0000aa;">I saw <b>the beast</b> </span><span face="sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[the Antichrist]</span><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">, the kings of the earth, and <b>their armies </b></span><span face="sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[in Greek, a form of <i>strateuma—</i>the exact
same word used to describe the "armies" returning with Christ]</span><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">, gathered together to make war against him who sat on the horse
and against his army.</span><br /><br />
<b><sup><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0000aa;">20</span></sup></b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0000aa;">The beast was taken, and with him the false prophet who worked
the signs in his sight, with which he deceived those who had received the mark
of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were thrown alive
into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><sup>21</sup>The rest </b></span><span face="sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[i.e. all their
"armies" with them in verse 19, <i><u>all</u></i> of whom would have
received the mark]</span><span face="sans-serif" style="color: black;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">were killed with the sword of him who sat on the horse, </span></b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">the sword which came out of his mouth </span><span face="sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[slaying the "armies" of the
Antichrist is part of job one, right along with dispatching the Antichrist and
the False Prophet to the lake of fire]</span><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">. So all the birds were filled with
their flesh.</span><br /><br />
<span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">(Revelation 19:19–21 / emphasis & </span><span face="sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[comments]</span><span face="sans-serif" style="color: black;"> </span><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">added)</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif" style="color: black;">When I discussed this in my last <a href="https://www.alittlestrength.com/articles/2023/2303-hints.htm">article</a>, I jumped to the conclusion that verse 21 <i>alone</i> allowed me
to conclude that this included <i><u>all</u></i> those who took the mark. That
was a little bit sloppy on my part, however, because there is a bit more to it
than that—I missed a step. "The rest" in verse 21 doesn't
grammatically refer to all those who took the mark, it grammatically refers to
the armies of the Antichrist (i.e. him and his "kings") in verse 19.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif" style="color: black;">Now, it's pretty safe to assume that everyone in the Antichrist's
"armies" would certainly have taken his mark and worship his image.
But I am still convinced this represents <i><u>all</u></i> the those who took
the mark who are alive at the Second Coming, and here's why.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif" style="color: black;">Note with care what verse 14 says about Christ's return to the
earth just a few verses earlier:</span></p>
<p style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">14</span></sup></b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">The <b>armies</b> </span><span face="sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[a form of <i>strateuma</i>,
the same word used for the Antichrist's "armies" in verse 19]</span><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> which are in heaven, clothed in white, pure, fine linen,
followed him on white horses.</span><br /><br />
<span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">(Revelation 19:14 / emphasis & </span><span face="sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[comments]</span><span face="sans-serif" style="color: black;"> </span><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">added)</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif" style="color: black;">This is the Church—the entire body of Christ returning with the
King to rule and reign with Him in His kingdom. And we are referred to using a
form of the exact same Greek word <i>strateuma</i> (</span><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #001320;">an expedition, an army, a company of soldiers)</span><span face="sans-serif" style="color: black;"> that is rendered in many English translations as
"armies" in both verses.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif" style="color: black;">So, it easy and quite natural to think of the Antichrist's
"armies" in verse 19 in a manner similar to the way we think of the
Church: The "armies" of the Antichrist are all those who worship him
and choose to follow him during the Tribulation, in much the same way that the
"armies" of the Lord who return with <i><u>Him</u></i> in verse 14
are all those who worshiped Him and chose to follow Him (and were raptured to
be with Him) <i>before</i> the Tribulation.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif" style="color: black;">And since all those who worship the Antichrist and have chosen to
follow him comprise all those who have taken his mark and worship his image,
there we have it: We can readily conclude that <i><u>all</u></i> living markees
are killed at the Second Coming in Revelation 19:21 because they can all be
thought of collectively as the "armies" of the Antichrist in verse
19, just as the entire Church that returns with Christ at the Second Coming can
be thought of collectively as the "armies" of the Lord in verse 14.
Thus, those who took the mark of the beast <i>cannot</i> be players in the
parables of Matthew 25 because they are all <i><u>dead</u></i>. Q.E.D.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif" style="color: black;">This is precisely what I stated in my last <a href="https://www.alittlestrength.com/articles/2023/2303-hints.htm">article</a>, but I just took a more carefully thought-out route to get there
this time.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif" style="color: black;">The argument could also be made that there is no need for those
who took the mark to stand at any such judgment anyway, since their judgment is
sealed according to the third angel who flies around the earth in Revelation 14
prior to the release of the bowl judgments:</span></p>
<p style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">9</span></sup></b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a great
voice, "<b>If <i><u>anyone</u></i> worships the beast and his image, and
receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, <sup>10</sup>he also will drink
of the wine of the wrath of God, which is prepared unmixed in the cup of his
anger</b> </span><span face="sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[i.e. their judgment is sealed]</span><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">. He will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of
the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. <b><sup>11</sup></b>The smoke
of their torment goes up forever and ever. They have no rest day and night,
those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his
name."</span><br /><br />
<span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">(Revelation 14:9–11 / emphasis & </span><span face="sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[comments]</span><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> added)</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif" style="color: black;">The eternal fate of all those who take the mark is pronounced by
an angel. Done deal—no exceptions. No need for any further judgment to be made.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif" style="color: black;">Now, as we shall see, Christ is judging people for their faithful
Christian witness (or the lack thereof) at the Sheep and Goat Judgment to
determine if they warrant admittance to His kingdom. So...I'm sorry, but why in
heaven's name would anyone who took the mark of the beast and worshiped the
image of the Antichrist and as a result had their judgment and eternal
punishment already announced by an angel need to show up at a judgment to
determine if their "Christian witness" was sufficiently up to snuff
for the Lord to grant them entrance into His Millennial Kingdom?</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif" style="color: black;">Be sure and get back to me on that one.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face="sans-serif" style="background: rgb(201, 246, 255); color: black;">c. The 144,000 </span></b></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif" style="color: black;">As I've discussed on previous <a href="https://www.alittlestrength.com/articles/2021/2107-roundup.htm#gospel">occasions</a>, I am convinced that <i><u>all</u></i> of the 144,000 Jewish
evangelists that are sealed in Revelation 7 and bring in a huge harvest of
souls into the kingdom are martyred (by being beheaded, just like their
prototype Paul) before the trumpet judgments are complete during the Great
Tribulation. In other words, I believe their being sealed simply protects them
long enough to complete their mission. But be advised:</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">That is my scriptural oh-PEEN-yun.</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif" style="color: black;">There is no shortage of highly capable commentators whom I greatly
respect who disagree, and believe that the seal the 144,000 receive in
Revelation 7 guarantees their survival all the way to the Second Coming. It's
just that I see this differently. I won't get sidetracked on it here, but I
have what I believe are scripturally sound reasons for holding this view.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif" style="color: black;">But whichever way that jodenkoeken crumbles, I look at it this
way:</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">If that's the case, then just consider the 144,000 as an
auxiliary group to the Jewish remnant. It won't cause me any heartburn, nor
will it cause any damage to any of my other oh-PEEN-yuns. I just happen to
disagree.</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif" style="color: black;">Oh, and by the way: It goes without saying that there will be
positions of honor reserved for every single one of these 144,000 apostle Pauls
in the kingdom. Some even speculate they will serve as Christ's royal guard.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face="sans-serif" style="background: rgb(201, 246, 255); color: black;">d</span></b><b><span face="sans-serif" style="background: rgb(201, 246, 255); color: black;">. Unbelieving Jews </span></b></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif" style="color: black;">I don't want to be dogmatic about it, but I am of the <a href="https://www.alittlestrength.com/articles/2020/2001-delusion-redux.htm">opinion</a> that unbelieving Jews in the Great Tribulation will be induced by
the strong delusion of 2 Thessalonians 2:11 into worshiping the Antichrist as their
Messiah, and I think it's safe to assume that this will include taking his mark
and worshiping his image. But mark or no mark, Scripture makes it clear that
the Antichrist will still go after <i><u>all</u></i> the Jews with a vengeance.
Why?</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">Because Satan doesn't want their <u>devotion</u>—he wants them <u>dead</u>.</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif" style="color: black;">Opinions vary among capable Bible commentators, with some seeing
many unbelieving Jews surviving to the end of the Tribulation and others taking
a more literal tack on Scripture and seeing them all slain by the forces of the
Antichrist prior to the Second Coming. Personally, I go with the latter because
it appears to me that's what the plain text of Scripture indicates.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif" style="color: black;">To wit, note one of the verses that speaks to the fate of the
Jewish people during the Tribulation found in Zechariah:</span></p>
<p style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">8</span></sup></b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">And it shall come to pass, that <b>in all the land</b> </span><span face="sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[i.e. in Israel]</span><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">, said the
LORD, <b>two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be
left therein</b> </span><span face="sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[in the
mountainous region of Seir (aka Edom) that lies across Israel's eastern border
in Jordan, which includes Petra]</span><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">.</span><br /><br />
<b><sup><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">9</span></sup></b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will
refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they
shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and
they shall say, The LORD is my God.</span><br /><br />
<span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">(Zechariah 13:8–9 AKJV / emphasis & </span><span face="sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[comments]</span><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> added)</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif" style="color: black;">And for what it's worth, note that the mountains of Seir are in
modern-day Jordan and lie along the eastern side of the valley that forms the
border between Jordan and southern Israel—but in the eyes of the LORD it's
still part of the land of Israel. 'Nuff said.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif" style="color: black;">The one-third that are refined as silver and tried as gold
constitute the believing Jewish remnant who call upon the LORD at the climax of
the Tribulation to save them from the overwhelming forces of the Antichrist,
who is just about to make Satan's dream come true. How? By doing what Satan has
dreamed of doing for the last two thousand years: wiping out the Jews so they <i><u>can't</u></i>
call upon the LORD to save them—which He will and in the process bring Satan's
pathetic excuse of a kingdom to an inglorious end.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif" style="color: black;">Note that the unbelieving two-thirds "shall be cut off and
die," and most commentators believe that, as I said, they will be slain by
the forces of the Antichrist. Satan's man is going to pull out all the stops in
going after <i><u>all</u></i> the Jews in the Great Tribulation, but God
protects the believing remnant in the mountains of Seir, aka Edom (Rev.
12:13–17; Isa. 63:1). But his failure to get the remnant doesn't stop him from
going after the others, regardless of whether they worship him or not.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">And according to Zechariah, he'll get them.</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face="sans-serif" style="background: rgb(201, 246, 255); color: black;">e. The Jewish remnant </span></b></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif" style="color: black;">The believing Jewish remnant clearly
survives the Tribulation for the very <i>purpose</i> of being ushered alive into
the Millennial Kingdom. It is <i>they</i> who will call on the name of the LORD
to save them at the climax of Daniel's 70th Week, and save them He will. In
other words, it is <i>they</i> who actually trigger the Second Coming to begin
with, which is precisely why Satan has worked so hard and for so long to
completely annihilate the Jewish people.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif" style="color: black;">Some people want to see the Jewish
remnant as the <i>sheep</i> at the Sheep and Goat Judgment, but this makes
little sense. Since they are promised point-blank in Scripture to be ushered
into the kingdom, it strikes me as odd that they would be required to stand
before Christ to be judged in order to be <i>granted admittance</i> to the
kingdom. But here's the clincher:</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #700070;">It's an </span></i></b><b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #700070;">ethnos<i> thing:</i></span></b><i><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #700070;"> Matthew 25:32 refers to the sheep
and the goats collectively as "the nations," and uses a form of the
Greek word </span></i><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #700070;">ethnos.<i> This virtually
proves the sheep and goats are <u>all</u> Gentiles.</i></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif" style="color: black;">So, not only does it not make any
sense to see the Jewish remnant standing at the Sheep and Goat Judgment to be
judged as to whether or not they qualify to be allowed into the kingdom, but
are we told straight out that the sheep and goats are all <i>Gentiles.</i></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif" style="color: black;">Let me be quick to point out,
however, that although I am certain the Jewish remnant are not <i>players</i>
at the Sheep and Goat Judgment in the sense of being subject to any such
judgment in order to gain admittance to the kingdom (as are the sheep and
goats), as we shall see in a moment I believe it is clear that they are <i>present</i>
at the Sheep and Goat Judgment, since the Lord clearly refers to them as if
they were. In other words, it appears they're in the audience.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif" style="color: black;">And last but by no means least:</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face="sans-serif" style="background: rgb(201, 246, 255); color: black;">f. Gentile Tribulation survivors </span></b></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif" style="color: black;">This final group consists of Gentiles
who survive the Tribulation—and as we discussed earlier, since a very strong
case can be made that all living markees are slain by Christ at the Second
Coming, we can state with a high degree of confidence that none of these
Gentiles who survived the Tribulation took the mark of the beast or worshiped
his image.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif" style="color: black;">The fact that none of these took the
mark is a subtlety that slides by many, and it is here we get a bit of
interpretive jerky to gnaw on. Many students of the Bible tend to divide this
group into believers and unbelievers—the saved (the sheep) and the unsaved (the
goats), in the same way people are separated today during the Church Age. In
other words, according to them:</span></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">You
got yer Gentile believers,</span></b></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">and yer Gentile unbelievers.</span></b></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Sheep and goats—cut and dried.</span></b></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif">They
instinctively take the same saved/unsaved Church Age mentality that
legitimately applies to people now <i><u>during</u></i> the Church Age, and
apply it to people who have witnessed that Church Age come to an abrupt,
earth-shattering end and God's hand move mightily in judgment. But after the
Church Age ends, that same mentality that is based in part on the doctrine of
the eternal security of the (Church Age) believer no longer applies—and that
poses some legitimate questions that warrant legitimate scriptural answers.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #700070;">Just to be clear:</span></i></b><i><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #700070;"> When we say
"eternal security," it doesn't mean the eternal security of <u>all</u>
believers in general, for all time. It means the eternal security of <u>Church
Age</u> believers...that is, the eternal security of <b>members of the body of
Christ</b>. Not exactly the same. When Jesus says in John 20:29 "Blessed
are those who have not seen and yet have believed," He is talking about
members of His body—His <u>Church</u>. There will be millions of believers in
heaven who were never part of the body of Christ—the only group in Scripture
promised such an incredible blessing.</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif">As I
mentioned in my last <a href="https://www.alittlestrength.com/articles/2023/2303-hints.htm">article</a>, I
believe all these surviving Gentiles <i>at the very least </i>possessed some
degree of faith in God and belief in the gospel at some point during the
Tribulation. After all, they had it in them to reject the lies of the
Antichrist and refuse to worship him as God. They risked their lives by
rejecting his mark and refusing to worship his image, which made them fugitives
existing on the fringe of society.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">Not to mention capital criminals subject to execution if
apprehended.</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif">Not to
belabor the point, but that's pretty heavy duty, wouldn't you say? That
suggests to me that they possessed some understanding of the evil behind what
was happening in the world, and enough spiritual horse sense to reject it at
all costs. But <i>why</i>...but <i>how</i> could they do that if they rejected
Christ and spurned the message of the gospel—the gospel they must surely have
been exposed to? What, you mean they just didn't <i>like</i> or <i>trust</i>
the Antichrist...sorta like the way most Americans feel about Joe Biden today?</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif">No. Satan
is pushing and shoving the world to the point where it will be absolutely black
and white—a world where you are either on his side or you will be hunted down and
killed. There will be no middle ground whatsoever. Trump-supporting MAGA
extremists versus woke left-wing liberals? Oh baby. You ain't seen nothin' yet.
