Sunday 30 March 2014

HASHKAMA # 55 "THE DECEPTION CALLED TRUTH"!

Hashkama # 55 - The Deception called Truth! 

                                     What Is Truth?

In the years that I was growing up there used to be what was known as ‘lunatic asylums’. You don’t hear of such places now. They were establishments where people that had been declared insane were put and kept. There was a great stigma attached to anyone that was mentally ill even, let alone insane; something like the lepers in the Bible I suppose. The insane were separated from the rest of society and out of harm’s way.
I don’t know if people are declared insane these days. Times have changed so much since I was a boy and are changing ever more rapidly. People today have their ‘own truth’. What might be truth for one person may not be for another person, but it is still truth. Do we have our own ‘realities’ now as well? Where what is real to a person means it exists, even if only in their minds and no-one else’s. Does the term ‘insanity’ no longer apply?
My curiosity on this subject has been aroused since my interest in the Middle East developed. Watching and listening to the various Middle Eastern leaders over the years made me think that in my youth, some of these men would have been declared insane. They just do not make any sense. All the demands Arafat made for peace with Israel was handed to him on a plate by the Israeli leader of that time. What happened? Instead of making an agreement Arafat stormed out of the meeting! Leaders in the Palestinian Authority fantasise about the Palestinians being an ancient people and that they were in the land of Canaan before the Jews re-entered the land at the hand of Joshua. They claim the Jews were never on what is now called the Temple Mount while at the same time are busy destroying the evidence that the Jews were there millennia ago.
In his editorial, Aviel Schneider (Israel Today, April 2014, No.177) comments:
“Everyone can read about the Oslo Accords between Israel and the Palestinians and what was agreed to in Oslo I in 1993 and Oslo II in 1995. Nowhere did Israel agree to freeze settlement construction in the biblical heartland of Judea and Samaria (the so-called “West Bank”). Nevertheless, the international community loudly accuses Israel of violating the agreement...
People believe what they want to believe…
People who don’t seek the truth find it easier to believe a lie.”
The psychiatrist has swapped places with the lunatic patient. The patient is now the one that decides what is, and what is not reality. The psychiatrist agrees and joins him in his delusion. Aviel says in his editorial,
“The Muslims believe that the land of Israel is theirs even though there is no basis for this even in their own scriptures. The world also believes that settlement construction violates signed contracts though there is no proof.”
I have attended Bible studies where participants disagree over the meaning of words. Some believe that ‘truth’ means truth, and others argue that ‘truth’ means reality, and some agree that they mean the same thing. However, listening to the various arguments presented by the Palestinians, how can peace feature in an atmosphere of truth that has no basis in reality, and a reality that is not based on truth? We do know that a peace deal will eventually be made, and people will feel safe to the point of being unguarded. Scripture reveals that to us. It also reveals that this will be a false peace. It has to be false because its foundation will be built upon deception.
People that have worked in the world of medicine and psychiatry, and I must say, people that have worked in the police force too, have very occasionally come across a patient or a criminal that does not meet with the usual criteria. They are not insane, or they are not criminally minded in the normal, clinical sense. There is something malignant behind their behaviour. A mind that is supernaturally dark and malignant. It is what Scripture describes as demon possession, and it is where an oppressive, demonic presence is acting in and through the person. What we see today in the Middle East is a malignant mind working through the human mind. It is affecting much of the world now, because as the world turns its back on the God of the Bible, it is being suckered into the dominion of the evil one; a created being who turned his back on truth and reality almost since the time of his creation by God, and when he was known as Lucifer.
In the same issue of ‘Israel Today’ Aviel Schneider wrote another interesting piece; this time an article entitled “When Lies Become Truth.” We know who it is that is the father of lies. We meet him in chapter 3 of the Book of Genesis. He brings his truth to the humans and he is bringing his truth to the humans today. In his article, Aviel speaks about a Jordanian tribal leader named Sheikh Ahmed Adwan, who declared that the Holy Land rightfully belongs to the Jews, and he quotes verses from the Koran to prove his point. Going on to quote Professor Dana:
“There is no historical evidence linking the Palestinians to the Canaanites. The roots of local Muslims lead clearly back to the Arabian Peninsula. Their sudden claim to be Canaanites has an obvious political agenda. They should read the Koran more carefully because it says the Canaanites were cast out by Allah after they corrupted the land.”
The Bible also says that the Canaanites were wiped out. They no longer exist.
Towards the end of his article, Aviel makes a further interesting observation:
Christian Jihad
Neither Palestinians nor a large part of the Christian world seem to be impressed by this evidence. In fact, some of the most influential religious arguments against Israel’s inheritance these days are coming not from the Muslims, but from the Church.”
It would appear that much of the light that much of the Church is receiving is coming from Lucifer and not from God. The word Lucifer is taken from the Latin Vulgate which translates הֵילֵל as Lucifer, meaning “the morning star, the planet Venus”, or, as an adjective, “light-bringing.” This word, transliterated hêlêl or heylel, occurs only once in the Hebrew, in Isaiah 14:12. Much of what is being taught by various leaders in the Church suggests that the Scriptures are being approached from what might be described as a Luciferion mind-set—“You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44)
