“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.” (Matt. 6:19-20)
US dollars are backed by the “full faith and credit” of the United States government, not by the approximately 147 million ounces of gold in Fort Knox, like they used to be. (At $1,000 dollars per ounce that's $147 billion worth. The last reliable estimates put the total dollars in circulation or on deposit at $8.3 trillion, so even if the dollar was backed by gold there's less than 2 cents worth of gold behind each one.)
So the value of a dollar is determined by how confident the rest of the world is in the stability of the US economy. China holds the largest amount of dollars in reserve, about 2 trillion, and has about $800 billion more in bonds they hold. China has let it be known that their confidence in the dollar has been shaken by the recent economic turmoil in the US. Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and others feel the same way. And recently the UN has joined China and others in calling for a new, more stable currency to replace the dollar in world markets. Rest assured, if these countries can find a way to replace the dollar they'll do so, and the value of the dollar will decline even more rapidly.
They'll do this because they know the US has recently been flooding the market with money that isn't worth the paper it's printed on and sooner or later it will trigger an inflationary spiral that will further erode the dollar's value. In the current round of Economic Summit meetings other nations are insisting that the US agree to stop spending (printing money) and start saving. But they don't believe our government is willing to exercise the necessary restraint to make this action effective. Therefore their choice is to do something and lose a little now or do nothing and lose a lot later.
Meanwhile, Back At Home ...
At the same time experts in this country believe that unemployment will remain high for another year or so. They believe that many more homes, perhaps more than a million, will soon enter foreclosure. They know that the commercial real estate and credit card markets are still in trouble and could trigger another recession, even before we're out of this one. Lately, I've been seeing more references to “recession part 2” in financial commentaries as a possibility for 2010.
It's also been reported that a new phenomenon, called Strategic Default or “walkaway”, has come on the financial scene. It involves home owners with good credit scores who are often current on their payments deciding to just walk away from their mortgage obligations. They do this because they don't believe they'll ever get back to an equity position in their home. According to the LA Times there were over 580,000 cases nationwide last year, more than double 2007's total, and current indications are that this number is continuing to grow. (In California where the once booming market has gone bust, walkaways were 68 times higher in 2008 than in 2005.)
Because of all this uncertainty, some people look at converting their cash into other currencies, like Euros or Yen, to protect themselves against the possibility of the dollar's sudden demise, but quickly realize those currencies are just as volatile.
Still others enter the gold and silver markets, not understanding that this is just a place to temporarily park assets until the economy improves. You can't spend the coins you buy. No matter how much the gold in your five dollar gold piece is worth, your neighborhood grocer is only going to give you five buck's worth of food for it. You have to find a buyer who'll give you paper money for your gold before you can spend it. If the economy never rebounds, you might be out of luck.
According to Bible prophecy the world will get to a point one day where people will labor all day just to make enough money to buy their food for the day. (Rev. 6:6) There won't be any left over for rent, utilities, car payments, or anything else. This won't happen because food is so scarce, but because money will be worth so little. Therefore, trying to save up enough to get you through those times is an exercise in futility. In periods of run away inflation, savers are penalized by the consistent decline in the value of their savings.
For example, it takes 12 of today's dollars to equal the purchasing power one dollar had at the end of WW2, and over that time annual inflation averaged less than 4% per year. The dollar's purchasing power could erode that significantly in a matter of months during a period of runaway inflation.
But my purpose here is not to present a seminar on economics. It's to introduce the only investment strategy that can protect you against catastrophic loss if the bottom falls out from under us. It involves exchanging earthly dollars that, have steadily declined in value in both good times and bad, for Kingdom dollars that cannot decline in value, or be lost or stolen.
There are two goals in this strategy. The first is to comfortably survive the coming hard times in what's left of this life (Surviving), and the second is to create wealth for the next one (Thriving). You can do both starting today.
Goal 1. Surviving
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matt. 6:25,33)
A couple of years ago, I started warning people to either voluntarily change the way they live or wait till they're forced to change involuntarily. Since then many have been forced to significantly adjust their lifestyles, and many more are teetering on the brink. Yet I don't hear stories of churches filling up with people seeking after the Lord's righteousness.
If you survived the first round of financial turmoil unscathed, don't think you'll automatically be immune to the next one. I truly believe that the Lord is allowing every source of security to be systematically stripped from us until only He is left. Make it easy on yourself. Take the first step now. Seek His kingdom and His righteousness and begin to feel the burden of worry lifting from your back, and the smile returning to your face, as you let Him take responsibility for your well being. The Lord is the only one capable of carrying us through the difficulties yet to come.
Goal 2. Thriving
Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. (1 Cor. 9:6,8)
Waiting for the Lord to bless you before you start investing in His work is like waiting for a stove to give you heat before throwing in some wood. Sowing always precedes reaping, so start where you are. Recall how grateful you are that the Lord has saved you, and where you'd be heading had He not done so. Then express your gratitude by investing in His work. You don't have to look around for an area of need. Just find a place where it's obvious the Lord is already working and pitch in. Give gratefully and generously according to your ability. And remember, every time you do you're exchanging earthly dollars for Kingdom dollars.
Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. (1 Cor. 9:10)
Soon you'll see other areas where you could help and you'll find you have an increased ability as well. Where at first you only had a dollar to invest, you'll see you now have two. Fight the tendency to hold some back and increase your giving instead, always with an attitude of gratitude. The main thing to remember here is that giving with the expectation of receiving isn't being generous, it's being greedy. (That's the first fatal flaw in the so-called prosperity gospel.)
You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. (1 Cor. 9:11)
Most people worry that they'll never be able to afford giving even 10% to the Lord. But people who follow this strategy in good faith eventually find themselves giving 30-40% and still have more than enough for themselves. If you work for a salary, it's hard to imagine how this could work. But remember all money comes from the Lord, regardless of who signs your paycheck, and He has an unlimited amount. Show him you can be a good steward with what He's giving you now and you'll get an increase, because He promised that those who are faithful with a little will be given more. But for those who are not, even the little they have will be taken away from them. The evidence is all around us.
The first half of 1 cor. 9:11 is so exciting to us that we forget the second half. Yes, we can be made rich in every way, but it's so we can be generous on every occasion. And that's prosperity gospel's second fatal flaw. Wealth is not a gift to be wasted on indulgences for our personal benefit, it's a trust to be administered for the benefit of others. Spending money we don't have on things we don't need is neither an expression of gratitude nor a demonstration of generosity. On the contrary, it's evidence that if the Lord gave us more money, we'd just become greedier.
Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:22-23)
No matter how far upside down you are financially, you're not beyond the Lord's help. The very day you determine in your heart to abandon your self indulgent ways and begin to express your gratitude and demonstrate your generosity, He'll go to work with you to help make the future different.
And remember, generosity is not a number, it's a state of mind. It's not how much you invest in His work that matters so much as the motive in your heart while you're doing it. Remember the widow's mite? (Luke 21:1-3)
“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." (Luke 6:38)
The bottom line is that this investment strategy pays better than any other you can find. And it's also unbeatable for overall security. The Lord's bank can't fail, inflation will never erode your earnings, and nothing can ever cause the value of your investment to decline. Also, we can see from the examples I've cited that your returns are payable both in this world and in the next. What other investment do you know of that can promise that?
And talk about safe. The value of Kingdom dollars is backed by the full faith and credit of the Almighty Himself. The value of earthly dollars is only backed by the full faith and credit of the US government. Are you OK with that?
"Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." (Luke 12:15)
The only condition the Lord imposes on this strategy is that we stop conforming to the patterns of this world and allow our minds to be transformed where it comes to our relationship with Him. (Romans 12:1-2) That means we start giving Him the final say in determining the direction of our lives, and expressing our gratitude for what He's done for us by becoming a channel through which He can bless the world around us. When we do, we'll discover that we feel more gratitude, demonstrate more generosity, and in turn experience greater returns. We can't lose.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Rapture Near
"How near do you think the rapture might be?" This or similar questions issue from people, both believers in Christ and nonbelievers. The queries come during question-and-answer sessions at prophecy conferences, and from interviewers such as my History Channel interviewer last June during filming for a series of documentaries on prophecy (The Nostrodamus Effect).
