Has The Time ALREADY Come?

Has The Time ALREADY Come?
Vol: 150 Issue: 31 Monday, March 31, 2014

The Lord’s reply to the question posed in Matthew 24:3  is known to Bible scholars as the ‘Olivet Discourse’ because, 1) Jesus was standing ‘upon the Mount of Olives’ at the time, and; 2) His answer, which is contained in the three Synoptic Gospels, fills the entire chapter.

The question was, of course, “What will be the sign of Thy coming and of the end of the world?”  The Lord’s reply, as delivered from the Mount of Olives overlooking the Old City is one of the most lengthy teaching discourses in the New Testament.

The Olivet Discourse focuses its attention on events that take place DURING THE TRIBULATION, but begins by describing the events that conspire together to bring it about.

‘And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.’ (Matthew 24:5-6)

The period of wars and rumors of wars has been ongoing now since 1914 with the first truly global war in human history. It was followed by a second global war in 1939, whose conclusion brought about the ultimate ‘rumor of war’ between the West and the Soviet Empire.

There are two different entities under discussion, ‘nations’ and ‘kingdoms’. The word ‘nation’ is translated from the Greek word ‘ethnos‘ and describes an ethnic state, like Israel or one of the ethnic states of the Arab world. Or North Korea.

The world translated ‘kingdom’ ‘basileia‘ means “royal power, kingship, dominion, rule” and it describes a national entity bound together by economic/social interests, rather than ethnic relationships.

America would fit the Biblical understanding of a ‘kingdom’ in the sense Americans are not bound together by blood or ethnicity, but rather by common social and economic benefits.

The same could be applied to the member/states of the EU. Individually, some European countries might be ethnic in origin, but the Common Market exists for economic reasons.

The collapse of the Soviet Union and the rise of radical Islamic jihadism uncorked a new round of ethnic unrest and international conflict, but, as Jesus was careful to note, “the end is not yet.”

Assessment:

Ethnic or economic strife have been responsible for all the wars of modern times. Skeptics could effectively argue that wars, ethnic unrest, even famines, earthquakes and pestilences, all have been part of the human condition since the Fall of Man at the Garden of Eden.

(Or since the first amoeba turned into a person . . . for the skeptic who can’t bring himself to believe in God, but finds no conflict of faith in turning a frog into a prince).

Note that Jesus said “all these are the beginning of sorrows.” The word ‘sorrow’ first appears in Scripture in Genesis 3:16 when God tells Eve,

“I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children.”

“Sorrow” is translated from the Hebrew “itstsabown” and refers to labor pains.The Greek word ‘odin‘ translated as ‘sorrows’ in Matthew 24:8 also refers to labor pains.

Every parent who has ever lived could instantly grasp the meaning of this metaphor — that is why Jesus chose it. As the birth of a child approaches, the mother begins to experience labor pains, which, having once begun, continue to increase in both frequency and intensity as the moment of birth approaches.

Prospective parents in Jesus’ day did exactly what I did with each of my kids — timed the interval between the contractions. It was a carefully chosen metaphor designed to resonate with all people, of all cultures, in all generations. But, to the generation to whom those signs were addressed, the meaning would be unmistakable.

When one compares the accuracy of the Bible’s account of the unknowable future to the ever-changing scientific ‘explanations’ for the distant past, doubts melt away.

The skeptic has multiple explanations for static events that have already happened. The Bible gives a single explanation for a fluid, changeable series of events predicted to happen thousands of years in the future — the events that define our present day.

Which is more convincing?

Bible prophecy proves Jesus was the Son of God, regardless of the latest scientific, archeological or historical discovery. No matter what else might be offered as ‘evidence’ to the contrary, there is no other explanation for Bible prophecy. It is our generation’s unique miracle.

It proves that He remains in charge of the affairs of men. Scripture records His Promise in all three Gospel accounts,

“Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” (Matthew 24:35, Mark 13:31, Luke 21:33)

“We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:” (2 Peter 1:19)

Bible prophecy is proof positive that God remains on the Throne, that His Word will NOT return to Him void, and that all the chaos and terror of the world notwithstanding, all continues to go according to His plan.

Given the unbeliever’s explanation of uncontrolled chaos, Bible prophecy isn’t all that depressing, after all. 

What would  really be depressing would be to be among the lost, not knowing what this world is coming to, and believing the world is in a state of uncontrolled chaos.

For the believer, Bible prophecy can be pretty encouraging, which is what the Lord intended for the last days’ Church all along:

“But these things have I told you, that WHEN THE TIME SHALL COME, ye may remember that I told you of them.” (John 16:4)

Now that the time has come, don’t let the Enemy steal your joy.  The “time” at hand is the time awaited by believers for millennia.  We are eyewitnesses to the unfolding Plan of God — a Plan that one day will result in the shout, “Come up hither”  and so shall we ever be with the Lord.  

“Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” (1 Thessalonians 4:18)

Note: The Letter is a timely reminder of Jesus’ teaching on the Mount of Olives. Pete Garcia explains “The War on Prophecy” and how arrogance and ignorance play a role in these last days.

Reason Six – The Explosion of Knowledge

Reason Six – The Explosion of Knowledge
Vol: 150 Issue: 29 Saturday, March 29, 2014

This generation is unique in all human history.  Never has humanity been forced to come to terms with so many issues simultaneously — issues for which we have no historical precedent to use as a guide.

The explosive growth of knowledge has us reeling from what humanist writer Alvin Touffler terms “future shock.”  It is only in this generation that last year’s encyclopedia is about as useful as last month’s newspaper.

It has been said that the sum of human knowledge from the Flood to 1850 doubled once.  It doubled again following World War II.  The doubling of human knowledge increases exponentially.  For example, the XT personal computer of 1981 — a triumph of human technology — is the world’s youngest antique!

The personal computer made its debut in 1980.  My first one, an Amstrad 8088 unit, cost $1700, had an integrated gray-scale monitor, two 5.25 300K floppies and no HDD.  It came with DOS and a pre-Windows three-floppy graphical interface.  That was sixteen years ago.

The one I am working on now cost about the same, but bears as much resemblance to my old Amstrad as a WWI bi-plane does to the space shuttle.

And my new one was obsolete before you could finish saying, “Dude! You’re gettin’ a Dell!”  I noted today that reasearchers at Penn State have just developed a new software that can repair damaged and infected systems as they are damaged — without requiring any human involvement.

Moore’s Law dictates that computer processing speeds double every eighteen months.  So it is reasonable to conclude that the capacity for human knowledge doubles at about the same time.  We are the smartest generation in history.  And the most mobile.