The Law and the Profits
The Middle East where sharia law reigns is a cauldron of violence and death. It consists of a culture and religion where the female sex are the property of the male, and count for practically nothing; but nevertheless has obviously found Britain wanting. Britain, a nation from the time of King Alfred The Great until the present day, where Biblical concepts have been enshrined in English law, is now to embrace Islamic law and to enshrine Islamic law into the law of the land. The insanity of the Middle East is contagious and has spread to Great Britain. The British Government has seen fit to let slide the Law and the Prophets of the Holy Bible and are replacing them with the law of Islam and the Koran, and material profit which includes Arab investment. The citizens of Britain will pay a heavy price, particularly followers of Jesus. The slide will turn into the kind of mud-slide that has just been experienced in Snohomish County, Washington where life has been smothered and has died. This recent move is more than a foot in the door. It is a seat at the heart of our nation, and will encourage Islamic leaders to continue with their drive to rule Britannia. When you look at Syria, Iraq, and those places where Islam rules you can see why it is the kind of society that is so attractive to our sophisticated politicians, and why they want to import it to our shores. It is obviously the excitement of dodging bombs and bullets that is the main attraction, and getting through life without having your limbs cut off. It is the enforcement of a man-made religious belief system rather than the free gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ that people will turn their backs on if they choose to. Perhaps the incentive to introduce Islamic law into British law was the act of two followers of Islam hacking to death a young man name Lee Rigby; a 25-year-old British soldier, murdered and beheaded on the streets of London. Some weeks after the incident, a political spokesman said society was ‘shocked’. He missed out a very important word—horrified! We were shocked and horrified at the whole scene, and that it happened on the streets of the capital of Britain. Perhaps it was that which encouraged Mr Cameron to go all things Islam! The British public appear to be silent on the matter, so I guess Cameron can do pretty much what he wants, and we as a nation get what we deserve.
The ‘Luciferion’ mind-set is affecting British society. We have noted already that Islam is beginning to take centre stage. Islam will not be satisfied until it rules with the sword. There are other aspects of society affected by a malignant mind, still operating within the realm of British law enforcement. A Daily Mail header reads, “Truth over corruption files police shredded.” The report suggests that a lorry load of anti-corruption files were mysteriously shredded by Scotland Yard during a two-day operation in 2003. The report states that corrupt officers:
  • Stole and trafficked illegal drugs
  • Shared reward pay-outs with informants
  • Sold confidential police intelligence to criminals
  • Fabricated applications for more rewards and accepted bribes to destroy and change evidence
Jim Gee, a former director of the NHS Counter Fraud Services suggests that fraud takes away £5billion from caring for patients in the UK.
  • Dentists charging for patients that do not exist
  • Drugs and other medical products being stolen and sold on eBay
  • £2billion could be missing due to financial error
  • NHS staff being paid for hours they did not work
  • Private companies over-charging trusts for operations and other services
The strain is felt, not just by the patients that are losing out, or the bank balance of the NHS, but those honest, hard-working members of the NHS that are put under suspicion and probably have to do miles and piles of form-filling for every piece of work they carry out.
Corruption has been a major problem in political circles (as well as the police force) in recent years. People in what were once respected positions in our society are abusing those positions and the power and authority that they are empowered with. We have become a self-service nation. We look after number-one, and serve ourselves, even if it means others suffer as a result. Whatever label we put on it, this is nothing less than the work of Satan in our midst. We are all citizens of this nation and we are all accountable for allowing this to happen in our land. We have elected leaders such as Tony Blair, the builder and maker of the coffin, and David Cameron who is busy nailing the lid on the coffin. Instead of serving the nation and the nation’s interest they legislate for the destruction of our way of life and standards. The Bible is unceremoniously disposed of and chucked in the coffin along with everything else that this country has stood for over hundreds of years.
It wasn’t very long ago that we had the great ‘meat fraud’ in our shops and super-markets. Nothing is what it seems. Every sphere of life is being contaminated by fraud and deception.
People are becoming cynical and distrustful of those in authority.
Mass murder is encouraged and carried out in our hospitals with abortions taking place almost as a matter of course. If new government proposals are introduced it will be less hassle having an abortion than going to have your tooth pulled. The proposals will allow women to have an abortion without their case being properly considered by a doctor. The proposals state that there will be no legal requirement that a woman must consult a doctor before terminating a foetus. Calling it a ‘foetus’ is to say the baby is ‘less-than-human’, and the destruction of a foetus will probably be downgraded to a trivial procedure usually performed by a nurse—that’s if the proposals take effect. It is still under consideration at the moment.
