Dramatic Events Unfold

    Here lately, I have been spending a lot of time in the Bible reading prophecy material and relating them to current events.  I find myself in the book of Daniel very often.  Daniel was a man who was shown visions about times such as these and he was very close to God.  These studies have very much affected my prayer life, as I pray to be shown things as well.  I must admit that I was praying with little faith, because I was thinking that God wouldn't show me things so vividly and so dramatic, but boy was I wrong.  Just last night I was driving down 421 on my way to town and it was around 8:30 or 9:00.  I gave my signal to switch lanes and when I checked my rear view mirror I saw what I believe that God had me to see that night just above my car.  The sky looked just like an angel holding what looked like a lightning bolt directed towards the earth.  Now I know that sounds so so crazy, but I'm telling the truth.  The bolt of lightning and its wings were so vivid and clear, and I could see the shape of its upper body.  The image was there for about 2 or 3 minutes then disappeared; just long enough for me to get the image in my head.  Before really even praying about it, God spoke and told me that this was a sign that these events on the earth now are going to continue and begin to escalate.  By "these events" I mean the events in Libya, Japan, Egypt, Israel, America and many others.  After seeing this, I wasn't like Daniel, trembling and afraid.  I was just at peace about it.  It was very interesting.  I just thought I would share what I got to experience. 

    I have much to talk about in this post, so here we go.  First of all, a "No Fly Zone" has been issued over Libya.  Everything has been going okay with it so far, but last night, I saw on the news that there has been bombings in Tripoli, which is on the coast of Libya.


 In another live video, it was about 2:30 in the morning there, and the sky looked like a multitude of aircraft and missiles in the air.  That seems so huge to me.  There is still so much to learn on that story.  The nation to watch is Israel.  The nation of Israel is God's chosen people.  The reason for the 1000 year reign of Christ is so that He will keep His promise to Abraham when He told him He would protect the nation.  Some Americans, for some reason, think that Americans are Gods chosen people.  I have news...we are NOT.  God is all about keeping His promises and another promise that He made was that during the tribulation time, 144,000 Jews will come to Christ.  Its amazing to me how God chooses such a small nation to be His chosen.  All of Israel is about the size of New Jersey.  Yet this nation is the nation to watch.  It will be the focal point of the End Times.  America has almost always been allies with Israel, which is a very good thing, being that Israel has such a strong army, but we are beginning to pull away from them for some reason, which is bad. 



   This is called the Dome of the Rock, which is in Jerusalem.  This will be the site of the New Jerusalem, but first, during the tribulation period, the Antichrist will go inside the temple and set up an image of himself.

    "He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God. "
                                                                      2 Thessalonians 2:4

 By the way, another indication of the last days is that the temple will be rebuilt and as we speak, the material is being prepared.  The tends to put things into perspective doesn't it? 

    I know this a lot, but I have one more thing.  Lets look at something the physician Luke wrote.

                        "There will be sings in the sun, moon and stars.  On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea."
                                                                  Luke 21:25

    On March 19th, the moon was closest to the earth that it has been in 18 years and possibly closer....lets take a look. 



   Check this out!  How many times do we see a FULL MOON that close?!  That is amazing.  That definitely speaks to me.  With God, nothing is just by chance.  The moon was only an estimated 221,365 miles from the earth.  Personally, I love astronomy.  It is beautiful to see the planets and the moon and stars, so this interests me; much less the fact that it is in Gods word!  At the moons normal distance from the earth, it has such a huge gravitational pull that it actually controls the tides of the oceans and seismic activity such as tsunamis, earthquakes and volcanoes.  So at this close distance, imagine what kind of imbalance that can cause..its amazing. 

    Lets look at the second part of that verse.  "on the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring of the sea."  Does anything come to mind? How about the tsunami and earthquakes in Japan, which are the largest ever recorded in history. 







These pictures are so devastating.  I believe all that is going on is truly Gods "wake up call" if you will, to this world.  Christians, lets us not forget our purpose:

    "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
                                                            Matthew 28:19-20

Every nation today is in need.  Although they are in need of different things whether it be disaster relief, or types of freedom, they are all in need of the same thing, which is Jesus Christ.  In the end, He is all that matters.  "I am the way, the truth and the life" "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life"  -Jesus


May we seek Christ in the midst of this world.

