Posted on 03/06/2012 4:44:41 PM PST by pastorbillrandles
This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.( 2 Timothy 3:1-5)
There is a Chinese ‘blessing’, the kind you confer upon an adversary, in which you wish him or her ,”May you live in interesting times”. We certainly do, don’t we? Fortunately we don’t have to rely on Chinese proverbs, for we have a guide to our times that is eternal, and gives us a profound template for understanding them.
We know that these are the “Latter days” spoken of by the apostles of Jesus and the Hebrew prophets. All of the themes of the Old and New Testament are being replayed in little and big ways, so that those who have “ears to hear” may be as the Sons of Isaachar, ”… which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do…”(I Chronicles 12:32).
The Book of Esther all over again
Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel, in meetings with President Obama, affirmed Israel’s right and willingness to use any means to defend itself, against her enemies. Netanyahu is particularly sounding the alarm about the recently nuclear weaponized Persian, (Iran) which has been openly threatening to annihilate Israel.
Obama, had been cautioning Israel against “war talk” and “bluster”in the days leading up to the meeting, but Netanyahu stood firm, resolving that Israel reserves the right to defend herself against all enemies.
The interesting aspect of this is that the meeting took place within days of the Jewish feast of Purim,(March 8-11,2012). Purim commemorates the successful self -defense of the Hebrew people in the land of their captivity, in ancient Persia (Iran). The nation had been threatened by Haman, an ambitious anti-semitic politician who deceived the Gentile King into authorizing an empire wide pogrom.
But the Lord had spared the nation through the intervention of the King’s wife, Esther, a Jewess. Netanyahu presented Obama with a scroll of the book of Esther.
Purim has been prominently confirmed in other events of recent history; for the first persian Gulf war ended on February 28, 1991, the feast of Purim. In the build up to the second Gulf war, President Bush gave Saddam Hussein a two-day ultimatum, on March 17,2003, or else Iraq would face invasion. That year Purim was on March 17-19 !
Demon Worship, The Golden Calf and the great Apostasy
We read of Israel in the Old Testament and marvel at the Spiritual harlotry, the backsliding, the accommodation with false religion, the sexually perverse religious rites, the total defection from God. But we must remember Paul’s warning,
Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.(I Corinthians 10:11-12)
The modern church in many ways is where Israel was at its worst point! Consider this example;
An Anglican church in Auckland New Zealand installed a statue near its sanctuary, of a fallen Angel, ”Gadreel”. A figure from the apocryphal book of Enoch, the vicar commissioned it for “lent”as a way to assure the fallen away to come back;
The statue of Gadreel, one of the fallen angels in Enoch lore who reputedly led Eve astray in the Garden of Eden, was installed in the church’s Peace Chapel next to the main altar on Friday, and will remain there for the period of Lent. Vicar Glynn Cardy said the statue was to show that “even the devil would be welcomed in God’s Kingdom”. ”It’s to show that no matter how distant you are, or even if you’ve fallen to your deepest depth – like Gadreel – you are still welcome to be in our midst,” he said.
Fallen Angels to Land Lightly At City Church
This abomination is the direct fruit of decades of the “Love Gospel” with its misguided humanism, and it’s omission of the great doctrines of the horror of sin, the fall, the Holiness and Righteousness of God. What does the new style church preach? “Unconditional love”, a God who has no indignation, an all-inclusive deity who strikes no fear or awe and is unworthy of worship.
The same rotten theology is infiltrating the evangelical world now. Witness the popularity of Rob Bell’s book, “Love Wins” which is a denial of the certainty of Divine punishment. We are also seeing the rise of a movement called “Chrislam”, a blasphemous syncretism between ‘christianity” and Islam. Homosexuality is also being accommodated by some.
EXODUS all over again…
In the Wider World we are seeing the ominous spectre of themes from the Exodus playing out. Remember that the book of Revelation, is full of Exodus Imagery. The Plagues come upon the whole world, the AntiChrist is the last Pharoah, and the people of God make their Exodus out of this world.
Consider this horrifying story from Scotland, in which state licensed hospital midwives lost a courtroom battle to defend their right to exempt themselves from having to assist in abortions…”
Two senior midwives from Glasgow have lost their battle not to assist in abortions following a court ruling. In a judgment handed down today from the Court of Session in Edinburgh, Lady Smith ruled that the midwives must accept the decision of their hospital management to oversee other midwives who are performing abortions on the labour ward.
