Prophecy Update 1-22-19

Please Note: This blog entry is a recap of the prophecy update I did in my Facebook and Youtube video posts on this date.  You can watch this and many other teachings at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7dsJSzy9TJV2dq9exmCRhQ/videos?view_as=subscriber if you wish to get ahead of these written blog posts.

The Bible is the inspired, inerrant, infallible Word of God.  Inspired means that men were guided by the Holy Spirit to write God’s truth.  Inerrant is defined as having no error.  Infallible means that the Bible, as God’s Word, cannot contain error, because God cannot make mistakes and He knows all things.

In this regard, I want to mention two quick verses before we get to the update itself.  The first is 1 Chronicles 12:32, which says:

of the sons of Issachar, men who understood the times, with knowledge of what Israel should do.”

God highly praised the men in the Israelite tribe of Issachar because the knowledge they had enabled them to understand the times.  Should this be any different for us today?  Certainly not!  God gives us the tools and the means to understand the times with knowledge.

The second verse pertaining to this is Acts 17:11.  This says:

Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.”

God calls these Bereans men of noble character because of the very fact that they loved the Word of the Lord so much that they dug deeply into it.  Their desire was to assure that what Paul said was the truth and supported by Scripture.  In the same way, whether it’s what I say or write (or anyone else for that matter) the person on the receiving end of my words should always verify in the Bible that I’m not misleading you in any way.  The way to do this is to read your Bible daily and know the entire Word of God from beginning to end.  Keep His Word with you constantly, and you’ll not easily be deceived.

Now, for this prophecy update, I want to touch on three interesting items in the news.

  1. First, read Ezekiel 38:11:

You will say, “I will invade a land of unwalled villages; I will attack a peaceful and unsuspecting people—all of them living without walls and without gates and bars.”’

Ezekiel’s War, the Gog of Magog War is chronicled in Ezekiel 38-39.  Scripture describes a future war with three major players and several minor ones who all come against the nation of Israel in the latter days.  These players are Russia, Iran, and Turkey, and we see this scenario developing before our very eyes daily in Syria, where these three nations have carved out portions of that country for themselves.  There will be a time in the near future when the events in Ezekiel will ALL come to pass.

But that’s the issue I have right now with this prophecy.  God’s Word, as I mentioned earlier, is inerrant and infallible.  Thus, everything about a prophecy must be fulfilled.  Look again at Ezekiel 38:11.  What is the conditional criteria?  ”All of them living without walls and without gates and bars.”

Here’s a recent headline in Jews News dated 1/15/2019: “Israel’s hi-tech border fence transformed the country, and this is why Trump always uses it as an example for what he wants for border security.”  The article goes on to say that Israel has a 14 km (8.7 mile) border fence with Egypt and a 34 km (21 mile) border wall with Jordan that is 26 m (85 feet) high.

Does this create a conflict with the Ezekiel prophecy?  To my mind it certainly does.

Why do I bring this up?  There is another potential war that many believe will occur prior to the Ezekiel war, that being the Psalm 83 War.  I’m not going to get into Psalm 83 in this post.  I hope to do so in a subsequent blog in some detail.  The point is that there is much dispute among those who follow Bible prophecy.  There are many respected teachers on both sides of the argument, which is: Is there going to be a Psalm 83 War in the future, or was the prophecy for that war fulfilled when Israel became a nation on May 14, 1948, when various surrounding nations came against her?

I happen to believe that Psalm 83 has not yet been completely fulfilled and is still future.  If that’s the case, I also believe that through Israel’s victory in that war, the walls, bars, and gates so necessary now to Israel’s existence will no longer be needed at that time.  Only after Psalm 83 has been completed can Ezekiel take place as foretold.

  1. Let’s next read Revelation 13:1,4,14,16-17:

The dragon stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on its horns, and on each head a blasphemous name…People worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, “Who is like the beast? Who can wage war against it?”… Because of the signs it was given power to perform on behalf of the first beast, it deceived the inhabitants of the earth. It ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived…It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name.”

These verses speak of what will occur during the 7-year Tribulation with the rise of the antichrist who will institute a one-world government that forces everyone to submit to it if they desire to be able to conduct commerce of any kind—such as buying food in order to eat.

In The Straits Times dated January 20, 2019, a headline reads: “Majority of world population support globalism, survey finds.”  This survey reports that perhaps populist movements aren’t as popular as many believe.  Rather, that “the global public favours cooperation between nations.”  People in this survey look favorably upon immigration (it doesn’t say whether this is legal or illegal), and they believe climate scientists who declare we have a climate change threat to the world.

With all these issues facing the world, more and more people are becoming concerned.  The climate (excuse the pun) is right for the rise of someone, anyone, who can take charge and lead us out of all these problems to a safer, saner world.  Perhaps a messiah—a global leader who is so charismatic, highly favored, intelligent, and in the right place at the right time for the world to place its faith and trust in him.  And, if he needs to institute a system to control buying and selling to make his plan work—so be it.  Many will decide that this is the only way to go.  They will follow him—the antichrist—and they will follow him straight to hell.

  1. Finally, in Romans 1:25,28,30 we learn this:

They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen….Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done…slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents;”

The UK  Daily Star dated January 19, 2019 has this headline: “Humans to download their SOULS onto microchips so they can ‘live FOREVER’.”  The article contains a couple of interesting quotes.  A Mr. Skellett says, “I see benefits from it [microchipping], but it also opens up a whole roster of other things—like being reborn.”  Our Mr. Skellett goes on to say, “Well, I would say that nurture is all to do with learning; you are a product of everything you have experienced, your likes and dislikes and that’s arguably your soul.  Your soul is you, it’s your beliefs, it’s your values.”

For as long as the recorded, secular history of man, he has sought the means to be immortal, e.g. with the Fountain of Youth.  We have cryogenics that freeze man and his brain, cloning, and even propagation of many offspring.  I saw an article the other day about a man who hopes to father 2,500 children.  He says he has already begotten 100 children.  His preferred, and least expensive, method is through direct sexual intercourse, but for a higher price he’ll also “help” others through artificial insemination.

The sad part of all this is that man is already immortal; it’s simply a matter of location, i.e. where will he spend eternity.  We all have a choice.  If we reject God, who offers the free gift of salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ, He allows us to suffer the consequences of that choice, namely, to remain separate from Him forever, in a horrible place known as the Lake of Fire.

However, if we choose Jesus through the repentance of our sins, believing in our heart that He is God, and confessing our faith in Him, then we are saved, i.e. born again.  Through this simple act we have the wonderful outcome that we will live forever with Christ in joy, peace, and the glory of God.

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