Jesus instructed His
disciples to "watch"
(Matthew 24:42) and always "be
ready" (verse 44). Watch what? Not global events, but themselves.
Peter said: "Therefore, beloved, since
you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless
and blameless, and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also
our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you"
(2 Peter 3:14-15). That is what it means to watch and be ready. Are you
watching? Are you ready?
Hey Gang: In the last blog, we looked at war and rumors
of war as in a world context. In this
blog which I will title Sign Eight, I will restrict my comments to the “apple
of God’s eye”- the center of what is happening in our world today –
Israel. To set the stage for this we
need to turn to a book that was written between 520 and 489 B.C., the Book of
Zechariah, which, I believe, was designed by God for this very hour.
In verse two and three of Chapter Twelve,
God gives us a perfect description of what is happening in our world at the
moment. Notice: “Behold, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes reeling to all
the peoples around; and when the siege is against Jerusalem, it will also be
against Judah”. Notice; “they will become like a cup that causes
reeling” (Zech. 12:2).
It is reported that a very large
percentage of the business considered in the United Nations centers on
Israel. Unfortunately, the United
Nations is largely controlled by the Arab Nations; therefore, most of the
actions are prejudicial against Israel.
In a recent meeting of the UN they passed seven resolutions condemning
Israel for their savage treatment of the terrorist who were trying to kill them;
nothing about ISIS or Iran or Russia.
In verse three, God continued
painting a picture that has appeared loud and clear since Israel became a
nation again on May 14, 1948: “It will
come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the
peoples; all who lift it will be severely injured. And all the nations of the earth will be
gathered against it”. All the
nations? Yes, tragically all, even the
United States that has been Israel’s friend and support for many years has,
under this President, turned against the “apple of God’s eye”.
Notice, I did not say their
“savior” for only God can be their Savior.
In verse eight we read: “In that
day the Lord will defend the inhabitants lf Jerusalem, and the one who is
feeble among them in that day will be like David, and the house of David will
be like God, like the angel of the Lord before them”. I like that promise that even “the feeble among them in that day will be
like David”. At 82 one tends to be
a wee bit feeble.
We need to look at one other verse
before getting into the subject of current wars and rumors of war and how it
effects God’s chosen people and land. It
is found in Psalm 83:3 and clearly states the intent of the sons of Ishmael’s
heart in past, present and future. You
need to read the entire Psalm, but here I am going to restrict our reading to
verse 3 and 4: “They make shrewd plans against Your people, and conspire together
against Your treasured ones, They have said, “Come, and let us wipe them out as
a nation that the name of Israel be remembered no more.”
For most of my growing up years it
was the general agreement on the part of many Bible Prophecy guru’s that the
next great event to come is the Gog – Magog War of Ezekiel 38-39. I fell in line with this teaching and belief
until one day a light went on in my head.
The light – does it not seem odd that if Gog-Magog is the next big event
in our world why are there no current neighbors that butt up against Israel listed
in the confederacy of Gog?
The Scripture tells me that God is going to put a hook into the
jaws of the prince of Rosh, Meshach and Tubal and will bring them out
splendidly attired horse and horsemen with shield and buckler and swords in
hand. Where are the tanks, and
missiles, the jet fighters and bombers, the foot soldiers with their modern
devices of destruction and killing? Now
many would argue that God is using symbolic language here and did not have such
words for this modern killing devices.
To that I say “hogwash”. Read on.
My dear mentor, Jessie, would say,
don’t try and put words into God’s mouth.
If the Word says horse, horseman, buckle and shield and sword, that is
precisely what he means! That did not make a lot of sense to me until a few
years back when I first learned about the power grid and how hostile nations
were seeking ways to attack the power grids of the countries they hoped to
defeat. Could that be another of those
subtle signs of the times that few people know anything about. If a nation can destroy another nations power
grid, that nation would be without power.
My dear friends, everything in this world runs on power, including the
armaments of the world.
Ezekiel 39:1 tells us: “Thus says the Lord God, “Behold I am
against you, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal and I will turn you
around, drive you on, take you up from the remotest parts of the north and
bring you against the mountains of Israel”. Now getting back to the question of why
there were none of Israels’ neighbors mentioned in the Gog Magog
confederacy. Would Lebanon not have to
be part of that confederacy since it is a huge menace waiting to blow its cork
with Hezbollah, armed with a huge stockpile of missiles aimed at every city and
hamlet in Israel ready to fire. Is that
not something to chew on?
Well my friends I have done it
again – run out of space and time. I
pray you will alert me when you have had your fill of What’s Happening
Man. I am very biased and a firm
believer that you can set the table for a non-believer to become a believer by
showing them clearly that it is Jesus’ desire that none should be without
understanding.
When you can take a prophecy out of
the Word and lay it down beside the news article that states it has been
fulfilled exactly as God said it would be it can open the eyes of the
non-believer. Next time, I will try
and tie some knots and clarify the points that I have left dangling.
Blessings,
Gramps
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