People today scarcely know the meaning of the word "divided" compared
to the way things are going to be during the Great Tribulation.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif">Many who
see these Tribulation survivors as either saved or unsaved just as people are
differentiated today in the Church Age argue that the mark of the beast will
basically be a glorified version of the vaccines: Some simply won't take it.
They think some people will refuse the mark just as many today refuse vaccine,
even at the cost of their jobs. They argue as follows:</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">If that's the case, then just consider the 144,000 as an
auxiliary group to the Jewish remnant. It won't cause me any heartburn, nor
will it cause any damage to any of my other oh-PEEN-yuns. I just happen to
disagree.</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #700070;">Suck it up:</span></i></b><i><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #700070;"> Hey, if people can have the
courage to refuse the vaccine, people can have the courage to refuse the mark.
A lot of people didn't fall for the lies behind COVID-19 and the phony
vaccines, and so a lot of people are just as liable to refuse to fall for the
mark of the beast. Just as with the vaccines, plenty of people are liable to
just suck it up and just say "no"...ya know? And just as today, many
of those people won't be saved—they'll just be people with a healthy dose of
gumption and common sense.</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><i><span face="sans-serif">(*Sigh*) </span></i><span face="sans-serif">Sorry,
but that dog don't hunt. We can't even <i>begin</i> to imagine what life on
this planet is going to be like during the Great Tribulation—not in our most
terrifying nightmares. So not to put too fine a point on it, but is this a
valid comparison? Not even in the ballpark.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif">No? Look
at how much the world has changed over just the last three years. Our world is
almost unrecognizable compared to what it was in the early days of 2020, and I
don't even feel the need to spell it out. We are tumbling into the abyss of
end-time prophecy at breakneck speed, and the COVID-19/vaccine lies, lunacy,
and deception are just part of the process of getting us warmed up for what is </span><a href="https://www.alittlestrength.com/articles/2018/1812-the-event.htm"><span face="sans-serif">coming</span></a><span face="sans-serif">:</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">During the Great Tribulation, the world will be a place where
everything you do will be monitored and controlled in ways we've only seen in
sci-fi movies. The world will be under the dictatorship of a man who appears to
have been raised from the dead, claims to be God, and is passing himself off as
someone who is in contact with a benevolent alien race who has come to assist
our world through the period of violent changes it is experiencing (i.e. the
judgments prophesied in the book of Revelation).</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Everyone on earth will be required to "ascend
spiritually" (with the assistance of demonic beings disguised as members
of that benevolent alien race, not to mention the mark itself) in order to help
Mother Earth get through these changes, which are necessary because our Earth
Mother Gaia simply <i>must</i> cleanse herself of the dark, negative energy
that is draining and weakening her and which persists due primarily to those
who cling to primitive religious superstitions (i.e. biblical Christianity).</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Understand that taking the mark isn't necessarily going to be
like <i>"You must take zee mark of zee beast or vee vill kill you...mua ha
ha ha ha!"</i> Talk about "safe and effective"...the mark will
be billed as a phenomenal, life-changing necessity that will grant you a couple
of hundred years of disease-free life as well as save the planet and all of
humanity. I <a href="https://www.alittlestrength.com/articles/2020/2012-mark.htm#genes">believe</a> it will be billed as including a
genetic modification that will help us "ascend spiritually," when in
reality it will "switch off" the area of the brain that is involved
in spiritual experiences, rendering people incapable of responding to the Holy
Spirit. But either way, those who refuse and cling to their archaic
superstitions will be putting the future of the human race at risk by failing
to help Mother Earth get through the convulsions she is experiencing—and as a
result those selfish, superstitious cretins must unfortunately be eliminated as
expeditiously as possible because the fate of the planet and all of mankind
will be at stake.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><i><span face="sans-serif">(Excuse
me, I need a moment...my head is spinning.)</span></i><span face="sans-serif"> Refusing the COVID vaccine
doesn't quite stack up to what I just described, does it? So pardon me for
saying, but taking the way things are now and attempting to extrapolate that to
the way things will be during the Great Tribulation is highly questionable at
best, and foolish and naive at worst.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">Not to mention impossible.</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif">OK, that
pretty well covers the bases, and be aware that there is bit of unavoidable
overlap between two of these groups (that is, I believe many of the unbelieving
Jews take the mark because they have been deluded into believing the Antichrist
is their Messiah).</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif">Here's a
brief summary of the results:</span></p><br />
<div align="center">
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="border-collapse: collapse; mso-padding-alt: 1.45pt 1.45pt 1.45pt 1.45pt;">
<tbody><tr style="height: 25.9pt;">
<td style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); border-bottom: 1pt solid black; border-image: initial; border-left: 1pt solid black; border-right: none; border-top: 1pt solid black; border: 1pt solid black; height: 25.9pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .25pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .25pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .25pt; padding: 1.45pt; width: 189pt;" width="252">
<p align="center" class="TableContents" style="text-align: center;"><b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">Group</span></b></p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(221, 221, 221); border: 1pt solid black; height: 25.9pt; mso-border-alt: solid black .25pt; padding: 1.45pt; width: 297.05pt;" width="396">
<p align="center" class="TableContents" style="text-align: center;"><b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">Players at the Sheep and Goat Judgment?</span></b></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 25.9pt;">
<td style="background: rgb(255, 255, 187); border-bottom: 1pt solid black; border-left: 1pt solid black; border-right: none; border-top: none; height: 25.9pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .25pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .25pt; padding: 1.45pt; width: 189pt;" width="252">
<p align="center" class="TableContents" style="text-align: center;"><b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">The Church:</span></b></p>
</td>
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<p align="center" class="TableContents" style="text-align: center;"><b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">X NO: Raptured—in the kingdom.</span></b></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 25.9pt;">
<td style="background: rgb(255, 255, 187); border-bottom: 1pt solid black; border-left: 1pt solid black; border-right: none; border-top: none; height: 25.9pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .25pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .25pt; padding: 1.45pt; width: 189pt;" width="252">
<p align="center" class="TableContents" style="text-align: center;"><b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">Markees:</span></b></p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(255, 224, 255); border-bottom: 1pt solid black; border-image: initial; border-left: 1pt solid black; border-right: 1pt solid black; border-top: none; border: 1pt solid black; height: 25.9pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .25pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .25pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .25pt; padding: 1.45pt; width: 297.05pt;" width="396">
<p align="center" class="TableContents" style="text-align: center;"><b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">X NO: Dead—<i><u>not</u></i> in the kingdom.</span></b></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 25.9pt;">
<td style="background: rgb(255, 255, 187); border-bottom: 1pt solid black; border-left: 1pt solid black; border-right: none; border-top: none; height: 25.9pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .25pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .25pt; padding: 1.45pt; width: 189pt;" width="252">
<p align="center" class="TableContents" style="text-align: center;"><b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">The 144,000:</span></b></p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(255, 224, 255); border-bottom: 1pt solid black; border-image: initial; border-left: 1pt solid black; border-right: 1pt solid black; border-top: none; border: 1pt solid black; height: 25.9pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .25pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .25pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .25pt; padding: 1.45pt; width: 297.05pt;" width="396">
<p align="center" class="TableContents" style="text-align: center;"><b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">X NO: Dead (<i><u>or</u></i> alive)—in the kingdom.</span></b></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 25.9pt;">
<td style="background: rgb(255, 255, 187); border-bottom: 1pt solid black; border-left: 1pt solid black; border-right: none; border-top: none; height: 25.9pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .25pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .25pt; padding: 1.45pt; width: 189pt;" width="252">
<p align="center" class="TableContents" style="text-align: center;"><b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">Unbelieving Jews:</span></b></p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(255, 224, 255); border-bottom: 1pt solid black; border-image: initial; border-left: 1pt solid black; border-right: 1pt solid black; border-top: none; border: 1pt solid black; height: 25.9pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .25pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .25pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .25pt; padding: 1.45pt; width: 297.05pt;" width="396">
<p align="center" class="TableContents" style="text-align: center;"><b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">X NO: Dead—<i><u>not</u></i> in the kingdom.</span></b></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 25.9pt;">
<td style="background: rgb(255, 255, 187); border-bottom: 1pt solid black; border-left: 1pt solid black; border-right: none; border-top: none; height: 25.9pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .25pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .25pt; padding: 1.45pt; width: 189pt;" width="252">
<p align="center" class="TableContents" style="text-align: center;"><b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">The Jewish remnant:</span></b></p>
</td>
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<p align="center" class="TableContents" style="text-align: center;"><b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">X NO: <i>Present</i>, but not <i>players.</i></span></b></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 25.9pt; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td style="background: rgb(255, 255, 187); border-bottom: 1pt solid black; border-left: 1pt solid black; border-right: none; border-top: none; height: 25.9pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .25pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .25pt; padding: 1.45pt; width: 189pt;" width="252">
<p align="center" class="TableContents" style="text-align: center;"><b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">Gentile Trib. survivors:</span></b></p>
</td>
<td style="background: rgb(201, 246, 255); border-bottom: 1pt solid black; border-image: initial; border-left: 1pt solid black; border-right: 1pt solid black; border-top: none; border: 1pt solid black; height: 25.9pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .25pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .25pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .25pt; padding: 1.45pt; width: 297.05pt;" width="396">
<p align="center" class="TableContents" style="text-align: center;"><b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">√ YES: </span></b><b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Players—both sheep <i><u>and</u></i> goats.</span></b></p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif">So based
on all we've discussed, it appears that the only people who will be taking part
in the Sheep and Goat Judgment following the Second Coming will be Gentiles who
survived the Tribulation, refused the mark of the beast, and as a result
apparently possessed at least some degree of faith in God and belief in<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the gospel at some point during the
Tribulation. And as I said, I believe the Jewish remnant is <i>present</i>, but
they're certainly not <i>players.</i></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face="sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;">The parables</span></b></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif">Now that
we've got a grip on who can be players at the Sheep and Goat Judgment, we are
better prepared to look at the parables of Matthew 25.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face="sans-serif" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 136); color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">1. The Parable of the
10 Virgins </span></b></p>
<div style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); border: 1pt none black; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in;">
<p style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">1</span></sup></b><b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Then</span></b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> </span><span face="sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[after
the Second Coming at the establishment of the kingdom]</span><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> the Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten virgins who took their
lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. <b><sup>2</sup></b>Five of them were
foolish, and five were wise. <b><sup>3</sup>Those who were foolish, when they
took their lamps, took no oil with them</b> </span><span face="sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[they
had <i>some</i> oil in their lamps, but they didn't bring an extra supply with
them]</span><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">, <b><sup>4</sup>but the wise took oil in their vessels
with their lamps</b> </span><span face="sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[they had oil in
their lamps, but they brought some extra oil with them]</span><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">. <b><sup>5</sup></b>Now while the bridegroom delayed, they all
slumbered and slept. <b><sup>6</sup></b>But at midnight there was a cry,
"Behold! The bridegroom is coming! Come out to meet him!" <b><sup>7</sup></b>Then
all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. <b><sup>8</sup></b>The
foolish said to the wise, "Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are
going out." <b><sup>9</sup></b>But the wise answered, saying, "What
if there isn't enough for us and you? You go rather to those who sell, and buy
for yourselves." <b><sup>10</sup></b>While they went away to buy, the
bridegroom came, and <b>those who were ready went in with him to the wedding
feast, and the door was shut</b> </span><span face="sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[i.e. the wise
virgins entered the kingdom]</span><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">. <b><sup>11</sup></b>Afterward the
other virgins also came, saying, "Lord, Lord, open to us." <b><sup>12</sup></b>But
he answered, <b>"Most certainly I tell you, I don't know you."</b> </span><span face="sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[...and the foolish virgins are denied
entrance]</span><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> <b><sup>13</sup></b>Watch therefore, for you don’t know
the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.</span></p>
<p style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">(Matthew 25:1–13 / emphasis & </span><span face="sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[comments]</span><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> added)</span></p>
</div>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif">Meanwhile,
the <i><u>bride</u></i> (who isn't even mentioned) has gotten carried off by
the Bridegroom and married (in heaven) and is now enjoying her wedding feast
(on earth) with Him, so can we please dispense with the notion that <i>any</i>
of these 10 virgins are in any way connected to the Church? </span><a href="https://www.alittlestrength.com/articles/2016/1603-rupture.htm#virgins"><span face="sans-serif">They <i>can't</i>
be.</span></a><span face="sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif">Of
course, oil is always the Holy Spirit. After the Rapture (the "midnight
cry" in v. 6) and early in the Tribulation, they all had at least <i>some</i>
oil in their lamps. They were all exposed to the gospel, no doubt preached by
the 144,000. They believed, and had an initial "dose" of the Holy
Spirit in their lives.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif">But the
wise were wise enough to go all out and dig deeper and continued to faithfully
yield themselves to the Spirit's leading, and put to use what God gave them for
the welfare and benefit of other believers in dire need. As a result, the wise
virgins were able to maintain a strong Christian witness throughout the
Tribulation in the face of intense persecution, and for that they are granted
entrance into the kingdom.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif">The lamps
of the foolish virgins, however, were going out. In other words, they had a
tiny bit of oil left, but so little that they couldn't get their lamps to stay
lit and then <i>POOF</i>...they just went out. They had made no effort to bring
an ample supply of oil, they ran out, and as a result they were denied entrance
to the kingdom. I'll have more to say about this later.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face="sans-serif" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 136); color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">2. The Parable of the
Talents </span></b></p>
<div style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); border: 1pt none black; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in;">
<p style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">14</span></sup></b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">For it is like a man going into another country, who called his
own servants and entrusted his goods to them. <b><sup>15</sup></b>To one he
gave five <b>talents</b> </span><span face="sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[a
"talent" was a considerable amount of money]</span><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">, to another two, to another one, to each according to his own
ability </span><span face="sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[notice they <i><u>all</u></i> received
some capital from their Master]</span><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">. Then he went on his journey. <b><sup>16</sup></b>Immediately
he who received the five talents went and traded with them, and <b>made another
five talents</b>. <b><sup>17</sup></b>In the same way, he also who got the two <b>gained
another two</b> </span><span face="sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[the faithful
servants got busy and put their Master's money to work]</span><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">. <b><sup>18</sup></b>But he who received the one talent went
away and <b>dug in the earth and hid his lord's money</b> </span><span face="sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[the lazy servant did <i>nothing</i> with what
he had been given]</span><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">.</span></p>
<p style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">19</span></sup></b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Now after a long time the lord of those servants came, and
settled accounts with them. <b><sup>20</sup></b>He who received the five
talents came and brought another five talents, saying, "Lord, you
delivered to me five talents. Behold, I have gained another five talents in
addition to them." <b><sup>21</sup></b>His lord said to him, "Well
done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things, I
will set you over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord."</span></p>
<p style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">22</span></sup></b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">He also who got the two talents came and said, "Lord, you
delivered to me two talents. Behold, I have gained another two talents in
