The South, Judah, held on for over a hundred years, but finally Jerusalem was conquered by Nebuchadnezzar’s armies in 586 BC. History tells us that Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, plundered the Temple and deported Jerusalem’s wealthy and educated inhabitants to Babylon.

They looted what they found in the Temple. But apparently Israel had thrown a bone, leaving what seemed like a great treasure to find and seize, but it was actually only a fraction of the whole treasure, only about 2% of the total massive treasure.

The 5400 items that were captured were eventually returned by Cyrus, King of Persia, when he authorized their rebuilding of the Temple after Israel’s 70 years of Babylonian Captivity. The Bible is clear that Cyrus returned all that had been stolen, even listing out the items.

But none of the 10 solid gold menorahs were mentioned, or any tables of showbread on Cyrus' list (Ezra 1:9-11). Nor was there any mention of the other tens of thousands of gold and silver Temple implements, or gold and silver bars from the treasury.

Now, since only a small fraction of all that gold and silver went to Babylon, what happened to the other 98%? Basically we’re missing the entire fortune that Israel had accumulated under Solomon.

Where did the Temple treasures go?

In the Jewish Talmud, tradition says that King Josiah and the Temple priests hid the vast treasure, including the Ark of the Covenant, in secret winding passages under the Temple Mount 10 years before the 1st Temple’s destruction.

Well, the Jews are a smart people, and Israel did have 140+ years to think about what to do if Jerusalem was ever conquered like their brothers in the north. And Zechariah, God’s prophet of the day, was continually hammering the Israelites to wake up and clean up their sins or the Lord would allow them to be conquered like their Northern brothers.

Zechariah, unlike most other prophets, was also a Priest. He knew it was possible that Israel was going to be conquered. And he would have had first-hand knowledge of the vast riches stored in the Temple treasuries. He was in the unique position to approve plans to hide the treasure if it looked imminent that Israel would be conquered, fulfilling his own prophetic predictions.

Zech would certainly want to protect as much of Israel’s riches he could, including those 10 golden menorahs and 10 golden Tables of Showbread. Not to mention the hugely important Holy Ark of the Covenant that contained Moses’/Aaron’s staff and the two stone tablets with the 10 commandments.

So apparently Zech approved the hiding/burying of the Temple treasures. And Israel was smart enough to throw the Babylonians a bone. They left in the Temple several thousand gold and silver utensils, which would normally be significant spoils of war.

The ruse worked. History tells us that Nebuchadnezzar plundered what they found in the Temple and deported Jerusalem’s upper-class citizens, like Daniel, to Babylon.

However, Zech hid the rest of the treasure so well it's never been found to this day.

Qumran and the Copper Scroll


Since 1947, in and around Qumran down by the Dead Sea, thousands of pieces of parchment were found buried in caves in the cliffs surrounding the area.

Collectively called the Dead Sea Scrolls, their discovery came within months of Israel becoming a fledgling nation again, and Jews today readily admit the discovery helped awaken Jews around the world to their Biblical roots.

But in 1952 another scroll was found, one made not of parchment but of copper mixed with a tiny bit of tin.

This copper scroll wasn’t found near any of the parchment scrolls, but rather by itself, on a carved out shelf in the back of a cave in the area of Qumran.

Since it was written on copper, whoever wrote it thought the contents so valuable they had to make permanent indentations in metal to stand the test of time.

All the other Dead Sea Scrolls contained Old Testament books, scripture commentaries, and general Jewish life observations. But the Copper Scroll was simply a list of instructions of where tons of gold, silver and precious stones were buried.

But, as Frank Peretti said in his classic THE CHAIR presentation, you have to have a "fixed point of reference" to know where to begin any journey. And there are no reference points in the Copper Scroll instructions.

Though many have tried, no one yet has been able to figure out the right place to dig. Probably they were written vaguely on purpose because once they find just one of the 64 locations, they can find the rest of the massive treasure.

Biblical archaeologists who’ve analyzed the Copper Scroll believe it to be written by five different people who apparently were in a hurry to complete the scroll.

Hebrew priests normally take great care in making each line perfect, but the Copper Scroll looks as if time was of the essence to complete it. Lines are not uniform, some letters are hard to read, there are misspellings, etc.

The Copper Scroll is most fascinating because 63 of the 64 locations described listed staggering quantities of gold and silver. There are even some large unnamed items that very well could be the 10 missing 1st Temple menorahs and Tables of Showbread.

In total, there was over 345,000 pounds of gold and silver listed, not counting the 10 menorahs and 10 Tables of Showbread. That’s over $5 trillion! Certainly enough to entice the Russians to “devise an evil plan.” (Ezek. 38:10)

But, as the commercials always say, “That’s not all!”

More to the story…


2Maccabees 2:1 (granted it’s not part of inspired Hebrew scripture, but heavily relied on and quoted by Jewish historians) mentions that Jeremiah, another of God’s prophets at the same time of Zechariah, made records of the Temple inventory. He even warned those helping him make the records not to be “led astray in their thoughts upon seeing all the gold and silver.”

The Maccabean text continues to say that Jeremiah then found a cave to store the treasure, including the Ark of the Covenant, and covered up the entrance saying the treasure would not be found until "God gathers His people together and shows His mercy.”

Over the last 75 years, several Americans have raised and spent small fortunes looking for the Temple treasures in Israel. Most notably, John Allegro, Vendyl Jones, Oren Gutfield and Jim Barfield. Others, like Randall Price, go on yearly digs to find anything they can. So the area will eventually yield its fruit.

In the meantime, with each failure of discovery the chorus of naysayers who don’t believe the treasure is real grows louder and louder. But all that gold and silver is hiding somewhere and will one day be found.

A Most Intriguing List

Several hundred years ago, some Hebrew scholars decided to try to locate these “other records” that Jeremiah mentioned. They found what they were looking for in the Emeq HaMelekh, which means “Valley of the Kings.” In 1648, a Rabbi translated Emeq HaMelekh and his translations were discovered in 1992.

Emeq HaMelekh is a Hebrew account of five Temple guardians who hid the Ark, the Sanctuary and the Treasures of Solomon’s Temple. Could those five be the same five guys on the Copper Scroll? Very plausible, to say the least.

Most importantly to this article, the Emeq HaMelekh has a lot in common with the Copper Scroll list of Temple treasures, but it lists about 100 times more pieces of gold and silver. Now we’re easily into the mega trillions of dollars worth of gold and silver to be found.

To save space I have made an edited (but numerically accurate) recap of the Emeq HaMelekh. I have added my notes in red, including calculated amounts in parentheses in today’s dollars on some of the items to give you a feel for how much it is.

[Note: A talent was approximately 75 lbs.]

Emeq HaMelekh

These are the vessels dedicated and concealed when the Temple was destroyed:

Mishnah 1


The Tabernacle and the Curtain


The Holy Menorah


The Ark of the Testimony


The golden forehead Nameplate


The golden crown of Aharon the Cohen

The Breastplate of Judgement


The silver Trumpets


The Cherubim


The Altar of burnt offerings


The curtain of the Communion Tent


The forks and the bread molds


The Table of Showbread


(The list "Mishnah 1" continues with several pages of priestly garments)

Mishnah 2


These are the holy vessels and the vessels of the Temple that were in Jerusalem and in every place. They were inscribed by Shimur Halevi and his companions on a Luach Nehoshef Copper Plate with all the Vessels of the Holy of Holies that Shlomo son of David made. And together with Shimur were Hizkiyahu, Zidkiyah, Haggai the Prophet, and Zechariah, son of Berachiah, son of Iddo the Prophet.

