| A World in Turmoil - An End in Sight |
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| Israel in the Middle East World with the Nation of Israel in red and the Arab/Muslim nations in green. |
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We are living in tumultuous times. The world is a very dangerous place right now, and all the signs point to an eruption of war in the Middle East at any moment. Israel is being pushed into a war that will ultimately destroy much of civilization.
The Arab nations totally surround the tiny Nation of Israel. It is miniscule in comparison to the massive Muslim world around it. And yet Muslim leaders are constantly pointing to the "threat" to their nations by this tiny nation. The leaders also point out that Israel has no "right" to be there. They claim to be the true People of the Old Testament, and that the Old Testament itself was lost and perverted by the Jews. Walid Awad of the Palestinian Authority said recently, Jerusalem is not even a Jewish city. There is no tangible evidence of the Temple Mount ever belonging to the Jews. There never was a Solomon's Temple, nor was there ever a second Temple on the Temple Mount.
Dr. Ed Hindson in his recent book on "The Coming Middle East Crisis" says that these kinds of extremist statements remind us that we are dealing with unreasonable people who cannot be expected to become reasonable. Any U.S. or U.N official that insists that a peace treaty is possible with people that think this way are just fooling themselves. Amadinejad, the PM of Iran is relentless in tossing his constant threats into the arena. He is going to obliterate Israel and the U.S in one mighty attack!
These Arab nations have reason to be scared! God is on the side of Israel and when an attack does take place, the Bible makes it clear in the Book of Ezekiel that the attackers are going to be destroyed!
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What does all this mean? Christians believe that we are living in the end times for the church on this earth. But before anything major happens, Christians believe that Jesus Christ will return for His church and take it off the earth.
So when will all the turmoil really get into high gear? It will begin shortly after Christ Raptures His church from the earth. This begins the period of time identified in the Bible as The Tribulation.
This is all foolish talk to those who will not believe that such a thing can happen. Just wait! One of these days, and they aren't far off, that song will change to one of great sorrow by those who are "left behind", and there will be many of these!
The economies of nations that were heretofore stable are now in an uproar, with talk of bankruptcy of States and Nations every day. The "one world order" is on the tongues of leaders everywhere, even in the vocal expressions of the man that now holds the presidency in the United States. And there are those that are pushing the world toward a "one world religion".
Is there any way we might forecast the events of the near future? The Bible is full of prophesy telling about these times. (..if you care to, read the Books of Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Daniel, Revelation, Thessalonians, and more in the Bible). But none of these have dates when things are going to happen. Some of the forecast events of the Bible have already taken place. You can see some events taking place right now of what is forecast.
Many people in the United States are totally unaware that their very freedom is in danger. And to make matters worse, it appears that our current president himself supports the Muslim way of life and has stated that he and his wife hate America. He is a Muslim under it all, not a Christian as he purports. What a mess we are in!
What really makes matters much worse is that most people do not believe in the Bible and don't have the foggiest notion as to what is coming down the road of time.
An excellent book series that has sold over 70 million copies worldwide is: Left Behind: A Novel of the Earth's Last Days by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins - (http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_10?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=left+behind+series&sprefix=left+behind)
Read this book if you want to get a better idea of what it will be like after the Christians are gone.... (This book was really written for non-Christians, those that are truly going to be "left behind" on this earth!) What is a non-Christian? Anyone who has not accepted Jesus as his/her personal Savior and Lord! Going to church doesn't cut it! Being good doesn't either! Believing that there is a God isn't enough. I dare you to read this book.
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What has happened in this world as we know it today?
Every day as I read the Jerusalem Post and see what is happening in the Middle East, in Europe and all over the world, I can't help but compare those events to what is also happening here in the United States. Simply put, we have forgotten God in our lives. The President of the United States and his supporters as well as much of the rest of the nation is busily trying to undo all the roots of our heritage. The President has openly stated before the entire world that the United States is not a Christian nation, that it never was, and never will be. When you throw out belief in the one true God and Christian principles, you throw out justice, the rule of law, trust, honesty and many other of the things people fought to have in the United States that then spread to many other places in the world!
What I read in the Jerusalem Post every day are similar words being repeated over and over again in Israel. God has no place in the modern Jewish State. To even imply that God had anything to do with the People of Israel is almost anti-Israel. Of course the Muslims say that, and it is expected from them since they have their own god, not the same God we believe in. But to have Israel say that that God doesn't have a role in their society is a different matter.
The United States began it long history with people escaping from religious persecution, and over its lifetime has welcomed all others in all the world's religions to come into our midst and feel like no one is going to persecute them for what they believe. That is, UNTIL NOW. That is changing almost before our very eyes. Freedom truly meant freedom when we started over 400 years ago. It is no longer the same. The definition of freedom is rapidly becoming what the government wants us to assume is freedom.
Israel inspired the wrath of God on many occasions throughout its history. It is about to feel that wrath again!
The Book of Lamentations says it well in the Old Testament (the Bible for those who don't know of this book). "Jerusalem has sinned greatly" it says in 1:8. Try telling that to the left wingers in the Israeli government. 5:15 goes on to say, "Joy has left our hearts; our dancing has turned to mourning.....Why do you continue to forget us?.....Restore us, O Lord, and bring us back to you again! Give us back the joys we once had! Or have you utterly rejected us?"
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Homework, if you are interested!
If God was powerful enough to create the world, the universes all around us, and the human being, is He not powerful enough to destroy His creation? Why would He want to do this? What would prompt the Creator to pour His wrath on the world? Most people and even Christians don't like to talk about the wrath of God. They would rather think of the love of God and take advantage of all the benefits that come with trusting in God. But at some time, God can't take it any more. He then spills his wrath on the earth.
A study of the concordance of the Bible will show that there are more references in Scripture to the anger, fury, and wrath of God, than there are to His love and tenderness. If you study the Scriptures of the Bible, you can read that God has once before had his fill with the wickedness of people. In the great flood, he destroyed everyone except for Noah and his family and the animals that were in the ark. Why couldn't He do this again? He can!
God has made several covenants with mankind all of which have been broken when man could not live up to them. The last covenant, the sending of His Son, Jesus Christ, to earth to sacrifice Himself for mankind is still in being. But God warns in His scriptures, the Bible, that when He has had enough of man, and man continues to disobey Him, He will come in a mighty wrath and destroy mankind.
You can read all of this in the scriptures, beginning with Ezekiel 36-39. The "End Times" are identified as that time when all of the signs of God's pulling the plug on the world come true. The people of Israel are at the heart of this latter time, and those things are happening right now. The fact that Israel is a nation, a state, is one of the keys in the Bible. All the enemies of Israel coming together and wanting to destroy that nation are also keys. And that is taking place right now. You can see it happening daily.
The wrath of God is outlined in the Book of Revelation starting with chapter 16. Read on. You will see that there are clear signs that the end is near when God will carry out His plan.
The key to all of this is that God sent His Son, Christ, into the world not to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. All that God requires is that man agree and accept His Son as the sacrifice that has paid the price for the sin of man. All man has to do is to say, "God I accept your Son, Jesus Christ, as my personal sacrifice and as my salvation." With those words, God will welcome you into His kingdom. It's that simple, yet so many people disbelieve and call it all a big hoax. After Christ raptures His church into heaven and leaves all the non-believers on earth and the tribulation sets in for seven years, then those that have not believed will have a change of heart, but it may be too late for them!
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| We sit in our rocking chairs, strumming our banjo and watching the world going through its last stages. Yet, most people don't care! They will, once the whistle blows, the trumpet sounds, and the Christians are taken from the earth! |
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