addition to them." <b><sup>23</sup></b>His lord said to him, "Well
done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things. I
will set you over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord."</span></p>
<p style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">24</span></sup></b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">He also who had received the one talent came and said,
"Lord, I knew you that you are a hard man, reaping where you didn't sow,
and gathering where you didn't scatter. <b><sup>25</sup></b>I was afraid, and
went away and hid your talent in the earth. Behold, you have what is
yours."</span></p>
<p style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">26</span></sup></b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">But his lord answered him, "You wicked and slothful
servant. You knew that I reap where I didn’t sow, and gather where I didn't
scatter. <b><sup>27</sup>You ought therefore to have deposited my money with
the bankers, and at my coming I should have received back my own with interest</b>
</span><span face="sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[in other words, you could have <i>at least</i>
deposited it in the bank so I'd get a little bit of interest, but you couldn't
even be bothered to do <i><u>that</u></i>]</span><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">. <b><sup>28</sup></b>Take away
therefore the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents.</span></p>
<p style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">29</span></sup></b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">For to everyone who has will be given, and he will have
abundance, but from him who doesn't have, even that which he has will be taken
away. <b><sup>30</sup></b>Throw out the unprofitable servant into the outer
darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."</span></p>
<p style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">(Matthew
25:14–30 / emphasis & </span><span face="sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">[comments]</span><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> added)</span></p>
</div>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif">According
to most sources, a denarius was equivalent to one day's wages, and a talent was
equivalent to 6,000 denarii (over 16 years' worth of wages). So, anyway you
slice it, even <i><u>one</u></i> talent was an awful lot of money. So all three
of the servants received a sizable amount of capital from their Master.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif">When the
Master returned from his absence (i.e. when Christ returns to establish His
kingdom), the two faithful servants have dutifully put what they received from
the Master to work, have produced worthy results, and are rewarded by being
invited to enter into the joy of the Lord's kingdom.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif">On the
other hand, the lazy servant has done absolutely <i>nothing</i> except bury his
Master's money in the ground, and is sent off to punishment—and again, I'll
have a bit more to say about this shortly.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif">And that
brings us to the main event: the judgment itself.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face="sans-serif" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 136); color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">3. The Sheep and Goat
Judgment </span></b></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif">As I
said, most agree this is an actual judgment, and according to the prophet Joel
it takes place in the Valley of Jehoshaphat ("the LORD judges"), more
commonly known as the Kidron Valley, which runs along the eastern side of the
Temple Mount in Jerusalem and separates it from the Mount of Olives.</span></p>
<p style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">2</span></sup></b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">I will gather all nations, and will bring them down into <b>the
valley of Jehoshaphat</b>; and I will execute judgment on them there <b>for my
people, and for my heritage, Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations
</b></span><span face="sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[notice the motivating factor of the
judgment]</span><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">. They have divided my land,</span><br /><br />
<span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">(Joel 3:2 / emphasis & </span><span face="sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[comments]</span><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> added)</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif">Before we
continue, here is the full text of the Sheep and Goat Judgment:</span></p>
<div style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); border: 1pt none black; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 0in;">
<p style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">31</span></sup></b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the holy
angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. <b><sup>32</sup></b>Before
him <b>all the nations</b> </span><span face="sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[almost always a
reference to Gentiles]</span><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> will be gathered, and he will
separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the
goats. <b><sup>33</sup></b>He will set the sheep on his right hand, but the
goats on the left.</span></p>
<p style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">34</span></sup></b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Then the King will tell those on his right hand, "Come, blessed
of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the
world; <b><sup>35</sup></b>for I was hungry and you gave me food to eat. I was
thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you took me in. <b><sup>36</sup></b>I
was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison
and you came to me." <b><sup>37</sup></b>Then the righteous will answer
him, saying, "Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty
and give you a drink? <b><sup>38</sup></b>When did we see you as a stranger and
take you in, or naked and clothe you? <b><sup>39</sup></b>When did we see you
sick or in prison and come to you?" <b><sup>40</sup></b>The King will
answer them, "Most certainly I tell you, because you did it to one of <b>the
least of these my brothers</b> </span><span face="sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[a reference to a
third group]</span><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">, you did it to me."</span></p>
<p style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">41</span></sup></b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Then he will say also to those on the left hand, "Depart
from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and
his angels; <b><sup>42</sup></b>for I was hungry, and you didn't give me food
to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink; <b><sup>43</sup></b>I was a
stranger, and you didn't take me in; naked, and you didn't clothe me; sick, and
in prison, and you didn't visit me." <b><sup>44</sup></b>Then they will
also answer, saying, <b>"Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or
a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and didn't help you?"</b> </span><span face="sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[they actually seem <i>surprised</i>]</span><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> <b><sup>45</sup></b>Then he will answer them, saying,
"Most certainly I tell you, because you didn't do it to one of <b>the
least of these</b> </span><span face="sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[Jesus refers to
the same third group]</span><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">, you didn't do it to me." <b><sup>46</sup></b>These
will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.</span></p>
<p style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); border: none; line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; mso-border-alt: none black 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 0in 0in; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">(Matthew 25:31–46 / emphasis & </span><span face="sans-serif" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[comments]</span><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;"> added)</span></p>
</div>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif">Notice
that Joel says the Lord will judge the nations of the world "for my
people, and for my heritage Israel." Most people believe (and I agree)
that this means Jesus is rewarding the sheep for the aid and assistance they
gave to members of the Jewish remnant during the Tribulation (His
"brothers") and condemning the goats for the lack thereof.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif" style="color: black;">Note also that the way Jesus refers to "these my
brothers" when He addresses both the sheep <i><u>and</u></i> the goats
makes it a virtual grammatical necessity that He is referring to a third group
that is present (but apparently not being judged).</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif" style="color: black;">Many argue that these "brothers" are the Jewish remnant
simply because Jesus uses the word "brothers," which they insist is
being used in an ethnic manner—to which I politely reply "poppycock."
The word "brothers" used here could legitimately refer to either Jews
or Gentile believers (Heb. 2:11; Rom. 8:29).</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif" style="color: black;">The problem with seeing the "brothers" as Gentile
believers, however, is that the only available Gentile believers Jesus could be
talking about would <i><u>have</u></i> to be among the sheep and goats!
So...the sheep helped <i>themselves??</i> Now things are getting silly...not to
mention illogical since Jesus is clearly referring to a third group that is <i>separate</i>
from both the sheep and the goats, whether that group is present at the
judgment or not—although it sounds as if they are.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif" style="color: black;">Hang on...incoming:</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">"Yo, Bible Dude, I thought you said the Jewish remnant was
off hiding in the wilderness across the border in Jordan during the Great
Tribulation, being protected by God. Well, if that's true, then how can all
these sheep (who are Gentiles living all over the world) be busy doing stuff
like giving members of the Jewish remnant food and drink, clothing them,
visiting them when they're sick or in prison, and so on. Excuse me for pointing
out the obvious, but that doesn't make a lick of sense. So...I guess that blows
your little theory out of the water, huh?"</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif" style="color: black;">Yo, Captain Obvious, who said the sheep helped the Jews during the
Great Tribulation? It's a valid point, but during the <i>first half</i> of the
Tribulation, many Jewish people will still be living in other nations around
the world, just as they do today. As legions of these Jews begin to respond to
the gospel preached by the 144,000 and come to faith in their true Messiah, you
can bet anti-Semitism will skyrocket far beyond what we are already seeing.
This is where the sheep come in, who are Gentiles who have come to faith in Christ
during the Tribulation and who have gone out and put it all on the line in
aiding and assisting believing Jews all over the world at great risk to
themselves in the midst of the persecution of <i>all</i> believers that will be
growing by leaps and bounds during the first half of the Tribulation.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif" style="color: black;">Not only that, but after God's thundering, miraculous intervention
on their behalf in the battle of Gog Magog, Israel will (temporarily!) be
thrust into a place of relative dominance over their Muslim enemies, who have just
gotten their tails royally kicked by the God of the Jews. And as they watch
their new temple being built, large numbers of Jews will be motivated to make <i>aliyah</i>
and relocate to Israel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As we get closer
to the midpoint of the Tribulation, I believe it will reach the point where the
great majority of Jews (believing and otherwise) will have relocated to the
Jewish nation.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif" style="color: black;">In fact, it wouldn't shock me if the rising leader who will become
the Antichrist actually <i>encourages</i> Jews to relocate to Israel<i>.</i>
Why? Simple:</span></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt 0in; text-align: center;"><b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Satan knows it will be a whole lot
easier to</span></b></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-right: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">annihilate them if they are all in
one place.</span></b></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face="sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;">A couple of takeaways</span></b></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif">There are
any number of ideas we can take away from the three parables of Matthew 25, but
there are two primary ideas that I want to leave you with before I wrap this
up.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face="sans-serif" style="background: rgb(201, 246, 255); color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">1. The relationship
among these three parables </span></b></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif">One thing
I want you to see clearly is that all three of these parables in Matthew 25
focus on the time when Christ is preparing to establish His kingdom, and all
three speak to the same event: the judgment that determines who among Gentile
Tribulation survivors shall be granted or denied entrance to the kingdom (aside
from those who are already guaranteed entrance, that is). And as we have seen,
the only group of people available to be judged as to their worthiness to enter
the kingdom are Gentile survivors of the Tribulation who refused the mark. That
means all the players mentioned in all three of these parables—the five wise
virgins, the five foolish virgins, the two faithful servants, the lazy servant,
the sheep, and the goats are all collectively this group: this group of Gentile
Tribulation survivors.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif">Then,
when the judgment commences, this group is divided into two subgroups: one of
which is welcomed into the kingdom (the sheep) and one that is sent off to
eternal punishment (the goats).</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif">So, the
Parable of the 10 Virgins and the Parable of the Talents are speaking of the
same thing: a judgment where people are either granted or denied entrance into
the Millennial Kingdom. Then, the actual judgment itself is described in the
third teaching in the Sheep and Goat Judgment.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif">But note
with care what these first two parables do for us. The Parable of the 10
Virgins speaks of oil, which is the Holy Spirit, and so describes the virgins
preparedness in terms of how much of the Holy Spirit the virgins possessed. Or,
to be more accurate, how much of the virgins the Holy Spirit possessed. This
parable characterizes the judgment in spiritual terms—in terms of how much
these people sought and submitted themselves to the leading of the Spirit. And
in the parable, all 10 of the virgins had the Holy Spirit within them to some
extent, at least at some point during the Tribulation.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif">But the
wise virgins went all in, and submitted themselves to the leading of the Holy
Spirit to a far greater degree and as a result were deemed worthy of entering
the kingdom. The foolish virgins let the light of the Holy Spirit go out in
their lives, perhaps due to being overcome by the cares of the world—which is
understandable from a human perspective since they will be forced to endure
incredible hardships. And as a result they were denied entrance.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif">On the
other hand, the Parable of the Talents speaks of this judgment in terms of what
the servants did with what their Master entrusted them with. It characterizes
the<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>judgment in terms of faithful
service and stewardship of what God gave them. And all three servants were
given an amount of capital they could use in their Master's service, and for
which they would be held accountable upon His return.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif">Since all
10 virgins did in fact have some oil, and all three servants were in fact given
some capital, I think we have to treat this as part of the primary principle
that both parables are designed to communicate. When you see the same element
repeated in two consecutive parables, that clearly suggests to me that it's not
a trivial mechanical detail that can be dismissed as insignificant, which I
have seen people try to do. We can't do that here.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif">It would
have been just as easy for the Holy Spirit to have the five foolish virgins
have no oil whatsoever. It would have been just as easy for the Holy Spirit to
have the lazy servant be given nothing, and present these two parables in a
corresponding manner. But He <i>didn't.</i></span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif" style="color: black;">And this leads quite naturally to the second takeaway:</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face="sans-serif" style="background: rgb(201, 246, 255); color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">2. Salvation during
the Tribulation </span></b></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif">I have
long believed that Gentile believers during the Tribulation will have to find
it within themselves to maintain a faithful witness in order to be judged
worthy of entering the kingdom (and some will and some won't), and that's
because they will <i>not</i> enjoy the blessing of being sealed and indwelt by
the presence of the Holy Spirit as does the Church. I believe Revelation 16:15 and Matthew 24:13 suggest as much, but a closer look at these three parables goes a long way in providing further scriptural confirmation of this in my opinion.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #700070;">Houston, we have a problem:</span></i></b><i><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #700070;"> While we are on earth, the Church is the temple of the Holy
Spirit (1 Cor. 3:16) because He is sealed in us and dwells within us. That
began on the day of Pentecost two thousand years ago and ends at the Rapture,
and only the Church is promised such a blessing (John 20:29). At the Rapture,
the Church is translated to heaven and the Holy Spirit will stand down from
this ministry and will no longer have His temple on earth. Incidentally, this
also represents the end of His ministry of restraining evil (2 Thess. 2:6–7),
and during the Tribulation evil will rapidly engulf the world in ways we cannot
even imagine. But consider: If the Holy Spirit were to begin to seal and
indwell believers during the Tribulation in the same manner as He did for the
Church during the Age of Grace, it would mean that He did an about-face after
the Rapture and returned to begin establishing <u>another</u> temple on earth.
Of course, the Holy Spirit will still be active and operative on earth among
Tribulation believers just as He was in the Old Testament, but that's not the
same thing. Houston, we have a problem.</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif" style="color: black;">One telling point about the goats is something I brought up in my
last <a href="https://www.alittlestrength.com/articles/2023/2303-hints.htm">article</a>, and that's the simple fact that it
is clear from the nature of the goats' response to the Lord's accusations that
they are genuinely <i>surprised</i> that they are being denied entrance to the
kingdom. They act as if they actually <i>expected</i> to be admitted, and seem
innocently perplexed at the fact that they are being turned away and shut out.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif" style="color: black;">Consider: Everyone standing before Christ at the Sheep and Goat Judgment
is a Gentile who survived the Tribulation and refused to give in to incredible
pressure to receive the mark of the beast. And under the circumstances, that <i><u>means</u></i>
something...more than many realize.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif" style="color: black;">It strikes me that the only thing that could realistically
motivate any person to reject the mark of the beast and risk being beheaded for
doing so would be the fact that they have gotten a taste of God's grace and
mercy. They must be people who have at the very least been introduced to the
gospel of His salvation, and made a profession of faith. The Holy Spirit made
some initial inroads with them. There really isn't much else you can attribute
this to—rejecting the mark is going to be beyond the pale to a degree we cannot
even imagine today.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif" style="color: black;">Again, this is going to be <i>nothing</i> like refusing to take a
COVID vaccine—that's child's play compared to this. The pressure to take the
mark will be orders of magnitude greater than <i>anything</i> we've seen for
the vaccines, and you will be promptly hunted down and killed for rejecting it.
