In this blog I have focused on helping others in
their study of bible prophecy by sharing what I have learned through my own
personal studies. Having shared the
truth of scripture as I see it over the past nine years, I only feel it necessary
to add to these studies when I learn something new or feel the need to share
encouragement through scripture cards I have made and other items of personal
inspiration.
I did an update in October of 2016, and I am
updating that post to reflect all that has happened since that time. If I did not know that God is sovereign and on
the throne and working out His plan for our future, I would certainly be afraid
and depressed about the future. Though I
hate what those who reject Jesus as Savior will have to experience, I can’t
help but get excited about the fact that Jesus is coming soon to set up His
kingdom—and at least seven years before that to take those who have placed
their faith in Him to heaven in an event known as the rapture. My study of scripture declares that truth no
matter how others may choose to deny it—and I have certainly read many
arguments by those who deny that truth.
How do I know it will be soon? Because the daily news headlines declare it. Just as the LORD Jesus expected the religious
leaders of His day to recognize the signs of the times that pointed to Him as
the Messiah, I believe He expects believers today to recognize the signs of the
times that point to His return to set up His kingdom.
Matthew 16:1–3 “The Pharisees also
with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him that he would shew them a
sign from heaven. He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky
is red. And in the morning, It will be
foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye
not discern the signs of the
times?”
We know from the prophet Ezekiel that Russia will
be a major player in the end times and will lead a coalition including Iran and
Turkey among others that will attack Israel in order to plunder its
wealth. Such a coalition has never
existed until recently. The leaders of
these countries met in Ankara at the beginning of this month to discuss the
situation in Syria. Just as he has
already done in Iran and Syria, Putin is acting to increase his influence in
Turkey. He has committed to helping them
build a nuclear plant and to sell them S-400 surface to air missile batteries. I’m thinking it won’t be very long before
Turkey officially pulls out of NATO.
The situation with ISIS provided a hook in the
jaws that has resulted in Russia being positioned right on Israel’s border. Russia has continued to support Assad despite
recent evidence of his once again using chemical gas against the people of
Douma (near Damascus), one of the last areas still controlled by rebels; the
attack resulted in the deaths of hundreds of civilians. I believe the situation in Syria will
eventually result in the fulfillment of another prophecy as declared by the
prophet Isaiah—the complete destruction of Damascus. (See my study on Isaiah 17 at www.momsbiblejournal.com.)
Added to this is the surprising declaration from
the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia that Israel has a right to exist and indicated
the desire to establish diplomatic relations between the two countries. It seems that their hatred of Iran has led
them to befriend Israel in their effort to keep Iran from gaining strength and
influence. It reminds one of the old
saying, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”
Ezekiel’s prophecy indicates that the countries
immediately bordering Israel, though Muslim, will not be a part of the
coalition that attacks Israel. (For
further details see my study on Ezekiel 38 at www.momsbiblejournal.com.)
President Trump has recognized Jerusalem as the
capital of Israel and has fast-tracked the relocation of the U.S. Embassy to
Jerusalem to be completed by May 14th, the day marking the 70th
anniversary of Israel’s rebirth as a nation.
This, of course, only adds fuel to the fire of passion against Israel in
light of the Palestinians and their demand to take land that belongs to Israel
to form another state with Jerusalem as its capital.
The Apostle Paul identified the last days as being
characterized by a complete decay in morality throughout the world. (See my studies on 1Timothy 4 and 2Timothy
3.) I, of course, am completely
astounded at the complete moral corruption that has occurred in my own nation
in just the last few years. Our
government has abandoned the biblical principles upon which our nation was
founded and has passed legislation that rejects morality as defined in the word
of God.
Jesus declared in his teaching known as the Olivet
Discourse (Matthew 24) that the days in which Jesus would return would be like
the days of Noah before the flood.
Genesis 6:5 “And GOD saw that the
wickedness of man was great in
the earth, and that every
imagination of the thoughts of his heart
was only evil continually.”
Following
is how the Holy Spirit inspired the Apostle Paul to define such evil in his
letter to the Romans. (I am going to
quote from the New Living Translation for better clarity.)
Romans 1:24–32 “So God let them go ahead and do whatever shameful
things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things
with each other’s bodies. Instead of believing what they knew was the truth
about God, they deliberately chose to believe lies. So they worshiped the
things God made but not the Creator himself, who is to be praised forever. Amen
That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the
women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex
with each other. And the men, instead of having normal sexual relationships
with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other
men and, as a result, suffered within themselves the penalty they so richly
deserved.