Mishnah 3


These are the vessels of the Temple that were taken and buried in the ground:

The locking rods


The pegs


The boards


The rings


The standing pillars of the courtyard

These are the Vessels:


1,200,000 silver Mizrakot (sacrificial basins)


50,000 fine gold Mizrakot (sacrificial basins)


600,000 bowls of fine gold


1,200,000 bowls of silver

Mishnah 4


500,000 trays of fine gold


1,200,000 trays of silver


500,000 bread mold of fine gold


1,200,000 bread molds of silver
On each of the molds there were 5 Margallot/pearls and 2 precious gem stones. The value of each precious stone was 100 talents of gold ($180 million). The total value of all the Margallot was 200,000 talents of gold ($360 billion).

36 golden trumpets


7 branched menorah of fine gold worth 100,000 talents ($180 billion)

Mishnah 5


77 tables of gold


7,000 talents of gold  ($12 billion)


3 rows of priceless stones, 7 cubits by 5 cubits

Mishnah 7


The counting of precious stones, Margallot gems, silver, and gold that King David dedicated to the great Temple was:

1,000,000 talents of silver ($180 billion)


100,000 talents of gold ($180 billion)


600,000 talents of fine gold ($1.08 trillion)

All these were concealed, hidden and safeguarded from the army of the Chaldeans in a place called Borseef.

Mishnah 8


7 golden curtains with 12,000 talents of gold ($20 billion)


12,000 Levitical garments with belts


70,000 Levitical garments with belts, turbans and pants

All of these service clothes were concealed until the future to atone for Israel in the end of days.

Mishnah 9


David also made:

1,000 copper lyres overlaid with fine gold and 8 stones


7,000 harps

All these were hidden and concealed in Ein Zidkiyah that the fittest men of Israel knew in secret, lest they fall, G-d forbid, into the hands of the enemy who hated Israel. These vessels are not to be used except to atone for Israel, thus concealed to prevent the Chaldeans from using them, G-d forbid. They hid them until the day when Israel will return to their former stature and reclaim eternal honor and worldly glory, and they find a man named David, son of David. The silver and gold shall then be unearthed to him, when all Israel shall gather and make a complete Aliyah ascent to Jerusalem. Amen.

Mishnah 10


These are the weights of silver concealed at Ein Kahal by Baruch and Zidkiyah:

1,200,000 talents of silver


1,600,000 of fine silver


2,000,000 pots of fine copper


1,100,000 pots of iron


3,000 frying pans of fine gold
 (LOL!)

Countless copper sinks and lavers


70 tables of fine gold

All those were concealed by Zidkiyah.

Mishnah 11

Treasures of gold and silver stored away from the days of David until Zidkiyah and until Israel was exiled to Babylon.

Hundreds of thousands of golden shields 
Countless silver shields


353,000 precious stones


1,900,000 Korin of gold [no clue what that weighs]

All the prophets, wise men, and scribes in the world could not calculate the wealth and the glory that was in Jerusalem.

Mishnah 12

Twelve precious stones with the names of the Tribes engraved on them.

No king, prophet, or anyone else knew where they were hidden, excepting Hiluk, son of Shimur Halevi. All Israel concealed the Vessels until a righteous king arises over Israel. What’s more, they all share a solemn vow never to reveal the whereabouts of these vessels until David, son of David, arises. All silver, gold, and Margallot precious stones which were ever hidden away will be handed over to him when the exiles of Israel will be gathered from the four ends of the earth, and they ascend with greatness and exaltation to the land of Israel. At that time a great river will issue forth from the Holy of Holies of the Temple. Its name is Gihon and it will flow to the great and dreadful desert and become mixed with the Euphrates River.

       --- End of Emeq HaMelekh ---
--------
Well, there you have it. Trillions of dollars of gold and silver are still hidden somewhere in Israel. Not to mention those 3,000 gold frying pans! 🙂 Certainly enough to entice Russia to invade if they saw a window of opportunity.

And when they do find that incredible treasure, look up!

“But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” Luke 21:28

Shalom!

BP

Climate Change Is Definitely True, Here’s Why:

In 1958, noted liberal Betty Friedan wrote in Harper’s magazine that scientists were certain “the glacial thermostat, the present interglacial stage is well advanced; the earth is now heading into another Ice Age.” Since the late 1800s, establishment liberals proclaimed that our planet was doomed to freeze in as few as ten years. Referred to as “Global Cooling,” the libs trotted out one scientist after another showing scientific research as proof of the coming “freeze.” (1)   Yet since the early 1900s, scientists have disagreed as to whether the earth is heating up or cooling off.  

But by the 1980s, when the idiocy of the “fact” we’re going to freeze showed obvious holes, they switched to “Global Warming,” and have since paraded out more scientists with research showing the “irrefutable facts” of the coming world heat disaster.  

But ultimately Global Warming began to also reveal its non-scientific stupidity, so they switched to “Climate Change.”   Now they're blaming all the world’s problems on man’s impact on the planet. They say there are “over 1000 research studies” that prove Climate Change is real... which is a bald-faced lie.   The national news promotes the lie, calling it the "FACT" of Climate Change, and come down hard on anyone who disagrees.  

The only "FACT" is that these "studies" are myths, lies and distortions produced by the same kind of people who conspired to say Donald Trump "colluded” with Russia.  

Yet students today are universally taught that it is a scientific fact that man (usually meaning white males) has so damaged this planet from using fossil fuels that the earth will only last a few more years… doom is coming soon if we don’t do what they say.  

To anyone with two brain cells, the obvious purpose of all these climate proclamations and predictions through the years is to use the climate for political value. After all, who can argue against saving our planet? All we have to do is give them the power to control more and more of our lives.   Liberal politicians are now turning up the heat saying we must change how we live, even saying if we don’t change our ways we’ll have to go back to the dark ages to stay alive on this planet.  

Some politicians say this disaster will come in as few as 10 or 15 years. Of course that’s what they’ve been saying since the early 1900s: 10 to 15 years. It's a phrase well-tested in those focus groups. Makes you want to worry!   And this time they actually are right!   Yes, you read that correctly. The liberals are dead-on about climate change coming in the next 10 to 15 years. But it’s not going to happen like they think.  

One of the most graphic characteristics of the soon-coming Tribulation that follows the Rapture, is the horrific scorching heat that comes on the earth. The temperature so high that people are grateful to die to escape the heat.  

“These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation…they will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore; nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any heat;” Rev. 7:15, 16

“Men were scorched with fierce heat;” Rev. 16:9  

This “climate change” will in fact sink Miami, as famously predicted by Bill Clinton when he said:   “'The water is going to keep rising’ whether US stays in the Paris Accord Talks or not.” (The Paris Accord was the world meeting to deal with Climate Change that President Trump wisely pulled out of).  

