May 15, 2012
Are you seeing what I am seeing!? Is anyone paying attention!? I was sitting here doing the daily headlines
... and all of a sudden, it hit me!!!
Everything is moving ever so rapidly to the culmination of this age ...
and even I, being of sound 'prophetic' mind, almost missed it. I, also, was being lulled to sleep. ... Its'
like the Bible says in Luke 17:26-30, "Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27) People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all. 28) It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. 29) But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. 30) It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed." (Also see Matthew 24:36-39).
What I'm trying to say here is ... simply, we are going along with everyday
life with absolutely no sense of urgency .... while the Bible prophecies of Daniel, Ezekiel and Revelation
are unfolding at an incredible rate of speed!
The hoofbeats of "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" are so
loud in the background that a person would have to be totally 'spiritually
deaf' not to hear them.
Psalm 2:1-5 says, "Why do the
nations rage .. and the peoples plot in vain? 2) The Kings of the earth take
their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his
Anointed One. 3) Let us break their chains, they say, and throw off their
fetters. 4) The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. 5)
Then he rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath ....."
Let's look at some of the national
situations for a minute .....
*Israel - There is no one area of prophecy more pronounced than that of
the nation of Israel, and it's recent rebirth.
Just 64 years ago yesterday (May 14, 1948), Israel gained it's
recognition as a legitimate member of the international family of nations. What is amazing about this? ... It is the
only nation in history to ever once be a nation, then cease to exist, and then
once again be a nation. Of course, we
shouldn't be surprised since the Bible
predicted this to happen. Let's for a
moment look at just one of the scriptures ... Matthew 24:32-34 ... which says,
"Now learn this lesson from the fig tree:
As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that
summer is near. 33) Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is
near, right at the door. 34) I tell you the truth, this generation will
certainly not pass away until all these things have happened." (See
Jeremiah 24 for reference to the fig tree).
Note: Concerning the length of generations, see Psalm 90.
Another
prophecy we see concerning Israel is the coming "Gog-Magog"
war spoken of in Ezekiel 38 & 39. Here we see the nations lining up and
surrounding Israel with the intent of destroying her. (See Zechariah 12:1-3). Specific nations
mentioned are, in modern day terms, Russia (King of the North), Turkey, Iran
(Persia), and many more which include the vast majority of Islamic states. What's so interesting and makes this prophecy
so relevant today is the alliances we see being formed ... Russia & Iran
(never before in history), Turkey with Iran & Russia, which not too long
ago was friendly with the West, ... to name a few. ... Enough for now on Israel
.......
*China - Look at this nation coming on as both an economic world power
as well as a military one. ... Revelation, chapter 9 tells of a 200 million man
army coming out of the East to fight against The Anointed One in the final
battle of Armageddon. This was a
prophecy that no one could even imagine possible until just a few years ago ...
but now, this "King of the East" would have no problem fielding this
vast army. (Also see Revelation 16).
*America - Where do I start? ........For one thing, as I've said all
along, God brought this nation into existence for two main reasons: 1) To evangelize the world (Jesus said in Matthew 24:14, "And this
gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all
nations, and then the end will come."
2) To be the protector of Israel so that she could, once again, become a
nation. This could NEVER have happened
without the oversight of this country.
But now what do we see? .......... A
nation that, for all intents and purposes, has turned its back on the nation
(Israel) that she was appointed to protect! .... In addition to this, we are watching our
once-great country slide into the moral abyss.
We are the perfect model for what 2 Timothy 3:1-5 which says, "But
mark this: There will be terrible times
in the last days. 2) People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money,
boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3)
without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self control, brutal, not lovers
of the good, 4) treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than
lovers of God -- 5) having a form of godliness but denying its power......
" Also, Christ says this about the
Laodicean Church, which also fits us quite well, "You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired
wealth and do not need a thing.' But you
do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked." (Revelation 3:17) ......... And to add gasoline on an already
blazing "wrath of God" fire, our president came out this week in
support of 'men marrying men, and women marrying women.' Brother Franklin Graham (son of Billy
Graham) said it quite appropriately when he stated, "President Obama has
'shaken his fist' at God."
.......... I feel that we've probably
spit in God's eye one too many times and judgement is soon coming to our land.
* The European Union - This is right now, besides Israel, the BIG one to
watch. This alliance of nations is in a
massive state of financial turmoil as we speak. The following are just some of
the news headlines from the last two days:
*EU on the brink
*Italian banks downgraded
*Euro weakens on Greek exit speculation
*Big debt payment due Tuesday:
What's next?
*Merkel (Germany) tells Greece to back cuts or face Euro exit
*Moment of truth
So why is this group of nations so
important to Bible prophecy? Daniel,
chapter 2 tells of the vision received by Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar which
was of a large statue which, when interpreted by Daniel, represented four
Kingdoms, then and future. The one we
will focus on now is the fourth one ... The Roman Empire. In the vision, this empire was seen as legs
of Iron and feet of iron & clay. .... The key here? ... The feet of iron
& clay. These feet represent the
'Revived Roman Empire.' ... Verse 41 of Daniel 2 says that while this group of
nations would have some strength, it would essentially be divided. ... Also,
verse 43 goes on to say that these nations would not stay united. ... Continuing on to Daniel, chapter 7, we
now see the 'dream of four beasts.' Again, we want to focus on the fourth beast
(verses 7 & 8). Here we see a 'ten-horned beast' ... three of which will be
uprooted ... followed by a 'small horn' who is said to be a man who will rise
up and speak boldly .....
To
the point ... Bible prophecy tells us that the Roman Empire would come back
into existence during the 'time of the end.'
The European Union nations are, for the most part, made up of what once
was the 'Roman Empire.' ......... And now, we are seeing this union of nations,
along with the rest of the world, in dire financial straits. ... So now what happens? This 'little horn'
will rise to power from one of these gentile nations and will ascend to world
leadership. This, of course, will be the
prophesied 'antichrist.' ... He will be
the one with all the answers as to how to solve the world's problems, and most
of the world will rejoice and follow him.
If we look to Revelation, chapter 6:1-2, we see the 'rider of the white
horse' as having a crown with a bow, but no arrows. ... This, to me, represents this coming
global leader who will step into power in a bloodless coup.
How far away are we from this happening?
.... If you follow the stories coming from across the world, we could wake up
tomorrow and be watching it all take place .... but isn't everybody of any
importance saying things are getting better? ... aren't the stock markets
performing quite well? ........ I just
can't believe how ignorant the world is when looking at its current condition
...........
But we Christians do not need to
fear. If we study Christ's and the
prophet's teachings, we are not in the darkness like most of the world ... we
should know that we are in the 'season' of our Lord's return. ... So what
should we be doing? First, let's not
become like the story of the little boy who 'cried wolf.' So many prophetic things are happening ...
let's be sure to not take them for granted and become numb to all that is
taking place. .... And most importantly, I believe Jesus told us what to watch
for as His time of return draws near ... so knowing this, we must tell as many
as possible before it is too late!!! ...
Don't put it off any longer ... tell that brother.. or cousin ... or close
friend or acquaintance ... about how Jesus changed your life
..... and hang in there ... because very
soon, things are going to get much better!!!!
Until next time,
Red