The books of Daniel and the Revelation are not as mysterious to this generation as they were even fifty years ago — in fact, they seem downright obvious, as if they had been taken from today’s newspapers!  That is precisely what Daniel recorded as a sign for this generation — “many shall run to and fro and knowledge shall be increased.”

We live in the most mobile society in history.  I’ve spent a significant portion of most of the last ten years bouncing back and forth from the East to the West coast.  For longer stays, I prefer to drive.  Flying takes six hours.  Driving takes three days.

Back in the 70’s as a rookie Texas traffic cop, I once stopped an elderly man for speeding.  He was over ninety.  He was such an interesting character that from that unlikely introduction, we quickly became good friends.  He’d sit for hours and tell me stories of the pioneer days in the Texas Panhandle, when the Comanche Indians still ruled much of the area.

He related how he had moved to the Texas Panhandle in the 1890’s from Pennsylvania.  It took two months by covered wagon.  I stopped him for going 70 mph in a 55 zone.  From a covered wagon to a Buick V-8 in a lifetime.

The year I joined the Marines, I saw my first eight track car stereo system.  Just imagine!  Being able to choose the music, just like at home!  And to actually hear it in stereo!  Who could have ever imagined such a thing?

Over the years, along came microwave ovens (“you won’t believe it, you can cook a hot dog in less than a minute”) audio cassette tape decks, VCR’s, personal computers, cable television and all the other technical advances that have enriched our lives since.

The pace of change is staggering, when you take the long view.  Consider this.  Two thousand years ago, the Apostle Paul traveled around Asia Minor on foot, or aboard a wooden ship moved along by wind power caught in the sails.

Fifteen hundred years later, Christopher Columbus embarked for a journey across the Atlantic Ocean in search of a sea route to China.  He went to the dock on foot, and boarded a wooden ship not unlike that of Paul’s.  Three hundred years later, Benjamin Franklin walked to the dock to board a wooden sailing vessel for his trip to France.

In 1912, the ‘unsinkable’ Titanic, the pride of the Cunard lines, the latest advance in steamship technology, went to the bottom off the coast of Newfoundland, less than twenty miles from the nearby Californian.

The Californian, a Leyland Line steamer, could have saved the more than 1,500 victims, but its wireless operator had gone to bed and did not hear the SOS signal.

Today there are routine, scheduled flights of the Concorde supersonic airliner that make the trip from New York to Paris in just under three hours.

The last time the space shuttle touched down safely, it didn’t even rate the top news story of the hour on CNN.

Who could have imagined our world in Columbus’ day, or Franklin’s, or even the day the ‘unsinkable’ Titanic went to the bottom in 1912?

While in exile in Babylon, the prophet Daniel was given a vision of the future of Israel, up to the coming of the Messiah.  Up to this point in the vision, those things that Daniel saw were relatively familiar, cities, events, people in a context that were not too far removed from his concept of reality.  But then he was shown the things to come in the last days.

The angel told him in Daniel 10:14 “Now I am come to make the understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days; for yet the vision is for many days.”

Daniel was so staggered by what he saw it made him faint, verse 18 records that ‘one like the appearance of a man’ touched him, and strengthened him, so that he could go on.

Daniel tried to describe those things he saw using terminology that made sense to him, but it comes to us as a series of baffling symbols, images and beasts.  The things he saw terrified him.

Because the visions were so completely removed from his understanding of reality, he was unable to describe them in terms that even he was able to comprehend.  And so it remained, for thousands of years.

Great Bible commentators like Calvin and Luther did not even attempt to interpret the books of Daniel, or the Revelation, for that matter, saying they were allegorical or symbolic books.

Matthew Henry, writing in the 18th century, did not fare much better.  Even commentators on these books in the early 20th century admitted they had trouble fitting the pieces together.  After all, they dealt with a restored Israel, a revived Roman empire, and a one world government.  Such things were deemed to be impossible, therefore to be interpreted as allegories.

The revealing angel understood what Daniel did not.

He explained in Daniel Chapter 12, verse 4; “But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.”

Today, Daniel and the Revelation are the favorite books of Bible expositors.  Many of the mysteries have already been unlocked and many more grow less mysterious all the time.

The rapidly expanding pool of human knowledge is Reason Six in the Omega Letter Intelligence Digest series, “Six Reasons Why We Believe These Are the Last Days.”

Reason Five: The Developing Global Religion

Reason Five: The Developing Global Religion
Vol: 150 Issue: 28 Friday, March 28, 2014

When three thousand Americans are murdered by people who believe they are doing God’s will, it should be cause to put that religion under a microscope. But something curious happened following 9/11. Rather than putting Islam under the microscope, we elected to lump Islamic killers into a larger religious group called ‘fundamentalists.’

In order for the Politically Correct to make that stick, it was necessary to conclude that Islam is really a peaceful religion hijacked by a few Islamic fundamentalists. 

It doesn’t take too much time to break down this little bit of doublespeak into its component elements. 

A religious ‘fundamentalist’ is one who follows the fundamentals of a religion. If the fundamentals of Islam were peace, then Islamic fundamentalists would be peaceful and violent killer Islamists would be an aberration. That is as plain as the nose on Arafat’s face. 

It is also worthy of note that a ‘religious fundmamentalist’ and a ‘religious extremist’ both describe the same thing. 

To the dictionary, an “extremist” is ‘one who advocates or resorts to measures beyond the norm’, whereas a “fundamentalist” is ‘usually a religious movement or point of view characterized by a return to fundamental principles, by rigid adherence to those principles, and often by intolerance of other views and opposition to secularism.” 

Clearly, by definition, ‘fundamentalism’ and ‘extremism’ are polar opposites, not synonyms. All this double-speak works in the public mind, however, because it is about religion.

An Islamic fundamentalist is one who practices the fundamentals of Islam by rigidly adhering to its principles. An Islamic extremist is one who advocates or resorts to abnormal measures. 

Since both describe the 9/11 terrorists, why is the emphasis on ‘fundamentalist’ and ‘extremist’ instead of being on “Islamic?’

Now THAT’S an example of a fundamental question. 

Similarly, there are Christian fundamentalists. They are those who rigidly adhere to Biblical principles, are intolerant of any suggestion there is a way to heaven apart from Jesus, and are opposed to secularism, like removing the Bible from public property and removing references to God from the Pledge of Allegiance. 

And there are Christian extremists. Like those who blow up abortion clinics to stop the murder of unborn babies or shoot abortionists so they can’t abort any more babies. 

The polar opposite of a fundamentalist whose adherence to Biblical New Testament principles tells him that judgment against abortionists will be meted out by God, not by the Church. 

Note we have two examples of extremism. The kind that can find fundamental religious justification for indiscriminate murder in the name of advancing Islam. 