And untold legions will be.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif">But the
goats gave in to the raw fear and the instinct for self-preservation that will
permeate the world at that time. They looked out for number one, and failed to
seek and submit to the leading of the Holy Spirit and tap into His power to any
perceptible degree and as a result He ultimately left them high and dry. After
all, He will not be sealed in them and indwell them as is true for members of
the body of Christ, who were His temple on earth prior to being removed in the
Rapture.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif">The point
is that God is going to require <i>more</i> from those who foolishly trampled
His grace and mercy underfoot during the Church Age, but who have now witnessed
the revelation of His miraculous removal of hundreds of millions of believers
at the Rapture, as well as the revelation of His mighty hand moving in judgment
on the entire world (Rev. 6:16–17). As I discussed in a previous </span><a href="https://www.alittlestrength.com/articles/2019/1909-hammer.htm"><span face="sans-serif">article</span></a><span face="sans-serif"> entitled
"Dropping the Hammer":</span></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">With God's revelation comes
responsibility—</span></b></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">with the rejection thereof comes judgment.</span></b></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif">People in
the Tribulation will be people who foolishly spurned the gospel during the
Church Age, but who will witness the revelation of the things I just described.
And God will require more from them: He will require them to maintain a
faithful witness until His Son returns at the Second Coming. And demonstrating
that witness will involve aiding and assisting Jewish believers who will
desperately need their help to survive. So make no mistake:</span></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Believers during the Tribulation
are</span></b></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">going to have to hang on to the</span></b></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Holy Spirit like there's no tomorrow.</span></b></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif">Because
for many, there won't be. <i><u>That's</u></i> what it will take for them to be
considered one of the wise virgins, one of the faithful servants, and one of
the sheep. <i><u>That's</u></i> what it will take for them to be set on
Christ's right hand and hear Him say:</span></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">"Well done, good and faithful
servant.</span></b></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Enter into the joy of your Lord."</span></b></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif">So if you
don't take anything else away from this article, take this:</span></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">The Church has been blessed with
the</span></b></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">sweetheart deal of all eternity, because</span></b></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 18.7pt; text-align: center;"><b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">we have seen nothing and yet believed.</span></b></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif">We never
saw Jesus walk on water. We never saw Him raise the dead. We never saw Him heal
crippling diseases with a single word or a simple touch. We never saw Him cast
out demons with a terse command. We never saw Him alive after His brutal
crucifixion.</span></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">We never saw the scars.</span></b></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><i><span face="sans-serif">Yet we
believe</span></i><span face="sans-serif">—we have placed our trust in His work of atonement for our salvation
in simple, childlike faith. And according to Christ's own words, the Church is <i>blessed</i>
on account of this:</span></p>
<p style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">29</span></sup></b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">Jesus said to him, Thomas, because you have seen me, you have
believed: <b>blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed</b></span><span face="sans-serif" style="color: black;"> <span style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178);">[and that blessing is being <i><u>sealed</u></i>
with the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit]</span></span><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">.</span><br /><br />
<span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">(John 20:29 AKJV / emphasis & </span><span lang="EN-US" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[comments]</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0000aa;"> added)</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">And the parables in Matthew 25 clearly involve those <u>not</u>
so blessed.</span></i></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif">John
20:29 is a verse I'd like to rub in the face of half the people in the body of
Christ today (actually I'd settle for half the <i>preachers</i>), because many
in the Church do not grasp this because they have sat under preaching that is
more concerned with life applications than the life-changing truth of God's
Word.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif">So if
nothing else, let me leave you with a sense of the incredible riches and
blessings we have in Christ <i>now</i> during the Age of <i><u>Grace</u></i>,
and in being sealed with and indwelt by the Holy Spirit, who faithfully
convicts us of sin and gradually conforms us to the image of our Lord and
Savior.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face="sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;">Class dismissed</span></b></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif">I'm
certain this doesn't apply to any of you dear readers out there, but when I was
just a young lad in my early teens, I had a bad habit of daydreaming in church.
In one such daydream, I would be in heaven, standing before the Lord in front
of a large crowd of admiring believers, and the Lord would say that line to me:
"Well done, good and faithful servant—enter into the joy of your
Lord." And I would be blushing and aw-shuxing, like an actor who just
received his first Academy Award...and breathing a sigh of relief that God
apparently hadn't gotten the memo from the CIA (Celestial Intelligence Agency)
regarding that magazine under my mattress.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif">But
that's not our line. We will never hear the Lord offer us an invitation to
enter His kingdom, and the reason is simple: <i>He won't have to.</i> We were
guaranteed a place in His kingdom the moment we humbled our hearts before God,
and believed in faith that Christ died and rose again to atone for our sins.
From that moment on, it was a done deal. <i>We were <u>in</u> there.</i> We
were sealed and indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and He never left us for one single
moment for the rest of our earthly lives—in spite of our occasional but
ultimately futile efforts to shut Him up and tune Him out.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif">These
days, however, I have a very different daydream. In this one, I am in the
middle of teaching one of my adult English classes, and I am interrupted by
what sounds a lot like a trumpet. Then I hear a very different line:</span></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #0000aa;">"Come up here!"</span></b></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #aa0000;">"Uhh...class dismissed!"</span></i></p></div>
<br><b>From Greg Lauer @ <a href="https://www.alittlestrength.com/articles/2023/2304-parables.htm">A Little Strength—APR '23</a></b><br>
Greg L.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13488517852547324706noreply@blogger.com47tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-923571518579487836.post-45012820759095220892023-04-28T17:10:00.005-05:002023-07-28T15:06:48.843-05:00Why Do The Nations Rage?<div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Why are the nations so angry?
<br />
<span> </span>Why do they waste their time with futile plans?
</b></span><br /><br /><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrBq7rJOKKFydxcT3TWDGwXF-Qo9a-8Zkzk35at5p_w-93942G4kJSF8ILcDp4z1stz8iCRbbaNKZRPclGHJfI9OWaTE94UOoeQg7RWzVQVF39CWzmMzwnzYdHIJA7xRreJoUJnGRafafphQwSRUX3_1kasegjNLvTzOY83Kc-Y9rPB-8fysrEKKM/s4000/Rioting.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="2662" data-original-width="4000" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrBq7rJOKKFydxcT3TWDGwXF-Qo9a-8Zkzk35at5p_w-93942G4kJSF8ILcDp4z1stz8iCRbbaNKZRPclGHJfI9OWaTE94UOoeQg7RWzVQVF39CWzmMzwnzYdHIJA7xRreJoUJnGRafafphQwSRUX3_1kasegjNLvTzOY83Kc-Y9rPB-8fysrEKKM/s600/Rioting.jpg" width="600" /></a></div>
<br /><br /><span><b><span style="font-size: large;">The kings of the earth prepare for battle;
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;">the rulers plot together
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"> <span> </span></span><span style="font-size: large;">against </span><span style="background-color: #fcff01; font-size: x-large;">the LORD
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"> <span> </span><span> </span></span><span style="font-size: large;">and against </span><span style="background-color: #fcff01; font-size: x-large;">His Anointed One</span><span style="font-size: large;">.</span></b></span><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhicXnwNrG-vOIJx1FAWj3JFFOhZPtKCIbrgBTFGs-P0Buw5uZQUKMfyckEYLrlDDOfFNc1B9WaAGTGAIpnNz6C4bWfJDJUVAvCf8HhTs1oc-f08Dx8XHPJxuHLynro3zHZXw5LiI2gxh-OiToWcatvqOKWcoR2RTgITE6Ckdfz_nNo3ugHpSEHK9I/s934/SchwabConspiring.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="549" data-original-width="934" height="376" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhicXnwNrG-vOIJx1FAWj3JFFOhZPtKCIbrgBTFGs-P0Buw5uZQUKMfyckEYLrlDDOfFNc1B9WaAGTGAIpnNz6C4bWfJDJUVAvCf8HhTs1oc-f08Dx8XHPJxuHLynro3zHZXw5LiI2gxh-OiToWcatvqOKWcoR2RTgITE6Ckdfz_nNo3ugHpSEHK9I/w640-h376/SchwabConspiring.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> </div><div><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>“Let us break their chains,” they cry,
<br />
<span> </span>“and free ourselves from slavery to God.”
</b></span><br /><br /><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ0uRIjDZf2uK8t7iIS6NkqaPepmgHWR05uE3Eco0eWVHlJY9C_ta2xb0km5WifrT6F4MjhU7JMSxi_iCbBaUoFo7SuyhDs0FqXTIC_EOewH8xxHkDvf9gbA-WcdhSTMhgeaRbAXNCYp_rS4WDb3UIxY7KD6EuMH3YEFxGad2Uspg4J1zjXRto25U/s800/impeach.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ0uRIjDZf2uK8t7iIS6NkqaPepmgHWR05uE3Eco0eWVHlJY9C_ta2xb0km5WifrT6F4MjhU7JMSxi_iCbBaUoFo7SuyhDs0FqXTIC_EOewH8xxHkDvf9gbA-WcdhSTMhgeaRbAXNCYp_rS4WDb3UIxY7KD6EuMH3YEFxGad2Uspg4J1zjXRto25U/w640-h480/impeach.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br /><br /><b><span style="font-size: large;">But the One who rules in Heaven </span><span style="background-color: #fcff01; font-size: x-large;">laughs</span><span style="font-size: large;">.
</span></b><br /><br /><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcE4xjfNxxH1I7yRxINnoTw7T-iNBiLVORQgUKCYmoGfhqgYTMoYA7160cKZrDyVzZH87wgXEjPb2_3ysqbxD1c488uzMhyQPO9zqwxwzsdWjbrAIs6J3DXjk4X1Dh1xouh5p2yOI1HgoA6-i6Bfs8cu8wfU4NSwaCEcdbdC5UtMV1ReIkAFFtmU8/s1600/hysterical-laughter.gif" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="498" data-original-width="498" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcE4xjfNxxH1I7yRxINnoTw7T-iNBiLVORQgUKCYmoGfhqgYTMoYA7160cKZrDyVzZH87wgXEjPb2_3ysqbxD1c488uzMhyQPO9zqwxwzsdWjbrAIs6J3DXjk4X1Dh1xouh5p2yOI1HgoA6-i6Bfs8cu8wfU4NSwaCEcdbdC5UtMV1ReIkAFFtmU8/s1600/hysterical-laughter.gif" /></a></div>
<br /><br /><b><span style="font-size: large;">
The LORD </span><span style="background-color: #fcff01; font-size: x-large;">scoffs</span><span style="font-size: large;"> at them.
</span></b><br /><br /><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHSrRydJmig5oph0cIxYQFqq9jhv_deo5eNDHZkgFnyOJOia2437XkJHzcIInD-vn78Pl6P1Az5A__oFZSk9AnbmyR_9Uwkm3N2SbH6zVPelcQOszNZQrIpN7JdOixVHh0ZlIXeY1s06rQnr8jilBLHK9hD405I9EPaTZqq1z_3wsQPHY48nIzEzg/s1600/giphy.gif" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="281" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHSrRydJmig5oph0cIxYQFqq9jhv_deo5eNDHZkgFnyOJOia2437XkJHzcIInD-vn78Pl6P1Az5A__oFZSk9AnbmyR_9Uwkm3N2SbH6zVPelcQOszNZQrIpN7JdOixVHh0ZlIXeY1s06rQnr8jilBLHK9hD405I9EPaTZqq1z_3wsQPHY48nIzEzg/s1600/giphy.gif" /></a></div>
<br /><br /><b><span><span style="font-size: large;">Then in </span><span style="background-color: #ffa400; color: red; font-size: x-large;">ANGER</span><span style="font-size: large;"> he rebukes them,
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;">terrifying them with his fierce </span><span style="background-color: #ffa400; color: red; font-size: x-large;">FURY</span><span style="font-size: large;">.
</span></span></b><br /><br /><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzJmwkMjuV2DLFg8IBHFW4kBWQQ1CRNngrdq_kPxZcbltW8iaAu5QGEnMUxUk8nVOMUs9-CXOI9EyHvzhiwTLWR_4vgEjwCZTi1eRE14evCSZiTXR9LBWMjGYRQyvJqGvcrD4vookTttnV3P7vG4h2rjM0n6AZGgc3jpU4PXa7oSwF0GHi8TZK-0I/s1600/hulk.gif" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="270" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzJmwkMjuV2DLFg8IBHFW4kBWQQ1CRNngrdq_kPxZcbltW8iaAu5QGEnMUxUk8nVOMUs9-CXOI9EyHvzhiwTLWR_4vgEjwCZTi1eRE14evCSZiTXR9LBWMjGYRQyvJqGvcrD4vookTttnV3P7vG4h2rjM0n6AZGgc3jpU4PXa7oSwF0GHi8TZK-0I/s1600/hulk.gif" /></a></div>
<br /><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs1cWt_fOEMI_0Y0GGbtvr81geWazlWYRMFl3H7lG4HIqiTtf1gyivCD2IhkvgVQzWQc1RGcQU3mQ7WwE9Zq0wGLu-afpiBUvRv7gZ-UO1wULBbq3ZwoVlLZ1CMSQChYpZl-C_0jL9IItGclEfxDmipHSA6lBNhM-9CRQrRUrqUuCpMx3CnEkg9LA/s1600/Trex%20lawyer.gif" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="250" data-original-width="442" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs1cWt_fOEMI_0Y0GGbtvr81geWazlWYRMFl3H7lG4HIqiTtf1gyivCD2IhkvgVQzWQc1RGcQU3mQ7WwE9Zq0wGLu-afpiBUvRv7gZ-UO1wULBbq3ZwoVlLZ1CMSQChYpZl-C_0jL9IItGclEfxDmipHSA6lBNhM-9CRQrRUrqUuCpMx3CnEkg9LA/s1600/Trex%20lawyer.gif" /></a></div>
<br /><br /><b><span style="font-size: large;">For the LORD declares, “I have placed </span><span style="background-color: #674ea7; color: white; font-size: x-large;">My Chosen King</span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span> </span>on the throne in Jerusalem, on <i>My</i> holy mountain.”