In 1999 the Labour Governemnt issued clear guidelines to private clinics, in line with the Abortion Act, that any woman seeking abortion must be seen by two doctors. It has now been made public that Prime Minister David Cameron has presided over the largest liberalisation of abortion practice since the passing of the Abortion Act in 1967. Under his leadership, Conservative Health Secretary Andrew Lansley secretly issued guidelines dispensing with the ‘two doctor’ rule in July 2012. More underhand political skulduggery! Mr Lansley who is no longer Health Secretary, saw the opportunity effectively to dispense with the two doctor requirement by stealth; and without consultation and without informing parliament, he secretly issued new interim abortion procedures to independent abortion providers which effectively dispensed with the two doctor requirement.
The new guidelines suggest that it is not even a legal requirement for doctors to give individual requests any consideration before approving them. Conservative MP, David Burrowes, said: “It is extraordinary that you need to see a doctor to have antibiotics prescribed for a cold but when it comes to abortion we seem to have a whole new set of rules, which in my view is appalling.” Lord Alton, a cross-bench peer, said: “It disturbs me that women are making the most serious of decisions without any chance to reflect or discuss their situation with a doctor face-to-face.” David Cameron has nobly proclaimed that sex-selective abortion is a “simply appalling practice”. But it appears that anything else goes.
Channel 4’s Dispatches discovered that thanks to NHS practice, abortion is not a complete waste. The bodies of thousands of aborted babies were dispatched and incinerated as clinical waste—some even used to heat hospitals! Ten NHS trusts have admitted burning foetal remains alongside other rubbish. Two others used the bodies in ‘waste-to-energy’ plants which generate power for heat. At least 15,500 foetal remains were incinerated by 27 NHS trusts over the last two years alone. Are you pleased that the NHS are taking keeping their hospitals warm in such a responsible manner, or are you horrified as I am?—Horrified that our babies are considered to be no more than clinical waste to be disposed of with other rubbish. Shocked and horrified that we are behaving as priests of Molech. The Canaanites worshipped Molech and sacrificed their children to this god, burning their sons and daughters in the fire (to Molech). The Israelites were prohibited from such practices – “And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Moloch –“And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.” (Leviticus 18:21 KJV). Ahaz, like Ahab of Israel, was a supporter of foreign religions (2 Kings 16:12). Sacrificing to Molech, he also “made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the nations, whom Yahweh cast out from before the children of Israel” (2 Kings 16:3). The chief site of this worship, of which Ahaz and Manasseh were the promoters, was Topheth in the Valley of Hinnom, or, as it is also called, the Valley of the Children, or of the Son of Hinnom, lying to the Southwest of Jerusalem.
It is worth taking note particularly in the circumstances and situations we are considering in this article, that Molech was the Canaanite version of the Egyptian god Set, and that the god Set was a homosexual god of evil. He was worshipped during ceremonies that involved human sacrifice, cannibalism and homosexual orgies; and is known as the god of destruction. We are witnessing the destruction of our nation and way of life as well as the destruction of the unborn. We are witnessing the destruction of marriage and the sanctity of that institution. Three days before the 2010 General Election, David Cameron told Sky News he had no plans to change the law of marriage. In actual fact, none of the three main political parties at Westminster made redefining marriage part of their election manifesto. It was not mentioned in the coalition agreement and yet marriage was redefined without prior consultation of the 24 million married people in this country. People are disillusioned with politicians and with politics, and is it any wonder?!
“Politics, or controversy, or party spirit, or worldliness, have eaten out the heart of lively piety in too many of us. The subject of personal godliness has fallen sadly into the background.” – J.C. Ryle.
If we are living in the days on the run-up to our Lord’s return we cannot turn back the tide of evil that is foretold in Scripture. However, we can check the way we live. Are we living righteously? Does the way we live encourage or discourage fraud and corruption.
We are better Christians than Jesus was. How can I make such a claim? Well, I make it on the grounds that I often hear people say we should end our messages with nice encouraging words…that we should end on a good note. Jesus didn’t always end on a good sounding note…isn’t that just awful? To think we are better than the One we follow. The truth is we are not!
Let’s give our attention for a moment to the mud-slide in America and that small community where everyone knew everyone. Those poor people there died suddenly and unexpectedly, without warning as they were engulfed. There was no time to think, and no time to set one’s house in order. It reminded me of the words of Jesus:
“There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, ‘Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.’” (Luke 13:1-5)
Jesus doesn’t mess with us or pussy-foot about.
Other words of Jesus come to mind, sensing the sorrow in one’s own heart, one can sense the sorrow in Jesus’ heart for this nation; and His words that echo through the centuries from Jerusalem to London. As London, in effect stones the prophets and takes up Islam to make a profit, we hear:
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not have it! ‘Behold, your house is left to you desolate…’” (Luke 13:34-35Matthew 23:37)
If we substitute the words Jerusalem with London we might sense the impact of what is coming on this nation, a nation that has known God and was built on the foundation of Scripture, now turning its back on God and His wisdom, for the wisdom of man and the light of Lucifer.
“Troublous times, departures from the faith, evil men waxing worse and worse, love waxing cold, are things distinctly predicted.” – J.C. Ryle.
To end on a positive note and in agreement with Bishop Ryle, the times we are living in and experiencing were predicted by the Prophets long ago, and by Jesus Himself. This in turn is proof-positive that God knows all about it, and that He is in control.
- See more at: http://www.kesherweb.com/core/resource/hashkama-55-deception-called-truth#sthash.lnOuauXl.dpuf