And the kind that can find fundamental religious justification in committing targeted murder in the name of ending the murder of the unborn.

Both are extreme positions. 

But the kind of looney-toons that would kill for Christ and think they are following Him makes up a tiny, tiny number that clearly have missed the point of salvation. 

And if you were to put them all in one place, it would occupy part of a small-town police department’s day to round them all up.

There are enough Islamic extremists for us to have a war with. 

Christian fundamentals teach us to love God above all things and love our neighbor as we do ourselves. 

Since the worst place anybody can end up is hell, the most loving thing for a Christian to do is to help them avoid ending up there. To most of the world, that is ‘hate speech’ and is even so defined in some countries, including Canada. 

Islamic fundamentals teach that anyone who refuses to convert to Islam is less than a full person, a ‘dhimmi’ who is without rights and can be persecuted or killed as necessary. 

I say all that to say this. The war against Islam continues to morph into a war against religious fundamentalism. Any religious fundamentalism; Islamic, Christian, Jewish, Sihk– it doesn’t matter. 

The Bible speaks of the false prophet of Revelation 13 seizing control of the world’s religious systems, making them all one religion ‘with two horns like a lamb’ but that ‘spake as a dragon’. 

Such a religious system could have no room for fundamentalism, since, to be global, it must be all-inclusive. 

It couldn’t teach that the only way to heaven is by martyrdom in jihad; neither could it teach that the only way to heaven is the way Jesus said it was.

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6)

Under the supervision of the false prophet, John says, “And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.” 

Clearly, these are the Christian ‘fundamentalists’ of the Tribulation period. 

We are engaged in a global war against Islamic fundamentalism at the expense of ignoring the fundamentals of the Islamic religion that spawned it. 

Since this makes absolutely NO sense of any kind in the natural, the only explanation is supernatural. When looked at from the Apostle John’s perspective, it makes perfect sense. 

Exactly what the final form of the global religion will be is unclear, apart from it being a counterfeit Christianity (two horns like a lamb) but will preach the all-inclusive siren song of the Dragon (Satan). There can be no room for fundamentalism of any stripe in the global, all-inclusive religious system of the last days. 

Whatever its final form will be, one thing is clear. 

The Bible says anybody who won’t join it, worship its leader and take his mark will be declared an enemy of the state, unable to buy or sell and subject to being put to death. 

The war on fundamentalism and the developing anti-fundamentalist, all inclusive religious worldview constitute Reason Five in the Omega Letter Intelligence Digest series, “Six Reasons Why We Believe These Are the Last Days.”

Note: Today’s Letter looks at the word fundamentalist and its impact on religion.  Alf Cengia reports on those who are noticing that “Something Has Changed” in war.

Reason Four – The Global Economy

Reason Four – The Global Economy
Vol: 150 Issue: 27 Thursday, March 27, 2014

In medieval times, there were no banks where peasants could safely store their small amounts of gold and silver.  It became the practice to store that hard money at the local metalsmith/jeweller who had a secure safe.

The jeweller would issue paper receipts, which could conveniently be exchanged instead of hard money for small transactions.  Hence, the term ‘good as gold’.

The jeweller noticed that he usually had on hand more gold at any given time than he needed to meet withdrawal demands.  He began to issue extra receipts, which he loaned out at interest.

As long as everybody didn’t show up at the same time, the theft went unnoticed as the jeweller lent out money he didn’t have and collected real wealth in the form of interest in return.

Over the years, the practice evolved into what is today the fractional banking system.

The fractional reserve system is the discounting system employed by national central banks.  It is also a massive fraud.  I’m not here to debate the rightness or wrongness of it or to tilt at windmills.  I’ll just briefly outline the facts.

The Federal Reserve system is neither ‘federal’ or a ‘reserve’.  It is an internationally held private banking consortium.  All banks in the Federal Reserve System become Federal Reserve banks by buying Federal Reserve stock.

The largest concentrations of stocks are held by five major US banks who are in turn owned by the international money trust.

Attempts to seize control of the US central bank of issue by the European Money Trust resulted in the US Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Banking Panic of 1837, the US Civil War, and the banking panics of the 1890’s and 1906.

(This is incredibly interesting stuff, but it is really detailed.  Space doesn’t allow for a full explanation, but I will put together a much expanded version in a later Omega Letter report. For now, I have to hit the high points in order to connect the dots to Scripture for the purposes of this series.)

The seizure of control was accomplished by the 1913 passage of the Federal Reserve Act, written by a German immigrant named Paul Warburg.  Warburg was the Fed’s first governor, from 1913 to 1918.

Paul’s brother was Max Warburg, head of the German Secret Service.  A partner in their joint banking firm was the head of British intelligence.  When the war ended, all three met again in Paris to hammer out war reparations against Germany.  The bank selected to handle the transfer of wealth from Germany was the neutral Swiss Bank of International Settlements, headed by brother Fritz Warburg.

Warburg, Kuhn and Loeb are major stockholders in the Fed, and many of the names of European banking aristocracy control major stock control via proxy through offspring US banks.

The Federal Reserve system removed the US from a barter system to a debit system.  A barter system was one in which currency was backed by gold.  For every dollar issued, there was a dollar’s worth of gold in the treasury.  (Remember the jeweller?).

In the debit system, the Fed issues fiat dollars to control the economy, but each one is worth fractionally less, since it is just a case of cutting smaller slices from the pie.

That is what creates inflation.  The Fed controls inflation by either cutting back or increasing the supply of dollars.

But it is still theft, albeit legal.  In 1914, a good suit cost a $20 gold piece.  Today, the same suit costs $500 — or the same $20 gold piece.

Since there is no wealth backing today’s money, there is no need to actually issue currency.  Paper currency is a temporary measure to create the illusion of wealth.  Now that everybody knows the truth but apparently nobody cares, the illusion is unnecessary.

(How much cash do YOU carry compared to your use of debit and credit cards?  Me too.  It’s convenient, isn’t it?)

Here are a few numbers to crunch.  There is about $48 billion worth of gold in the US Treasury.

The US national debt is around $17 trillion.

So?  Let’s turn those billions and trillions into something easier to understand.  A million seconds equals twelve days.  A billion seconds equals thirty-two years. ($48 billion in gold, remember)

A trillion seconds equals THIRTY-TWO THOUSAND YEARS!  The US national debt is $17 trillion!

That kind of impossible debt is what makes the most powerful man in the United States the Chairman of the Fed, not the President.  When the Fed says jump, EVERYBODY from the president of the US to the president of the local branch bank asks, “how high?”  The Fed Chairman can tank the market with a word, and tank the whole economy with the stroke of his banker’s pen.

All the world’s central banks are centralized again as members of the UN’s central banking scheme via the IMF and World Bank systems.