</span></b><br /><br /><br /><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilvZLFiq7hdMtghgs5EaccPt4VlXQTW_6e7HvGQ1WTJoG75MKXK9aCm2Tjp__7lCb-iV5AMaifpDcF4JDVDQ2MUWCHtoc5v0B_lxXs_jUb-3JqbFlNPvnXrz-C0tkg9nMLRilVsmi9aj1KT7Kv0rqI2bRTuXh2zgk7PYPAfRKa_w2mN9Y4SgO9pGs/s906/Christ%20enthroned.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="681" data-original-width="906" height="482" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilvZLFiq7hdMtghgs5EaccPt4VlXQTW_6e7HvGQ1WTJoG75MKXK9aCm2Tjp__7lCb-iV5AMaifpDcF4JDVDQ2MUWCHtoc5v0B_lxXs_jUb-3JqbFlNPvnXrz-C0tkg9nMLRilVsmi9aj1KT7Kv0rqI2bRTuXh2zgk7PYPAfRKa_w2mN9Y4SgO9pGs/w640-h482/Christ%20enthroned.png" width="640" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaGMSsYjHFnhre6VrNn24W_tzeVL53zEAxE8DhNLK_KBxFDx0Vq1pshKlwHPtJCnwqunTvinL5mCx7pM_P0hmgHF-r5YSyqBeUPipVYGN4ZPCkWDrGA9DfLJG05MEM4q_Mjr0t3OhTJtdSRIEWau_1AcfMO9YGcmXOcc2OsjP1ysvRBDyHH9NY-6k/s540/Christenthroned.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><br /></a></div><b><span style="font-size: large;">The King proclaims the LORD’s decree:
<br />
<span> </span>“The LORD said to me, ‘You are my Son.<br />
<span> </span><span> </span>Today I have become Your Father.</span></b><br /><br /><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipoRVUI0K-h2mlUVTDDslsnALn2GC4NgS9Jk0iWXVl47V-R5bZasjByh41jzmy1MQB1SGuvXouKwia0b56waKorng0UiIQ_k_H627_UcKgTxFKwEAZeZtCy5Uo3DIbUEP57t6aBcLrz2a4a9-6FVviTl1SVQrVWjikfYA6NNpRvfSPUQ8syASJkmM/s800/bd3e241663d889330b46935665742716.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipoRVUI0K-h2mlUVTDDslsnALn2GC4NgS9Jk0iWXVl47V-R5bZasjByh41jzmy1MQB1SGuvXouKwia0b56waKorng0UiIQ_k_H627_UcKgTxFKwEAZeZtCy5Uo3DIbUEP57t6aBcLrz2a4a9-6FVviTl1SVQrVWjikfYA6NNpRvfSPUQ8syASJkmM/s600/bd3e241663d889330b46935665742716.jpg" width="600" /></a></div>
<br /><br /><b><span style="font-size: large;">
Only ask, and I will give You the nations as Your inheritance,
<br />
<span> </span>the </span><span style="background-color: #38761d; color: #e69138; font-size: x-large;">whole earth</span><span style="font-size: large;"> as Your possession.
</span></b><br /><br /><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguJxVGVH381DpBaHdJFyfdPVRzirEkv4_p8cPmne-s287Kh0YAEHwJ8upKxNUdwYV2CQj5ju93Bl6f0FpDjJkWRrnanRFl5CM7wjG4fcSiyl1NO94V7OxXCbqx_migNWnsaVYPhnX2GC4u3rT_aeW9neGJNblcIwIgdxZ1L7f0s3p7xz1xhU3CJCs/s800/Holding%20earth.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="503" data-original-width="800" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguJxVGVH381DpBaHdJFyfdPVRzirEkv4_p8cPmne-s287Kh0YAEHwJ8upKxNUdwYV2CQj5ju93Bl6f0FpDjJkWRrnanRFl5CM7wjG4fcSiyl1NO94V7OxXCbqx_migNWnsaVYPhnX2GC4u3rT_aeW9neGJNblcIwIgdxZ1L7f0s3p7xz1xhU3CJCs/s600/Holding%20earth.jpg" width="600" /></a></div>
<br /><br /><b><span style="font-size: large;">You will break them with an iron rod</span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span> </span>and smash them like clay pots.’” </span></b><br /><br /><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB2cEY72PHXnIhGStRs2OlrcdjHuB1XynZt0Hg_-7YnRleSpBVn3ROB2w6EpiVm293P9LXLptgz0Ww8RSHgtABqyMGlwIkIi2XwLMvvB1IzpA4KPs-f20Kdusy-HYngztstdD3px1GRZSabkW5CBeo0VIrFOV2o1NT7hByqHdn0Hvmn0rB0YiPptI/s600/iron%20rod.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB2cEY72PHXnIhGStRs2OlrcdjHuB1XynZt0Hg_-7YnRleSpBVn3ROB2w6EpiVm293P9LXLptgz0Ww8RSHgtABqyMGlwIkIi2XwLMvvB1IzpA4KPs-f20Kdusy-HYngztstdD3px1GRZSabkW5CBeo0VIrFOV2o1NT7hByqHdn0Hvmn0rB0YiPptI/s600/iron%20rod.jpg" width="600" /></a></div>
<br /><br /><b><span style="font-size: large;">Now then, you kings, </span><i style="font-size: x-large;">act wisely!
</i><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span><span style="background-color: red; color: white; font-size: x-large;">BE WARNED</span><span style="font-size: large;">, you rulers of the earth!
</span></b><br /><br /><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiluC7mSAp-2P3mO3jUyd7KCHeBq5ak9_ytfmcTy27SjF4fP79kesi4TS12V0vWjypngn1IEShQeqDD6TrmVX4EqzkjPMaS5ar5ULTsnfiFqX7b6R_wSFBSgsjEgJfQlSOlzqC_8HCn8Xza9NJTsqQ8KkOmLAV8ST5KL5nKmxzxV0szvztqrcjH_tQ/s4096/leaders.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="2475" data-original-width="4096" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiluC7mSAp-2P3mO3jUyd7KCHeBq5ak9_ytfmcTy27SjF4fP79kesi4TS12V0vWjypngn1IEShQeqDD6TrmVX4EqzkjPMaS5ar5ULTsnfiFqX7b6R_wSFBSgsjEgJfQlSOlzqC_8HCn8Xza9NJTsqQ8KkOmLAV8ST5KL5nKmxzxV0szvztqrcjH_tQ/s600/leaders.jpg" width="600" /></a></div>
<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Serve the LORD with reverent fear,
<br />
<span> </span>and rejoice with trembling.
</b></span><br /><br /><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4uhKxzZbFYopl7dOWXjDWllxw0tCvOuF-PVuYeSaifsfZOmm7TM5JIRPvqoaRICE_tkx4tTHkIQpzM8W5i97szoIWHajspb9Ba8KbAKQxYvTH4py3wWL2Boyl_SHoiGNMz0bX6YTKYBckyOGRtSNE91UnrysUnH9O_CfwzjNCZSKJsdLaqV0UgF0/s734/Bowing-To-Jesus.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="415" data-original-width="734" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4uhKxzZbFYopl7dOWXjDWllxw0tCvOuF-PVuYeSaifsfZOmm7TM5JIRPvqoaRICE_tkx4tTHkIQpzM8W5i97szoIWHajspb9Ba8KbAKQxYvTH4py3wWL2Boyl_SHoiGNMz0bX6YTKYBckyOGRtSNE91UnrysUnH9O_CfwzjNCZSKJsdLaqV0UgF0/s600/Bowing-To-Jesus.jpg" width="600" /></a></div>
<br /><br /><b><span style="font-size: large;">Submit to God’s </span><span style="background-color: #674ea7; color: white; font-size: x-large;">Royal Son</span><span style="font-size: large;">, or He will become angry,
</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">
<span> </span>and you will be destroyed in the midst of all your activities—
</span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">
<span> </span><span> </span>for His anger flares up in an instant.</span></b></div>
<br /><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifXZb3Qd4bBMaqLRT843swgfknMdJ9UUP-MwoKjW1xK9WnhQasTWqNWPAQwdiQQ5BM799Q0QV3DRXiSEzvMtl-oYirGgjSmNIJ6rnmu-g5Zs66eJTqRwDJmpQyUNrLzv0Zs0b-WlD387mEX7CbvPz71QV6NIoFq53-A27FA3Lz4e8Ro1G69Xjtk4I/s666/5k5a2t.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="487" data-original-width="666" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifXZb3Qd4bBMaqLRT843swgfknMdJ9UUP-MwoKjW1xK9WnhQasTWqNWPAQwdiQQ5BM799Q0QV3DRXiSEzvMtl-oYirGgjSmNIJ6rnmu-g5Zs66eJTqRwDJmpQyUNrLzv0Zs0b-WlD387mEX7CbvPz71QV6NIoFq53-A27FA3Lz4e8Ro1G69Xjtk4I/s600/5k5a2t.jpg" width="600" /></a></div>
<br />
<br /><div><b><span style="font-size: large;">But what </span><span style="background-color: #ff00fe; color: white; font-size: x-large;">JOY</span><span style="font-size: large;"> for all </span><a href="https://www.unsealed.org/2019/09/the-whore-and-beast-two-lanes-one-road.html"><span style="font-size: x-large;">who take <i>REFUGE</i> in HIM!</span></a></b><br /></div>
<div><br /></div><br /><br />
<div style="height: 0px; padding-bottom: 56.25%; position: relative; width: 100%;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/unFv1KIcojI" style="height: 100%; left: 0px; position: absolute; top: 0px; width: 100%;"></iframe><br /></div><i><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Psalm 2, adapted from the New Living Translation.</i></div></i><div><br /></div>Garyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03907296435997404954noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-923571518579487836.post-91898759696922626372023-04-03T16:45:00.029-05:002024-03-02T01:05:07.512-06:00Dropping Hints<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span>I read something about this a few years
ago, but recently I dug into it in a little greater depth and detail. The
Talmud discusses several unusual events that occurred around the time of Christ's
death (or at least around the time of His ministry)—things that stopped happening
or began happening about 40 years before the destruction of the Second Temple
in AD 70, or about AD 30.<span></span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><span><a name='more'></a></span><div></div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span>The Talmud is a huge collection of
Jewish writings generally focused on the Torah (the first five books of the Old
Testament) and the Tanach (basically the entire Old Testament), and these
writings comprise a massive compendium of teaching, opinions, and
interpretation pertaining to both, as well as other aspects of Judaism. These
writings began to be compiled in earnest in the aftermath of the destruction of
the Second Temple in AD 70, since prior to that such teachings had primarily been
passed down orally within a relatively closed Jewish society. But after the
temple was destroyed at the hands of the Romans and the Jewish people were scattered
to the nations of the world, such oral traditions became far more difficult to
maintain and pass on.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #aa0000;">Plus, after AD 70,
Jewish scholars had their work cut out for them. The challenge? Invent a
version of Judaism that could function in the absence of a <u>temple</u>—which, if you count the original tabernacle in the days of Moses, had been the heart and soul of Jewish life for 1,500 years.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span>There are two versions of the Talmud:
a smaller one compiled in the land of Israel and redacted in the mid-fourth
century known as the Jerusalem Talmud, and a larger version compiled in Iraq from
the third to the sixth centuries known as the Babylonian Talmud. There are many
differences between the two, but the majority of Jewish scholars consider the Babylonian
Talmud as more authoritative, and refer to it more often than the Jerusalem
Talmud.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span>The reason I mention this is because
the unusual events I am about to discuss are described in <i>both</i>, which
lends greater credence to the fact that these were widely accepted by the Jews
as actual historical events.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span>As we shall see, the four unusual
events we are going to look at that occurred around the time of the Crucifixion
each in its own way gives us the distinct impression that God was giving the
Jews signs that His relationship with them had fundamentally changed. It seems
very much as if God was dropping hints for His people that things were
different after their religious leaders persuaded their Roman masters to
execute this grifter from Nazareth who did nothing but spout parables, use His
demonic power to perform "miracles," and mislead many people into
foolishly accepting Him as the Messiah, in spite of His obvious failure to
fulfill a single messianic prophecy to their satisfaction.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span>The four unusual events we will discuss are connected to the following:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color:#0000AA" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><b>1.</b> Which of the High Priest's hands the lot for the LORD came up in.<br>
<b>2.</b> Whether or not the scarlet ribbon tied to the goat would turn white.<br>
<b>3.</b> The center lamp of the temple menorah failing to remain lit.<br>
<b>4.</b> The temple doors opening by themselves every night.</p>
<br>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face="color:black" style="font-size: 14pt;">A hint that's NOT in the Talmud</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span>Before we look at the four unusual
events that are mentioned in the Talmud, I want to mention one miraculous sign
that was given to Israel that was an obvious hint that at the moment Christ
died, something radically changed in God's relationship with not only Israel,
but with all of mankind.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span>It is recorded in all three of the
synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke), and it involved an extraordinarily tall,
thick, heavy curtain (or "veil") that concealed the Holy of Holies:</span></p>
<p style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify; color: #0000aa;"><b><sup><span >50</span></b>Jesus cried again with a loud voice, and yielded up his spirit. <b><sup>51</sup>Behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom.</b> The earth quaked and the rocks were split. <br><br>
(Matthew 27:50–51 / emphasis added)</span></span><br><br>
<b><sup>37</sup></b>Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and gave up the spirit. <b><sup>38</sup>The veil of the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom.</b> <br><br>
(Mark 15:37–38 / emphasis added)</span><br><br>
<b><sup>45</sup></b>The sun was darkened, and <b>the veil of the temple was torn in two</b>. <br><br>(Luke 23:45 / emphasis added)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span>In the temple, there were two main curtains,
and one of them hung at the entrance to what was called the Holy Place
(equivalent to a nave). The Holy Place contained a seven-branched candelabra
called a menorah (representing Christ as the Light of the World), the table of
shewbread (representing Christ as the Bread of Life), and the altar of incense,
and priests went in and out of this area on a daily basis to perform various
duties.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span>But the Holy Place also contained the Holy
Of Holies, a smaller area which contained the ark of the covenant and which was
separated from the rest of the Holy Place by a second thick, heavy curtain.
Only the High Priest could enter the Holy of Holies, and only once a year on the
Day of Atonement to offer sacrifices for both his own sin and for the sins of
the entire nation of Israel.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span>The moment Christ died, it was this
inner curtain separating the Holy of Holies from the rest of the Holy Place
that was ripped in two, from top to bottom. At a height estimated by some at about
60 feet, this is clearly suggestive of the fact that it was God who did the
ripping. But most importantly...</span></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0000aa;">It told us that the way to God<br>was now open to all, thanks to the<br>blood that Christ shed on the cross.</span></b></p>
<p style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0000aa;">19</span></sup></b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0000aa;">Having therefore, brothers, boldness to enter into <b>the holiest</b> by
the blood of Jesus </span><span lang="EN-US" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[some translations render this as "</span><span face="color:black" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">the Holy Place,"<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> but note that Paul is clearly referring to </span>the Holy of Holies <i>contained</i> in what many refer to as the Holy Place, just as I did above]</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0000aa;">, <b><sup>20</sup></b>By a new and living way, which he has consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; <b><sup>21</sup></b>And having an high priest over the house of
God; <b><sup>22</sup></b>Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance
of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies
washed with pure water. <br><br>
(Hebrews 10:19–22 AKJV / emphasis & </span><span lang="EN-US" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[comments]</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0000aa;"> added)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><i><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">"Let us draw near"</span></i><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">...in a way that no one on earth could dream of
doing prior to Christ's perfect work of atonement. Especially the Jews.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">After Christ's death, the effective atonement for
sin no longer required any High Priest to enter any Holy of Holies and offer
any sacrifice, and the reason is thunderingly simple:</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #aa0000;">The Son of God's perfect sacrifice for sin had just been offered once and for all, and had been accepted by the Father.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">But
unlike the other four unusual events we are going to discuss, the ripping of th<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">e curtain that concealed the Holy of Holies from
view is <i><u>NOT</u></i> mentioned anywhere in the Talmud, or in any Jewish
writings anyone is aware of.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">I suspect that at least part of the reason for this is
because the rending of this curtain was such a disturbingly bizarre event that the
priests would have instinctively sought keep it as quiet as possible. According
to Jewish tradition, the priests simply got busy and quietly sewed the curtain back
together and pressed right on as if nothing had happened...and no doubt labeled
any lingering rumors as pernicious conspiracy theories spread by heretics who foolishly
clung to the absurd notion that the Nazarene trickster that had been executed was
actually their anticipated Messiah.</span></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0000aa;">The abject spiritual bankruptcy of the<br>Jewish religious leaders had reached<br>the point where they literally didn't<br>know what else to do, think, or say.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Plus, this curtain-ripping thing only happened once.