Friday 28 March 2014

"END OF DAYS SCENARIOS PART THREE" FROM THE TERRY JAMES PROPHECY LINE.

New post on Terry James Prophecy Line

End-of-Days Scenarios – Part 3

by Terry James
The rebelliousness of the creature called man was, in my view, manifest blatantly for the student of God’s truth to discern in a particular news story of several years ago. The media and politically correct crowd’s uproar over the U.S. chairman of the joint chiefs of staff making the comment –when asked his personal opinion-- that he thought members of the same sex in the military who engage in sex with each other are committing immoral acts was quite telling. The voracious feeding frenzy to start the drumbeat for having that general removed from his position in the Pentagon fueled vitriolic invective against those who hold to such “unenlightened” prejudices that eventuated in a full acceptance, even embracing of homosexuality in the U.S. military today.
God, incidentally, is obviously included in our ranks of the”unenlightened”. His Word, the Bible –the instruction manual for the creature, mankind, whom he made from the dirt upon which we stand—says about homosexuality:
“For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was [fitting]” (Rom. 1:26-27).
The Creator’s Word against homosexuality is even more powerful in an Old Testament prescription for those who engage in that activity. (If it makes you angry, get mad at God, not me. I don’t make the rules. He does.)
“If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood [shall be] upon them” (Lev. 20:13).
I know what will be one of the objections: This was for the Israelites, not today’s people. Really? Well, in giving the prescription for living, God hasn’t changed for any people at any time. Jesus, we have established, is Creator of all things, and by His power holds all things together. This, God’s Word says about the Lord of all creation: “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever” (Heb. 13:8).
The problem is, as we’ve seen with this one issue, fallen mankind will not have the God of heaven rule on Planet Earth. Since the fall, man has determined to do what is right in his own eyes. This is an attitude for catastrophe. Human government is fatally flawed. These have tried to create a utopian earth for millennia. All efforts to do it their way –apart from God—have met with abject failure.
The earliest attempt of human government, which followed the flood of Noah’s antediluvian era, was Nimrod’s attempt to build the tower to heaven (read Genesis chapter 11). The Lord knew this would end in disaster for mankind, so He came down and separated the one-world builders by giving multiple languages, thus driving them to diverse places around the globe. But man has spent the millennia since that time circumventing God’s intervention. The one-world drive is again being pursued in a concerted effort by the powers elite. When things reach a certain point of depravity, God always has intervened. A prime example was when He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. (Read Genesis, chapter 19 to learn about both the depravity and the Lord’s intervention.) Which gets us to the thing about end-of-days scenarios I would like to explore.
Jesus himself set the prophetic stage for a future time when He will again intervene–catastrophically—into depraved man’s playhouse of lasciviousness. He said: “Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all” (Lk. 17:28-29).
This is a description of a society, a culture, a generation going forward with business as usual. Jesus prophesied that it would be just like this, when judgment from heaven would fall, at the time of His end-of-days intervention. It is not, however, description of the tribulation era when Jesus comes physically to earth, as foretold in Revelation 19:11. At that time, as many as two-thirds of the earth’s population will have died in the apocalyptic judgments. It will not be business as usual, like the Lord describes here. The things that transpire here, though not as disastrous as things will get later in man’s last grasp to rule himself, will still be calamitous. And, the possible scenarios presented are mesmerizing. Let us look at my postulations, based upon the pre-trib view of the rapture, which, of course, I m convinced is the correct view, from God’s perspective.
Jesus’ description of Lot’s being removed from that condemned city is almost certainly a picture of the rapture of the only good God sees on this earth…born again Christians… the church Jesus began building, and which was born at Pentecost (in Acts, Chapter 2). Lot, Abraham’s nephew, although not a perfect example of living a godly life, was nonetheless considered a “just” man in God’s eyes. That is, the Lord saw Lot as righteous, a believer –one who accepted God’s governance over his life, accepted God’s salvation plan. Lot and his family lived in a society that was–well—much like ours. It was wicked to its black core. Incidentally, homosexuality had, in that society, become accepted as, even expected to be, part of life in Sodom.
God removed Lot, and His wrath began to fall upon that wicked, ungovernable people. Jesus indicated that this is exactly what will happen near the time
of His coming again. It will happen at the rapture --at least seven years before He comes back and touches down on the Mount of Olives. The first part of God’s wrath, I’m convinced, will be His removal from the consciences of earth-dwellers. The people left behind will have rejected God’s governance. Now, raptured saints will perhaps, from the balcony of heaven, be given a God’s-eye view of whether the rebels' claim that they don’t need God to govern them is true.
Millions will vanish in a millisecond –an “atomos” of time-- the prophecy tells us. This nation, the United States of America, which had at the same time more gospel light than any other nation of history and access to more filth and depravity than even ancient Rome at its decadent, orgiastic worse, will experience an implosion that, upon its contemplation, staggers the imagination.