Foreboding feelings
Despite innate skepticism, even within believers, one senses that there flows just beneath the surface of decorum in posing the question a visceral trepidation that there will be such a thing as "the rapture." While those who attend prophecy conferences and secular media types seem genuinely to want an opinion on how near the rapture is, there is almost zero interest in that great event within Christ's church in general. This singular reality is, by itself, a factor worth examination while contemplating the question: "How near do you think the rapture might be?" More about that in due course.
Strange goings-on
To begin considering matters involved, the question can't be adequately entertained to any degree of understanding without analyzing our strange times—this bordering-on-bizarre generation that Jesus himself was most likely prophesying in the Olivet Discourse and other places in Scripture.
America presently has a collective nervous twitch. Worry about the diseased economy is the instigator of the societal surface spasms. Uncertainty about what direction—and how quickly—will be movement into the changes President Barack Obama promised and is trying to deliver has, rather than put minds at ease, caused a form of national schizophrenia. The schism separates Americans in crucial areas of politics and morality, which are in most aspects inextricably linked.
Those divisions threaten to raise the national temperature to a fever pitch. There is a sense that, as radio talk-show host Glenn Beck says, a powerful crisis event lurks in the immediate future. It will be the crisis, Beck believes, that will cause government to snap its voracious, all-consuming, lust-to control jaws shut on liberty.
So, it is more than a matter of curiosity that leads me to think upon the many issues and events swirling about this generation that seem almost certainly of biblically prophetic significance. This, while there is the obvious disconnect of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, for the most part, from those foreboding issues and events that are everywhere we look.
Money worries and changing national/world order
Pocketbook issues almost always lead the way with the adult American citizen. This is a fact, whether talking about those who produce income or those who don't. And, therein lies much of the division in America today. The great political—and cultural—schism, like it or not, is provably engendered and perpetuated by those who work, pay taxes, and contribute to the nation's economic progress, versus those who don't work, but receive the taxpayer-funded largesse of growing government that is devoted to taking care of and growing exponentially its voter base from cradle to grave. This is not to say society—particularly private charity—should neglect the truly needy, those who can't work because of physical or mental incapacity.
Cynical? If so, it is cynicism steeped in provable statistics, the presentation of which isn't the thrust of this essay. Such thought—at least in a general sense—is necessary, however, in order to understand the role the riches of this fallen world play in setting up today's prophetic alignment and the nearness of the rapture.
Control/power the goal
The wallet issue that is front and center—that is most intensely focused on—is the “healthcare for everyone” debate. Universal coverage so that no person will go without healthcare is the proclaimed great concern the politicians parade before the sycophantic mainstream media microphones and cameras. But, in the cabals of behind-the-scenes power politics, it is ever-increasing governmental control—not equitable health care for all Americans—that many within government seek. Congressional leaders, as we know, have not been leading the way en masse to give everyone the same premium healthcare system they themselves enjoy.
Control, then, is the operative word in thinking on the question: "How near might be the rapture?" Control of economy, of monetary matters, is the thrust that impels human leaderships within government toward the time of absolute power that will corrupt absolutely. The Antichrist regime is the ultimate government that lurks in the dark haze of the prophetic future.
In the twinkling?
Glenn Beck, although I'm convinced he hasn't a clue of what will be the true paradigm shift that will fling open the gate to enslavement, is on the mark in sensing that there hovers an unprecedented moment of crisis somewhere just ahead. That crisis just might be created on Planet Earth in the twinkling of an eye, as-a-matter-of-fact!
The Rapture will, with unbelievable swiftness, sweep everyone left behind on earth into its vortex of soul-rending calamity.
Love of money Key to Satan's Scheme
"It's the economy, stupid!" is the infamous slogan spewed first by Democrat operative James Carville as a rallying cry for Bill Clinton's presidential bid. The declaration was picked up and echoed, seemingly with glee, by mainstream news pundits and other media types. The electorate's almost total absorption with money matters, as those matters affect their day-to-day lives, continues to plague attempts at bringing about consensus in America that we come together as one mind, one people.
Money is the central point of interest, but it is also the societal element that most widely separates we the people. Therein lies the nucleus of the problem for Lucifer's plot to usurp the throne of God. He knows it isn't possible to usurp the heavenly throne, but he observably has a blueprint for ruling on earth. Jerusalem and Mt. Moriah are his ultimate objectives in this regard, but more about that later.
Humanism is at the heart of Satan's plot for achieving the installment of his man, Antichrist, on that earthly throne. He will succeed in doing so for a very brief time. To accomplish this, economy is the ingredient within the human condition that must be brought into governance under Lucifer's authority in order to close the great schism that monetary chaos has produced and continues to perpetuate. The chasm must be breached--not in order to make life better for humanity, but to give Satan a system of buying and selling that will enslave ALL mankind.
“And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name” (Revelation 13:16-17).
To avoid any misunderstanding, I am not saying that the people and their obsession with pocketbook issues is a good thing in order to throw the proverbial monkey wrench into Satan's plans to rule on earth. The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, the Bible tells us, and Americans are obsessed, probably more than any civilization that has ever existed, with money and the deadly materialism with which it infects this generation. Point is, economy--monetary intrigues--will power the engine of humanistic drive from this point forward, as never before. Anyone with any sensibility to look at what has been happening over the past months with regard to the economic dynamics shaping things in America and the world should be able to know that doing business has forever changed. The economy of the United States continues to be deliberately dismantled--and I believe it is being supernaturally accomplished--by forces determined to restructure the world for setting up the ten-kingdom governance prophesied for the time just before Christ's return to planet earth.
"And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast" (Revelation 17:12-13).
One world economic order
In considering the question of "How near might be the Rapture?" I view the rush toward one-world economy almost the equivalent in order of importance to Israel being front and center on the end-times stage. A flood of other end-times-type issues only slightly less consequential than those two mentioned rage through this generation. It is difficult to prioritize them for purposes of determining their order of importance in looking at how near might be Christ's call to the church as prophesied in 1 Corinthians 15:51-55 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. I believe, however, that one prophetic symptom of our day has developed that stands out as being almost equivalent to Israel and the drive for one-world economic order in pointing to the nearness of the Tribulation hour: The mesmerized church.
Church deluded
Despite the claims that the church--all blood-bought believers in Christ for salvation--is rising to meet the challenges of this troubled age, one is hard-pressed to document any such massive movement. It seems just the opposite. Anti-God movements are on the grow, aided and abetted by news and entertainment media. Rather than opposing things going on that run counter to God's Word, there has developed entertainment-oriented, mega-church organizations that do their best to emulate the world's glitz and glamour. They teach and preach a feel-good, do-good pabulum that surely makes the Lord of heaven want to wretch. As a matter of fact, God said it would be just this way as the time of Christ's return nears: "And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth" (Revelation 3:14-16).
Antichrist spirit pandemic
The Antichrist spirit is alive and infecting everything in todays world system. No big surprise, right? But the demonstrable fact that it is alive and well at this very moment within so-called Christian church organizations across America is a staggering reality to consider.
Here's what John the apostle, through divine inspiration, had to say two thousand years ago:
Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. (1 John 4:1–3)
End times church sickens God
The Laodicean church is symbolized as the church that will at the very end of the Church Age (Age of Grace) literally make the God of all creation sick at His stomach. The Lord describes through John that organization's true character, and why He is sickened: Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. (Revelation 3:17)
Jesus spoke to the very things that mark the Laodicean church in foretelling the end of the age. The prophecy is prominent—is, as a matter of fact, the very first characteristic Jesus lists in His Olivet Discourse for the time just before His return: And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the [age]? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. (Matthew 24:3-5)
Only one who denies that God's Word is truth can miss the importance of the Lord's words here. Jesus is speaking to the deception that will be tied up in false teachings and false prophesying at the time just before He returns. Please understand that I'm not meaning next that all large, even mega-churches, are evil. Some still adhere to Bible truth in their preaching and teaching. However, the "if-we-can't-beat-'em-we-will-join-'em" false religionists of recent years have expropriated the church’s personnel and presented a compromised message before the senses of the glitz-mad American public. The tactic has worked. The mega-church super-complexes under whose roofs the masses continue to swell mark this generation, almost certainly, as the Laodicean church. I believe these church entities are organizations or multiple level of organizations filled not with the Holy Spirit, but with the spirit of antichrist.