And yes, the polar ice caps WILL melt, but probably in about an hour, not decades. And that will be the least of their problems. This is the time that God will shake the earth so violently that ALL the mountains will fall and ALL the islands will sink.

“and there was a great earthquake, such as there had not been since man came to be upon the earth, so great an earthquake was it, and so mighty. … And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. Rev. 16:18,20

In Isaiah 24:13,19 the Bible compares someone violently shaking an olive tree to get the olives to fall off to what God does to the earth during the Tribulation. Ouch!   All this causes the nations of the earth to be in disarray, totally baffled by all that is going on.  

“There will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves,” Luke 21:25

The bleeding heart liberals left behind after the Rapture will have more than "climate" change" to deal with...rather, they will be the recipients of God's wrath. God says the time will come when He will not be silent any more!  

"I have kept silent for a long time, I have kept still and restrained Myself.    Now like a woman in labor I will groan,    I will both gasp and pant. I will lay waste the mountains and hills    And wither all their vegetation;    I will make the rivers into coastlands    And dry up the ponds". Is. 42:14-15

Of course God clearly warned of this time in His Word. It's there for anyone to read. He even offers a way to escape the coming horrors. But most people chose to ignore scripture and instead chose to worship Satan—who is actually behind all this hokey “climate change.”   And those who ignore the Word of God will pay a stiff price.  

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,” Rom. 1:18   “For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience,” Col. 3:6

Let me rephrase that in case you missed it. The WRATH of God IS coming against all unsaved sinners, all non-Believers. It's coming suddenly, in a moment you least expect it. The lies, murders, blasphemy is all seen and recorded for future judgment.   It will be a sad time on earth. Most will die. Few will survive into the Millennium.  

“All the merry-hearted sigh. The gaiety of tambourines ceases, the noise of revelers stops, the gaiety of the harp ceases. All joy turns to gloom. The gaiety of the earth is banished. Is. 24:7, 8

Praise the Lord that God has not appointed us to receive the coming “wrath!”  

“For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,” 1Th. 5:9   “Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.” Rom. 5:9

All Born Again Believers will be removed from this earth before His judgment begins.   So the next time some liberal starts in on "Climate Change," just say "I agree with you, 'Climate Change' is coming." And that will give you one remarkable witnessing opportunity!  

But keep in mind that this whole climate issue is not about the "climate." Rather, it's about "Control." In the not-too-distant future, this earth will be controlled by one person from one place. We're just seeing the beginnings of this taking shape.  

Use us, Lord!   Shalom!  

BP  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_cooling

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I’m not a conspiracy theorist! At least I don’t worry about a man-based group that will someday take over the world and begin shooting Christians. I do know that a Satan-based world takeover WILL happen one day, but it’s a post-Rapture event.

But I DO believe we’re living in the last of the last days. And the Bible tells us to watch the signs — fulfilled prophecies… and there are many! So much so that the news these days sounds like a Bible-prophecy recap.

Therefore, we’re obviously getting closer and closer to the end. And since we know the antichrist will show up in the last days and singularly rule the earth, we should very well be seeing things coming together just before the Church departs this earth.

We’re so close that Satan has undoubtedly put people in place who are sold-out for him, setting the stage for his world takeover. No longer behind the scenes, they’ve come out in the open with their lies and deceit. For example:

UN Global Socialism Plan

In 2015, the United Nations had a huge Global Elites meeting in Paris, where all 193 countries of the world met and unanimously approved a plan to “Transform Our World” in the next 15 years.

Dubbed UN Agenda 2030, they proudly outlined how they will use climate and global warming issues to take over the entire globe.

Obama’s administration enthusiastically signed this monstrosity, in which it is specifically called a “plan of action for people, planet and prosperity by the year 2030.”

This, of course, fit nicely with Obama’s original campaign theme in 2008: “We want to fundamentally change America.” They needed to change America because a free country didn’t fit with a one-world government.

So before B.H.O. left office he started a ball rolling that would have ultimately changed the U.S.A. from LEADING the world to FOLLOWING the U.N. The U.S.A. would then be under the U.N.’s direction to purportedly “save the earth.” And if implemented, it would have been a disaster for Christians as it is a godless manifesto.

Realistically, this world “agenda” is really nothing more than Satan ramping up for full control of the planet… and we know that’s what WILL happen post-Rapture. When the Elites do finally reach their goals during the Tribulation, it’ll be deadly to admit you’re a Bible Believer.

But in Steps Donald Trump

Seeing through their Globalist ruse, President Trump is shaking up their agenda. He’s not going along with any of it. Rather, he’s making decisions that benefit America and making everyone else get in line.

This is making the Globalists white-hot mad, and they’re unleashing everything they can to undermine his Presidency. It is unrelenting, and I think it’s only the prayers from Believers that are keeping him alive.

The Elite control most of the media so we see a daily dose of political lies peppering the airwaves. Undeterred, under the prayer cover of millions from his Believer-base, the President continues to put America first.

Trade War or Common Sense?

For instance, the most recent “China Trade War” is simply making China trade fair and equitable with the United States. The past four U.S. Presidents have allowed this trade imbalance to grow to such unhealthy levels that our whole U.S. monetary system is in serious jeopardy.

China’s been taking their $700 billion surplus from the huge trade imbalance and purchasing hard assets like gold and silver, even gold and silver mines. President Trump sees this can’t continue and must stop. And he’s drawn a line in the sand.

Not-Federal/Not-Reserve

Another of President Trump’s shot-over-the-bow salvos is to the Federal Reserve, which is not “Federal” and not a “Reserve.” Rather, it’s a corporation controlled by eight Global Elite families. And President Trump is boldly in their face. Especially after the recent public comment by their Chairman who said, “Trump needs to be defeated.”(2)

This group of Global Elites, under the guise and power of “The Federal Reserve,” has controlled our country’s finances, milking us for over 100 years …without accountability. Since they got control, our dollar has lost 92% of its value. They’ve never been audited so they basically do what they want to do.

President Trump again is just doing what is best for America. He’s seriously looking at changing our dollar to a gold-backed dollar that would be trackable (think Bitcoin backed by gold). That would circumvent and free us from the Global Elite and the Federal Reserve all in one sweep.(1)

Regardless of all the good things our President is doing, we know this reprieve won’t last forever. Most Christians realize that we’re living in Satan’s world. He IS the “god of this world,” and he will one day get un-Holy-Spirit-hindered control.

But, thankfully, we’re also in a God-controlled universe. And just like Nineveh was given an extra grace of time before God lowered the boom, we too are on borrowed time. We’re in what the Bible calls the time of God’s patience.(3)

Ultimately the end will come with the Church’s exhilarating exit, which paves the way for Satan and his Global Elite minions to take over, ruling the earth for a horrific 7-year Tribulation period where literally 1/2 of the earth’s population is murdered.(4)

But the timing of the Devil’s world takeover has been slowed down by God, for His unknown purposes. I personally think President Trump will be reelected to continue to keep America going on a non-global track. But at some point in the future the Elites will get back in power and finish the job.

