Yes, I tried to change the look to accommodate someone who said I make these too long.
Things to come -
Having made a brief
outline of things to come, I stated, “After what seems like days
of panic there will be three and one half years of relative peace.”
You rebutted that
statement with, “The 2nd half of Daniels seven years is
the Great Tribulation..”
While that might be
excruciatingly correct, you gave no scriptural backing as a
foundation for your argument and, in essence you have assumed that
there will be little to no tribulation effects until you say so, and
that the horrors of this seven-year period come only at the 2nd
half. Since you feel that the horrors are exclusive to the second
half what do you do with the escalating acts of violence against
Christians, and bizarrely against the opposing Muslim sect that loses
the day’s battle? If escalating violence for the sake of power does
not get your attention, how about the concept of shoving my religion
down your throat by cutting off your hand or your head, raping and
then beating your wife merely because she is not a Muslim, burning
down your church with all it’s members in it, all merely because
you will not bow before my god.
You say that
Christians must go through the tribulation. If that is a solid,
strict concept in your mind then you have placed all of us in the
Great Tribulation, a time of judgment against the nations and Israel,
ignoring scripture that states, “For
God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our
Lord Jesus Christ,”
1 Thessalonians 5:9 KJV, and effectively called God a liar.
God is cleaning house -
Whether
you call it Jacob’s troubles, as Ezekiel did, or a time of wrath,
or judgment, it is all serving the same purpose, God is cleaning the
house – so to speak. I feel compelled to point out what Jesus made
very clear, it will be as in the days of Noah and Lot. In both
examples God delivered them, by removing them from the judgment, and
immediately the method of destruction came. Read this in Luke 17,
Matthew 24, Genesis 6:11-7:6, Genesis 18:20 – 19:26
If
God is cleaning house, why?
- Because Israel violated the covenant, over and over again. Psalms 89:31-33 ESV if they violate my statutes and do not keep my commandments, (32) then I will punish their transgression with the rod and their iniquity with stripes, (33) but I will not remove from him my steadfast love or be false to my faithfulness.
- Because of the pride, evil, and iniquity of the world. Isaiah 13:11 JPS And I will visit upon the world their evil, and upon the wicked their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the tyrants.
There
are passages scattered all over the bible defining why God is
bringing judgment upon the earth. Look at the example of Noah and you
will find that the earth was filled with violence and every thought
of man was continually evil. Look around you, is it that much
different today?
Is it important how he cleans house or what he calls it?
John,
in Revelation 6:2 states,
“And
I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow;
and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to
conquer.”
This is the beginnings of the seven-year period, and yet you already
have a man with bow without arrows and yet conquering. We are nowhere
close to the mid-point, the time of the Great Tribulation, as you
have pointed out, and yet you would be hard pressed to say that wrath
has not begun.
We
do not know how much time passes until the second rider shows up.
Revelation 6:4 KJV
“And
there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him
that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should
kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.”
Again we are distanced from the mid-point and yet you cannot deny
that some form of pain is being pressed into the world.
This has nothing to do with the believer.
Romans
1:18
For
the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
Calling
God’s actions by other names does not change his intent. This
passage in Romans calls it wrath and tells us it is revealed from
heaven. Is what John sees directed at the negligent Christian
community? NO! God’s wrath is directed at ungodliness, the
unrighteousness of men, and those who hold the truth in
unrighteousness. Undoubtedly any of these aspects are
demonstrative of our own bad behaviors as Christians, that is not
what he talking about.
Let’s
look at Romans 1:18 for a moment.
- “ungodliness” – The Greek word is asebeia, meaning NO reverence for God. Even within the church body there are those that have no respect for God.
- “the unrighteousness of men” - Unrighteousness is the Greek word adikia, meaning the act of injustice. Webster’s dictionary tells us that injustice is any violation of another’s rights.
- “who hold the truth in unrighteousness;” - Hold is the Greek word katecho and means to suppress, bridle or withhold. This last aspect, while not necessarily an act of violence is an act of abuse for in doing so they are keeping people away from truth by a variety of methods. And for what means?
This
is not the mislead Christian, stumbling over some concept as they
walk out this lifestyle of ours. This is intentional acts of impeding
others from finding the truth. Paul told us (1Jn 4:3, 2Jn 1:7) that
the antichrist is already in the world.
Ephesians
5:6
Let
no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things comes
the
wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.
Vain
words, what does that mean? Empty words, devoid of truth, nullifying
God in the lives of people, causing people to be disobedient, and
therefore subject to wrath.