A primary tactic chosen by most of these organizations to draw the masses is to give people an entertainment spectacle every time they sit in the plush theater pews. Nothing wrong with being physically comfortable while sitting, but to be always spiritually comfortable sitting under preaching and teaching that should point to the more abundant life conviction of the Holy Spirit is devastating to the soul. The compromise is in the "Let's talk about it," feel-good, do-good message of "God loves you, and would never condemn you to a hell, which in any case, doesn't exist." God DOES love us—so much so that He sent His only Son, Jesus the Christ, to die as the once-and-for-all sacrifice for the sin in which we are otherwise lost forever.
The thesis-antithesis-synthesis psychobabble theologizing—“Let's talk about it" compromise—is proof that these organizations of religiosity deny that Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation—to reconciliation with God the Father. They are of the Antichrist spirit. These believe they are indeed “rich, and increased with goods, and think they have need of nothing; and know not that they are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked,” in God's holy view.
True Church'es willful ignorance breaking God's Heart
Troubling as these unredeemed type of churches are in these fleeting days of this age, the overt, deliberate ignorance of things of God's prophetic Word in those true Christian churches who still adhere to Jesus as the only Way must be heart-wrenching to the Lord of heaven. Most Christians are without any understanding of the times in which we find ourselves.
To those who study the times in light of Bible prophecy, the seminaries, pastors, teachers, and Christians in the pews of America are observably, for the most part, happily ignorant of the astonishing fact that Israel is being put in the position of Zechariah 12:1-3—that the Jewish state is being forced toward a peace from which will come Antichrist and the Tribulation.
Christians by and large have no idea that the European Union is shaping to be the matrix out of which Antichrist will come, that the Russian/Iranian/Turkey/other nation alignment is configuring for the Gog-Magog war of Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39.
Today's church can't discern that powerful spiritual as well as geopolitical dynamics are forcing the economies of America and the world into a one-world mold that will eventuate in the ten-kingdom rearrangement of Revelation 17:12-13. They don't see that we are in the "perilous times" of Paul's forewarning in 2 Timothy, chapter 3. They don't understand that this nation and the world are filled with the spirit of Antichrist, and that God's judgment and wrath must be near.
As they go through their routines of life, Christians today are doing anything and everything except heeding the words of forewarning of our Lord: “And what I say unto one, I say unto all, watch" (Mark 13:37). He said also: "For when you see all these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your head, for your redemption draweth near" (Luke 21:28).
A Big Surprise coming!
Jesus said one thing more. He forewarned that a great many believers will be caught by surprise at the time of His return in the Rapture: "Be ye also ready, for in an hour ye think not, the Son of man cometh" (Matthew 24:44).
Seems to me we are in such a "think not" time at present.
Foreboding feelings
Despite innate skepticism, even within believers, one senses that there flows just beneath the surface of decorum in posing the question a visceral trepidation that there will be such a thing as "the rapture." While those who attend prophecy conferences and secular media types seem genuinely to want an opinion on how near the rapture is, there is almost zero interest in that great event within Christ's church in general. This singular reality is, by itself, a factor worth examination while contemplating the question: "How near do you think the rapture might be?" More about that in due course.
Strange goings-on
To begin considering matters involved, the question can't be adequately entertained to any degree of understanding without analyzing our strange times—this bordering-on-bizarre generation that Jesus himself was most likely prophesying in the Olivet Discourse and other places in Scripture.
America presently has a collective nervous twitch. Worry about the diseased economy is the instigator of the societal surface spasms. Uncertainty about what direction—and how quickly—will be movement into the changes President Barack Obama promised and is trying to deliver has, rather than put minds at ease, caused a form of national schizophrenia. The schism separates Americans in crucial areas of politics and morality, which are in most aspects inextricably linked.
Those divisions threaten to raise the national temperature to a fever pitch. There is a sense that, as radio talk-show host Glenn Beck says, a powerful crisis event lurks in the immediate future. It will be the crisis, Beck believes, that will cause government to snap its voracious, all-consuming, lust-to control jaws shut on liberty.
So, it is more than a matter of curiosity that leads me to think upon the many issues and events swirling about this generation that seem almost certainly of biblically prophetic significance. This, while there is the obvious disconnect of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, for the most part, from those foreboding issues and events that are everywhere we look.
Money worries and changing national/world order
Pocketbook issues almost always lead the way with the adult American citizen. This is a fact, whether talking about those who produce income or those who don't. And, therein lies much of the division in America today. The great political—and cultural—schism, like it or not, is provably engendered and perpetuated by those who work, pay taxes, and contribute to the nation's economic progress, versus those who don't work, but receive the taxpayer-funded largesse of growing government that is devoted to taking care of and growing exponentially its voter base from cradle to grave. This is not to say society—particularly private charity—should neglect the truly needy, those who can't work because of physical or mental incapacity.
Cynical? If so, it is cynicism steeped in provable statistics, the presentation of which isn't the thrust of this essay. Such thought—at least in a general sense—is necessary, however, in order to understand the role the riches of this fallen world play in setting up today's prophetic alignment and the nearness of the rapture.
Control/power the goal
The wallet issue that is front and center—that is most intensely focused on—is the “healthcare for everyone” debate. Universal coverage so that no person will go without healthcare is the proclaimed great concern the politicians parade before the sycophantic mainstream media microphones and cameras. But, in the cabals of behind-the-scenes power politics, it is ever-increasing governmental control—not equitable health care for all Americans—that many within government seek. Congressional leaders, as we know, have not been leading the way en masse to give everyone the same premium healthcare system they themselves enjoy.
Control, then, is the operative word in thinking on the question: "How near might be the rapture?" Control of economy, of monetary matters, is the thrust that impels human leaderships within government toward the time of absolute power that will corrupt absolutely. The Antichrist regime is the ultimate government that lurks in the dark haze of the prophetic future.
In the twinkling?
Glenn Beck, although I'm convinced he hasn't a clue of what will be the true paradigm shift that will fling open the gate to enslavement, is on the mark in sensing that there hovers an unprecedented moment of crisis somewhere just ahead. That crisis just might be created on Planet Earth in the twinkling of an eye, as-a-matter-of-fact!
The Rapture will, with unbelievable swiftness, sweep everyone left behind on earth into its vortex of soul-rending calamity.
Love of money Key to Satan's Scheme
"It's the economy, stupid!" is the infamous slogan spewed first by Democrat operative James Carville as a rallying cry for Bill Clinton's presidential bid. The declaration was picked up and echoed, seemingly with glee, by mainstream news pundits and other media types. The electorate's almost total absorption with money matters, as those matters affect their day-to-day lives, continues to plague attempts at bringing about consensus in America that we come together as one mind, one people.
Money is the central point of interest, but it is also the societal element that most widely separates we the people. Therein lies the nucleus of the problem for Lucifer's plot to usurp the throne of God. He knows it isn't possible to usurp the heavenly throne, but he observably has a blueprint for ruling on earth. Jerusalem and Mt. Moriah are his ultimate objectives in this regard, but more about that later.
Humanism is at the heart of Satan's plot for achieving the installment of his man, Antichrist, on that earthly throne. He will succeed in doing so for a very brief time. To accomplish this, economy is the ingredient within the human condition that must be brought into governance under Lucifer's authority in order to close the great schism that monetary chaos has produced and continues to perpetuate. The chasm must be breached--not in order to make life better for humanity, but to give Satan a system of buying and selling that will enslave ALL mankind.
“And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name” (Revelation 13:16-17).