The other events we will discuss each occurred on a regular basis (daily or annually)
for 40 years, and so they would have been widely known and acknowledged by the
Jewish public—and as a result are mentioned in both versions of the Talmud.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face="color:black" style="font-size: 14pt;">The Yom
Kippur miracles</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The four events we are going to discuss are sometimes referred to as the "Yom Kippur miracles," which is perhaps not the best name for them since not all four are specifically connected to Yom Kippur. I've never made any effort to come up with a moniker of my own, but if someone threatened to spit in my coffee to get me to do so, it might be the "post-Crucifixion, pre-temple-destruction oddities mentioned in the Talmud" <i>(clunk...)</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">On second thought, I think I'll just go with the "Yom Kippur miracles."</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">But regardless of how you choose to refer to them, all
four of these strange events are mentioned in both the Jerusalem Talmud and the
Babylonian Talmud. Here is how the Babylonian Talmud summarizes them:</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="background: rgb(230, 230, 249); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face="mso-fareast-font-family:"DejaVu Sans"" style="color: #000077; mso-bidi-font-family: "DejaVu Sans";">The Sages taught: During the
tenure of Shimon HaTzaddik, the lot for God always arose in the High Priest's
right hand; after his death, it occurred only occasionally; but during the
forty years prior to the destruction of the Second Temple, the lot for God did
not arise in the High Priest's right hand at all. So too, the strip of crimson
wool that was tied to the head of the goat that was sent to Azazel did not turn
white, and the westernmost lamp of the candelabrum did not burn continually.<br><br>
And the doors of the Sanctuary opened by themselves as a sign that they would soon be opened by enemies, until Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai scolded them. He said to the Sanctuary: Sanctuary, Sanctuary, why do you frighten yourself with these signs? I know about you that you will ultimately be destroyed, and Zechariah, son of Ido, has already prophesied concerning you: "Open your doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour your cedars" (Zechariah 11:1), Lebanon being an appellation for the Temple.<br><br>
Rabbi Yitzhak ben Tavlai said: Why is the Temple called Lebanon [<i>Levanon</i>]? Because it whitens [<i>malbin</i>] the Jewish people's sins, alluded to by the root <i>lavan</i> meaning white.<br><br>
— The Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Yoma 39b [<a href="https://www.sefaria.org/Yoma.39b.6?lang=bi">Source</a>]</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face="color:black" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 136); mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">1. The lot for the LORD.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">One of the procedures carried out on Yom Kippur
involved two goats of very similar size and appearance. One goat was chosen to serve
as a sacrifice to atone for the sins of the people (i.e. the one "for the
LORD"), and the other would symbolically carry the sins of the people far away
from the camp (i.e. the one "for Azazel," or the scapegoat).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">I'm going to keep this rather general, because the
details of how these things were actually carried out varied somewhat over the
centuries. First of all, the roles of these two goats would be chosen by lot.
At one time, two stones from the High Priest's breastplate were used. At other
times, two marbles or stones were used: one white and one black.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The High Priest would draw out one lot in his right
hand and the other in his left. It was considered auspicious if the lot for the
LORD came up in the High Priest's right hand, and according to the Talmud it did
so every single year during the tenure of the venerated </span><span face="mso-fareast-font-family:"DejaVu Sans"" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "DejaVu Sans";">Shimon HaTzaddik (aka </span><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Simeon the Righteous), who served as High Priest for
40 years in the fourth century BC. After his death, the Talmud indicates that
the lot for the LORD came up in the High Priest's right hand only occasionally,
but it still did sometimes.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">But the Talmud also states that starting around AD
30, or 40 years before the destruction of the temple, the lot for the LORD <i><u>never</u></i>
came up in the High Priest's right hand again.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Now, this business of drawing lots makes this all
sound like it was just random chance, but according to Scripture it was
anything but:</span></p>
<p style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0000aa;">33</span></sup></b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0000aa;">The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from Yahweh.<br><br>
(Proverbs 16:33)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">In
other words, the LORD always had total control over which lot came up in which
of the High Priest's hands.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #700070;">Lord help him with his math:</span></i></b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #700070;"> While I was working on this, I stumbled across an article by some well-meaning individual who blubbered on about how the odds of this occurring were about 5,500,000,000 (5.5 billion) to 1!!! WOW!!! Uh, no. First of all, his numbers are off by a factor of 200. Assuming it's at the mercy of random chance, the odds of this occurring 40 consecutive times would be approximately 1,100,000,000,000 (1.1 trillion) to 1. Second of all, and more importantly, odds have nothing whatsoever to do with it: "Its every decision is from Yahweh." So save the blubbering.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">But
odds or no odds, the religious leaders understood that the fact that the lot
for the LORD was consistently coming up in the High Priest's <i>left</i> hand every
single year did not bode well for the Jewish people.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">They
just didn't know why it was happening.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face="color:black" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 136); mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">2. The scarlet ribbon.</span></b></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #700070;">Warning—sharp
curves ahead:</span></i></b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #700070;"> What
follows in this section is a bit involved, and I literally don't know one
single person who agrees with me on every detail...which tends to make me a bit
nervous. So hang in there and focus, and I'll do my best to get us through this
in one piece.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The goat for Azazel or the scapegoat would be driven
far from the Jews' camp, or far outside the city of Jerusalem and out into the
wilderness. There, it would either simply be killed or shoved off a cliff so it
would fall to its death.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Again, I have to go easy here because the details
varied over time and so you will see sources that describe things a bit
differently. Basically, however, the scapegoat would have a scarlet ribbon or
cord tied to its horns or around its neck, and a section of that same ribbon
would be kept by the priests or tied to the door of the temple. If that scarlet
ribbon turned white, it represented the fact that atonement for the sins of the
people had been successfully carried out. This idea was based on the following
passage of Scripture:</span></p>
<p style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0000aa;">18</span></sup></b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0000aa;">Come now, and let us reason together, said the LORD: though your sins be
as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson,
they shall be as wool.<br><br>(Isaiah 1:18 AKJV)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">If it <i>didn't</i> turn white and remained scarlet,
it may have cast a bit of a pall over the proceedings, but life went on—do some
good deeds and all that. But the fact that this scarlet cord never turned white
again for the entire 40 years prior to the destruction of the temple told the
Jewish people something of critical importance, and it told them with screaming
clarity:</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #aa0000;">Their actions on Yom Kippur were no longer atoning for <u>anything</u>.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">Something
had fundamentally changed in the way atonement was made for sin, and every
born-again believer knows exactly what that is:</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #aa0000;">What happened about 40 years prior to the destruction of the temple was that the Lamb of God provided atonement for sin through His perfect, one-time sacrifice on a cross at Calvary.</span></i></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0000aa;">That's an integral part of what the Day of<br>Atonement had foreshadowed for 1,500<br>years—but when the Jews were finally<br>confronted with the reality, they balked.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Notice I said that what Christ did on the cross is <i><u>part</u></i>
of what the Day of Atonement had foreshadowed for 1,500 years. It's notoriously
easy for us as non-Jewish believers to overlook the fact that there's more than
Christ's work of atonement being foreshadowed by the Jewish celebration of Yom
Kippur.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">I recently saw a question online that a Jewish
person had asked that was related to the idea of the scarlet cord being attached
to the scapegoat and failing to turn white for the last 40 years before the
destruction of the Second Temple, and the answer was written by none other than
Rabbi Tovia Singer, founder and director of Outreach Judaism and Christian-basher
extraordinaire. Here is an excerpt, and he is talking about the Millennial
Kingdom and referencing the book of Ezekiel:</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="background: rgb(230, 230, 249); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color:000077">In chapters 43–44, Ezekiel clearly states that the <b>animal sacrifices will be reinstated in their full glory</b>.</span> <span face="color:black" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 187);">[He tries to make it sound like it's the Old Testament all over again—but it isn't.]</span> <span style="color:#000077">In fact, <b>the messiah, who is called "the prince"</b>
seventeen times at the end of the Book of Ezekiel, will personally offer a sin
offering in the future messianic temple (45:22). </span><span face="color:black" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 187);">[Wrong answer. The prince
will have to offer a sacrifice for his <i>own</i> sin. In 46:16, we also see the
prince may have sons in the normal sense. Although that sacrifice may be a
commemorative one that looks back on what Christ did or one that simply removes
ritual uncleanness as a lot of Old Testament "sin" offerings were
designed to do (see below), either way this proves this prince isn't Jesus the
Messiah.]</span> <span style="color:#000077"><b>This
simple fact should stir Christians to tremble before they consider suggesting
that the transformation of the scarlet strip of wool had ceased due to the fact
that God had done away with animal sacrifices.</b></span> <span face="color:black" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 187);">[Straw
man alert—that's <i><u>not</u></i> what we are suggesting. The only people
stupid enough to suggest such a thing are those who don't even know the book of
Ezekiel has more than 39 chapters.]</span> <span style="color:#000077">Clearly, God has not done away with them as evidenced by the
fact that <b>these elaborate Temple rituals will be restored with the advent of
the messiah</b>.</span> <span face="color:black" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 187);">[Translation: All you deluded Christians don't
realize the Old Testament is comin' back in its "full glory"! So
enough with your heretical "Jesus is the Messiah" nonsense!]</span><br><span style="color:#000077">(emphasis & [comments] added)<br><br>
— Rabbi Tovia Singer [<a href="https://outreachjudaism.org/yomkippur/">Source</a>]<span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Notice how Rabbi Singer cleverly tries to make it
sound as if all the temple activity during the Millennial Kingdom will essentially
be a return to the Law of Moses as per the Old Testament, and that nothing in
this regard will have substantially changed. His goal is obvious: He wants to scare
Christians (at least those who aren't as well versed in the Old Testament as
they should be) into believing that these Torah-esque animal sacrifices are <i>the
<u>only</u> way there will ever be to atone for sin, just as it was for Israel
under the Law of Moses</i>—so phooey on your phony Messiah and all your
born-again baloney.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #aa0000;">"Yep, it's gonna be one big Law of Moses redux, so all you deluded missionaries* can take your book of lies and go pack sand."</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><i><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">(*Be aware that in Israel today, the word
"missionary" is used as a pejorative term for Christians, especially
those who attempt to share the gospel with them. It's more or less the
equivalent of Gentiles calling Jews "kikes.")</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Sadly, the reason a man like Tovia Singer can do
this with abandon and with every confidence that he can get away with it is
because he knows from experience that 99.9 percent of Christians don't know the
Old Testament well enough to call him out on his grotesque misrepresentation of
Scripture and run it through a shredder.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #aa0000;">Well, stand by...because that's precisely what I am about to do.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Ezekiel 40–48 reveals some very interesting facts
about the Millennial Kingdom. Yes, there <i>will</i> be a temple. Yes, animal
sacrifices <i>will</i> be <i>(gasp)</i> reinstated. But a careful reading of a
couple of those last few chapters of Ezekiel also reveals that there are some
crucial differences between what was done in the Old Testament and what will be
done during the Millennial Kingdom. And I'll just go ahead and spit one of 'em right
out at you:</span></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #aa0000;">There will be no Yom Kippur<br>in the Millennial Kingdom.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">No
Day of Atonement?! Hmmm...now <i>that's</i> interesting.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #700070;">Yom Kippur gone AWOL:</span></i></b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #700070;"> Don't believe me? Read Ezekiel 45 carefully. I've <a href="https://www.alittlestrength.com/articles/2018/1806-bulls.htm#assumptions">written</a> about this before, but please understand that during the Millennial
Kingdom animal sacrifices will still be made in the Millennial Temple. Why? <b>Because they will still be required to cleanse and make atonement in the sense of covering over or purging the ritual uncleanness of people entering His presence and objects being used in His service</b>. Just as in the Old Testament, He will still be a holy God living in a sinful world among natural men with sin natures. The chief difference is that during the Millennial Kingdom, those sinful men will be required to believe in faith in the work of atonement Christ accomplished on the cross to atone for their sin in the sense of removing the moral guilt—<u>not</u> merely the blood of bulls or goats as in Old Testament days. They will also have to maintain a faithful testimony. During the Millennial Kingdom, there will only be Passover/Unleavened Bread and the Feast of Tabernacles—the Day of Atonement has gone AWOL.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Here is the key passage from Ezekiel's discussion of
the celebration of Jewish holy days during the Millennial Kingdom:</span></p>
<p style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0000aa;">21</span></sup></b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0000aa;">In the <b>first month, in the fourteenth day of the month</b></span> <span lang="EN-US" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[that's the biblical day of Passover (Lev. 23:5)]</span> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0000aa;">, you shall have the <b>passover</b>, a feast of seven days; <b>unleavened bread shall be eaten</b></span> <span lang="EN-US" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[hence this could easily and naturally be viewed as including the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Lev. 23:6)]</span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0000aa;">. <b><sup>22</sup></b>And on that day shall the prince prepare for himself and for all the people of the land a bullock for a sin offering. <b><sup>23</sup></b>And
seven days of the feast he shall prepare a burnt offering to the LORD, seven
bullocks and seven rams without blemish daily the seven days; and a kid of the
goats daily for a sin offering. <b><sup>24</sup></b>And he shall prepare a meat
offering of an ephah for a bullock, and an ephah for a ram, and an hin of oil
for an ephah. <b><sup>25</sup></b>In the <b>seventh month, in the fifteenth day
of the month</b></span> <span lang="EN-US" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[that's the biblical day of the Feast of Tabernacles (Lev. 23:34)]</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0000aa;">, shall he do the like in the feast of the seven days, according to the sin offering, according to the burnt offering, and according to the meat offering, and according to the oil.<br><br>
(Ezekiel 45:21–25 AKJV / emphasis & </span><span lang="EN-US" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[comments]</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0000aa;"> added)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">And that's pretty much it as far as traditional
Jewish festivals are concerned: Passover/Unleavened Bread and the Feast of
Tabernacles.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">There appears to be something missing, as in
Firstfruits (nobody is waving any sheaves of grain before the LORD), Pentecost,
Trumpets, and Atonement. Not to be overly dogmatic or anything, since sometimes
others see things in different ways and find ways to read things into Scripture
that don't jump out at me. But in my humble opinion, it's crystal clear:</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #aa0000;">They're not there.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Ezekiel only mentions the actual biblical dates for
two of the seven festivals: Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles—and I'm more
than willing to toss in the Feast of Unleavened Bread as a gimme, since the
eating of unleavened bread is specifically mentioned in connection with
Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread is considered part of the
celebration of Passover anyway.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #700070;"><b>Where's
the blood?</b> To hear the "gospel" preached in many churches today, you might almost get the idea that our dear, sweet Jesus just waved a magic wand to forgive everyone who deigns to invite Him into their heart: no muss, no fuss. Easy peasy Japanesey. Straight up—there are simply no words to describe the horrific pain and suffering that was inflicted on Christ that day 2,000 years ago by the Romans. The lashes alone were enough to kill a man. They weren't intended to merely inflict pain—they were intended to literally rip the flesh from a man's body so severely many would bleed to death (or pray they would). After the lashes, being nailed to a wooden cross was almost redundant—that was intended primarily as a final, humiliating public spectacle. Most victims of crucifixion were three-quarters dead by that time anyway.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The point is that God is going to continue Passover,
which foreshadowed and was fulfilled by the Crucifixion, throughout the
Millennial Kingdom because the Father is going to honor His Son by never
letting us forget what that perfect, sinless Son endured on our behalf, all so
that we could be forgiven of our sin and reconciled to Him through faith. In
other words:</span></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #aa0000;"><i>God is <u>never</u> going to let us forget the blood.</i></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Now, I believe the Feast of Tabernacles will be
continued in the kingdom because the Millennial Kingdom <i><u>is</u></i> its prophetic
fulfillment. For the entire 1,000 years of the kingdom, that prophetic
fulfillment will be a work in progress because God will be
"tabernacling" with us. That's the entire point.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">But
Firstfruits, Pentecost, Trumpets, and Atonement? Zip. <i>Nada.</i> And that
begs the question: <i>Why?</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">I
don't want to go too far afield here because it's an interesting subject in and
of itself, but consider:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="mso-fareast-font-family: mso-bidi-font-family:color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">•</span><span face="mso-fareast-font-family: "DejaVu Sans"" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "DejaVu Sans"; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span><b><span face="color:black" style="background: rgb(201, 246, 255); mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">Firstfruits <i>(</i></span></b><em><b><span face="mso-bidi-font-family:"Lohit Devanagari"" style="background: rgb(201, 246, 255); color: black;">Yom Hibikkurim)</span></b></em><em><b><span face="mso-bidi-font-family:"Lohit Devanagari"" style="background: rgb(201, 246, 255); color: black; font-style: normal;">:</span></b></em><em><span face="mso-bidi-font-family:"Lohit Devanagari"" style="color: black; font-style: normal;"> Firstfruits </span></em><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">was fulfilled by the
Resurrection: That one's been a done deal for 2,000 years.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="mso-fareast-font-family: mso-bidi-font-family:color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">•</span><span face="mso-fareast-font-family: "DejaVu Sans"" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "DejaVu Sans"; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"> <b><span style="background: rgb(201, 246, 255);">Pentecost</span></b></span><b><span face="color:black" style="background: rgb(201, 246, 255); mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"> <i>(Shavuot)</i>:</span></b><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"> The fulfillment of
Pentecost was <i>inaugurated</i> by the conception of the Church 50 days after
the Resurrection, and I believe the entire Church Age is its <i>complete </i></span><a href="https://www.alittlestrength.com/articles/2020/2010-shavuot.htm#timeout"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">fulfillment</span></a><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">.