Now this is what’s interesting

If President Trump is reelected, that would get us to 2024. We might get four, or even eight more years if a staunch conservative is elected following President Trump.

But even if Trump is not re-elected, this reprieve has pushed the Globalist agenda into the 2030s for completion. This is very interesting because that lines up very well with two end-time prophetic projections — the Church Age Prophecy and the One Generation Prophecy.

The 2000-Year Church Age Prophecy

We have taught and defended for years that God’s original creation week is a timeline-template for all human time (see timeline chart below).

The seven 24-hour days of God’s original creation week are a template for 7000 years of time that God assigned to man to complete on this planet. Scripture mentions the correlation between 1000 years and one day in at least two places.

”For a thousand years in Your sight are like yesterday when it passes by, or as a watch in the night.”

— Psalm 90:4

”But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.”

— 2 Peter 3:8

So applying this Creation week timeline of 1 day = 1000 years, the length of the Church Age is quite easy to see.

Looking at the above graphic, notice that no life was created on the first four 24-hour days of God’s Creation week, only non-living things. And we know from the Bible’s genealogy that there are about 4000 years between Adam and the cross.

At the end of the timeline, God’s day of rest on the 7th day of the Creation week would correspond to Jesus’ 1000-year Millennial reign on earth when Satan is bound.

”And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years;”

— Revelation 20:2

“…reigned with Christ for a thousand years.”

— Revelation 20:4

That leaves two days, or 2000 years, for the Church Age in which we currently live. Jesus came to earth on the 5th day and brought life.

There is even a prophecy that can’t be fulfilled unless this template-timeline for a 2000 year-old Church Age is true.

“Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us. He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day, that we may live before Him.”

— Hosea 6:1–2

That’s an unfulfilled prophecy that says Israel will be scattered around the world for 2000 years (2 days) hurt and wounded. But after the 2000 years, God will revive them/bring them back to life. And on the third day, which is the last 1000 years, the Jews will literally live before Him in Israel.

It’s also interesting that the only interaction anywhere in the Bible that Jesus had with non-Jews was specifically for TWO DAYS.

So when the Samaritans came to Jesus, they were asking Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days.

— John 4:40

After the two days He went forth from there into Galilee.

— John 4:43

After the “two days,” the “third day,” He returned to the Jews. A perfect fit for the model. See also Ex. 19:10–11 — it will blow your mind.

So life showing up on the 5th and 6th days of the Creation week is a parallel to Jesus bringing life to the Church Age for 2000 years while the Jews are scattered, hurt and wounded.

THEREFORE

The Church Age began in 33 AD with the coming of the Holy Spirit and will end with the Rapture, when the Holy Spirit departs. So, if our theory is correct, this would mean the Church Age would last until ROUGHLY 2033. This is not a prediction, just an observation!

There’s also another prophetic application that points to the 2030s:

The “One Generation” Prophecy

Jesus said the generation who saw Israel come together in the latter days will not pass before seeing all the things listed in Matthew 24.

A generation was referred to in varying lengths of times in the Bible — anywhere from 20 years to 100 years. Since seven and multiples of seven are God’s numbers for completion, a 70-year generation isn’t a stretch.

Mt. Moriah is the most important piece of property on earth as far as the Lord is concerned. It’s where Abraham offered Issac and the only place God allowed sacrifices to Him.

Israel didn’t get back control of the Temple Mount/Mt. Moriah until the Six-Day War in 1967. Therefore, the 70-year-generation countdown could not begin until 1967.

That puts us ROUGHLY at 2037. Again, not a prediction, only an observation based on Scripture.

Bottom Line

Therefore, between the Globalists trying to wrap things up in the 2030s, the Creation Week template pointing to the 2030s, and the One Generation Prophecy pointing to the 2030s you can make a good case that God has the Rapture scheduled for the 2030s. Certainly is interesting!

Of course (one more time) this is all speculation. We don’t know for sure when the Lord will return. We can and do observe the signs. Hey, as we know, it could happen today! 🙂

“For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.”

— Matthew 24:44

So until that fateful day, use us, Lord! And watch over our President!

BP

References:

(1) https://qz.com/1646318/why-trump-and-judy-shelton-want-the-us-back-on-the-gold-standard/

(1) https://investingnews.com/daily/resource-investing/precious-metals-investing/gold-investing/trump-gold-standard/

(2) https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/08/28/business/u-s-fed-help-defeat-trump-2020-not-enable-trade-war-china-ex-central-bank-official/#.XXlk5SV7lTY

(3) https://compass.org/article-gods-patience-in-the-last-days/

(4) Rev 6:8, 1/4 earth dies; Rev 9:15, 1/3 of balance of earth's population dies. Total—1/2 population of earth dies during the Tribulation.

Recently Joshua Harris, a successful Christian author who wrote the bestselling book I Kissed Dating Goodbye in the 1990s, publicly renounced his faith.

Due to his staunch Biblical stance regarding no sex before marriage, many young Christians read his books and followed his advice. So this was a shocker, to say the least.

In a nutshell, Harris is clearly saying he no longer believes the Bible, pretty much giving God the finger. So this begs the question, does this mean he’s now going to hell?

I’ve heard numerous Christian leaders trying to make sense out of this by saying things like “He was never saved in the first place” and “Jesus won’t leave you but you can leave Him.” However, neither of those statements is in God’s Word.

Only God knows Harris’ heart… whether or not he trusted the shed blood of Christ to cover his sins at some point of his life. But regardless, the question remains, if he was once “saved,” can he now be “not saved?”

Most people reading this know we teach and scripturally defend that there’s no “work” you can do, or not do, to become a Believer. You can only believe the Gospel of Jesus the Messiah. It’s about what He did, not about your good or bad actions.

“He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,”

— Titus 3:5

”These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.”

— 1 John 5:13

Therefore, if there is nothing one can do to gain salvation, is there something one can do to lose it? No, there’s nothing you can do to lose it. In fact, if you think you can lose your salvation, the Bible says you’re foolish!

“Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?”

— Galatians 3:3

What Actually Happens At Salvation?

When you trust the Gospel message — which is the Good News that if you BELIEVE Jesus came from heaven, lived a sinless life, shed His blood and died on a cross in order to pay for all your sins — God immediately saves you from the eternal fires of hell… forever.

Your sins — past, present and future — are wiped clean from God’s judgment and this allows God’s Spirit to come into your life permanently, sealing you forever.

“In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation — having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,”

— Ephesians 1:13

So every Believer is sealed by God. Jesus even said He won’t lose anyone the Father has given Him.

“This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day.”

— John 6:39

To make an even better case against losing your salvation, consider this verse:

“For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

— Romans 8:38–39

You are a human, created by God. Therefore, as a Believer, you cannot even separate yourself from God. No matter what you say or do. God is more powerful than you.

So if you can’t lose the permanency of salvation, what happened to Joshua Harris, assuming he was a Believer? It has everything to do with his Biblical maturity. Salvation is just the beginning of your Spiritual walk.

One of Three Things Happens to Believers When They Get Saved — Which One Applies to You?

The Bible puts a great emphasis on Believers maturing in their faith (Ephesians 4:11–14), to “grow up” in order not to be tricked by their enemy Satan — who has spent the last 6000 years perfecting his lies.