When they refused to acknowledge
God, he abandoned them to their evil minds and let them do things that should
never be done. Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed,
hate, envy, murder, fighting, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. They
are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They are
forever inventing new ways of sinning and are disobedient to their parents.
They refuse to understand, break their promises, and are heartless and
unforgiving. They are fully aware of God’s death penalty for those who do these
things, yet they go right ahead and do them anyway. And, worse yet, they
encourage others to do them, too.”
I think
that is a perfect commentary on the morals as reflected in our culture and, I
am sad to say, in our government in America today. The powers that be have been given a huge
assist in their abuse of power with the help of judicial activism that oversteps
the bounds set by the constitution.
Advances
in technology have provided the means by which some prophecies of scripture can
now be fulfilled in ways that could never have been accomplished before. The Revelation contains a prophecy declaring
that the whole world will be able to see the dead bodies of God’s two
tribulation (the last seven years before the return of Jesus) witnesses for
three days. This is now possible through
the use of satellites and worldwide broadcasting on television and internet.
Revelation 11:9–10 “And they of the
people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three
days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.
And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and
shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that
dwelt on the earth.”
The
Revelation also declares that the coming world ruler will be able to control
buying and selling throughout the world by requiring people to have a mark on
their person declaring allegiance to him.
Revelation 13:16–17 “He required
everyone—great and small, rich and poor, slave and free—to be given a mark on
the right hand or on the forehead. And no one could buy or sell anything
without that mark, which was either the name of the beast or the number
representing his name.”
Again, that technology is not only possible, but has already begun
to be used in some countries. China has
begun implementation of a Social Credit System.
Consider this quote from Rachel Botsman’s article “Big Data Meets Big
Brother as China Moves to Rate Its Citizens” on October 21, 2017, at www.wired.co.uk: “Imagine a world where many of your
daily activities were constantly monitored and evaluated: what you buy at the
shops and online; where you are at any given time; who your friends are and how
you interact with them; how many hours you spend watching content or playing
video games; and what bills and taxes you pay (or not). It's not hard to
picture, because most of that already happens, thanks to all those
data-collecting behemoths like Google, Facebook and Instagram or
health-tracking apps such as Fitbit. But now imagine a system where all these
behaviours are rated as either positive or negative and distilled into a single
number, according to rules set by the government. That would create your
Citizen Score and it would tell everyone whether or not you were trustworthy.
Plus, your rating would be publicly ranked against that of the entire
population and used to determine your eligibility for a mortgage or a job,
where your children can go to school - or even just your chances of getting a
date.”
And from an article by James Vincent on November 29, 2016, on www.theverge.com: “The UK is about to become one of the
world’s foremost surveillance states, allowing its police and intelligence
agencies to spy on its own people to a degree that is unprecedented for a
democracy. The UN’s privacy chief has called the situation "worse than
scary." Edward Snowden says it’s simply ‘the most extreme surveillance in
the history of western democracy.’ The
legislation in question is called the Investigatory Powers Bill. It’s been
cleared by politicians and granted royal assent on November 29th — officially
becoming law. The bill will legalize the UK’s global surveillance program,
which scoops up communications data from around the world, but it will also
introduce new domestic powers, including a government database that stores the
web history of every citizen in the country. UK spies will be empowered to hack
individuals, internet infrastructure, and even whole towns — if the government
deems it necessary.”
These
are just some of the more obvious examples that I see reflected in the
headlines of our news today. Though I am
not providing the full explanation of these prophecies in this post, you can
use the search tool on this blog and/or go to my website to see the complete
studies that provide more detail on the prophetic scriptures being referenced.
So, why
should I believe that any of these prophecies are true? Because there are so many examples of
fulfilled prophecy. (See blog posts
dated December 7, 2008; July 7, 2010; July 20, 2011; and November 26 & 30,
2012 for more examples.)
The
three that I believe are most important are the birth of Jesus, the
resurrection of Jesus and the rebirth of the state of Israel after almost 2000
years. My heart breaks for those of you
who continue to reject the truth of God’s word in spite of so much evidence for
its trustworthiness—not only regarding prophecy, but also in scientific and
historical accuracy. I know what your
future holds if you continue to reject Jesus as your Savior. Read the book. Look at the facts. Don’t let foolish pride and deception condemn
you to a future in hell! God loves you
and sacrificed His only Son, Jesus, to make the gift of salvation available to
you for the asking.
John 3:16 “For God so loved the
world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him
should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
John 14:6 “Jesus saith unto him, I
am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
Ephesians 2:8–9 “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.”
Romans 10:9 “For if you confess with
your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him
from the dead, you will be saved.” (NLT)