Time For A New Revelation

          I want us to look at something real quick.  Something I was thinking about last night.  When Jesus was carrying His cross, a man helped Him and said "I am an innocent man forced to carry a condemned mans cross".  Isn't this the other way around??  Jesus had to carry our cross because we couldnt have done it oursleves.  Just let that sit..


          On another note....Im sure we have all heard about the disaster in Japan that has killed at least 10,000 people.  This, to me is almost like a scene from a movie!  Who would have thought this sort of thing could have happened so unpredicted??  But will not the same be for the return of the Son of Man?  The thing that caught my attention was the fact that the quake moved the coast line in Japan 8 feet.  It also moved the ENITRE EARTHS AXIS 18cm, and we lost 2 millionths of a second on each day.  An earthquake that can change time...thats huge.  Check this out.  I want us to think about some things through out this post..

    "I watched as he opened the sixth seal, There was an earthquake.  The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by strong wind.  The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place."
                                                                        Revelation 6:12-14

No earthquake in history has ever moved the physical being of the earth...much less 8 feet! And changed time!!  Thats major. 

   So is the Japanese earthquake the one that marks the beginning of the end?  Maybe.  Personally...I believe so.  Here are my reasons for thinking so.  I hear alot of people say that things have always been happening and people have always been expecting the end.  But let us look around.  Yes, things like this used to happen, but not nearly this often.  There is still protesting all over the world now...even in America, and now a massive earthquake hit Japan which triggered one of the largest tsunamis ever recorded.  Not to even mention all the nuclear meldowns and blasts.  Also, people have always expected Christs return..but not anymore.  The population of Christians is rapidly declining and people are so wrapped up in their own little world that it takes something such as this to even get their attention.  So no...people arent at all expecting it anymore.  The Bible says that He will come like a theif in the night. 

    "For as lightining that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man."
             Matthew 24:27

      "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.  But understand this: if the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him"

             Matthew 24:42-44

   See?  Jesus Himself tells us to be watchful.  For me, that says enough. 



          Matthew 24 is a great passage of scirpture.  Jesus was leaving the temple when His disciples got His attention and came to Him privately, asking what the signs of the end of age are.  He mentions to them that there will be those who claim to be Christ, wars and rumors of wars.  Nations will turn against nations and kingdoms against kingdoms.  There will be earthquakes in various places.  Jesus says that all these things must happen before He returns. 

      So here is my theory.  I believe the events in Japan, Lybia, Egypt and other events in America are a wake up call from God.  We aren't by any means in the tribulation period now...because Christians are still here.  In the tribulation period, things will be so much worse than they are now.  For example, the Bible says that it will take an entire days wages just to buy a loaf of bread!  The people will then pretty much get fed up with the Antichrist and rebel against him.  This will be what we know as the battle of armageddon. The events during the tribulation time will be far worse than what we are seeing now.  Much more catastrophic.  Think of it...tornadoes, asteroids, hurricanes, floods, lightning, fires, etc on a regular basis.  Theres more...$65 for a loaf of bread and $100 for a gallon of gasoline.  These times will be impossible for the non-believer and very difficult for those who come to Christ during that time, if not, harder. 




    But like I said, what we are seeing now is just a wake up call for what is to come.  Soon, when the last person accepts Christ, He will come back for us.  Imagine the confusion.  Wow.  So as far as watching the days and events of this current age, I think the real place to watch in Israel.  Israel is where everything will take place and take a shape.  I believe that we can look for the Antichrist to be of the Muslim faith, because he will have access to the temple, where he will set up the image of himself to worship, much like king Nebuchadnezzar in the book of Daniel.  I believe that these things will unfold day by day.  But, we must remember our most important duty as Christians

    "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

                           Matthew 28:19-20

In the past weeks, my Pastor has been doing a sermon series on Heaven, and I must say, I look forward to Heaven way more than I ever have.  We must take every thought captive, and our hearts must be on things above.

May we seek Christ in the midst of this world.


         

Daniel's Visions and Today's World

(The preparation for this post has took a lot of time and studying, but I think you will enjoy it.)

   Since my last post, I have been studying about the end of age, tribulation time, the Antichrist and so much more.  A question of mine that came to mind was "Who in the Bible knew about these subjects very well?"   The first person that came to mind was not John (the author of Revelation) but Daniel, who wrote his book to the Jewish exiles in Babylonia anywhere from 605-530 B.C. 