“…but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ,” —

Ephesians 4:15

Satan even tried lying to Jesus when he was tempting Him in the desert (Matt. 4:5–11). He quoted scripture to Jesus, and although the scripture was true, Jesus replied with “…the scripture also says…” In essence, He was telling Satan, “you’re taking scripture out of context.”

We too need to be able to know the Bible well enough to ward off Satan’s tricks and lies. But new Believers have so little scriptural defense they’re referred to as baby Believers (1 Corinthians 3).

The Parable of the Sower

In the Parable of the Sower in Luke 8:4–15, we see that when people hear the Word of God preached, the outcome is pretty simple: they either get saved or they don’t get saved.

Those that do get saved can have three different outcomes in their Christian life. So Jesus warns us about these life outcomes because our adversary, Satan, immediately sends his demons to compromise our walk.

1) The first thing that can happen to a new Believer is to be tricked by Satan from maturing into a solid Believer. Satan’s first goal is to get new Believers to doubt the truth about what they just committed to. Because new Believers aren’t rooted in God’s Word, the tempter can lure them away with his lies.

“…they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no firm root; they believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away.”

— Luke 8:13

Satan’s lies could be about anything… sex, money, friendships, marriage, children, parents, church and everything in between. A series of seemingly innocent compromises is his age-old trick.

2) If Satan’s not successful getting you off course when you’re a new Believer, the second thing he’ll try is to get your eyes off the long-term prize. Satan knows if he can get you thinking short-term, he wins.

“…they are choked with worries, riches and pleasures of this life,”

— Luke 8:14

Satan will again bring on the lies about the burdens of life, worries about children, work, money… anything and everything to get your mind off the eternal prize that you’ve already won. If you fall for his deception, he wins.

3) The third thing that can happen to born-again Believers is that they mature, steel their minds with scripture, shake off the worries of the world and keep their eyes on the prize. God can use these mature Believers in numerous ways for His purposes.

”until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man…”

— Ephesians 4:13

”I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

— Philipians 3:14

So what about Joshua Harris? I think he is #2. I think he unknowingly let Satan get to him through the riches and pleasures of this life, choking out his testimony and grieving God with his sinful statements.

”Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”

— Ephesians 4:30

Again, notice in that verse that sin did not “unseal” anything. When a Believer is saved, it’s forever.

I do pray Harris gets a handle on whatever is haunting him. I pray he repents and seeks again to follow the commandments of his Risen Savior. Thankfully, if he is a Believer, his security is unconditional. God will never leave him, even if he tries to leave God.

“I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,”

— Hebrews 13:5

Always stand on the scriptural fact that our salvation is based on what He did for us, not what we once did, or now do, for Him. Therefore, teaching you can lose your salvation based on sin (repentant or unrepentant) violates this basic Biblical teaching.

This is why Paul, dealing with a horribly sinful and unrepentant Believer, said it would be better for Satan to kill some guy so he could be released from his sinful body and go home to be with the Lord.

“I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.”

— 1 Corinthians 5:5

This earth is nothing compared to eternity, so keep your eyes up!

Use us, Lord!

BP

Imagine…

Imagine a world where everything you do is individually monitored, scored, and kept in a big database. And your personal score determines your lifestyle — what you can purchase, your ability to travel, the interest rate you pay at the bank, even your ability to rent an apartment or buy a home or be approved for a car loan.

Everything you do, or don’t do, is monitored and scored. Your score also affects your family by causing your Internet to run more slowly, and keeping you (and/or your kids) from the best schools and the best jobs. A low score could even land you in jail!

So in this imaginary world you have to be careful to keep your social score above a certain level or you could pay big consequences. You can’t even get a driver’s license without a decent social score. So if you’re smart, you learn quickly what not to do.

Breaking the law in any way lowers your score. So will buying too much liquor in a month or using your Visa to purchase too many video games.

You also get lower scores for things like being late on a credit card payment or accessing a website that is in opposition to the ruling government party. Not to mention little things like jaywalking and smoking on trains.

Posting opinions on social media that are not politically correct or posting lewd remarks or pictures will, of course, lower your score. Even bad habits like eating too much, parking in a no-parking area, and driving over the speed limit (yes, that too) are tracked daily and tallied.

EVERYTHING is watched and monitored. Your life is scored on a day-by-day basis. And in this world, a low score can even get you arrested and jailed for nothing more than having a low social score. All to keep you in compliance with the government’s ideological framework.

Think this imaginary world I just described is absurd? Nope. Actually, this is what they are doing TODAY in China. Citizens there are 100% watched in order to be 100% controlled. The system now monitors over a billion people and by 2020 will cover/oversee all of China.

The Chinese government’s system evaluates and scores you between 300 and 850 points. In addition to education, legal, banking, and employment, the score also takes into account perceived trustworthiness, security, wealth, consumption, and social networking (i.e., your online behavior, having “undesirable” friends, and even what you click on to “LIKE”).

Due to low social scores, Chinese citizens are being “detained” (what we would call “arrested”). One man was chained to a chair for eight hours of interrogation for simply posting on Twitter… and Twitter is blocked in China!

To use Twitter in China, you have to have special software to circumvent the Chinese government ban. But even then, the Chinese government watches posts worldwide, and there are many reports of thousands of private Chinese Twitter accounts disappearing with no explanation.

When I say they’re watching everything, I mean everything. People have had their dogs taken away for their not being on a leash! When you get on a train, announcements are made to not misbehave or it will affect your social score. Of course you NEVER complain about the government.

China’s data-driven technology is growing in leaps and bounds. Referred to as Cyberspace Governance, China not only blocks certain data on the Internet but it also tracks what you do click on to determine what they will let you do, and not do. You may not even know you are clicking on a site that will lower your score.

The Chinese government is even tracking tourists crossing into China. The Border Police are now beginning to seize smart phones from the X-ray security machines, installing an app called BXAQ. This app collects all personal information including text messages, event calendars, phone contacts, and lists of people called as well as what apps you’re using.

They then check your data against a red-flag list of over 70,000 items. You’re denied entry if you have, for instance, obvious things like bomb-making instructions. But the forbidden list also includes books written in Arabic, books (or materials or documents) about (or by) certain Christian groups deemed controversial, and documents relating to the Dalai Lama. Quite subjective, don’t you think?

Cameras are everywhere as they’ve implemented the most sophisticated facial recognition system in the world. You can withdraw cash, check in at airports, and pay for goods using just your face. They not only read and verify individual faces, but also estimate age, ethnicity, and gender. But more importantly, they know where you are at all times.

There are 170 million cameras already in place, and 400 million more will be installed over the next three years. The system is so vast and accurate it’s locating wanted suspects in real time.

At any moment in time, this system can match every face on the street with an ID card as well as the path of your car. It can trace these movements back seven days, matching you up with your relatives and the people you’ve seen this week.

They’ve even begun using facial recognition to determine moods of people — are they angry or happy? What is their sexuality? Are they walking too fast? In short, they can arrest people they THINK will commit a crime.

Nothing To Hide?