The central banking scheme is part of a larger global system that came into being under the UN General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) signed in 1948.  The GATT agreement eventually became today’s World Trade Organization (WTO)

I hope you are following all of this. I had to skip over a lot to make to this point without having to do a series just on this single topic. Here is where we connect the dots.

The truly global economy was born simultaneously with the Computer Age that made it possible.  The Computer Age officially began with the invention of the transistor by Bell Labs in 1948.  There were computers before that, but before the transistor, they weren’t reliable enough to be practical.

The centralization and integration of the US economy was replayed throughout the industrialized world.  Cash is a global anachronism.  The only logical next step is electronic money.

Two thousand years ago, John recorded the antichrist’s principle method of maintaining control of his government.

“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)

It was never possible in any generation in history.  Until this one.  And, from our vantage point at this moment in history, it seems like the next logical step.

Note: Today’s Letter gives us a timeline of how money (and debt) came to be.  J.L. Robb shows us “How to Start World War III 101” using a personal analogy.

Reason Three – The Developing Global Government

Reason Three – The Developing Global Government
Vol: 150 Issue: 26 Wednesday, March 26, 2014

The power to make war is often what is referred to as the ‘Divine right of kings’ — since war is something that occurs between two sovereign rulers.

The entire world is abrogating that right over to the center. No matter how that is spun, the net effect is that of ceding sovereignty to the UN.

How can America be sovereign while subordinate to the UN when it comes to national security?

Instead, we have something called ‘collective sovereignty’, as Kofi Annan explained, saying the “UN was chartered to prevent another global war”, and that its founders recognized that, “agreeing to exercise sovereignty together, they could gain a hold over problems that would defeat any one of them acting separately”. (Kofi Annan to the UN, Sept 11, 2002)

There is no need to prove either the need for or the existence of a global government. It just isn’t a very good one.

The UN’s days are numbered — that much is evident. If it couldn’t control Iraq, how can it lay claim to any genuine global authority?

But it was designed as a global government and has created a massive infrastructure of global institutions like the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, World Trade Organization and a massive interdependent infrastructure of NGO’s [Non-Governmental Organizations].

They can’t simply vanish. The ensuing global chaos would be catastrophic.

While the UN’s days are numbered, the days of global government are not.

There are three pillars upon which the Bible says the antichrist will build his global government. Revelation Chapter 13 describes his absolute control over a global government, a global religious system and a global economy.

“And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.” [Revelation 13:7]

The global government foretold by Scripture will stand in opposition to Israel, in particular over the question of the final status of Jerusalem.

“And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. ” [Zechariah 12:3]

The existing global government stands in opposition to Israel over the final status of Jerusalem.

The global government foretold by Scripture “opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped.” (2 Thessalonians 2:4)

The existing global government’s default position on any issue involving either the United States or Israel is one of opposition.

The US and Israel are also the only two states on earth founded under the authority of Scripture. Israel is the seat of Judaism and America is the seat of Western Christian culture. The phrase ‘US-Zionist imperialism’ is not uncommon language in UN speeches or in UN resolutions.

The Bible makes it clear that the final form of global government will not be headquartered out of UN headquarters in New York. It will be headquartered out of the revived Roman Empire. (See Reason Two – ‘The Revived Roman Empire’)

As this generation begins to draw to a close, having created the need for a global government and developed the necessary infrastructure, the UN is on the verge of dissolution.

Add to that the convenient revival of the old Roman Empire, the EU’s lust for global power, and the fact it already operates according to a political template that has already absorbed nearly 25 countries and you have a picture entirely in harmony with the prophecies of Scripture for the last days.

The Bible said such a system would exist in a single generation, somewhere in time. At the same time as all the other single generation events, like the restoration of Israel, the revival of the Roman Empire, and the developing global religous system we’ll discuss in the next installment of this series.

When you sit down and consider the odds, it isn’t hard to see why the developing global government is Reason Three in the Omega Letter Intelligence Digest series, “Six Reasons Why We Believe These Are the Last Days.”

Originally published: October 29, 2002

Special Report: Reason Two – The Revived Roman Empire

Special Report: Reason Two – The Revived Roman Empire
Vol: 150 Issue: 25 Tuesday, March 25, 2014

The prophet Daniel was roused from his bed at the command of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. Summoned before the king, Daniel was commanded to interpret a dream that troubled the monarch.

Daniel was given a two-fold task; before he could interpret the king’s dream, he first had to tell him what it was. Nebuchadnezzar forgot the details — he just knew it bothered him.

“But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these;” (Daniel 2:28)

Daniel began by telling the king what the dream was, and that his dream was to be a vision of the ‘latter days’.

“As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and he that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass.” (Daniel  2:29)

“Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. This image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.” (Daniel 2:31-33)

Daniel himself interpreted the vision as four successive world kingdoms. Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon was the head of gold. History proved the chest and arms of silver to be the Medo-Persian empire, the belly and thighs of brass was the Greek empire of Alexander the Great and the two legs of iron became Rome.

Daniel’s explanation of the successive empires specified how each would be overthrown and by whom, except for Rome. Daniel says that empire gives way to the empire represented by the feet and toes of the image. The Roman Empire grew too large to manage and was split into the Western and Eastern empires. The west was governed from Rome, the east from Constantinople. When the political empires collapsed, the spiritual empires of the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Catholic Churches remained.

“And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters’ clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay.” (Daniel 2:42)

The ‘iron mixed with miry clay’ reference is interesting. Partly strong and partly weak.

“And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.” (Daniel 2:43)

In the late 19th century, Otto Von Bismarck noted the change that was coming over the global power structure.

“We live in a wondrous time in which the strong is weak because of his moral scruples and the weak grows strong because of his audacity.”

Those ‘moral scruples’ of which von Bismarck spoke were the principles of democracy that were beginning to take hold in Europe. The days of kings wielding absolute power were gone — war became too dangerous a practice to engage in frivolously.

The two wars that scarred the first half of the 20th century were the result of efforts to unite Europe by force.

The 1948 Benelux Treaty resulted in the establishment of the Western European Union (WEU). With the signing in Brussels of the Treaty of Mutual Assistance of the Western Union (United Kingdom, Benelux, France) Europe began to come together in the name of peace, not conquest. The 1948 Benelux Treaty led to the 1949 creation of the Council of Europe which in it’s turn led to the expansion of the Belelux Treaty under the terms of the 1957 Treaty of Rome which led to the Western European Union.

Eventually, the Western European Union grew to ten nations. The Maastricht Treaty in 1993 created the European Union. The EU grew out of the original ten members of the Western European Union as associate members.