To avoid any misunderstanding, I am not saying that the people and their obsession with pocketbook issues is a good thing in order to throw the proverbial monkey wrench into Satan's plans to rule on earth. The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, the Bible tells us, and Americans are obsessed, probably more than any civilization that has ever existed, with money and the deadly materialism with which it infects this generation. Point is, economy--monetary intrigues--will power the engine of humanistic drive from this point forward, as never before. Anyone with any sensibility to look at what has been happening over the past months with regard to the economic dynamics shaping things in America and the world should be able to know that doing business has forever changed. The economy of the United States continues to be deliberately dismantled--and I believe it is being supernaturally accomplished--by forces determined to restructure the world for setting up the ten-kingdom governance prophesied for the time just before Christ's return to planet earth.
"And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast" (Revelation 17:12-13).
One world economic order
In considering the question of "How near might be the Rapture?" I view the rush toward one-world economy almost the equivalent in order of importance to Israel being front and center on the end-times stage. A flood of other end-times-type issues only slightly less consequential than those two mentioned rage through this generation. It is difficult to prioritize them for purposes of determining their order of importance in looking at how near might be Christ's call to the church as prophesied in 1 Corinthians 15:51-55 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. I believe, however, that one prophetic symptom of our day has developed that stands out as being almost equivalent to Israel and the drive for one-world economic order in pointing to the nearness of the Tribulation hour: The mesmerized church.
Church deluded
Despite the claims that the church--all blood-bought believers in Christ for salvation--is rising to meet the challenges of this troubled age, one is hard-pressed to document any such massive movement. It seems just the opposite. Anti-God movements are on the grow, aided and abetted by news and entertainment media. Rather than opposing things going on that run counter to God's Word, there has developed entertainment-oriented, mega-church organizations that do their best to emulate the world's glitz and glamour. They teach and preach a feel-good, do-good pabulum that surely makes the Lord of heaven want to wretch. As a matter of fact, God said it would be just this way as the time of Christ's return nears: "And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth" (Revelation 3:14-16).
Antichrist spirit pandemic
The Antichrist spirit is alive and infecting everything in todays world system. No big surprise, right? But the demonstrable fact that it is alive and well at this very moment within so-called Christian church organizations across America is a staggering reality to consider.
Here's what John the apostle, through divine inspiration, had to say two thousand years ago:
Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. (1 John 4:1–3)
End times church sickens God
The Laodicean church is symbolized as the church that will at the very end of the Church Age (Age of Grace) literally make the God of all creation sick at His stomach. The Lord describes through John that organization's true character, and why He is sickened: Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. (Revelation 3:17)
Jesus spoke to the very things that mark the Laodicean church in foretelling the end of the age. The prophecy is prominent—is, as a matter of fact, the very first characteristic Jesus lists in His Olivet Discourse for the time just before His return: And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the [age]? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. (Matthew 24:3-5)
Only one who denies that God's Word is truth can miss the importance of the Lord's words here. Jesus is speaking to the deception that will be tied up in false teachings and false prophesying at the time just before He returns. Please understand that I'm not meaning next that all large, even mega-churches, are evil. Some still adhere to Bible truth in their preaching and teaching. However, the "if-we-can't-beat-'em-we-will-join-'em" false religionists of recent years have expropriated the church’s personnel and presented a compromised message before the senses of the glitz-mad American public. The tactic has worked. The mega-church super-complexes under whose roofs the masses continue to swell mark this generation, almost certainly, as the Laodicean church. I believe these church entities are organizations or multiple level of organizations filled not with the Holy Spirit, but with the spirit of antichrist.
A primary tactic chosen by most of these organizations to draw the masses is to give people an entertainment spectacle every time they sit in the plush theater pews. Nothing wrong with being physically comfortable while sitting, but to be always spiritually comfortable sitting under preaching and teaching that should point to the more abundant life conviction of the Holy Spirit is devastating to the soul. The compromise is in the "Let's talk about it," feel-good, do-good message of "God loves you, and would never condemn you to a hell, which in any case, doesn't exist." God DOES love us—so much so that He sent His only Son, Jesus the Christ, to die as the once-and-for-all sacrifice for the sin in which we are otherwise lost forever.
The thesis-antithesis-synthesis psychobabble theologizing—“Let's talk about it" compromise—is proof that these organizations of religiosity deny that Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation—to reconciliation with God the Father. They are of the Antichrist spirit. These believe they are indeed “rich, and increased with goods, and think they have need of nothing; and know not that they are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked,” in God's holy view.
True Church'es willful ignorance breaking God's Heart
Troubling as these unredeemed type of churches are in these fleeting days of this age, the overt, deliberate ignorance of things of God's prophetic Word in those true Christian churches who still adhere to Jesus as the only Way must be heart-wrenching to the Lord of heaven. Most Christians are without any understanding of the times in which we find ourselves.
To those who study the times in light of Bible prophecy, the seminaries, pastors, teachers, and Christians in the pews of America are observably, for the most part, happily ignorant of the astonishing fact that Israel is being put in the position of Zechariah 12:1-3—that the Jewish state is being forced toward a peace from which will come Antichrist and the Tribulation.
Christians by and large have no idea that the European Union is shaping to be the matrix out of which Antichrist will come, that the Russian/Iranian/Turkey/other nation alignment is configuring for the Gog-Magog war of Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39.
Today's church can't discern that powerful spiritual as well as geopolitical dynamics are forcing the economies of America and the world into a one-world mold that will eventuate in the ten-kingdom rearrangement of Revelation 17:12-13. They don't see that we are in the "perilous times" of Paul's forewarning in 2 Timothy, chapter 3. They don't understand that this nation and the world are filled with the spirit of Antichrist, and that God's judgment and wrath must be near.
As they go through their routines of life, Christians today are doing anything and everything except heeding the words of forewarning of our Lord: “And what I say unto one, I say unto all, watch" (Mark 13:37). He said also: "For when you see all these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your head, for your redemption draweth near" (Luke 21:28).
A Big Surprise coming!
Jesus said one thing more. He forewarned that a great many believers will be caught by surprise at the time of His return in the Rapture: "Be ye also ready, for in an hour ye think not, the Son of man cometh" (Matthew 24:44).
Seems to me we are in such a "think not" time at present.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
No God but One
"You shall have no other gods before me." Exodus 20:3
The God of the Bible is NOT the same as "allah" of Islam. Today, I need to dispel the colossal error so many, including our President, make in thinking that God, THE CREATOR, the God of the Bible, is the same as "allah" of the false religion of Islam. Let me insure you understand something at the very start. There is only one God and that is the God of the Bible. "Allah," is actually the imaginary god created out of the deranged mind of Mohammed when he dreamed up this false religion we know of as Islam 1400 years ago. Allah is nothing but a poor imitation and rip-off of THE GOD and is no more real than Harry Potter is. When you study the attributes of the God of the Bible and of allah, it is clear and obvious these are NOT the same person!
Sadly, a Catholic bishop in the Netherlands is asking churches in that country to use the name allah for God to "ease tensions between Muslims and Christians." You have got to be kidding me! I expect this type of foolish thinking from politicians and people of the world, but from a priest? I have a better idea for this dear bishop. Why not tell Muslims to start using the name God for allah since God is real and allah is not. Let me help educate this bishop about Islam. Tensions will never be eased between Muslims and Christians since they consider Christians infidels and are commanded in the book Mohammed wrote to kill all infidels. Islam is not interested in easing tensions, it is about death to all who refuse to believe Mohammed's fantasies.
WorldNet Daily recently reported, "An international ministry organization reaching out to Christians in Iraq is confirming the pressure from Muslims on Christians to abandon their faith or their homes is rising, with videos of actual beheadings used to threaten believers." A San Francisco reporter was recently gunned down and murdered outside of his home for his negative stories on a Muslim bakery in that city. The Muslim activist group with ties to terror groups CAIR, Council on American-Islamic Relations, has been relentlessly attacking Liveprayer. They have been doing everything they can to get us off the Internet and television since we have the audacity to tell the truth that Islam is a false religion about hate and death and those who follow their lies will die and go to hell unless they repent and turn to Jesus.