Israel's prophetic time clock is stopped while God deals with His
"heavenly people" the Church. When the Church Age ends at the
Rapture, God will restart the prophetic time clock of His "earthly
people" Israel and this one will be a done deal as well.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="mso-fareast-font-family: mso-bidi-font-family:color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">•</span><span face="mso-fareast-font-family: "DejaVu Sans"" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "DejaVu Sans"; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span><b><span face="color:black" style="background: rgb(201, 246, 255); mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">The Day of Shouting <i>(Yom Teruah)</i>:</span></b><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">
What most Christians call the Feast of Trumpets will be fulfilled by the Second
Coming of Christ to the earth to launch His kingdom. And I referred to it by
its more literal name just to remind you that what many believers (this writer
included) routinely refer to as the "Feast of Trumpets" (a) is <i>not</i>
one of the three "feasts" (those would be Unleavened Bread, Pentecost,
and Tabernacles), and so does <i>not</i> foreshadow a gathering of people to
God and so is <i>not</i> the Rapture. Also, it (b) arguably has precious little
to do with </span><a href="https://www.alittlestrength.com/articles/2017/1708-wrong-reasons.htm#teruah""><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">trumpets</span></a><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">.
After the Second Coming, <i>that'll</i> be a done deal.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="mso-fareast-font-family: mso-bidi-font-family:color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">•</span><span face="mso-fareast-font-family: "DejaVu Sans"" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "DejaVu Sans"; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span><b><span face="color:black" style="background: rgb(201, 246, 255); mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">The Day of Atonement <i>(Yom Kippur)</i>:</span></b><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">
On Yom Kippur, Jews believe the books are sealed—and in Old Testament days you
were either in or out. They had just completed a 10-day period known as the
Days of Awe that served as their opportunity to repent, right wrongs, forgive
others, do good deeds, make amends, etc. If you had done an adequate job of it,
God would forgive you and your atonement was secure—your name would remain
inscribed in the Book of Life and you would live and be blessed for another
year. If not, however, your name would blotted out and the books would be
sealed without your name in them, and you would die during the coming year.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">Before
we go any further, recall one basic principle that applies to the final prophetic
fulfillment of all seven of the Jewish festivals:</span></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #aa0000;">Every single one of them is fulfilled by<br>Christ Himself and in their given order.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color:#0000AA" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><b>1.</b> He fulfilled <b>Passover</b> at the Crucifixion.<br><br><b>2.</b> He fulfilled <b>Unleavened Bread</b> with His burial.<br><br><b>3.</b> He fulfilled <b>Firstfruits</b> at the Resurrection.<br><br><b>4.</b> He will fulfill <b>Pentecost</b> when He catches away the Church at the Rapture.<br><br><b>5.</b> He will fulfill <b>Trumpets</b> when He returns at the Second Coming.<br><br><b>6.</b> He will fulfill <b>Atonement</b> when He decides who is granted and denied entrance
into the Millennial Kingdom (more on this below).<br><br><b>7.</b> He will
fulfill <b>Tabernacles</b> by ruling in the Millennial Kingdom on earth.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">OK,
steady now...I believe the Day of Atonement finds its final fulfillment in the
form of the Sheep and Goat Judgment of Matthew 25:31–46, and I pray that I can
make this clear because I already know some of what I am about to say is liable
to rattle a few cages out there.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">It
strikes me that most Christians today have been mistaught about the Sheep and
Goat Judgment, if they have been taught <i>anything at all</i> about it (which
many haven't). I am convinced that everyone who stands before Christ at the
Sheep and Goat Judgment is someone who believes the truth of the gospel. Yes,
including the <i>goats.</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">No?
Consider: When Christ comes back at the Second Coming, all the people left alive
on earth will be able to be divided into two groups: those who took the mark of
the beast and worshiped the Antichrist as God, and those who refused to do so. That's
everybody. The latter group, however, can be divided into two subgroups: (a) the
believing Jewish remnant who will be protected in the wilderness until the
Second Coming so they can be ushered alive into the kingdom, and (b) surviving Gentiles
at large who have believed the message of the gospel and so have rejected the
mark of the beast and as a result are struggling to survive the persecution from
the forces of the Antichrist.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #700070;"><b>Out of the picture:</b> In regard to the 144,000 Jewish evangelists, I am convinced they will have all been <a href="https://www.alittlestrength.com/articles/2021/2107-roundup.htm#gospel">martyred</a> before the end of the Great Tribulation, so they're out of the picture at this point. They're in heaven and in full rejoice mode. (Even if they're <u>not</u>, they would be lumped in with the Jewish remnant anyway.) Incidentally, unbelieving Jews who "didn't receive the love of the truth" will also be dead...but in "rejoice mode"? Uh, not so much.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">If
you think any of the goats standing on Jesus' left are people who took the mark
of the beast and worshiped the Antichrist as God, then why would Jesus be
asking them about the nature of their actions toward other believers (His
"brothers"), to which they so innocently respond:</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #aa0000;">"Gosh Lord, when did we see <b><u>you</u></b> hungry or thirsty? We <u>certainly</u> would have visited <b><u>you</u></b> in prison! How can you not let us into the kingdom?!"</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">Note
that the nature of their reaction indicates that the goats were actually <i>expecting</i>
to be admitted into the kingdom, and seem genuinely perplexed as to why they
are being denied entrance. The question boils down to this:</span></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0000aa;">Why on earth would Jesus be wasting His time<br>accusing people who took the mark of the beast<br>of
failing to display a bold Christian witness?</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><i><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">Are
you kidding?!</span></i><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"> They staunchly rejected everything connected
to Christ and the gospel and worshiped the Antichrist in His place! And that
tells us everything we need to know about them. However, you might say that
there is another reason there are no markees at the Sheep and Goat Judgment that's
a bit more pragmatic:</span></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0000aa;">Uhm...they're all <u>dead</u>.</span></b></p>
<p style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0000aa;">20</span></sup></b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0000aa;"><b>The
beast</b></span> <span lang="EN-US" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[the Antichrist]</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0000aa;"> was taken, and with him <b>the false prophet</b> who worked the signs in his sight, with which he deceived <b>those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image</b>. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. <b><sup>21</sup>The rest</b></span> <span lang="EN-US" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[i.e.
"those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his
image"]</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0000aa;"> <b>were killed with the sword of him who sat on the horse,</b> the sword which came out of his mouth <span lang="EN-US" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[it sounds like they're all dead before Christ even dismounts]</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0000aa;">. So all the birds were filled with their flesh.<br><br>
(Revelation 19:20–21 / emphasis & </span><span lang="EN-US" style="background: rgb(226, 200, 178); color: black;">[comments]</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0000aa;"> added)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">Revelation
19:20–21 makes it crystal clear that when Christ returns at the Second Coming, the
first thing He is going to do is cast the Antichrist and the False Prophet
alive into the lake of fire. Then He will kill everyone remaining who took the
mark of the beast and worshiped his image—that's just initial housecleaning for
the newly returned King of kings. This precedes any of the activities that follow
that are part of the preliminaries of actually setting up the kingdom, which
would include the Sheep and Goat Judgment.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">So
none of the people standing before Christ at the Sheep and Goat Judgment took
the mark of the beast—it simply makes no sense and doesn't sit well with
Scripture. Well, what does that tell us about them?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">Let's
think this through: During the Great Tribulation, following the launching of
the kingdom of the Antichrist, everyone on earth is going to be required to
take the mark of the beast and worship the Antichrist as God on pain of death.