The original ten became known as Assembly of the Western European Union. Here’s a thumbnail sketch of WEU history from their website.

“On the initiative of the Belgian and French Governments, a preliminary joint meeting of the Foreign and Defence Ministers within the WEU framework was held in Rome on 26 and 27 October 1984. It was marked by the adoption of the founding text of WEU’s reactivation: the “Rome Declaration”. Work on the definition of a European security identity and the gradual harmonisation of its members’ defence policies were among the stated objectives. Ministers recognised the “continuing necessity to strengthen western security, and that better utilization of WEU would not only contribute to the security of Western Europe but also to an improvement in the common defence of all the countries of the Atlantic Alliance”.

“The Rome Declaration reaffirmed that the WEU Council could – pursuant to Article VIII (3) of the modified Brussels Treaty – consider the implications for Europe of crises in other regions of the world.”

“Pursuant to the decisions taken in Rome, the WEU Council was henceforth to hold two meetings a year at Ministerial level, in which Foreign and Defence Ministers were to sit at the same conference table.” (http://www.weu.int/)

So we have the military arm of Europe — the real power — resting with the ten nation WEU, under the authority of the Rome Declaration.

Daniel says that the ten toes of iron and clay form the nucleus of the government of the antichrist. The antichrist is the ‘prince’ of Daniel 9:26. “…and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. . .” The ‘city’ [Jerusalem] and ‘sanctuary’ [Temple] were destroyed by Titus of Rome in AD 70 – hence the identification of the antichrist as a ‘prince’ or ruler of a revived Roman Empire.

Daniel 8:25 reveals the antichrist’s method saying, “by peace [he] shall destroy many”. This revived Roman empire that now covers all of Europe came into being by peaceful means after centuries of war aimed at accomplishing the same thing.

Note: Today’s Letter takes us through Daniel’s vision of the kingdoms.  Wendy Wippel’s “Sunshine and Shadows” offers a history lesson of the Spanish Inquisition.

Six Reasons Why We Believe These Are the Last Days

Six Reasons Why We Believe These Are the Last Days
Vol: 150 Issue: 24 Monday, March 24, 2014

One of the most clear and undeniable signs of the last days is the restoration of Israel. It is an event unique in the annals of human history. The Jewish culture, unlike other cultures of antiquity, was never absorbed by its many conquerors. Even after being divided, scattered across the centuries and throughout the world, without land or flag, the Jewish nation survived.

Think this through for a second. Broken into small groups, many unaware of the other’s existence, the Jews survived, culture, religion, unique dietary laws, customs and traditions intact. Thousands of years. Hundreds of countries.

Despite the best efforts of the rest of the world to bring about their destruction through periodic massacres, forced conversions and pogrom after pogrom, the Jew survived. After having been scattered for two thousand years, today Israel is home to Jews from every country, speaking 86 languages.

In each adopted language, they heard the story of the Exodus. In each host country, sometimes at risk of death, they kept the Passover. When they all came home to the Promised Land, they found other Jews, telling the story of the Exodus, each in their own language. And it was the same story.

They were the same people.

Israel launched ‘Operation Solomon’ in 1991. It was the massive, one-day airlift of the remaining 14,000 Ethiopian Jews to Israel in the midst of the Ethiopian Civil War.

“From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia my suppliants, even the daughter of my dispersed, shall bring mine offering. In that day shalt thou not be ashamed for all thy doings, wherein thou hast transgressed against me: for then I will take away out of the midst of thee them that rejoice in thy pride, and thou shalt no more be haughty because of my holy mountain.” (Zephaniah 3:10-11)

One can search the annals of history in vain for another people like the Jews. No other people of antiquity have survived into modern times under such circumstances. There are no Amalekites, Jebusites or Caananites. They may have descendants, but they are not a people.

Many Jews can trace their ancestry back to the time of Herod’s Temple.

The history of the Jews was written in advance, including their return to the land of Promise in the last generation.

“And the LORD shall scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be left few in number among the heathen, whither the LORD shall lead you. And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, [even] in the latter days, if thou turn to the LORD thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice; (For the LORD thy God [is] a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.” (Deuteronomy 4:27-28,30-31)

As Moses predicted, the Jews were scattered and persecuted, but, in the ‘latter days’ have been restored for the express purpose of accomplishing their national redemption. (Daniel 9:26).

Isaiah predicted;

“And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.” (Isaiah 11:11)

“For, lo, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the LORD: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.” (Jeremiah 30:3)

“For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and [for] my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.” (Joel 3:1-2)

“In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old:” (Amos 9:11)

It seems pretty clear that Israel’s history was carefully planned according to a particular purpose. Don’t miss out on the wonder of it all. Take a second and think it through. Don’t miss this.

Foretelling the future of an entire nation is more than a good guess. Every single person in every single generation has to cooperate exactly, from Abraham forward.

If Moses’ mother had not put him in a basket, there’d be no Exodus. So Moses’ great grandparents could have only married each other.

And what if Habbakkuk’s great-great-great-grandfather decided to be a bachelor? Every single individual choice throughout history — ancient and modern — had to be the exact right choice for the future to work out according to prophecy.

What if David ben-Gurion had been murdered during WWII or if Abba Eban had decided to remain in the British Army, or if Golda Meir had stayed in Chicago, modern Israel might not exist. Meticulous details. But God said modern Israel WOULD exist — in the last days.

“Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. . . Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand. . .And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all. ” (Ezekiel 37:12,19-20)

The existence of Israel is a miracle accomplished by God, specifically as He said it would be accomplished. And specifically when He intended — in the last days. When the time came, the world convulsed into World War Two, and regurgitated the nation it had been holding captive until the appointed time.

Three years after the Holocaust, Israel raised her flag on May 14, 1948. For the first time since 702 BC, there was a place in the world called Israel and a home for the Jews.

“And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children’s children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever. My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.” (Ezekiel 37:25,27-28)

There is no story like Israel’s. There is no nation like Israel. Of Israel, God said,

“I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the firstripe in the fig tree at her first time: (Hosea 9:10).

Jesus said,

“Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.”

Note: In today’s Letter we look at Israel as ”Reason One” of the ”Six Reasons Why We Believe These Are the Last Days”. Pete Garcia offers ”What We Know ” as it is happens before our eyes.

The False Prophet’s Crown

The False Prophet’s Crown
Vol: 150 Issue: 22 Saturday, March 22, 2014

One of the questions that seems to come up the most often about Bible prophecy is the question, ‘How long is a generation?’  Generally, the question is in relation to the Lord’s promise that ‘this generation shall not pass until all these things be fulfilled’.