Forty years ago, there would have been no need to even write a Devotional like this. Not only does the need exist for me to have to address this issue today, but it is a message that the world AND the church needs to hear. You see my friend, there is only ONE GOD, and that is the God of the Bible. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. When we pray, there is only ONE GOD that we pray to, the God of the Bible. All other gods are false gods. Praying to a false god is as productive as praying to a tree, your refrigerator, or a toilet. There is only ONE GOD that hears and answers our prayers, and that is the God who Created the heavens and earth, the God who Created you and me, the God of the Bible.
It is critical that when we are talking with someone and use the name "God," we call Him the "God of the Bible." That way, there will not be any confusion to those we are talking to, who you are talking about. Because we are a nation where people are free to worship whatever god they want, and with the influx in the past 100 years of people from every corner of the globe who have brought their false gods with them , not to mention the aggressive marketing and recruiting campaigns by every cult known to the world, simply saying, "God," is not good enough. That is why you need to start making it a practice in your day-to-day conversation to call God, the God of the Bible.
I am aware of the various names by which the Bible calls God, but there are many false religions in the world that use all of the various names we have for God. There is no way to say, "God," and be 100% positive everyone understands which god you are speaking about unless you call Him the GOD OF THE BIBLE. Also, when you hear someone use the name God, DO NOT just assume they are talking about the God of the Bible.
Let me make this perfectly clear. Allah is NOT God! Buddha is NOT God! The god of the Mormon cult is NOT God! The god of the Jehovah's Witness cult is NOT God! The god of the Kabbalh cult is NOT God! The god of the Hindu is NOT God! The god of Scientology is NOT God! The god of the Christian Science cult is NOT God! All of the gods of the false religions of the world are NOT God! My friend, there is but ONE GOD, He is the GOD OF THE BIBLE.
I want to expose, for you right now, one of the politically-correct traps that many Christians have fallen into, and it needs to stop now. It is a subtle trap of satan that they have fallen into so they don't offend anyone. I think it is comical that satan has no problem offending Christians every moment of every day, yet we are supposed to be sensitive to people's "feelings." Let me tell you right now, if you are REALLY sensitive to people's feelings, you will tell them the truth of God's Word so that they don't perish for eternity.
Many high-profile Christians who talk to large audiences of Christians and non-Christians, those in the public arena, will use the name of God. I have no doubt they are speaking of the God of the Bible. I have no doubt that their Christian listeners understand they are referring to the God of the Bible. But I also have no doubt that those non-Christians hear the name God and believe it to be whatever false god thy may believe in. I can guarantee you when a Muslim hears the name, "God," he is thinking of allah. Allah is no more the God of the Bible than is Mickey Mouse. Both Mickey and Allah are fictional characters! I can guarantee you that when a Mormon hears the name, "God," he is thinking of the god of Mormon theology. The god of the Mormon cult is no more the God of the Bible than Jesus and Lucifer are brothers as that cult believes!
I realize that while we have been sleeping and not paying attention, we now have laws that take the God of the Bible out of the public discourse. They have taken God out of the schools, removed Him from all public buildings, are trying to take His name out of the Pledge, working on removing Him from our money, and will continue to do everything they can to eliminate God. Now more than ever, those of us who know the God of the Bible must do everything we can to insure that HIS name is clearly identified and boldly proclaimed to this lost world since He is the only hope we have.
I will be praying for all who read this article. Praying that when you say the name God, you identify Him as the God of the Bible so that those who hear you will have no doubt who you are talking about. In this lost and hurting world there are many false gods, but there is only ONE TRUE GOD. That is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God who created the heavens and the earth. When we pray, there is only ONE GOD to pray to who hears and answers our prayers, that is the God of the Bible!!!
The God of the Bible is NOT the same as "allah" of Islam. Today, I need to dispel the colossal error so many, including our President, make in thinking that God, THE CREATOR, the God of the Bible, is the same as "allah" of the false religion of Islam. Let me insure you understand something at the very start. There is only one God and that is the God of the Bible. "Allah," is actually the imaginary god created out of the deranged mind of Mohammed when he dreamed up this false religion we know of as Islam 1400 years ago. Allah is nothing but a poor imitation and rip-off of THE GOD and is no more real than Harry Potter is. When you study the attributes of the God of the Bible and of allah, it is clear and obvious these are NOT the same person!
Sadly, a Catholic bishop in the Netherlands is asking churches in that country to use the name allah for God to "ease tensions between Muslims and Christians." You have got to be kidding me! I expect this type of foolish thinking from politicians and people of the world, but from a priest? I have a better idea for this dear bishop. Why not tell Muslims to start using the name God for allah since God is real and allah is not. Let me help educate this bishop about Islam. Tensions will never be eased between Muslims and Christians since they consider Christians infidels and are commanded in the book Mohammed wrote to kill all infidels. Islam is not interested in easing tensions, it is about death to all who refuse to believe Mohammed's fantasies.
WorldNet Daily recently reported, "An international ministry organization reaching out to Christians in Iraq is confirming the pressure from Muslims on Christians to abandon their faith or their homes is rising, with videos of actual beheadings used to threaten believers." A San Francisco reporter was recently gunned down and murdered outside of his home for his negative stories on a Muslim bakery in that city. The Muslim activist group with ties to terror groups CAIR, Council on American-Islamic Relations, has been relentlessly attacking Liveprayer. They have been doing everything they can to get us off the Internet and television since we have the audacity to tell the truth that Islam is a false religion about hate and death and those who follow their lies will die and go to hell unless they repent and turn to Jesus.
Forty years ago, there would have been no need to even write a Devotional like this. Not only does the need exist for me to have to address this issue today, but it is a message that the world AND the church needs to hear. You see my friend, there is only ONE GOD, and that is the God of the Bible. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. When we pray, there is only ONE GOD that we pray to, the God of the Bible. All other gods are false gods. Praying to a false god is as productive as praying to a tree, your refrigerator, or a toilet. There is only ONE GOD that hears and answers our prayers, and that is the God who Created the heavens and earth, the God who Created you and me, the God of the Bible.
It is critical that when we are talking with someone and use the name "God," we call Him the "God of the Bible." That way, there will not be any confusion to those we are talking to, who you are talking about. Because we are a nation where people are free to worship whatever god they want, and with the influx in the past 100 years of people from every corner of the globe who have brought their false gods with them , not to mention the aggressive marketing and recruiting campaigns by every cult known to the world, simply saying, "God," is not good enough. That is why you need to start making it a practice in your day-to-day conversation to call God, the God of the Bible.
I am aware of the various names by which the Bible calls God, but there are many false religions in the world that use all of the various names we have for God. There is no way to say, "God," and be 100% positive everyone understands which god you are speaking about unless you call Him the GOD OF THE BIBLE. Also, when you hear someone use the name God, DO NOT just assume they are talking about the God of the Bible.
Let me make this perfectly clear. Allah is NOT God! Buddha is NOT God! The god of the Mormon cult is NOT God! The god of the Jehovah's Witness cult is NOT God! The god of the Kabbalh cult is NOT God! The god of the Hindu is NOT God! The god of Scientology is NOT God! The god of the Christian Science cult is NOT God! All of the gods of the false religions of the world are NOT God! My friend, there is but ONE GOD, He is the GOD OF THE BIBLE.
I want to expose, for you right now, one of the politically-correct traps that many Christians have fallen into, and it needs to stop now. It is a subtle trap of satan that they have fallen into so they don't offend anyone. I think it is comical that satan has no problem offending Christians every moment of every day, yet we are supposed to be sensitive to people's "feelings." Let me tell you right now, if you are REALLY sensitive to people's feelings, you will tell them the truth of God's Word so that they don't perish for eternity.
Many high-profile Christians who talk to large audiences of Christians and non-Christians, those in the public arena, will use the name of God. I have no doubt they are speaking of the God of the Bible. I have no doubt that their Christian listeners understand they are referring to the God of the Bible. But I also have no doubt that those non-Christians hear the name God and believe it to be whatever false god thy may believe in. I can guarantee you when a Muslim hears the name, "God," he is thinking of allah. Allah is no more the God of the Bible than is Mickey Mouse. Both Mickey and Allah are fictional characters! I can guarantee you that when a Mormon hears the name, "God," he is thinking of the god of Mormon theology. The god of the Mormon cult is no more the God of the Bible than Jesus and Lucifer are brothers as that cult believes!