In other words, refusing to do so will be a capital crime. Now, what could <i>possibly</i>
influence a person to risk their life by refusing to take the mark? I only know
one thing—and I am convinced it is <i>the <u>only</u></i> thing:</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #aa0000;">Belief in the truth of the gospel.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">It's
going to be a clear-cut choice: the Big Lie or the Bigger Truth. Listen: If you
think this world is divided <u>now</u>, oh baby...you ain't seen <i>nothin'</i>
yet!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">The
only reason people will risk their lives by refusing to take the mark of the
beast is because they have come to a knowledge of the truth of the gospel. As a
result, I believe all those standing before Christ at the Sheep and Goat
Judgment are <i>believing</i> Tribulation survivors.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #aa0000;">Are some Christians in name only (CINOs)? Let's let God be the judge.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">But
these have survived and are standing before Christ, being judged to determine whether
or not they warrant admittance into the kingdom—admittance which some are
granted and some are denied.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">OK,
so what is the criterion for admittance into the kingdom? Just belief in the
message of the gospel? Just a profession of faith in Christ's work of atonement
on the cross? No. They did that, or else they wouldn't be there. Failing that,
they <i>certainly</i> would have taken the mark of the beast. At this point in
time there's a bit more to it than that.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">No
matter how much someone wants to massage this and say the goats are actually just
wimpy CINOs who weren't <i>really</i> saved (yet their belief in the gospel was
initially strong enough to enable them to refuse the mark?), there is a cold,
hard reality at work here that many in the Church today are blithely unaware of
(or would prefer to ignore). And that buck stops at the pulpits of thousands of
churches all over the world where preachers are doling out dollops of woke,
politically correct whipped cream.</span></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0000aa;">Remember: The Church Age—along with<br>its unique blessing of eternal security—<br>is
ancient history at this point in time.</span></b></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #aa0000;">The criteria for entering the kingdom<br>for all surviving Tribulation believers<br>will include a faithful testimony.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">They
<i><u>all</u></i> professed faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ—<i>that's why
they are standing before Him at the Sheep and Goat Judgment to begin with.</i> But
now they are being judged on how they treated other believers during the darkest
days of the Tribulation. Whether they protected them or gave in to pressure to
rat them out. Whether they offered them food and drink and shelter and other types
of aid and comfort, or steered clear of them and let them suffer out of fear for
their own safety and well being.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">Both
the sheep <i><u>and</u></i> the goats obviously risked their lives by refusing
to receive the mark of the beast and worship the Antichrist. But the sheep put
it all on the line and maintained a faithful testimony by selflessly aiding
other believers—no doubt at great personal risk. The goats caved and failed to
do so in order to save their hides—it's pretty much that simple. The sheep and
the goats are all people who either took a stand or took cover. And admittance
to the Millennial Kingdom will be granted or denied accordingly.</span></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0000aa;">And as on previous Yom Kippurs,<br>after the Lord's decisions are made<br>the books will again be sealed.</span></b></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #aa0000;">Only this time the books won't<br>be sealed for one more year—<br><i>they will be sealed for eternity.</i></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">So
when the Millennial Kingdom is finally launched, the Day of Atonement will no
longer be necessary because its final fulfillment at the Sheep and Goat
Judgment will have already determined who among the Tribulation survivors who
refused to worship the Antichrist are granted or denied entrance into that
kingdom in the first place, and the books will be sealed for the last time.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><i><u><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">That's</span></u></i><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">
what Yom Kippur foreshadowed for 1,500 years. Yes, something <i>did</i> change
in how atonement was made for sin 2,000 years ago. During the Church Age, it is
based on belief in faith in Christ's work of atonement <i>alone.</i> And I
believe Scripture is quite clear: Members of the body of Christ—those who have
not seen and yet have believed (John 20:29)—are blessed by being sealed with
the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit in a way believers in other eras are
not and as a result enjoy the blessing of eternal security.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #700070;"><b>But they're <u>Gentiles</u>!</b> Some out there may be grousing about the fact that I have the final, prophetic fulfillment of Yom Kippur being fulfilled by <u>Gentiles</u>, not Jews. Yes, the Jewish feasts were given to Israel...trust me. But the final, prophetic fufillment of all seven of these festivals basically form an outline of God's plan of redemption for sinful man—from the Crucifixion to the kingdom, and that's about more than just Israel. God planned for the Church to be grafted into this comprehensive plan and play a key role in it, right alongside God's Chosen People the Jews. For example, as I mentioned earlier, I believe the entire Church Age is the complete fulfillment of the Feast of Weeks, aka Pentecost—and its final fulfillment is the Rapture, an event the Jews know essentially nothing about.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">After
the Rapture, belief in faith in Christ's work of atonement will need to be
supported by a faithful testimony—and that's what we see being played out in
the final prophetic fulfillment of the Day of Atonement at the Sheep and Goat
Judgment, which will determine who among these Tribulation survivors will enter
the promised Millennial Kingdom. So when the kingdom is finally launched, the
Day of Atonement will have served its ultimate prophetic purpose—and then <i><u>it</u></i>
will be a done deal.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #aa0000;">Whew...take a deep breath. I think we made it.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">All
right, where were we? Oh yeah, the <i>third</i> unusual event:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face="color:black" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 136); mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">3. The center lamp of the menorah.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Inside the Holy Place in the temple there was a
large golden candelabra (or menorah) with seven lamps. Some menorahs have a
center lamp that is a bit taller than the others, but styles vary. Whatever the
design, however, the priests saw to it that this center lamp remained lit at
all times, and it was used to keep the other six lamps lit on a daily basis.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">But starting about 40 years before the destruction
of the temple, for some inexplicable reason the center lamp kept going out. Every
single night, it would fail to remain lit. Exasperated priests tried everything
they could think of. They kept extra supplies of oil on hand. They kept its wick
carefully trimmed. Nothing worked. No matter <i>what</i> they did, the center
lamp would go out every single night, and so was useless in its role of keeping
the other lamps burning—they couldn't even keep <i><u>it</u></i> burning.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Of course, the lamps represented the Holy Spirit and
hence God's presence with and favor upon Israel. And the grim, disturbing overtones
of this unusual phenomenon were not lost on the Jewish religious leaders—they
understood that this continual extinguishing of this central lamp indicated
that God's presence and favor had departed from Israel, starting around AD 30,
or 40 years before the destruction of the temple.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #700070;"><b>Why
"western"?</b> In the passage I quoted earlier from the Babylonian Talmud, it says "the <u>westernmost</u> lamp of the candelabrum did not burn continually." Most other translations simply read "the <u>western</u> lamp." But why the "western" lamp? At first blush, that would seem to rule out the center lamp, no matter <u>how</u> the menorah was oriented. I found several explanations for this, a couple of which were in complete disagreement.<br><br>
However, the best explanation I found is that the menorah in the temple was aligned north to south, and the Holy of Holies was on its western side. The wicks of the three lamps on the north side were bent to point south and the wicks of the three lamps on the south side were bent to point north, so all six pointed toward the center lamp. The wick of the center lamp, however, was bent to point <u>west</u>, toward the Holy of Holies. I won't be dogmatic about it, but this is far and away the most satisfying explanation I found, because the center lamp that was kept burning continuously represents Christ, who is the Light of the World and imparts light to us through the Holy Spirit.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="mso-fareast-font-family:"DejaVu Sans"" style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "DejaVu Sans";">And it's worth noting that the
center candle of the nine-candle Hanukkah menorah is also used to light the
other eight candles. This candle is known as the "helper candle,"
which is interesting because the light comes from the Holy Spirit, and when
Jesus promised His disciples that He would send the Holy Spirit at the Last
Supper, He used a form of the Greek word <i>parakletos</i>, which many English translations
render as "the Helper." Just an interesting tidbit.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face="color:black" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 136); mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">4. The doors of the temple.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The final odd event involves the huge set of doors
the led into the Holy Place of the temple. According to some sources, these
doors were so massive that a team of up to 20 men was required to open and
close them.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">But just as with the previous three events we have
discussed, about 40 years before the destruction of the temple, something
strange began to happen: These huge doors in the temple would swing open every
single night about midnight all by themselves, and the door-closing detail had
to be mustered to shut them again.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">This inexplicable self-opening of the temple doors
is not only mentioned in both versions of the Talmud—it is also referred to by
Roman historian Josephus:</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="background: rgb(230, 230, 249); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color:000077">Moreover, <b>the eastern gate of the inner [court of the] temple,</b></span> <span face="color:black" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 187);">[likely a reference to the doors that led into the Holy Place, which would have been on the east side of this court area discussed earlier]</span> <span style="color:#000077">which was of brass, and vastly heavy, and had been with difficulty shut by twenty men, and rested upon a basis armed with iron, and had bolts fastened very deep into the firm floor, which was there made of one entire stone, was seen to be opened of its own accord about <b>the
sixth hour of the night</b></span> <span face="color:black" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 187);">[around midnight]</span> <span style="color:#000077">. Now those that kept watch in the temple came hereupon running to the captain of the temple, and told him of it; who then came up thither, and not without great difficulty was able to shut the gate again.</span><br><span style="color:#000077">(emphasis & [comments] added)<br><br>
— Flavius Josephus, <i>The Wars of the
Jews</i> (6.5.3) [<a href="https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0148%3Abook%3D6%3Awhiston+chapter%3D5%3Awhiston+section%3D3">Source</a>]</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Like the other odd events we've looked at, there was
no explanation for it. As hardened as they were, at least the Jewish religious
leaders had enough sense to grasp the fact that God was using these strange
events to speak to them, and they understood that these things didn't bode well
for Israel and their relationship with God. In other words:</span></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0000aa;">They understood God was dropping hints.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Now,
in regard to the temple doors opening by themselves, </span><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">this strange event was actually believed to portend
the impending destruction of the temple, because the Jewish religious leaders
interpreted it in light of the following prophecy from Zechariah:</span></p>
<p style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0000aa;">1</span></sup></b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0000aa;">Open your doors, Lebanon, that the fire may devour your cedars.<br><br>
(Zechariah 11:1)</span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0in 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">As mentioned in the passage from the Talmud I quoted
at the outset, "Lebanon" was seen as a reference to the temple itself
since the word is based on the root <i>lavan</i>, which means
"white." And one of the fundamental purposes of the temple was to
"whiten" the sins of the Jewish people.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">So, the religious leaders interpreted this opening
of the temple doors on their own as God dropping a big, fat hint that the
temple would soon be destroyed.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">And destroyed it was, just as Jesus had prophesied
to His disciples:</span></p>
<p style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0000aa;">1</span></sup></b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0000aa;">Jesus went out from the temple, and was going on his way. His disciples came to him to show him the buildings of the temple. <b><sup>2</sup></b>But he answered them, "You see all of these things, don't you? Most certainly I tell you, there will not be left here one stone on another, that will not be thrown down.<br><br>
(Matthew 24:1–2)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black">But for the last two
millennia, these hints have fallen on deaf Jewish ears.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #700070;"><b>Baseless excuses:</b> For the last two
thousand years, Jewish rabbis have taught that the reason God turned away from
the Jewish people and judged them so severely was due to the baseless hatred in
their hearts. Nothing to do with rejecting the Messiah, no sir. It's all because
of whatchya call yer baseless hatred—a terrible absence of social justice and a deplorable lack of kindness and brotherly love among people throughout Jewish society. Tsk tsk tsk.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black">OK, then I have two questions
for the good rabbis:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face="color:#0000AA">1.</span></b><span face="color:#0000AA"> If there was such
"baseless hatred" and such a terrible lack of social justice and
brotherly love among the Jews that God drove them out of their land and placed
them under severe judgment, that would seem to suggest that the Jews were in
greater need of atonement than ever before. So...why would God remove the only
means of atonement from them in the form of the temple?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face="color:#0000AA">2.</span></b><span face="color:#0000AA"> The Orthodox Jews believe
that repentance and good deeds are more efficacious than sacrifices in maintaining
a right relationship with God. If that's the case, then it seems that the
long-term effects of the absence of a temple would prove to be beneficial for
the Jewish people. So...why after two millennia do the Jews still mourn the
loss of the temple and pray for another?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black">Just wondering. As for the
Church, if the ongoing fulfillment of prophecy as well as the copious number of
hints God is dropping for the body of Christ are anything to go by, then it
seems that the Jewish people are just about ready to start getting the wax
cleaned out of their ears.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black"><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face="color:black" style="font-size: 14pt;">A word
about timing</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Before I bring this in for a landing, I want to say
a few words in regard to the year of Christ's death. As I said, these four
unusual events either started or stopped happening about 40 years before the
destruction of the Second Temple in AD 70, which places them at about AD 30.
And it is believed by many that these events started around the time of the
Crucifixion. And h-e-r-e we go...I can already hear people out there:</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #aa0000;">"You fool! Christ was crucified in AD 33/32/31/29 and I can <u>prove</u> it!"</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Yeah, yeah, yeah...chill. One of the clearest scriptural
clues in regard to the timing of Christ's ministry is found in the Gospel of
Luke, who has earned the respect of secular scholars as a historian of the
first rank:</span></p>
<p style="background: rgb(246, 230, 208); line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><sup><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0000aa;">1</span></sup></b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0000aa;">Now in <b>the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar</b>, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his
brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias
tetrarch of Abilene, <b><sup>2</sup></b>during the high priesthood of Annas and
Caiaphas, <b>the word of God came to John,</b> the son of Zacharias, in the
wilderness.<br><br>
(Luke 3:1–2 / emphasis added)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:#001320" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Of all the names and positions Luke refers to, the only
one he attaches a specific number to involves Tiberius. He tells us that the
ministry of John the Baptist began in the "fifteenth year of the reign of
Tiberius Caesar," and Christ's ministry—which kicked off with His baptism
by John—began not too long after this and is believed to have lasted about three
and a half years.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:#001320" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">OK, so when did the reign of Tiberius begin?
According to history books, that's an easy one: AD 14. So, it would seem that
the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius (depending on the style of counting
used) would be about AD 28–29. Toss in a few months here and there to smooth
out the rough edges, and an AD 32–33 time frame for the Crucifixion fits just
fine and dandy.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #aa0000;">And AD 30 is obviously far too early to even be considered.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:#001320" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Tiberius was the step-son and later the adopted son
of Rome's first emperor, Augustus (I'm not even going to <i>try</i> to explain this—family
relationships among the Roman elite were scandalously convoluted). Augustus
took the reigns of power in 27 BC, and in the latter years of his reign he wished
to see his adopted son prepared to assume his role.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:#001320" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">There are historical records that indicate that in
AD 12, Tiberius was officially named as co-regent along with Augustus, and as
such had the same authority as the emperor. By AD 12, Augustus was in his 70s
and according to some reports was in failing health, and as a result Tiberius
essentially became the acting emperor <i>at least two years</i> before the
death of Augustus in AD 14, </span><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">the
year of the "official" crowning of Tiberius as the new emperor.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://alittlestrength.com/images/2023/2303-hints/emperors.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="646" height="350" src="https://alittlestrength.com/images/2023/2303-hints/emperors.jpg" width="646" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Now, don't get the wrong idea...this co-regency deal
was no secret. There are records that make it clear that there was nothing
clandestine in this regard. Tiberius was openly recognized and hailed as the
emperor and was seen as wielding the same power and authority as Augustus by
people throughout the entire Roman Empir</span><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">e—<i>including Judea.</i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">So, <i><u>if</u></i> one were to regard the reign of
Tiberius as beginning in about AD 12, which is not a wholly unreasonable
assumption, suddenly a Crucifixion year of AD 30 becomes eminently possible. The
question comes down to this:</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; text-align: justify;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #aa0000;">Was Luke going by the beginning of Tiberius' "effective" reign, or by the beginning of his "official"
reign following the death of Augustus?</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Of course, many assume the latter, insisting that Luke
would have certainly gone with the official records to avoid confusion. But
again, Tiberius' effective rule as emperor for about two years prior to the
death of Augustus was widely known and recognized throughout the Roman Empire. So...your
call.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">By the way, it is not outside the realm of
possibility that these strange events started or stopped happening around the <i><u>beginning</u></i>
of Christ's ministry—when He began to make His messianic presence known to
Israel, rather than the time of His death. I won't attempt to make the argument
here, but I believe such an argument could be made. This would allow the Yom
Kippur miracles of about AD 30 to mesh nicely with an already widely accepted
time frame in regard to Christ's ministry, and everybody goes home happy.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Relax...I'm not trying to change anyone's mind
here—not even my own. All I want you to see is that a good, reasonable argument
can be made for AD 30 as the year of the Crucifixion, just is it can for several
other years in that general time frame. And as a result, a good, reasonable
argument can be made to mesh this with the Yom Kippur miracles starting around
AD 30, as claimed in the Talmud. No veins are popping out of my forehead here.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">What I'm <i>not</i> going to do, however, is waste
my time trying to pin all this down with an ironclad degree of certainty,
because I don't think anyone can or ever will this side of heaven. <i>However</i>
this all fits together, I am convinced that the historical haze that enshrouds
these events is no accident.</span></p>
<p align="center" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: center;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0000aa;">I believe we will <i><u>never</u></i> know the exact year of the<br>Crucifixion with absolute, 100 percent certainty<br>because that's <i>exactly</i> how God arranged things.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">'Nuff said. If God intended for us to know these details,
I have no doubt that we would have known them a long time ago.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face="color:black" style="font-size: 14pt;">Hint-dropping
season</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black" style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">It occurs to me that if God went to the trouble of
dropping hints for the Jews that He was turning His attention away from them
(and to the Church), it seems reasonable to assume that God would drop some
hints for the Church that He was ready to turn His attention away from us (and
back to Israel).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black">And as we look back over
the last few years, we see a number of hints that He is about ready to do just
exactly that. Of course, only a small portion of the Jewish people grasped the
import of these unusual events and understood the true reason for the hints
that God was dropping: Israel had crucified their promised Messiah and God was about
to judge His people.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black">In a similar manner, only a small portion of the Church today grasps the import of the hints God is dropping that He is about to bring the Church Age to a screeching halt via the Rapture and focus His attention back to His people Israel in preparation for the Tribulation, during which they will be purged and ultimately blessed with their promised kingdom.</span></p>
<p style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .2in; margin-right: .2in; margin-top: .2in; margin: 0.2in 0.2in 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #aa0000;">Hints such as the REV12
sign of 2017, the solar eclipses of 2017 and 2024 that scrawl a big "X" across America, and any number of others.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black">As if we <i>needed</i> such
hints, that is. We are being so bombarded with the ongoing fulfillment of
end-time prophecy that God scarcely needs to drop a whole lot of hints that the
Rapture is dead ahead—His Word says it all.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black">Yet He <i><u>is</u></i> dropping
hints for those with ears to hear. So press in, stay close, and make sure the
wax is cleaned out of your ears.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.7pt; margin-top: 0.2in; text-align: justify;"><span face="color:black">It's hint-dropping season.</span></p>
<br><b>From Greg Lauer @ <a href="https://alittlestrength.com/articles/2023/2303-hints.htm">A Little Strength—MAR '23</a></b><br>Greg L.http://www.blogger.com/profile/13488517852547324706noreply@blogger.com72