By ‘all these things’ Jesus is referring to the events He forecast in response to the question posed by His disciples, “what will be the sign of Thy coming and the end of the world?” (Matthew 24:3)

The “end of the world” doesn’t actually refer to the end of the world — Christians aren’t waiting for the end of the world (kosmos); the Greek word used here is aion which means, “age” or “epoch” and it refers to either the end of both the age of human government at the Second Coming or the end of the Age of Grace at the Rapture. 

How can it refer to both?  There are two groups being addressed here. 

The first group are His disciples, all Jews, living in the Land of Promise during the Second Temple Period during the first half of the 1st century. 

That the Lord is addressing them is confirmed by both historical fact and the message contents.  Historically speaking, at the time of the Olivet Discourse, Jesus is sitting on the Mount of Olives overlooking the Temple, from which vantage point the Second Temple can be clearly seen. 

The Lord makes reference to the Prophet Daniel, the abomination of desolation, and warns against fleeing persecution on the Sabbath Day, all elements of Judaism, and the gathering of the elect from the four winds just before His Triumphant return. 

Some interpreters conclude the gathering of the elect from the four winds is a reference to the Rapture, but 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 says the Church is snatched (harpazo) from the earth, not the four winds.

Instead, this is a reference to His Return at His Second coming, when He returns with “ten thousands of His saints” (Jude 1:14) — the already-Raptured elect.

So the first group to whom the Lord is speaking is of the group that sat at His feet — the Jews of Israel. 

The second group to whom the Lord is speaking did not yet exist — the redeemed of the Church from Pentecost until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.

Jesus tells them to watch for signs: the parable of the fig tree (Israel’s restoration) etc., but says this event will be so secret that even He doesn’t know the day or the hour, admonishing them to “watch.”

“Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.” (Matthew 24:40-42)

This doesn’t mean every other person on earth will be Raptured.  It simply says that where two are in a field, one will be taken and the other left behind. 

Note the circumstances and how they differ from Matthew 24:31.

In the former, the elect are gathered from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.  The elect are in heaven during this gathering.  In the latter, the elect are snatched from the earth, where they are working in the fields, or the mills, or whatever. 

Just prior to the gathering of the heavenly elect, the ‘tribes’ of earth will see the Son of Man coming on clouds of heaven with power and great glory.  It is a most public return.

Those snatched from the earth are instructed to watch, for they don’t know the hour in which the Lord will come for them.  It warns of a secret return.  Since things that are different are not the same, these are clearly different events.  

But both are in harmony with the Bible’s teaching.  Matthew 24:30 harmonizes with Jude 1:14 and Zechariah 12:10, whereas Matthew 24:40-42 is in harmony with 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18, 1st Corinthians 15:51-53 and Revelation 4:1.

One is the snatching up of believers at an unknown time, the second refers to the very public, very visible return of those believers, with the Lord at His Second coming. 

To the first group, the Jews of Israel, He says:

“For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” (Matthew 24:27)

To the elect of the Church Age, He says:

“So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.” (Matthew 24:34)

Some interpreters argue that in this passage, “generation” refers to the Jewish race, and that the promise is that the Jews will continue to exist until His return, rather than referring to the generation that is alive at the time of Israel’s rebirth.

There is some merit to this argument in that the word translated ‘generation’ is genea which can refer to either an age, a nation or a period of time.  However, when Jesus was referring to ethnic nations, as in “nation shall rise against nation” He used the very specific word, ethnos, which refers to a race of people, or a tribe.

If His intent was to say that the Jews would continue to exist until His return, He would have used the word that refers to the Jewish race, rather than a word that refers to a generational period, which returns us to our original question.

How long is a generation?

Assessment:

I was reading Jim Fletcher’s very generous review of Hal Lindsey’s keynote address at the Future Congress 2 in Dallas, followed up by typical reader comments at the bottom attacking Hal Lindsey for allegedly setting the date for the Rapture in his book, The Late, Great Planet Earth.  

He did not, but that never stops people from making that accusation.  As a famous guy once noted, “a lie can go around the earth twice before the truth can get its boots on.” 

However, in the 1980’s, Countdown to Armageddon, Hal referred to the generation that will see the Lord’s return and offered an opinion. 

Using the Bible’s definition of a generation as the forty-year period during which the disobedient Israelites were forced to wander in the desert, (Numbers 14:33-34) Hal said he believed  (in the 1970’s) that,

“if we are to understand the events which have been predicted, and, I believe, will occur in the 1980’s”.

Is that date-setting?  The Bible says no man will know the day or the hour. But it also says, that:

“So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.” (Matthew 24:33)

“So ye in like manner, when ye shall see these things come to pass, know that it is nigh, even at the doors. (Mark 13:29)

“And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” (Luke 21:28)

“So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.” (Luke 21:31)

If believing that the Lord’s return is near enough to happen in the next ten years is date-setting, then I’ve been guilty of it for decades.  I believed the Lord could have returned in the 1980’s.  I believe the Lord could have returned in the 1990’s. 

I really thought He would return in the first decade of the 21st century.  And I am expecting His return during this decade.  

I was wrong in every decade, but does it make me a false prophet?  First, it would seem necessary that I lay claim to the title of “prophet of God” and secondarily, it seems necessary that I make a declarative statement regarding what will happen, rather than sharing what I believe from Scripture.

Hal’s 1970’s declaration amounts to saying, I believe it is near, even at the doors.  Nowhere does Hal suggest a day, an hour, or even a year.  

I believe to this day it is near, even at the doors, and that “this generation” shall not pass until all these things (including the Rapture and His triumphant return at His Second Coming) are fulfilled.  Am I date-setting?

How long IS a Biblical generation?  In 1948, it would be accurate to say a generation is the period between generations — say, 20 years.  It would have been reasonable in 1948 to guess that the Second Coming could come sometime around 1968.

Is it date-setting to guess “within 20 years”?     

It would have been equally accurate to use, as Hal did in the 1970’s, the Biblical definition in Numbers 14, which defined that generation as forty years.

But forty years from 1948 came and went without the Lord’s return.  Is it “date-setting” to guess “within forty years”?

Psalms 90:10 sets the length of a generation as follows:

“The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.”

Threescore and ten.  Does that mean a generation is seventy years?  Could be.  Seventy years from 1948 is 2018.  Could the Lord return on or before 2018? 

Well?  Could He?  The answer is, “OF COURSE He could!”  The doctrine of Immanancy says He could return at any moment. 

What about fourscore years?  That brings us to 2028.  Could the Lord return by 2028?  So is it date-setting to say that, based on that definition, I believe the Lord could return in the 2020’s?  

In Genesis 6:3 the Lord decreed the beginning of the end of the pre-Flood life expectancy, which was at that time almost 1,000 years.