Thursday 27 March 2014

ERICK STAKELBACK FROM "THE WATCHMAN TELEVISION PROGRAMME" ON THE PERILS OF ENGAGING ROGUE REGIMES.

The Watchman Show: This Week - Perils Of Engaging Rogue Regimes. 

On this week’s episode of The Watchman, we sit down with Middle East expert Michael Rubin to discuss his new book, "Dancing with the Devil: the Perils of Engaging Rogue Regimes." We also travel to Hungary to meet a former outspoken rebel. 
Here is the link to the video http://www.cbn.com/tv/3390510295001

ERICK STAKELBACK IS PICTURED BELOW 

JUST OPEN THIS LINK FOR THIS SPLENDID 23 MINUTE VIDEO UPDATE: 
http://www.cbn.com/tv/3390510295001

Monday 24 March 2014

ANNE GRAHAM LOTZ COMPARES THE MISSING MALAYSIAN AIRCRAFT TO THE SOON COMING RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH TO GLORY!

Billy Graham's Daughter on Missing Malaysia Airlines Plane and the Rapture: 'Glimpse of Things to Come?'Share

BY KATHERINE WEBER, CHRISTIAN POST REPORTER
March 21, 2014|9:02 pm
Anne Graham Lotz, daughter of Christian evangelist Billy Graham, recently drew a connection between the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 and the Rapture, as described in Thessalonians 4:16-17.
Lotz, founder of AnGeL Ministries, made the connection on her personal blog just after the plane went missing. Lotz suggested that the feeling of unknowingness and helplessness that has affected the world since the flight disappeared on March 8 will be the same feeling experienced by mankind when the Rapture happens and God comes back to Earth to claim His followers for heaven. Nonbelievers will be left to wonder: "Where have all the people gone?"
"… I can't help but wonder … Is this worldwide sense of shock and helplessness, of questions and confusion, of fear and grief, a glimpse of things to come? Is this a small snapshot of what the entire world will experience the day after the rapture of the church?" Lotz posed.
"Because the Bible is clear. There is coming a moment in time when Jesus will come back to gather to Himself all those-dead and alive--who have put their trust in Him. And on that day, the world will be asking, Where have all the people gone? Not just 239 of us, but millions of us."
Friday marks the 14th day since the Malaysia Airlines MH370 Boeing 777 passenger plane went missing. The plane, which had 239 people on board, had departed the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in the early hours of March 8, and made its last communication with ground control an hour after takeoff before it went missing somewhere over the Gulf of Thailand.
The plane was destined for the Beijing Capital International Airport, but what was supposed to be a routine six-hour flight has now turned into an ongoing mystery after the plane vanished completely. Numerous theories regarding the plane's fate continue to swirl, including suggestions that the plane was hijacked, or that the pilots partook in a suicide mission and crashed the airliner.

Sunday 23 March 2014

"END OF DAYS SCENARIOS - PART TWO" FROM THE TERRY JAMES PROPHECY LINE.