Chinese officials say if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear. But as the technology develops, so does the potential for abuse. All humans are sinful. Can you imagine a Democrat controlled American government in charge of deciding who gets dinged for what?

Using the social rating system the Chinese have already banned 15 million people from traveling, buying property, or sending their kids to private school. And there’s no reason to appeal if you get banned. You can appeal, but that just makes matters worse.

Since 2015, to put some teeth into the penalties, China has increased the number of police sixfold. Thousands of them have been equipped with face-scanning devices that can determine if you’re a fugitive IN REAL TIME. This iron-fist approach is what they’re using to control every single person in China.

China has virtually become a total surveillance state where residents have different levels of freedom based on ethnicity, religious practices, and social score. The database for individuals includes things like your job, if you have a passport, even if you pray.

When all the scores are tallied, you’re categorized into SAFE, REGULAR, or UNSAFE people. UNSAFE people are sent to study centers for political education. But these study centers are actually no more than prisons with walls, razor-wire barriers, and guard towers… you can’t get out until they think you have changed your mind, realigned your politics, etc.

So people are basically being imprisoned based on surveillance data. And you can’t even see your score or the data used to rate you. People are detained (arrested) and they have no idea where they’re going or how long they will be there.

China Expands Its Surveillance Around The World

Two out of every three drones used around the world are manufactured by government-controlled Chinese companies. And consensus is that some 75% of U.S. government security cameras are manufactured in China.

Australia is currently wrestling with the overwhelming number of Chinese cameras in their cities and even military bases. Australian officials have determined that Chinese cameras are in use in their Army Forces Command, Air Force Air Command, Navy Strategic Command, and Army Special Operations HQ.

They’re worried that China may actually be tapping the images and using the data to spy or even affect election results. The elephant-in-the-room concern is that Communist China can track Australia’s entire military operation!

The Department of Homeland Security in the United States has been screaming about all this for years. Finally, in a rare bipartisan moment in the politics of Washington DC, Congress passed the National Defense Authorization Act, 2019, which prohibited cameras made by certain Chinese companies from being used in surveillance on U.S. soil. The reasoning was in part that China would be able to do surveillance in the U.S. as they suspect they’ve been doing in Australia.

The commonality of all this is that these cameras all use the Internet. Once online, the information is ripe for rip-off. And the cameras are made in a way that reprogramming can be done via the Internet. So what you determine to be safe today could be unsafe tomorrow.

This is just a foreshadowing of what’s ultimately coming to the United States. Conservatives/Christians are already being unfairly targeted. Problems with the IRS targeting conservative/Christian groups were uncovered and no one was held accountable. Imagine adding a social credit system like this used to shut up conservatives.

Again, this is happening today in China. How far away is this from the United States? Just recently Florida Democrat Congresswoman Frederica Wilson called for shutting down people who voice their opinion online saying, “We’re gonna shut them down.” Governmental surveillance used to control the population WILL come here too. And bummer for you if those who have control are not those whom you support.

It’s Just A Matter Of Time

Already there are social ratings beginning to be used in the United States. The Palms Hotel in Las Vegas is using a social media scoring system to provide perks to guests.

Twitter announced they are instituting a new social score for every user based on “influence.” And Virgin Airlines has announced they will use these scores to determine upgrades and even pricing. And Hoot Suite announced it will allow you to sort your Twitter list based on the influence of your Twitter social score.

Tommy Hilfiger has begun embedding smart chips in some of their lines that are connected to an app where you (and they) can track what you wear and where you wear it.

There have been four or five instances where a Compass advertisement was not approved because it didn’t meet Facebook’s advertising policies. There was nothing wrong with our ads, they just didn’t like what we were advertising! You can’t tell people the truth… like the fact they are going to either heaven or hell! That’s too cruel.

So most Believers easily see where this is going.

All This Is Clearly Prophesied In The Bible

The Bible says there will come a day when everyone on the earth who wants to eat or buy products will have to be part of a worldwide system. And this all-encompassing system will be run by none other than Satan himself.

”And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed. And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name.”

— Revelation 13:15–17

John, through the inspiration of God’s Holy Spirit, did an admirable job describing a clear reference to today. He’d been given a glimpse into the future of people watching their TVs, smart phones, and/or tablets and had to put it in his own vernacular. The screens could easily be what he described above as the “image of the beast.”

One day, everyone will be controlled from one place. And the one who has control makes the rules. And the rule is simple… you either take the “Mark of the Beast” and get your food, or you don’t take it and likely starve.

The Chinese have a system in place today that, between facial recognition, social monitoring, and an iron-clad grip on banking transactions, can in fact be expanded to control every person in the world.

And if the Chinese can do this with 1.4 billion people, it’s not a stretch to see this eventually being implemented in the U.S., Europe, etc.

So, knowing where all this is heading, we’re definitely seeing the early stages of the worldwide system coming together. In 30AD people voluntarily worshiped Jesus when He was physically on earth for 3 1/2 years. There’s coming a post-Rapture day when Satan dons the fake-Jesus attire and forces people to worship him for 3 1/2 years.

Some will take the Mark of the Beast, eat temporarily, and later go to hell.

”…If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, … and he will be tormented … forever.”

— Revelation 14:9–11

Forever is a long time, and many will choose poorly. But some will shine:

“… behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands;”

— Revelation 7:9

“…These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb….They will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore; nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any heat; for the Lamb … will guide them to …life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”

— Revelation 7:14–17

“…I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.”

— Rev. 20:4

Clearly there are those who miss the Rapture and immediately know what just happened. They have the opportunity to be part of the greatest revival the earth has ever witnessed.(1)

Faced with the prospect of choosing temporary life with food or eternal life with no food, they choose wisely. Most will have to give up their earthly lives in order to have eternal life with Jesus. But certainly worth it.

“He is no fool who gives up what he can’t keep in order to gain that which he cannot lose.” Jim Elliot.

Shalom!
BP

References

(1) https://compass.org/article-tribulation-evangelism-on-steroids-2/

https://www.businessinsider.com/china-social-credit-system-punishments-and-rewards-explained-2018-4#6-getting-your-dog-taken-away-6

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/10/business/china-twitter-censorship-online.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/03/21/what-do-people-china-think-about-social-credit-monitoring/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.648706d9ff1c

https://www.businessinsider.com/china-social-credit-system-punishments-and-rewards-explained-2018-4

https://www.pcmag.com/news/369368/china-is-installing-spyware-on-tourists-phones

https://www.foxbusiness.com/retail/hilfiger-embeds-smart-chips-in-new-fashion-line

Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation. For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water, through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water. But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. 2Pet. 3:3-7

“As they were going along and talking, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire which separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind to heaven.” 2Kings 2:11This incident lies embedded in the minds of the Jewish people because God confirmed Elijah did not die, but would return again. In the next-to-last sentence of the Old Testament, the book of Malachi records:

“Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD.” Mal. 4:5

To this day, at Passover every year Jewish families set an extra place at the table, or an Elijah's Cup, for the prophet Elijah in case he shows up. Just before the Passover meal is to be served, the young kids are often sent to the front door to see if Elijah has come.