“And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.” (Genesis 6:3)

Based on that definition, the Lord could tarry until the year 2068.  Is it date-setting for me to say that I believe the Lord will return by 2068?  Would it be fair to designate me a false prophet if the Lord does NOT return by 2068?

I am dogmatic in my belief that the Lord will return during the generational lifespan of those who witnessed Israel’s rebirth in 1948, but I base that on my interpretation of Scripture, which is not infallible.

I claim no special revelation from God, anymore than Hal Lindsey did in the late 1970’s.

Interpretation is not prophecy.  It is an educated guess based on decades of research and prayerful study.  Only a fool would equate an educated guess with prophecy. 

Hal Lindsey was absolutely correct in the 1970’s when he said the Lord could return before the end of the 1980’s.  I am absolutely correct when I say the Lord could return by 2018.  Or 2028.  Or 2068.

I am absolutely correct, according to the Bible, when I say the Lord could return before you finish reading this paragraph.  In fact, I won’t be wrong until you do.

What makes someone a false prophet?  False prophecy. 

What does the Bible say about those who would attempt to divide believers by bringing false accusations?

“These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto Him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.” (Proverbs 6:16-19)

Guess what!  I believe the Lord will return before 2068!  I could be wrong, but that is what I believe.

I’m no more a false prophet than Hal Lindsey was in 1979.  Or than Hal Lindsey is right now. To say otherwise is to bear false witness in an effort to sow discord among brethren.

And we already know where God stands on that issue.  So go ahead.  Call Hal a false prophet.  Or call me one.  Then explain to me how you know that — without being a false prophet yourself.

“Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing.” (2 Timothy 4:8)

The Bible promises a special crown for those watchmen on the wall looking for His return.  I guess we would have to call that one the False Prophet’s Crown? 

Unto Whom Much Is Given

Unto Whom Much Is Given
Vol: 150 Issue: 21 Friday, March 21, 2014

Christianity, in the sense of a philosophy, is fraught with seemingly contradictory notions, as seen from the perspective of this world. For example, one attains victory over sin by surrender to Jesus.

Christian philosophy teaches that human weakness demonstrates Christ’s strength. Victory by surrender and strength through weakness are not commonly practiced strategies.

It is our nature to attain victory by overcoming the opposition and develop strength by force. The carnal existence is driven, at its most base level, by the two prime motivators; the acquisition of pleasure and the avoidance of pain.

In most human pursuit, the objective is to win and the prize is to live.

Paul writes to the Philippians;

“For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” (1:21)

Of all the seemingly contradictory thoughts within Christian philosophy, it is this one that most of us have the hardest time with. And it completely baffles the world.

“And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.” (Revelation 14:13)

The New Testament begins with Jesus pronouncing God’s blessing on the living in the Beatitudes. It concludes with this beatitude for “those who die in the Lord.”

God says that death is an enemy, the product of sin, but that for those who know Christ, it is not the end, but rather it is the beginning. Here is another seemingly contradictory analogy. When a baby is born, it is both the end of a pregnancy and the start of a new life. For a Christian, death is like that.

The Bible says that when we die, we are immediately received into the Presence of God. It doesn’t happen at some time in the future, or at a faraway place or a faraway time. Your soul, (your mind, will and emotions, the ‘ghost in the machine’ that makes you You) does not cease when the body does.

Your soul is primarily shaped by the events of your lifetime. You are, to a large degree, the product of your experiences. That is how we are designed – the Bible equates age with wisdom because there is no teacher like one’s own experiences.

But it isn’t your soul that has experiences, it is the body. Think of a person born deaf, blind and dumb and stuck in an iron lung, devoid of human contact. It’s a horrible thought – unimaginably horrible, really. To be stuck like that, a mind without a body, without sight, sound, touch . . . brrrrr!

The experiences of the body provide the majority of the input that makes you You, but the body is not You. It is your possession, not your essence. Your body is the gateway to the soul through which we receive input via the five senses of touch, taste, sight, smell and hearing.

The seeming contradictions between the carnal understandings of Christian philosophy like victory and death are the consequence of the Christian’s ‘sixth sense’ as expressed by the Apostle Paul.

“For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” (Romans 8:6)

The carnal mind has but the five senses of input. The sixth sense is spiritual; to be spiritual minded is to be able to ‘see’ via your spirit, which was ‘quickened’ or made alive, by the indwelling Presence of the Holy Spirit.

“The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:” (Romans 8:16)

“But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (1st Corinthians 2:14)

Do you see? It is more than simply the fact that salvation and the things of God seem foolish to the unsaved. It is that the spirit is stillborn, like the horrifying example of the active mind trapped in a useless body devoid of sensory input.

Assessment:

Saved or lost, that part of you that makes you You is immortal. When the gateway through the body closes at physical death, your soul now gets its input via the spirit. We receive spiritual insights now; our souls hunger for spiritual input now; but we also have the five carnal senses now.

“For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” (1st Corinthians 13:12)

When the body’s sensory gates are closed at death, that glass is no longer clouded. If one’s spirit is alive, that is. If one’s spirit has not been quickened, the carnal sensory input stops.

That is the first death. One’s soul is in hell, trapped in a dead spirit, much as one might imagine being trapped in a dead body. Like being buried alive.

At the Great White Throne, the souls of the dead without Christ are assembled for final judgment and the resurrection of the dead.

“And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.” (Revelation 20:13)

Those souls are now equipped once more with bodily, carnal sensory input capabilities. Now that they are reunited, body and soul . . .

“And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.” (Revelation 20:14)

In truth, death is all about appearances. We see the grave and we sorrow, we mourn, we grieve – but God sees it from the perspective of eternity to come. God grieves for us in our ignorance, telling us that;

“. . .Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.” (1st Corinthians 2:9)

“For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.” (Romans 8:18-19)

When we die, we don’t ‘wake up’ on the ‘other side’ so much as we merely switch glasses. Both science and the Bible agree that there is both a visible and invisible existence. Quantum physics demands the existence of additional dimensions beyond the three dimensions we now occupy.

“For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:” (Romans 1:20)

The invisible things of Him are as real as the three-dimensional creation that we currently occupy. What is the evidence for the invisible? Oftentimes I’ll hear somebody use ‘air’ as an example of something that is invisible but yet exists.

That’s not entirely satisfactory. I can spray a colored substance and ‘see’ air. I can ‘see’ air through refracted light. Air has substance. Air is real.

But even more real than air is Me. “I think therefore I am.” There is nothing more real to me than Me, and everything about me that makes me Me is more invisible than air.

My soul has no mass. It cannot be detected by weight. It has no substance or shape or dimensions. But it is as real as . . well, it is as real as I am. And everybody has a soul. The invisible is very, very real.