New post on Terry James Prophecy Line

End-of-Days Scenarios – Part 2

by Terry James
Again, I state that the end-of-days scenarios I lay out in this essay are speculation--postulation based upon my years of prayer, study, observations, and thought. I’m sure there are many who view things to come in a much different way, even among we who hold to the pre-mil, pre-trib view. So, I present this for your consideration, as, in my view, likely possibility, not as set in biblical stone. 
First, let us look at the way the world is configured.
The United States of America is –for the moment, at least-- the world’s lone superpower. Whether looking at military, economic, societal, technological, or whatever category we want to look at, America stands alone at the top of the nation-heap. I use the word “heap” because this world is built upon garbage–filth from the heart and mind of its father, the devil. Boy! I know how cynical that seems. But, God says there is none good but One: “And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? [there is] none good but one, [that is], God” (Mk. 10:18).
Since sin entered the world, man is fallen. Mankind must have redemption found only in God, the Son. People must be born again or they cannot even see the kingdom of God: “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (Jn. 3:3).
Jesus’ words, here, have dual meaning to me: 1) those who refuse Christ by rejecting their need for a new, spiritual, birth will not go to heaven upon death; and 2) they cannot even understand heaven and things of God without the new birth into God’s family. I base this latter assessment upon the following words of the Apostle Paul: “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor. 2:14).
This is going to sound even more off-putting, but it is true nonetheless. Christians are the only “good” in this downward-spiraling world. Now, am I saying that I, in my fleshly efforts, am better than the one who does not claim Christ as Savior and Lord? No, absolutely not! I must say that in one regard, I am like Paul. But it is not his lovely Christian side, rather is the other. Paul said: “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but [how] to perform that which is good I find not” (Rom. 7:18).
Only through Christ is any Christian viewed as “good” in God’s sight. Only through Jesus does a person become fit to inherit an eternal home in heaven. All humanly born and humanly-devised matters are due for God’s judgment and for eternity apart from God because He cannot abide sin. Sin must be dealt with, and Jesus is the way sin is forever eradicated.
When it comes to the future, all hinges upon the person and presence of Jesus Christ as redeemer.
So, why all that, to get to the speculation of what will happen from here to eternity? Because Christians are the key, in my stream-of-consciousness unfolding scenarios for the end of days. God’s final wrath and judgment will not begin falling until the only good there is in this world is removed. This Bible prophecy truth is found in the words of the Apostle Paul to the Thessalonians: “For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thes. 5:9).
When Christians are removed in the rapture (read 1 Cor. 15:51-55 and 1 Thes. 4:13-18), the things on Earth will change dramatically. We get a prophetic glimpse of that removal of Christians from the planet in Paul’s additional words to the Thessalonians: “And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way” (2 Thes. 2:6-7).
The word “he” in verse 7 refers to God the Holy Spirit removing from His office as He interacted with mankind during the age of grace (church age –which is this present dispensation). The Holy Spirit, resident in the church during this present dispensation, will, in the moment of rapture, no longer work in exactly the same way as now. He will interact with the human creation much as He did during the time before the church was born at Pentecost (Acts, Chapter 2). (I know some believe the church was born on the shores of Galilee earlier, when Christ called forth the first disciples. I disagree.)
God the Holy Spirit, living within Christians, is the only “good” to be found in people. The rapture will take that "good" to be with Jesus Christ for eternity. All who are “born again” (see John 3:3) will go to the heavenly homes (dwelling places) Jesus has been preparing for them since He ascended to the right hand of God the Father (read John 14:1-3). These will include everyone–dead and living--who have accepted Christ for salvation of their souls. There will be no good people left on the planet –that is, none that are “good” in God’s holy view.
With the Holy Spirit no longer acting to influence the consciences of humans in as powerful ways as He does at present, mankind’s actions and reactions will be exponentially accelerated for the worse. We will begin to explore likely scenarios for the period immediately following the rapture in next week’s commentary.

HASHKAMA #54 "FOOD FOR THOUGHT OR FOOD FOR SCOFFERS?".

Hashkama #54 - Food for Thought, or Food for Scoffers?