But if you are a UFO proponent who thinks Elijah’s earthly departure is proof that UFOs are real, you’re sadly mistaken.

Nowhere in the Bible does it teach that there’s any other form of human-type life in the universe. No extraterrestrial beings are anywhere in this vast universe. Quite the opposite. God always refers to the earth being singularly significant above all else.

But I do believe UFOs are referred to in another place in the Bible, in the New Testament, and that it’s referring to this day and age, the last of the last days.

Immediately after the Rapture of the Church, in the midst of the mind-boggling reality that millions of people just disappeared in the twinkling of an eye, Satan, via his New World Leader, must explain what just happened. It’s called the big “lie.”

Paul, writing to the church in Thessalonica about the Rapture and the Evil One who is revealed to rule in the aftermath, says this:
 
“For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false.” 2Thes. 2:11

Satan will do what he does best, he will tell a big bold lie about what just happened. He will try to get people to believe what is false, dooming forever in hell those who believe what he says.

Ever since the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind in 1977, I believe Satan has been nervously preparing the world for this lie. We’ve seen an obvious exponential increase in UFO articles over the last 40 years. And also more “sightings.”Now if you are following me closely here, I just said there have been UFO sightings. Yet at the beginning of this article I said there are no such things as an extraterrestrial beings. How can that be?

It’s not that difficult to understand if you stick with the Bible because it is clear that Satan is an angel and angels are spirits. And the Bible says these spirits can take on the form of humans. They look so real you don't even know they’re not human!

“Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.” Heb. 13:2

Angel Basics

The Bible says angels come in two types—good and bad. The bad ones fell back during Adam’s day, one of every three rebelled with Lucifer and today we refer to these fallen angels as demons. The good ones we still refer to as angels.

Presumably any angelic interaction by Christians in Heb. 13:2 is with the good angels. But the fact is, demons can also fake who they are. And the head demon, Lucifer/Satan, leads the way.
 
“No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.” 2Cor. 11:14

Satan is also the biggest liar of all.“Whenever [Satan] speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” John 8:44b

Therefore it’s completely feasible that Satan is intending on using the UFO phenomenon as a way to explain away the Rapture. We have no idea what the context of “The Lie” will be, but it’s going to be a whopper!

The lie could be something like:

“We’re from outer space and have come to save the earth from total destruction. We had to take those nice people away to another planet to reprogram their minds.”

Or:

“People from another civilization in space have been watching our planet. For our own good they have removed people who would have destroyed earth.”

Obviously this is a guess, the lie could be anything. All we know for sure is that many will be deceived and believe it. However, we do know, thankfully, that there are an uncountable number of people who do not buy the lie.

“After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands;” Rev. 7:9

“These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and where have they come from?….These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” Rev. 7:13-14So we know there will be millions who missed the Rapture who will not follow Satan and ultimately go to heaven. They will refuse the “mark of the beast,” which means they are prohibited from doing anything, including buying food.

“And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name.” Rev. 13:16-17

These Believers, who will be saved by faith in the Tribulation, will be hunted and killed during the long seven years of horror, but they spend eternity in heaven, which is all that matters.

So as the Church Age winds up and we witness more and more proclamations of UFO sightings, etc., it should remind you to pray for your family, friends and coworkers who miss the Rapture …that God would grant them wisdom to cling to the truth at all costs.

Shalom!
Bill

On our trips to Israel, my most fun Bible study to teach is from the top of the Mount of Olives. The view of the Old City is stupendously visually impacting to anyone with even a basic understanding of the Bible.You can literally see so many of the things mentioned in Scripture like the Garden of Gethsemane, Palm Sunday Road, the Eastern Gate, the Temple Mount where the Jewish Temple stood, Caiaphas’ House, the Garden Tomb, the City of David, Herod’s Palace and so much more.

One of the more interesting observations I like to point out from this breathtaking view from the Mount of Olives is the famous story of Jesus healing a beggar who was blind from birth (John 8:59-9:41).

In a nutshell, Jesus was leaving the Temple compound, saw the blind beggar, picked up some dirt, spit into the dirt and applied it to the beggar’s eyes. He told the beggar to go wash the dirt out of his eyes in the Pool of Siloam. And once he did, he could instantly see for the first time in his life.

The Pharisees came to him to question the beggar about Jesus healing him. They were unmercifully berating the poor guy about how this could have happened, ultimately resulting in the healed man blurting out the now famous words, “All I know is that I was blind but now I can see.”

More to the Story
But when you’re sitting on the Mount of Olives reading this Biblical account, you learn there’s a lot more to the story. You can see the place where the stunning Jewish Temple once stood (#1 in the Jerusalem drawing above). Jesus would have been in that area when He healed the blind beggar. Only a couple of hundred feet to the north, just outside the northern wall of the Temple Mount, were the Pools of Bethesda, a relatively short, flat walk (#2 in the drawing).

But Jesus didn’t send him to the Pools of Bethesda. Instead He said, “Go wash in the Pool of Siloam,” which was five times further away down to the lowest part of Jerusalem (#3 in the drawing). For a blind guy, that was a LONG way to go— especially since the Pools of Bethesda were far more accessible.

Why did Jesus send the blind beggar all the way to the Pool of Siloam? Well, as the scripture points out, the Pool of Siloam’s name in Hebrew means “The Pool of the One Who Will Be Sent,” which was, of course, the Messiah. The Jews regarded this pool as prophetic of the Messiah pouring water upon the desert.

The Pool of Siloam was also symbolic of the Messiah pouring out the Holy Spirit on the Jews. The blind beggar was told to go to the Messiah’s pool to be healed. The name of the specific location the blind beggar was told to go to in order to be healed would not have been missed by the Pharisees.

But there’s even more to the story…
Each fall the Jews celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. The last day of this feast is called “The Great Day of the Feast.” On this day, the priests would perform a special ritual in which the nation would cry out for their Messiah to come.

Beginning at the Temple located at the top of Mt. Moriah, the High Priest would lead a long line of priests as they sang their way down a wide descending boulevard (see picture above) to the Pool of Siloam, located at the bottom of Mt. Moriah.

At the pool the High Priest would fill a special pitcher with water. With great pomp and ceremony, the High Priest would then take the long climb back up the boulevard to the Temple at the top of Mount Moriah.

He then would take the pitcher of water to the Brazen Altar of Sacrifice and pour the water on it while reading Isaiah 44:3 about the future Messiah coming to Israel:

“For I will pour out water on the thirsty land
   And streams on the dry ground;
   I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring
   And My blessing on your descendants;” Is. 44:3

The crowd would fall silent as they prayed for the Messiah to come and pour His Spirit on them. But this particular year, Jesus had come stealthily to Jerusalem without His Apostles. And it was at this moment He boldly broke the prayerful silence by loudly proclaiming:

“...If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” John 7:37-38

Jesus was answering their cry for their Messiah to come. The prophetic ritual of pouring the water from the “Pool of the One Who Is Sent” and praying for their Messiah had been answered!

But the crowd was confused. Some were amazed by His miracles and teaching. Others were adamant He was not the Messiah because He was from, they thought, Galilee and the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem. They didn’t realize He was actually born in Bethlehem.