Death is real. But it is real only in the sense that a pregnancy is real. The goal of the pregnancy is for it to end with the beginning a newer, richer existence.

Knowing all this information is empowering. But there is nothing in this world that comes without cost, and the price of this empowering and comforting knowledge is high, indeed.

I know what will happen when I die – at least, in know in part. Right now, I see through a glass, darkly. I know I will see my loved ones again. And like Job, I know it will be in my flesh, and not another’s. I will see my Savior in my flesh, with mine own eyes, and not another’s. (Job 19:25-27)

That’s the comforting and empowering part of this knowledge. But I also know what awaits those who enter eternity with their spiritual eyes closed. That’s the price tag that comes with it.

That’s why there is joy in heaven over one sinner who turns to Christ. (Luke 15:10) It is why God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. (2nd Peter 3:9)

It is why we should “sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.” (1st Peter 3:15)

“For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: (Luke 12:48)

Note: Today’s Letter explains man’s immortality in detail. Alf Cengia takes us to the “Temple Mount Wars” in the Middle East.

The Hopeful Monster

The Hopeful Monster
Vol: 150 Issue: 20 Thursday, March 20, 2014

I am convinced that those who believe in evolution do so because they think they are too smart to believe in God. It is a willful ignorance. Any close examination of the evidence for evolution proves the truth of Romans 1:20:

“For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:”

Let’s apply some understanding to what is clearly seen, and see where we end up.

Currently, the world’s population doubles every forty years. This is the result of two mathematical principles; exponential growth and doubling time.

This presents a major problem for evolutionary theory.

Evolutionists find themselves in a dilemma when they try to reconcile the population growth curve with their imaginary history of human life.

Like, if man has been living on the Earth for a million years or more, then why are there only 7 billion people here now? When any given quantity’s rate of increase is proportional to its current value, it is said to grow exponentially.

Stated more simply, the larger the quantity, the faster it grows.

‘Doubling’ is the length of time it takes for a quantity, growing at a measurable and sustained rate, to double itself. For example, $100 invested at 7% compound interest will take ten years to double itself to $200, another ten to double to $400, and so on.

So we have two different factors at play here; exponential growth and doubling.

At the time of Christ, the world’s population was only about 300 million people. It took until 1800 for the world population to reach one billion people. But it only took until 1930 for the population to double to two billion.

Thanks to the principle of exponential growth, by 1960 there were three billion, by 1974, four billion, 1985, five billion, 1999, six billion. The global population reached the seven billion mark in the year 2012.

If one applies the principles of doubling and exponential growth to the human population, one gets a whole different picture than the one presented by evolutionary “science.”

The population of the earth has been growing throughout history at a more-or-less constant 1.9%, which means it doubles roughly every forty years. But let’s build in a fudge factor for earthquakes, famines, wars and epidemics and allow 150 years between population doublings.

Assuming a startup population of two people, how long would it take to reach the present population of roughly 7 billion?

That’s the thing about doublings and exponentials. With the population doubling every 150 years and factoring in exponentials, it would take only thirty-two doublings over about 4,800 years for the population of Planet Earth to go from two to the present 7 billion.

Now think it through. How could the population stay below 300 million for a million years and then jump from 300 million to nearly seven billion in just two thousand years?

When it comes to blind faith, it is the evolutionist that is ‘religious’.

Assessment:

Christianity is a peculiar sort of religion, since it’s basic premise is that a religion is not necessary for one’s salvation.

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast,” (Ephesians 2:8-9)

But “religion” demands more than that — it must be organized, and that is where it begins to break down. To be a religion, it must be organized by flawed humans. It doesn’t take long before any organized religion breaks down into competing denominations.

Religious evolutionism has at least four major denominations; Classical Darwinism, Neo-Darwinism, the “Hopeful Monster” and Punctuated Equilibrium.

Classical Darwinism proposes that evolution is the result of natural selection and the survival of the fittest. Survival of the fittest has some social problems. Why shouldn’t we eliminate weaker classes of humans which are competing for what we feel we need?

Evolution taken to its logical conclusion would eventually lead to a savage world where the strong determine what is right.

So a new explanation became necessary. Neo-Darwinism adds mutation to Darwin’s survival of the fittest. The problem is that mutations do not produce something new, they merely scramble what is already there.

The Hopeful Monster Theory is advanced as an explanation for why there are no transitional fossils; that is to say, there are no fossils of anything in the process becoming something else. The Hopeful Monster sees evolution taking place in a single jump; a dinosaur that lays an egg that hatches a robin.

Punctuated Equilibrium also attempts to explain away the lack of evidence like transitional fossils by saying all the changes took place over short periods of time. It relies on the absence of evidence to prove itself — ‘since there’s no evidence of transitional life forms, this is proof that evolution must have happened quickly.’

Seriously.

These are not scientific positions — they are religious ones. Let’s tell the story of evolution the way the kids learn it in school.

Billions of years ago, there was nothing. Then suddenly, nothing exploded into something. Everybody agrees on that. It’s called the “Big Bang Theory.”

This ‘something’ produced hydrogen which, when cooled down enough, magically turned into solid rock. Other hydrogen combined with oxygen which caused it to rain on the rock until it broke down into minerals which washed down into a pool.

Once in this pool, all these minerals combined into a primordial ooze that eventually grew up into plants and animals and mosquitoes and bacteria and evolutionary scientists.

The very word ‘theory’ means “An assumption based on limited information or knowledge; a conjecture” but it is illegal in the United States to teach any other explanation dealing with the origins of life.

Even the ‘abrupt appearance’ theory and without any mention of God is forbidden, despite the fact the abrupt appearance theory has far fewer flaws than does evolution.

We’ve already seen that belief in ‘scientific evolution’ requires a suspension of the provable, immutable mathematics. It also requires the suspension of the laws of physics.

The 2nd law of thermodynamics incorporates the law of ‘entropy’ — the measurable, systematic breakdown of all things into their component elements.

In other words, the fact is that everything ages, and everything breaks down with age.

Entropy is a natural law that can be observed, without scientific instruments or double-talk. A beautifully landscaped park, left untended, becomes an overgrowth of weeds. A new car left parked and untended gets rusty and falls apart. A baby becomes an old person and dies.

Everything decays, eventually. Even earth’s orbit around the sun has a measurable decay factor — yet evolution teaches that — with the addition of a billion or so years, the exact opposite happens!

Evolution is a made-up explanation, constantly under revision, to explain the unexplainable — apart from the existence of God.

The truth makes so much more sense. 

Note: Today’s Letter explains how population debunks evolution.  J.L. Robb’s column, “Who was Rudolf Vrba? “gives us a brief historical overview of anti-Semitism.