Colossians
3:5-6 KJV Mortify
therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication,
uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and
covetousness, which is idolatry: (6) For which things' sake the
wrath of God comes on the children of disobedience:
In
this case the wrath of God is coming upon the children of
disobedience, this covers a lot of people, and verse 5 defines what
makes them disobedient. The Greek word for disobedience is apeitheia
and means obstinate opposition.
Ponder
the meaning of the word obstinate
for a moment: Stubborn;
pertinaciously adhering to an opinion or purpose; fixed firmly in
resolution; not
yielding to reason, arguments or other means.
Christ, having already suffered once-
Luke
24:44-47 ESV Then
he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I
was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of
Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled." (45)
Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, (46) and
said to them, "Thus
it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day
rise from the dead, (47) and that repentance and forgiveness of
sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations,
beginning from Jerusalem.
Romans
5:9 KJV Much
more then, being
now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
Romans
8:1-4 ESV
There
is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
(2) For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ
Jesus from the law of sin and death. (3) For
God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By
sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he
condemned sin in the flesh, (4) in order that the righteous
requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not
according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
2
Corinthians 5:17 ESV Therefore, if
anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away;
behold, the new has come.
Ephesians
2:3 KJV
Among whom also
we all had
our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling
the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and
were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
Ephesians
2:3 speaks in the past tense when it says, “and were by nature the
children of wrath, even as others.” That is not who we are once we
accept Jesus Christ as our redemption and life.
1
Thessalonians 1:10 KJV (10) And to
wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even
Jesus, which delivered us
from the wrath to come.
Luke
21 is one in which you need to show the context.
Luke
21:23 KJV But woe unto them that
are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there
shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people.
In Luke 21:20 Jesus
says, “And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies,
then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.” So based upon
this passage who is he speaking of? Israel, and specifically
Jerusalem. As such he is talking about the Jews. So to say wrath upon
a people he is talking about wrath upon the Jews. Why? Because Israel
rejected him, over and over. They will turn to him now. Can you see
in this instance that God is directing his wrath toward a specific
people group, and not a generalized body of Christ.
Nobody wants God wrath upon them.
I
suspect that most people feel vulnerable to wrath because they lack
an understanding of who they are in Christ Jesus.
Romans
3:21-25 GW Now, the way to receive God's approval has been made
plain in a way other than Moses' Teachings. Moses' Teachings and the
Prophets tell us this. (22) Everyone who believes has God's
approval through faith in Jesus Christ. There is no difference
between people. (23) Because all people have sinned, they have
fallen short of God's glory. (24) They receive God's approval
freely by an act of his kindness through the price Christ Jesus paid
to set us free from sin. (25) God showed that Christ is the throne
of mercy where God's approval is given through faith in Christ's
blood. In his patience God waited to deal with sins committed in the
past.
We
understand this concept of God’s approval as being our receipt of
his righteous blessing because we have faith in Jesus Christ. A word
used commonly in many translations is propitiation. It merely
means that Jesus Christ’s actions for us and toward us was enough.
Sin, our broken condition, required, a payment, and that was
usually done through a bloody sacrifice. If you watched the movie or
read the book, “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” then you
got a small dose of understanding, for the Witch made it clear that
she had the right to blood for the representative man-child had
committed treason against the kingdom and his own kind. Aslan did not
argue the point, but made himself the sacrifice instead of the boy.
The price paid for your life was made by Jesus Christ upon the cross.
All that is left is your acceptance of the one who made it on your
behalf; Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Many believe the tribulation is here.
When
it comes to severe tribulation, a simple look at the Muslim countries
of the world and you will find that Christians are already going
through it, and have been for many years. The violence against
Christians has taken a dramatic upswing with the rise of Muslim
majority populations and recent political takeovers. You are not
going to stop this with violence, only prayer can hold it back, for
you are dealing with powerful, devilish angels that fell with Satan,
and their influence on people that seem to enjoy invoking pain upon
people while their main motivation is power.
2
Thessalonians 2:5-8 CEV (5) Don't you remember that I told you this
while I was still with you? (6) You already know what is holding
this wicked one back until it is time for him to come. (7) His
mysterious power is already at work, but someone is holding him back.
And the wicked one won't appear until that someone is out of the way.
(8) Then he will appear, but the Lord Jesus will kill him simply by
breathing on him. He will be completely destroyed by the Lord's
glorious return.
Even
if the passage tells us plainly that someone is holding back the evil
one, isn’t it plain to see that not everyone is being restrained.
Look, Paul already made that
clear in 2Thessalonians 2:7 when he said, (CEV) “His
mysterious power is already at work”.