I realize that while we have been sleeping and not paying attention, we now have laws that take the God of the Bible out of the public discourse. They have taken God out of the schools, removed Him from all public buildings, are trying to take His name out of the Pledge, working on removing Him from our money, and will continue to do everything they can to eliminate God. Now more than ever, those of us who know the God of the Bible must do everything we can to insure that HIS name is clearly identified and boldly proclaimed to this lost world since He is the only hope we have.
I will be praying for all who read this article. Praying that when you say the name God, you identify Him as the God of the Bible so that those who hear you will have no doubt who you are talking about. In this lost and hurting world there are many false gods, but there is only ONE TRUE GOD. That is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God who created the heavens and the earth. When we pray, there is only ONE GOD to pray to who hears and answers our prayers, that is the God of the Bible!!!
Friday, September 25, 2009
Thursday, September 24, 2009
The Fall Feasts of Israel
(At sunset on Sept. 18, 2009 Israel began year 5770 on the Hebrew Calendar. As I often do with articles that commemorate annual events, I have updated this study on the Fall Feasts and added new information for your review. As you can see, I'm also posting it a day early to coincide with the start of Rosh Hashanah.)
The fall is arguably the most important time of the year in Judaism. Three of Israel's holiest days are celebrated then, and all in the space of 15 days. They are Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, followed 10 days later by Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, and 5 days after that the week long Feast of Tabernacles. On our calendar they usually fall (no pun intended) some time between mid September and early October due to the differences between the Jewish (lunar) calendar and the western (solar) one.
Each of these holy days has both historical and prophetic significance, the prophetic fulfillment to occur on the day itself. Therefore Christians study them for glimpses into the future as well as to gain a better understanding of Jewish culture.
Happy New Year
Gentiles are sometimes confused in their studies of these holy days by the fact that the Lord changed the Jewish calendar at the time of the Exodus (Exodus 12:2). What had been the 7th month was thereafter to be the first, moving the beginning of the year to the spring, 10 days before Passover.
But because of the harvest, the Jews retained their original calendar as well, so now they have a religious year which begins in the spring and a civil year beginning in the fall. Therefore the Jewish New Year has always been celebrated in the fall and remains so today. This feast is known by two names, Yom Teruah, which means day of blowing but is called the Feast of Trumpets, and Rosh Hashanah, which means "head of the year".
Rosh Hashanah is a time of new beginnings. According to some Jewish traditions, the creation was completed on Rosh Hashanah, and therefore Adam was born on that day as well. Many students of prophecy place the birth of the Messiah on Rosh Hashanah, giving the day it's historical fulfillment, and believe that the beginning of Daniel's 70th week and 7 years later the Lord's Second Coming will also occur on Rosh Hashanah, fufilling it's prophetic significance.
Others think that the Rapture of the Church will happen on Rosh Hashanah, but I'm convinced that the Rapture is a number specific event rather than a date specific one, meaning the Church will be raptured when "the full number of gentiles has come in" making the day and hour unknown to us in advance, except that it will precede Israel's re-awakening (Romans 11:25) and Daniel's 70th week. (Acts 15:15-16)
I'm also convinced that Paul's reference to the Rapture happening at "The Last Trump" (1 Cor. 15:52) should not be used to connect it to the Feast of Trumpets. He spoke of the same event In 1 Thes. 4:16 saying it would be accompanied by the trumpet call of God. Some scholars say there are two trumpets of God that recall the two horns of the ram caught in the thicket as Abraham prepared to sacrifice Isaac. They call the Trumpet of Exodus 19:13 the left one, or First Trump, and say that God will call the Israelites back to the Land in the End Times by blowing the right one, or Last Trump. If, as I suspect, this will occur in conjunction with the Battle of Ezekiel 38, then my belief that the Rapture will take place before Ezekiel's battle would be confirmed.
Religious Jews believe that in Heaven, books recording the deeds of mankind are opened on Rosh Hashanah for an annual review of man's behavior. To this end, they spend the previous month in a sincere effort to right all the wrongs they may have committed during the year just ending.
When the books are opened, the names of those whose life has been exemplary in every respect are entered into the book for another year of life, while those who have demonstrated no redeeming qualities at all are scheduled for death. Since normal bell curve distribution would indicate that very few fit at either extreme, the majority are given 10 days until Yom Kippur to "get right with God." These 10 days are called the Days of Awe where each man's destiny hangs in the balance as he goes about asking forgiveness from friends and neighbors for sins he's committed in the year just past. A common greeting among Jews during the Days of Awe is, "May your name be written in the Book."
On the first afternoon of Rosh Hashanah (it's a two day celebration) Orthodox Jews go to a running brook or stream where fish swim and throw pebbles or crumbs they've gathered into the water, symbolizing God's casting away of their sins. While doing so, they recite Micah 7:18-20. "Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea. You will be true to Jacob, and show mercy to Abraham, as you pledged on oath to our fathers in days long ago."
This is one of the most eloquent descriptions of God's grace to be found anywhere in Scripture. It reminds God of His promise to be merciful to them in the coming judgment of Yom Kippur.
The fish's dependence on water symbolizes their dependence on God. The fact that fish can't close their eyes reminds them to be thorough because God sees everything. This ceremony is called Tashlich, Hebrew for "You will cast", a reference to hurling their iniquities into the sea in Micah 7:19.
Judgment Time
Ten days later, on Yom Kippur, judgment is rendered, the books are closed and everyone's fate is sealed for another year.
Yom Kippur was the only day of the year when it was permissible to speak the Name of God. Yes God does have a name, but it's not Jehovah or Yahweh. These names were created out of the four letters that Hebrew scribes used to represent God's name in the Old Testament. Wherever the word LORD appears all in caps, you'll find the Hebrew letters JHVH, (or YHWH) in the Hebrew text. Theologians call these four letters the tetragrammaton, which is Greek for "four letters". So, in effect these four letters are God's initials, standing for His real name.
Since Hebrew has no vowels, early English language translators added an E, an O, and an A, (vowels they took from from Elohim, a form of the Hebrew word meaning God and Adonai, Hebrew for Lord) to JHVH and created the name Jehovah. We used to think that was God's name. And in Hebrew the four letters are pronounced yod, hay, wah, hay, which probably gave rise to the "Yahweh" we use today. Neither one is really His name.
It was forbidden for Jews to speak God's actual name except for once a year on Yom Kippur when it was spoken 10 times. After the Temple was destroyed, the Yom Kippur ceremony gradually changed until the name of God ceased to be used and was subsequently lost.
So no one alive today knows God's name, and it probably hasn't been spoken on Earth for about 1700 years. But that's not necessarily a bad thing. Philippians 2:9-11 says that Jesus, or if you prefer the Hebrew, Yeshua is now the name above all names.
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Back to Yom Kippur. During a great and awe inspiring ceremony at the Temple, two goats were brought before the High Priest. One was a goat "for the Lord" to be presented as a peace offering as commanded in Lev. 16:7-10. The other was called "the scapegoat" because all the sins of the nation were symbolically placed upon its head, and then it was led outside the city to be killed. The goat had done nothing to deserve this but was chosen to demonstrate the fact that only the shedding of innocent blood could atone for the sins of the people. The death of the two goats symbolically set aside the sins of the nation, made their peace offering acceptable and gave them peace with their Creator. The people spoke the Name of God in heartfelt thanks.
Here are a couple of interesting tidbits from Jewish tradition. When the goats were brought before the High Priest, their respective roles in the ceremony were determined by lot. Two golden lots were placed in a golden bowl and as he placed his hand upon the head of each goat, the High Priest reached into the bowl and pulled out one of the lots. Before the cross, the goat that was to be presented to the Lord as a peace offering always turned out to be on the right hand of the High Priest. After the cross it never was.