The midwives in the case, Miss Mary Doogan and Mrs Connie Wood, argued that they had never been required to supervise abortion procedures in the past, and that the hospital was asking them to be morally, medically and legally responsible for abortions. Although they said that this conflicted with their profound objection to abortions, Lady Smith said that the midwives involved were not protected by the conscience clause of the Abortion Act…
Scottish Midwives Lose Legal Battle
This comes right out of Exodus 1,
And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah: And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live. But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive. And the king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said unto them, Why have ye done this thing, and have saved the men children alive? And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them. Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty. And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them houses. And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive.(Exodus 1:16-22)
The USA has its own version of Pharoah, with Obama also seeking to force Christians to participate in abortion and infanticide. It is as though the “principalities and powers” are doubling down on their efforts to involve all of us in these deep sins of our time.
Satan knows his time is short, and he knows the time itself is shortening, we are hurtling toward the final judgment at break neck speed, and most are oblivious. It is time to get right with God, on his terms. Confess and forsake your life of sin, and neglect of God and your soul. He forgives those who come with a broken heart!
The Prophet Isaiah cries out to us, “Seek ye the Lord while He can be found, call upon Him while He is near!” and Joel told us, that dark as the day is ,”Whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved”!
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The Message version uses
“Anarchist”
I don’t know about in that ref but for many such verses.
Amen, Quix! What also abounds is the power of the Holy Spirit to bring more into the Kingdom of God as time grows close! Gonna be some shakin goin on soon!
We know that these are the “Latter days” spoken of by the apostles of Jesus and the Hebrew prophets.
Just paranthetically, could I point you to G. Vos' Pauline Eschatology, chapter one, on the structure of Paul's eschatology. He has a discussion there of "latter days" (OT) and "last days" (NT) references. They aren't the same.
I sometimes wonder if Christ hasn’t already came and gotten His people and I missed it. Times are getting pretty rough.
This is actually a prophetic statement:
...be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour: Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
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. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night... 1 Peter 3:2-4,8-10.
Mark 13:32 "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
Acts 1:7 He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.
There ya go again with the same old tired
UNFITTING, INACCURATE, UNTRUE rationalizations.
THERE HAS *NEVER* been in the last 2,000 years any time even close to this time.
1. After Israel became a nation again in a day as Scripture predicted
2. Using Hebrew after a wider dispersion than any other people group . . . all of whom lost their culture and language—one of the miracles of Israel’s rebirth also predicted in Scripture—the preservation and use of Hebrew in the returned nation.
3. The nations against Israel are lining up exactly as the Bible predicted. Many were not in any power or position to do so earlier. Now all are lined up per their predicted role.
The list could go on—more than a hundred data points fitting only this era.
ALL OF THEM TOGETHER—EVEN 10% OF THEM TOGETHER HAVE NEVER BEEN BEFORE.
Lay aside the inaccurate untrue rationalized nonsense you seem to so habitually cling to.
The God of the Bible meant what He said. He will fulfill it.
Not a single prophecy of His Word has ever failed. None will.
Something certainly has been set in motion. You think it’s just a coincidence that the sales of guns have skyrocket, and that survival TV shows and global destruction movies are all the rage? Humankind, even the secular ones know something is up. I do believe the clock is approaching midnight.
I don't find many people interested in trying to preserve a republic they think is about to be made irrelevant.
Actually, I just did a double check. The Message version does use the word “antichrist” in 1 John just as other versions do, but where they say “lawless one”, etc. it says “anarchist”.
Worthy points, I’m sure.
I do like the way the Message “brings the hay down out of the loft where the cows can get it” as my old teen pastor might put it.
I think Peterson achieved his goal of it reading in English with the flavor of the vernacular and earthy boldness of the original Hebrew and Greek. I find that flavor and the God of Abraham speaking in that flavor a more robust version of the God I’ve known all along.
I’m now reading the English translated from the Aramaic NT. Interesting.
Interesting. Thx.
Jesus Christ says in Matthew 5:14: “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden."
We are to shine the light of truth in darkness.
And add into the mix the freaking Mayan calender crap. I am just saying here WHAT IF? Things are coming to a head. And things are getting worse and more alarming. Something is going to happen this year, what we don’t know. Be it earth changes or Political upheaval in our country or the battle of Armegedon. No one knows. But the SGHTF soon. IMHO!
Does “shining the light” mean you’ll pick up a rifle if it needs done?
Think Gay Pride Parades all over the country. Those are pretty recent.
I guesstimate that upwards of 24 relatively high level diverse sources from around the world are insisting that we’ll have WW3 triggered by Israel and Iran within weeks to before the Nov SElection.
I wouldn’t be surprised.
And likely some big quakes, too.
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