 There has been an increase in the flow of teaching, both good and bad, on the signs of the coming again of Jesus, and interest in the Second Coming has grown in recent times, particularly since the erroneous exposition of Joel 2 and the ‘Blood Red Moons’.
False teachers and false prophets have come and gone throughout the centuries. There have been many claiming to be Jesus, and others proclaiming that Jesus is coming on a certain date and to one obscure place or another, often on a mountain where ‘disciples’ gather together waiting for the event. Scripture implies that these particular false teachers and false prophets will not go away.
There is however another breed that Peter says we should be aware of; false teachers that are coming with a relatively new message, one that you have heard only occasionally but one that will increase. The apostle Peter mentions them in his Second Epistle (2 Peter 3:3-4). These people are wilfully forgetful. They deliberately forget that it was by God’s word that the heavens existed, and the earth was formed out of water and with water. They deliberately forget that the ancient world was destroyed by the Flood; and that by the same word the present heavens and earth will be put to fire. We have the evidence of the Creator in:
• Scripture;• Creation;• Science
Professor Nathan Aviezer of Israel’s Bar Ilan University said very recently that “Without addressing who or what caused it, the mechanics of the creation process in the Big Bang match the Genesis story perfectly.” He further explained that “The universe had a definite starting point – a creation – as described in the Book of Genesis. To deny this now is to deny scientific fact.” Yet they do and will continue to deny God as Creator, even though the evidence of God’s eternal power and divine nature is clearly seen from what has been made. With darkened hearts those that deliberately choose to forget have enrolled in the evolutionist’s camp and are deniers of God as Creator. Their faith is in what has been made rather than the One who made them. They suppress the truth by their wickedness, and have the form of godliness while denying its power. They take up the Bible not for light and revelation, but to turn it into an object of ridicule.
Judgment and destruction is coming when ungodly men will stand before the God whom they have denied. The world was unaware when Jesus came as man, “He was in the world and the world was made by Him and the world knew Him not.” The time before His Second Coming is reminiscent of the days of Noah (Matthew 24:37-39) when people were eating and drinking and doing their own thing and knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. These people thought Noah was a crazy man believing what he believed and building his huge wooden structure.
Genesis 7:15 speaks about all creatures coming to Noah and going into the Ark with him “by twos of all flesh in which was the breath of life.” In Matthew 24:40-41 at the time of the coming of the Son of Man it mentions “twos” again, but with a difference. The “twos” in Genesis are animals and they entered the Ark. In Matthew they are people and one will be taken and the other will be left. Scripture gives us instances of both men (“…two men will be in a field…”) and women (“Two women will be grinding with a hand mill…”). The man is not superior to the woman or the woman to the man; and this separation will happen at the time of the coming of the Son of Man (v.39). We do not know when Jesus will come so we should watch and be ready (v.42). Whether one is “taken in judgment” or “taken to be gathered with the elect” (v.31) is not the emphasis here, but we could take note that the verb “took . . . away” (v.39) differs from “taken” in vv.40-41. It is the unexpectedness of the event by means of the sudden cleavage that is being brought to our attention. Beware of living at ease in Zion warned the prophet, Amos. We can be industrious physically but at ease spiritually and therefore not in a position of readiness for the Lord’s return. The people at the time of Amos were living under a false sense of security. Amos warned them, and the warning is there for us today, of impending doom.
In 2 Peter 3:3 there is something that Peter wants us to understand. He doesn’t want us to misunderstand or neglect anything of what he is saying. Peter says, “First of all.” This is the very first thing on his list before all the other things I have mentioned about the people in question. “First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come…” This is not speaking of someone that doesn’t agree with you about God or about the teachings of the Bible and perhaps does a bit of sneering. This is talking about ‘aggressive’ scoffing. They will be outrageous in their scoffing of the things of God. These scoffers will come “scoffing and following their own evil desires.”
Teachers in the Church that speculate and conjecture about the signs and teach such are providing fuel for the fire of the scoffers. Expectation of Jesus Coming is raised by the speculators and then dashed when Jesus doesn’t come and the prophecies prove to be false. This develops an atmosphere where the scoffers can thrive and Christians begin to question the Bible and doubt creeps in, and is food for the scoffers who will say: “Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation” (2 Peter 3:4). They say this mocking the faith of believers and trying to build an argument to support their own position, a naturalistic argument—a kind of uniformitarianism that rules out any divine intervention in history. They are the false teachers of chapter 2. (See also Daniel 7:2511:36-39Matthew 24:3-5,1123-361 Timothy 4:1ff2 Timothy 3:1-7; Jude 17-18). The Greek word in Jude 18 and and 2 Peter 3:3 is the same Greek word “empaiktes.” The actual word used in the text is “empaiktai” and it is a plural noun which means “mocker, scoffer, deceiver,” and is used only in these two verses in the whole of the New Testament.