While the scapegoat was symbolically receiving the sins of the people upon its head a scarlet ribbon was tied from one of its horns to the door of the temple. When the time came for the goat to be taken into the wilderness the ribbon was cut, leaving some on its horn and some on the door. At a predetermined location outside the city, the goat was pushed off a cliff and fell to its death. In all the years before the cross, at the moment of the scapegoat's death, the remnant of ribbon on the temple door turned from red to white symbolizing the passage from Isaiah 1:18, "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow." After the cross this never happened again. The One Who now sits at the right hand of the Father and Who had fulfilled the dual role that the two goats only symbolized had come and forever taken away the sins of all who would choose to accept Him. (Source: The Fall Feasts Of Israel. Authors Mitch and Zhava Glaser, Publisher Moody Press.)
The Law Is Only A Shadow ...
In Christendom a view holds that the Lord Jesus began His ministry on Yom Kippur announcing in effect that the judgment that was due mankind would be borne by Him (Luke 4:16-21) and that man no longer need live in fear of judgment nor have to endure the 10 Days of Awe every year.
It's easy to see the Lord in the role of our scapegoat, whose shed blood purchased our pardon forever (Hebrews 10:11-14) but He was also our peace offering. "He is our peace, Who has broken down every wall." (Ephe 2:14)
In the prophetic sense, Tribulation survivors from the nations will receive their fulfillment of the Yom Kippur judgment in the days immediately following the Lord's return. This is described to us in the Sheep and Goat judgment (Matt 25:31-46) where Gentiles who've cast their sins at the foot of the cross during the Great Tribulation will be granted life in the Kingdom, and those who haven't will be sent away for death. Their willingness to help believing Jews during the Great Tribulation will be evidence of their faith. In Matt. 19:28 the Lord told His disciples that the judgment of Jews who survive would take place then, too.
For those of all ages who reject the Lord's vicarious atonement, the prophetic fulfillment of Yom Kippur will come at the end of the Millennium in the so-called Great White Throne judgment, when all the unsaved dead are brought back to life to be judged according to their works. (Rev. 20:11-15).
Happy Thanksgiving
The Feast of Tabernacles comes five days after Yom Kippur. It was a harvest celebration and is the inspiration for the American Thanksgiving Day. It began as a seven-day feast, later expanded to eight, when all the tithes the Israelites had set aside during the year were brought to Jerusalem for a joyous time of national celebration and thanksgiving for the Lord's bountiful provision. The aroma of delicious foods cooking over open fires permeated the whole city. For seven days where ever you went there was an air of joy and festivity as the people remembered their Provider and gave thanks. (Deut. 14:22-26).
Historically the Feast of Tabernacles commemorates the time of God's dwelling with the Israelites in the wilderness. Its prophetic fulfillment comes in the Millennium when the Lord will once again dwell among His people; with the Church in the New Jerusalem (Rev 21) and Israel in Jehovah Shammah, the new name of the Holy City in the Promised Land. (Isaiah 62:2 & Ezekiel 48:35)
Somewhere along the way a water libation ceremony was added to the Feast of Tabernacles. Each morning a procession of priests would descend the steps from the Temple to the Pool of Siloam and dip a silver pitcher into the water. Carrying the water back to the altar, they would pour it into the ground that had been exposed by the removal of a paving block near the altar, while offering prayers for rain. The purpose of this daily ceremony was to remind God to bring the fall rains needed to prepare the ground for planting. In Israel it doesn't rain during the summer and the ground gets very hard. Gentle rains are needed to soften the ground so it can be prepared for the fall planting.
On the last day of the feast the High Priest himself would officiate and on this day instead of a silver pitcher one of pure gold would be used. The High Priest would be dressed in all his finest and attended by a huge contingent of similarly attired priests, blowing trumpets, singing psalms, and waving palm branches. When it was first described to me, I was struck by its beauty and pageantry. I've since read that extra balconies were set up around the Court of the Priests so more people could observe it.
One year just as the High Priest was about to pour the water into the ground, a loud voice interrupted the ceremony shouting, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." (John 7:37-38) It was Jesus and He was referring to the Holy Spirit, who believers would soon receive. This caused many to believe that He was indeed Israel's Messiah. (We're not told what the High Priest's reaction was, but it couldn't have been pleasant.)
Let's Get Spiritual
Following the thought that events that were external and physical in the Old Testament are often internal and spiritual in the New, there is a sense in which these holy days also reflect the life of the believer.
As Jesus came to live in the world at His birth (Rosh Hashanah), so He comes to live in our hearts at our new birth. As He required the shedding of innocent blood to reconcile Himself with Israel (Yom Kippur) so He shed His own Blood to reconcile Himself with us. As He dwelt with the Israelites in the wilderness of Midian (Tabernacles), so He dwells with us in the wilderness of Earth. "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age," He promised. (Matt 28:20) Even so, Come Lord Jesus. (Rev. 22:20) You can almost hear the Footsteps of the Messiah.
The fall is arguably the most important time of the year in Judaism. Three of Israel's holiest days are celebrated then, and all in the space of 15 days. They are Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, followed 10 days later by Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, and 5 days after that the week long Feast of Tabernacles. On our calendar they usually fall (no pun intended) some time between mid September and early October due to the differences between the Jewish (lunar) calendar and the western (solar) one.
Each of these holy days has both historical and prophetic significance, the prophetic fulfillment to occur on the day itself. Therefore Christians study them for glimpses into the future as well as to gain a better understanding of Jewish culture.
Happy New Year
Gentiles are sometimes confused in their studies of these holy days by the fact that the Lord changed the Jewish calendar at the time of the Exodus (Exodus 12:2). What had been the 7th month was thereafter to be the first, moving the beginning of the year to the spring, 10 days before Passover.
But because of the harvest, the Jews retained their original calendar as well, so now they have a religious year which begins in the spring and a civil year beginning in the fall. Therefore the Jewish New Year has always been celebrated in the fall and remains so today. This feast is known by two names, Yom Teruah, which means day of blowing but is called the Feast of Trumpets, and Rosh Hashanah, which means "head of the year".
Rosh Hashanah is a time of new beginnings. According to some Jewish traditions, the creation was completed on Rosh Hashanah, and therefore Adam was born on that day as well. Many students of prophecy place the birth of the Messiah on Rosh Hashanah, giving the day it's historical fulfillment, and believe that the beginning of Daniel's 70th week and 7 years later the Lord's Second Coming will also occur on Rosh Hashanah, fufilling it's prophetic significance.
Others think that the Rapture of the Church will happen on Rosh Hashanah, but I'm convinced that the Rapture is a number specific event rather than a date specific one, meaning the Church will be raptured when "the full number of gentiles has come in" making the day and hour unknown to us in advance, except that it will precede Israel's re-awakening (Romans 11:25) and Daniel's 70th week. (Acts 15:15-16)
I'm also convinced that Paul's reference to the Rapture happening at "The Last Trump" (1 Cor. 15:52) should not be used to connect it to the Feast of Trumpets. He spoke of the same event In 1 Thes. 4:16 saying it would be accompanied by the trumpet call of God. Some scholars say there are two trumpets of God that recall the two horns of the ram caught in the thicket as Abraham prepared to sacrifice Isaac. They call the Trumpet of Exodus 19:13 the left one, or First Trump, and say that God will call the Israelites back to the Land in the End Times by blowing the right one, or Last Trump. If, as I suspect, this will occur in conjunction with the Battle of Ezekiel 38, then my belief that the Rapture will take place before Ezekiel's battle would be confirmed.
Religious Jews believe that in Heaven, books recording the deeds of mankind are opened on Rosh Hashanah for an annual review of man's behavior. To this end, they spend the previous month in a sincere effort to right all the wrongs they may have committed during the year just ending.
When the books are opened, the names of those whose life has been exemplary in every respect are entered into the book for another year of life, while those who have demonstrated no redeeming qualities at all are scheduled for death. Since normal bell curve distribution would indicate that very few fit at either extreme, the majority are given 10 days until Yom Kippur to "get right with God." These 10 days are called the Days of Awe where each man's destiny hangs in the balance as he goes about asking forgiveness from friends and neighbors for sins he's committed in the year just past. A common greeting among Jews during the Days of Awe is, "May your name be written in the Book."