  What I am about to say has really nothing to do with what is going on in our world today....or does it?  Seemingly, it doesn't have much to do with anything the world is experiencing, but if you pay close attention, it has almost everything to do with our world today.  Just remember that as you read.

   I began my study in Daniel chapter 7.  Daniels first personal experience of visions takes place in Chapter 7; just after adventure in the lions den in Chapter 6.  As I go into the text, I am going to try to supply you with all of the historical, sociological and geological information that goes along with it.

  Daniel 7:1 - In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream, and visions passed through his mind as he was lying on his bed.  He wrote down the substance of his dream. 

        The first year of king Belshazzar, or his first year as king, was around 553 B.C. 

Daniel 7:2 - Daniel said: "In my vision at night I looked, and there before me were the four winds of heaven churning up the great sea.

        The great sea in Daniels vision refers to the world of nations and peoples.  What is the four winds of heaven?  Ill get to that in just a second.

Daniel 7:3 - Four great beasts, each different from the others, came up out of the sea.

Daniel 7:4 - The first was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle. I watched until its wings were torn off and it was lifted from the ground so that it stood on two feet like a man, and the heart of a man was given to it.

Daniel 7:5 - And there before me was a second beast, which looked like a bear. It was raised up on one of its sides, and it had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. It was told, 'Get up and eat your fill of flesh!'

Daniel 7:6 - After that, I looked, and there before me was another beast, one that looked like a leopard. And on its back it had four wings like those of a bird. This beast had four heads, and it was given authority to rule.

Daniel 7:7 - After that, in my vision at night I looked, and there before me was a fourth beast—terrifying and frightening and very powerful. It had large iron teeth; it crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the former beasts, and it had ten horns.

Daniel 7:8 - While I was thinking about the horns, there before me was another horn, a little one, which came up among them; and three of the first horns were uprooted before it. This horn had eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth that spoke boastfully.


Here is a picture to give you an idea.  If you re like me, seeing things helps put the concept into perspective.




Verse 4:  The lion with eagles wings symbolizes the Neo-Babylonian empire.  I believe the rest of verse 4 (wings torn of, given the heart of a man) refers to the humbling of King Nebuchadnezzar in chapter 4. 

Verse 5:  The bear raised up on one of its sides refers to the superior status of the Persians in the Medo-Persian alliance.  The three ribs could represent its three principal conquests: Lydia (546 B.C.) Babylon (539) and Egypt (525). 

Verse 6:  The leopard with four wings symbolizes the fast conquest of Alexander the Great. (334-330).  The four heads correspond to the four main divisions into which his empire fell after he died in 323.  Which is Macedon and Greece, Thrace and Asia Minor, Syria, the Holy Land and Egypt. 

Verse 7:  The fourth beast, with its irresistible power represents, you guessed it...the Roman Empire.  The ten horns simply represent its authority. 

Verse 8:  The other small horn that the beast has is the Antichrist or a world power sharing the characteristics of the Antichrist.  That also points to the "mouth that spoke boastfully"  as the Antichrist will do very well.

     This passage of scripture represents historical events that were dead on the money with Daniels vision, (that an angel, whom I believe was Gabriel, interpreted), 

The four great beasts are indeed four great kingdoms that will rise in the world.  The interpretation says that the small horn (the Antichrist)  on the fourth beast will wage war with the saints and defeat them until the Ancient of Days (God) steps in and pronounces the judgement in favor of the saints. 

   For me, the most interesting thing about this whole chapter is that the angel tells Daniel that it will be a very long time before these things come to pass.  That was in Daniels time, roughly 530 B.C.  Its been a long time don't you think?  At that time, Daniel would have been around the age of 80 years old just after his experience in the lions den, so he was no young man. 

  So, the fourth beast is a fourth Kingdom that will rise form the earth that will be much different from any other kingdom, and will devour all other nations.  Do any nations come to mind?  How about Rome?  its a pretty big empire wouldn't you say?  Or even China, whom America is in great dept to and they have the upper hand.  Im not certain of this nation, or the king that will rise from this nation...but im just trying to get you to imagine and do a little bit of homework because this stuff really is amazing to watch play out.  The ten horns are ten kings that will rise from this kingdom.  After them, another king will appear, different from all the rest. The Bible says that this king will speak against the Most High and oppress His saints and try to change times and laws.  But ultimately, the court will sit, and every knee bow and every tongue confess how great is our God!  :) 

May we seek Christ in the midst of this world