Next month people will be out watching for the coming tetrad moons to turn red. The term ‘Blood red moons’ has been taken out of context for effect and to make it fit the prophecy found in the Book of Joel (a rather bad fit!), and is not a designation that is used by astronomers. They rather speak of the vernal and autumnal equinoxes as the ‘hunter’s moon,’ and the ‘harvest moon.’ There is a possibility that none of the moons will change colour; they might, but they might not. If the one on April 15th fails to turn red there will be three more to come, so there will be three more chances, but these will not be visible in Europe anyway. The sun, which features in Joel’s prophecy and which is being quoted for the blood red moon theory, will not be turned to darkness, because this is not a fulfilment of Joel’s prophecy. It is the moon that will be completely blocked from the sun’s direct light by the earth’s umbral shadow.
A great emphasis is made about the moons being a warning to Israel. That begs the question: Why is it then that none of the moons in the tetrad will appear over Jerusalem or Israel? (Well, there might be a tiny, tiny glimpse)
Let us see what the NASA site actually says about where these moons will be visible:
• The total eclipse of the moon on 15th April will be visible only in North America and parts of South America.  The eclipse will be at its maximum at 3:45 am in Washington DC (If this is indeed a warning, it would appear to be a warning to the USA rather than Israel!) and at 11:45 pm in Anchorage, Alaska.
• You will be able to see the Feast of Tabernacles eclipse on 8 October—if you are floating about fishing on your dingy in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
• In 2015, the total eclipse of the moon that occurs at Passover will be visible only in Australia, New Zealand, Eastern Russia and Alaska.
• Now the really important one—Israel!  The Feast of Tabernacles, September 28th 2015.  The red moon (if indeed it is red) that everyone has been anxiously anticipating will just about be visible on the horizon as it will be sunset, and will not last more than a few minutes.  It is like the 3 minute warning!  Some warning!  Now you see it…now you don’t.
Lunar eclipses occur between 2 and 4 times per year, and quite often they have fallen together on the first days of Passover and Sukkot, the Festivals being spaced about six months apart on full moons. Most of these however pass through the earth’s outer shadow and simply dims the moon, and on the whole goes unnoticed. A total lunar eclipse is seen at its best as the moon passes completely into the earth’s ‘inner shadow’ and gives the appearance of it turning a dark red colour. The lunar eclipses for 2014 and 2015 form a tetrad, which are rare, but they do take place several times a century; the last one was in 2003. (For more on the moons see Hashkama #52).
In the commentary by FF Bruce on the Book of Acts, Bruce says,
“The ‘last days’ began with Christ’s first advent and will end with His second advent; they are the days during which the age to come overlaps the present age. Hence the assurance with which Peter could quote the words of Joel and declare ‘This is that.’”
We so often concentrate on what we think is in Scripture rather than take in what actually is in the text. Bruce continues in his commentary,
“The quotation in vv.17-21 is from Joel 2:28-32. Joel announces the coming of the day of the Lord, the day when He will act in righteousness and mercy. It is noteworthy that the context of Joel’s prophecy contains a call to repentance in hope of divine forgiveness (Joel 2:12-14)—a call which is echoed by Peter later on (v.38).”
“The wonders and signs to be revealed in the world of nature, as described in vv.19 and 20 may have more relevance in the present context than is sometimes realized: it was a little more than seven weeks since the people in Jerusalem had indeed seen the sun turned into darkness, during the early afternoon of the day of our Lord’s crucifixion. And on the same afternoon the paschal full moon may well have appeared blood-red in the sky in consequence of that preternatural gloom. These were to be understood as tokens of the advent of the day of the Lord, ‘that great and notable day,’ a day of judgment, to be sure, but more immediately the day of God’s salvation to all who invoked His name.”
Peter’s main theme was Jesus as Lord and Saviour, and it is this that he went on to proclaim in his sermon on the Day of Pentecost. He was preaching Jesus and salvation—not ‘we will be raptured out of the coming tribulation’ that has become the Gospel of present day evangelicals—‘we won’t be here when the great tribulation comes.’ That wasn’t on Peter’s mind at all. He wanted people to hear about and to know about Jesus. According to Peter the age of fulfilment has come. We do not have to speculate about signs. Everything will be fulfilled as the Prophets have declared, and those that are ready will recognise the signs of His Coming and will hear His voice.
In his second epistle Peter wrote in order to warn the church to be on guard against the seductions of false teachers, calling to remembrance the doctrines of the ancient prophets, and the teachings of the apostles. Scripture is our plumb-line and we should not stray from what God has spoken, but rather allow God’s peace to guard our hearts and minds (Philippians 4:7Proverbs 4:23). There will be scoffers in the Church and in the world. They will have no solid argument to produce against revelation and creation, but their hearts are set on following their own lusts. Those not doing the same will be ridiculed. Are we not seeing the development of this today?
“A man who is intimate with God will never be intimidated by men.” – Leonard Ravenhill
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