On the first afternoon of Rosh Hashanah (it's a two day celebration) Orthodox Jews go to a running brook or stream where fish swim and throw pebbles or crumbs they've gathered into the water, symbolizing God's casting away of their sins. While doing so, they recite Micah 7:18-20. "Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea. You will be true to Jacob, and show mercy to Abraham, as you pledged on oath to our fathers in days long ago."
This is one of the most eloquent descriptions of God's grace to be found anywhere in Scripture. It reminds God of His promise to be merciful to them in the coming judgment of Yom Kippur.
The fish's dependence on water symbolizes their dependence on God. The fact that fish can't close their eyes reminds them to be thorough because God sees everything. This ceremony is called Tashlich, Hebrew for "You will cast", a reference to hurling their iniquities into the sea in Micah 7:19.
Judgment Time
Ten days later, on Yom Kippur, judgment is rendered, the books are closed and everyone's fate is sealed for another year.
Yom Kippur was the only day of the year when it was permissible to speak the Name of God. Yes God does have a name, but it's not Jehovah or Yahweh. These names were created out of the four letters that Hebrew scribes used to represent God's name in the Old Testament. Wherever the word LORD appears all in caps, you'll find the Hebrew letters JHVH, (or YHWH) in the Hebrew text. Theologians call these four letters the tetragrammaton, which is Greek for "four letters". So, in effect these four letters are God's initials, standing for His real name.
Since Hebrew has no vowels, early English language translators added an E, an O, and an A, (vowels they took from from Elohim, a form of the Hebrew word meaning God and Adonai, Hebrew for Lord) to JHVH and created the name Jehovah. We used to think that was God's name. And in Hebrew the four letters are pronounced yod, hay, wah, hay, which probably gave rise to the "Yahweh" we use today. Neither one is really His name.
It was forbidden for Jews to speak God's actual name except for once a year on Yom Kippur when it was spoken 10 times. After the Temple was destroyed, the Yom Kippur ceremony gradually changed until the name of God ceased to be used and was subsequently lost.
So no one alive today knows God's name, and it probably hasn't been spoken on Earth for about 1700 years. But that's not necessarily a bad thing. Philippians 2:9-11 says that Jesus, or if you prefer the Hebrew, Yeshua is now the name above all names.
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Back to Yom Kippur. During a great and awe inspiring ceremony at the Temple, two goats were brought before the High Priest. One was a goat "for the Lord" to be presented as a peace offering as commanded in Lev. 16:7-10. The other was called "the scapegoat" because all the sins of the nation were symbolically placed upon its head, and then it was led outside the city to be killed. The goat had done nothing to deserve this but was chosen to demonstrate the fact that only the shedding of innocent blood could atone for the sins of the people. The death of the two goats symbolically set aside the sins of the nation, made their peace offering acceptable and gave them peace with their Creator. The people spoke the Name of God in heartfelt thanks.
Here are a couple of interesting tidbits from Jewish tradition. When the goats were brought before the High Priest, their respective roles in the ceremony were determined by lot. Two golden lots were placed in a golden bowl and as he placed his hand upon the head of each goat, the High Priest reached into the bowl and pulled out one of the lots. Before the cross, the goat that was to be presented to the Lord as a peace offering always turned out to be on the right hand of the High Priest. After the cross it never was.
While the scapegoat was symbolically receiving the sins of the people upon its head a scarlet ribbon was tied from one of its horns to the door of the temple. When the time came for the goat to be taken into the wilderness the ribbon was cut, leaving some on its horn and some on the door. At a predetermined location outside the city, the goat was pushed off a cliff and fell to its death. In all the years before the cross, at the moment of the scapegoat's death, the remnant of ribbon on the temple door turned from red to white symbolizing the passage from Isaiah 1:18, "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow." After the cross this never happened again. The One Who now sits at the right hand of the Father and Who had fulfilled the dual role that the two goats only symbolized had come and forever taken away the sins of all who would choose to accept Him. (Source: The Fall Feasts Of Israel. Authors Mitch and Zhava Glaser, Publisher Moody Press.)
The Law Is Only A Shadow ...
In Christendom a view holds that the Lord Jesus began His ministry on Yom Kippur announcing in effect that the judgment that was due mankind would be borne by Him (Luke 4:16-21) and that man no longer need live in fear of judgment nor have to endure the 10 Days of Awe every year.
It's easy to see the Lord in the role of our scapegoat, whose shed blood purchased our pardon forever (Hebrews 10:11-14) but He was also our peace offering. "He is our peace, Who has broken down every wall." (Ephe 2:14)
In the prophetic sense, Tribulation survivors from the nations will receive their fulfillment of the Yom Kippur judgment in the days immediately following the Lord's return. This is described to us in the Sheep and Goat judgment (Matt 25:31-46) where Gentiles who've cast their sins at the foot of the cross during the Great Tribulation will be granted life in the Kingdom, and those who haven't will be sent away for death. Their willingness to help believing Jews during the Great Tribulation will be evidence of their faith. In Matt. 19:28 the Lord told His disciples that the judgment of Jews who survive would take place then, too.
For those of all ages who reject the Lord's vicarious atonement, the prophetic fulfillment of Yom Kippur will come at the end of the Millennium in the so-called Great White Throne judgment, when all the unsaved dead are brought back to life to be judged according to their works. (Rev. 20:11-15).
Happy Thanksgiving
The Feast of Tabernacles comes five days after Yom Kippur. It was a harvest celebration and is the inspiration for the American Thanksgiving Day. It began as a seven-day feast, later expanded to eight, when all the tithes the Israelites had set aside during the year were brought to Jerusalem for a joyous time of national celebration and thanksgiving for the Lord's bountiful provision. The aroma of delicious foods cooking over open fires permeated the whole city. For seven days where ever you went there was an air of joy and festivity as the people remembered their Provider and gave thanks. (Deut. 14:22-26).
Historically the Feast of Tabernacles commemorates the time of God's dwelling with the Israelites in the wilderness. Its prophetic fulfillment comes in the Millennium when the Lord will once again dwell among His people; with the Church in the New Jerusalem (Rev 21) and Israel in Jehovah Shammah, the new name of the Holy City in the Promised Land. (Isaiah 62:2 & Ezekiel 48:35)
Somewhere along the way a water libation ceremony was added to the Feast of Tabernacles. Each morning a procession of priests would descend the steps from the Temple to the Pool of Siloam and dip a silver pitcher into the water. Carrying the water back to the altar, they would pour it into the ground that had been exposed by the removal of a paving block near the altar, while offering prayers for rain. The purpose of this daily ceremony was to remind God to bring the fall rains needed to prepare the ground for planting. In Israel it doesn't rain during the summer and the ground gets very hard. Gentle rains are needed to soften the ground so it can be prepared for the fall planting.
On the last day of the feast the High Priest himself would officiate and on this day instead of a silver pitcher one of pure gold would be used. The High Priest would be dressed in all his finest and attended by a huge contingent of similarly attired priests, blowing trumpets, singing psalms, and waving palm branches. When it was first described to me, I was struck by its beauty and pageantry. I've since read that extra balconies were set up around the Court of the Priests so more people could observe it.
One year just as the High Priest was about to pour the water into the ground, a loud voice interrupted the ceremony shouting, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." (John 7:37-38) It was Jesus and He was referring to the Holy Spirit, who believers would soon receive. This caused many to believe that He was indeed Israel's Messiah. (We're not told what the High Priest's reaction was, but it couldn't have been pleasant.)
Let's Get Spiritual
Following the thought that events that were external and physical in the Old Testament are often internal and spiritual in the New, there is a sense in which these holy days also reflect the life of the believer.
As Jesus came to live in the world at His birth (Rosh Hashanah), so He comes to live in our hearts at our new birth. As He required the shedding of innocent blood to reconcile Himself with Israel (Yom Kippur) so He shed His own Blood to reconcile Himself with us. As He dwelt with the Israelites in the wilderness of Midian (Tabernacles), so He dwells with us in the wilderness of Earth. "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age," He promised. (Matt 28:20) Even so, Come Lord Jesus. (Rev. 22:20) You can almost hear the Footsteps of the Messiah.
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