Whose power? Satan’s, as he works through evil people. We
have seen this repeated throughout history. One of the most vile was
Antiochus as he desecrated the temple, a sign of things to come.
What then is holding the antichrist back?
Paul
had preached this message to the Thessalonian church and is now
reminding them again. We, who are believers, are the one that is
holding him back, and with him the onslaught of evil.
John
MacArthur’s commentary conservatively tells us that the restraints
can have many aspects, “These
include: (1)
human government; (2) preaching of the gospel; (3) the binding of
Satan; (4) the providence of God; (5) the Jewish state; (6) the
church; (7) the Holy Spirit; and (8) Michael, the angel.
Whatever now restrains the Antichrist of verses 2Th_2:3-4,
2Th_2:8-10
from being revealed in the fullness of his apostasy and evil, must be
more than human or even angelic power. The power that holds back
Satan from bringing the final apostasy and unveiling of his
Satan-possessed false Christ must be divinely supernatural. It must
be God's power in operation that holds back Satan, so that the man of
sin, the son of destruction, won't be able to come until God permits
it by removing the restraining power.”
The problem I have
with the human government side of this is: within the United
States, laws are changing rapidly. Those of us who speak out against
the weakening of laws or the removal of protections by law are
becoming labeled as terrorists. We are no longer looking for those
who wish to destroy the nation as the enemy, but those who wish to
preserve it’s sanity as the problem. Jonathon Cahn wrote the book
“The Harbinger”, a sign of things to come. In it he describes how
this nation has not repented, even though the calls and signs have
come to do so. We have failed to repent and turn this around and this
nation will be punished for its arrogance. There is always a chance
for repentance; all it takes is for a few people with backbones to
pray. Pray that God withholds the enemy. I believe that many have
been doing that over this nation or we would have seen far greater
destruction by now.
Joel Richardson’s
book, “The Mideast Beast” scripturally defines why the antichrist
will be a middle east Muslim. Sure, he will come off as a moderate at
first, but that is while his forces continue to bleed out the middle
eastern Christian community. Israel will have suffered a tremendous
attack and therefore have the need to sign a peace treaty. That
treaty will correspond with the rapture of the church, the
introduction of the antichrist, and a rapid increase in violence and
destruction globally.
In trying to refocus
for a moment; I have no doubt that multiple scenarios will be come
together at one time. With the level of violence in the Arab world
already as high as it is and little to bring it under control, how do
you expect that to not spill over into America and other, so-called
civilized nations. We have Mosques in almost every city with Mullahs
teaching the edicts of the Qu’ran, therefore it is a logical
assumption that a hatred of those outside the faith (Islam) is being
taught as well.
(We assume that the word might be Jihad, the confusion for us that do
not understand, is that Jihad is a way of life for the Muslim, the
Qu’ran teaches this, and deception is the highest and most
honorable form of Jihad, therefore Jihad is quite probably being
performed on a daily basis around you.
The problem with
Islam is: The potential for explosive harm is there. Do not be
foolish enough to think it cannot happen, for it already is. Don’t
even try to tell me that while this antichrist declares peace that
there will be peace; there will be pandemonium. What makes it worse
is that while the impact of his control will be centrally felt and
located in the middle east, those Muslims living in this country will
attempt to assert control and power as well, and they will attempt to
invoke Sharia law over you, where ever they can.
If you read this and the rapture has come.
Turn your lives over to Jesus Christ even now. Ask the Holy Spirit to
empower you and he will. Cry out in the name of Jesus Christ, for
that name alone carries power. You can stop the enemy in his tracks.
The story of the three Hebrew men that Nebuchadnezzar had thrown into
the furnace is not merely to entertain you. It was meant to show you
that God is in control and stop the effects of the enemy. Put your
trust in him and speak specifically against these things. In the name
of Jesus command them to turn away. Call down God’s vengeance upon
them. Ask God to hide you. Do what ever the Holy Spirit speaks to
your heart to do. Listen to him for he will direct you.
This is not a time of
fear but of power. I know this for I saw it as I read the scriptures.
Detractors will die as they sit in unbelief, either that or they will
convert to Islam, worshiping the beast and his false prophet, and
they will condemn themselves to the flames that the antichrist is
condemned to. Do not do that, no matter what the cost. Turn your eyes
upon Jesus Christ and he will bring you, his saints, into the
kingdom. A kingdom filled with joy, and you will reign with him for
the thousand years.
Turn your life to him
now and enjoy a hope, knowing that eternity with the one who has
loved you since time began is yours. You can have hope. There is a
life with him, and his name is Jesus Christ.
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