The next day Jesus showed up at the Temple and confounded the Pharisees with His incredible oratory. Not being able to answer, they made a deep, deep dig at Jesus being born of fornication—supposing Mary had gotten pregnant before she was married. Then they said He had a demon. Finally they tried to stone Him.

Jesus slipped away from their grasp, and as He left the Temple area he saw the blind beggar sitting on the sidewalk. I have to think Jesus was smiling as He healed him right under their phariseetical noses and then tells him to go wash in the Pool of Siloam—The Pool of the Sent One.

Now you know why Jesus didn’t send the blind beggar to the Pools of Bethesda!

Shalom!

When the 300 Foot

Waves Swamps America

"YET ONCE MORE I WILL SHAKE NOT ONLY THE EARTH, BUT ALSO THE HEAVEN." Heb. 12:26

 

One of the most incredible prophecies ever described in the Bible regarding mass destruction on this earth takes place during the future 7-year Tribulation.

In 1450 BC, back during Israel’s Egyptian bondage, God reached a point where He was no longer willing to be silent. He had heard the cries of His people and took amazing action for the world to see and remember…and for the purpose of making His name known.

“Then the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD,” Ex. 14:18

And today, pretty much the whole world knows about those 10 horrific plagues that God unleashed on Egypt. When it was all over, there was no doubt in any Egyptian’s mind that God was not only God, but also that He loved Israel and was actively protecting her.

Fast-forward 3500 years to today and the situation is not much different. God has been quiet for some 2000 years. Miracles have happened, and He’s of course answered prayers. But nothing has happened that the world could point to like the parting of the Red Sea or making the sun stand still in the sky.

Yet there’s a time in the not-too-distant future when the Lord will no longer be silent. And He will make the 10 plagues look like child's play. When this happens, God will finally deal with all the lying and Biblical sin on the earth. He will protect His name and the world will know He’ll be actively protecting Israel.

Ezek. 38:23 “I will magnify Myself, sanctify Myself, and make Myself known in the sight of many nations; and they will know that I am the LORD.”’

And it’s during God’s blazing wrath unleashed from heaven to earth during the future 7-year Tribulation that the Bible says He “shakes” the heavens.”

“There will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Luke 21:25-26

The Bible says the nations of the world will be in dismay—perplexed by the waves in the seas around the world. Men are falling down, fainting, due to God shaking the heavens so violently.

“Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken from its place at the fury of the LORD of hosts in the day of His burning anger.” Is. 13:13 

The Bible talks a lot about this coming event. But notice it’s not just the heavens that are shaken during the Tribulation… He shakes the earth too.

“For thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘Once more [in the future], I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea also and the dry land.” Hag. 2:6

Even though it’s hard to imagine, the earth is shaken so violently that every island on the planet sinks into the ocean and every mountain is thrown to the ground! That would flatten every building on the planet. From skyscrapers to one-story huts, everything falls flat. That’s a lot of shaking going on! Those that survive won't know what to do!

"...and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb;" Rev. 6:16

This is the time that the Lord finally says He’s had enough of the proud earth-dwellers' sinful lying. This will be the post-Rapture moment when He will no longer be silent and punishes the earth for its Biblical sins like abortion, homosexuality, lying, etc. No one is getting away with anything at the moment!

“For the LORD of hosts will have a day of reckoning against everyone who is proud and lofty and against everyone who is lifted up, that he may be abased. … Against all the lofty mountains, against all the hills that are lifted up,” Is. 2:12,14

And in this righteous anger that's been quiet for 2000 years, He shakes the earth quite violently.

“The fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the beasts of the field, all the creeping things that creep on the earth, and all the men who are on the face of the earth will shake at My presence; the mountains also will be thrown down, the steep pathways will collapse and every wall will fall to the ground.” Ezek. 38:20

Now when the earth is shaken so violently that the mountains all over the earth are thrown down and the islands sink in the oceans, enormous waves will be created. And they’ll come crashing to shores worldwide.

We’re talking 300 to 500 foot waves submerging New York, LA and Seattle. All coastal cities in the USA and around the world will be devastated for miles inland.

I wrote an article about the probability that the latter-day Babylon prophecies of future destruction could easily be a parallel reference to the United States.

“The sea has come up over Babylon; She has been engulfed with its tumultuous waves. Jer. 51:42

If I’m correct, then these references about this end-time city being engulfed by water would be a prophecy for New York City's total destruction.

“For the LORD is going to destroy Babylon, and He will make her loud noise vanish from her. And their waves will roar like many waters;…” Jer. 51:55    

“This is the exultant city which dwells securely, who says in her heart, ‘I am, and there is no one besides me.’ How she has become a desolation, a resting place for beasts!…” Zeph. 2:15    

However, even if I’m wrong about New York City being the future Babylon that is destroyed, New York will still be leveled during the Tribulation destruction caused from the worldwide violent earthquakes and gigantic waves created when God shakes the earth. It’s such a destructive time that Mark says this:

“Unless the Lord had shortened those days, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect, whom He chose, He shortened the days.” Mark 13:20

We as Believers won’t be on the earth. Thankfully, God promises we’re not recipients of His wrath. 

“For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,” 1Th. 5:9

We’re 100% sure that all that unimaginable destruction is coming because God said it would. You can bank on it.

“Behold, the former things have come to pass, now I declare new things; Before they spring forth I proclaim them to you.” Is. 42:9

God gave us Bible prophecy to PROVE He is God. Only God can predict specifics in the future with exact precision. He’s done it in the past as a testament to being God. Prophecy is so important that some 30% of all Scripture is prophetic in nature.

The Bible gives us a sobering admonition directed to those of us living in the Church Age…

“And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, ‘YET ONCE MORE I WILL SHAKE NOT ONLY THE EARTH, BUT ALSO THE HEAVEN.’ This expression, ‘Yet once more,’ denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire. Heb. 12:26-29

The world may laugh and sneer at God today, but we we know in the not-too-distant future our God will remove His Church and then come out of His quietness like a consuming fire. And it will be a never-ending nightmare for those left behind. In the meantime, we’ll continue to honor our Creator God with gratitude and reverence!

Use us, Lord, to be a light to a dark, unsuspecting world!

Eph. 6:13 "Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm."

 Use us Lord!

Bill

A Clear And Present Danger

Future Active Shooters are Present Among Us!

"...be on the alert.

Your adversary, the devil,

prowls around like a roaring lion,

seeking someone to devour." 1Pet 5:8

 

It's sad that today we're pretty much unfazed when someone starts shooting people in a public area, unless it's close to our own home. Then we think, "I never thought that could happen here!" Yet it does happen all too often in America

Look at this chart of mass shootings in the U.S. since 1982. Unbelievable!

Four or more had to die to make that list. It doesn't include instances where three or fewer were killed.

So don't think for a moment it can't happen personally to you. An active-shooter situation is a clear and present danger to you, your family, your friends and your coworkers, regardless of where you live.

I saw this just last week, some numbskull in Texas was headed to shoot up a church congregation but was thankfully stopped.

The mass murder was foiled, but it should be a sobering wake-up call to us. It's a fact that you could be in danger at church, the mall, a restaurant, a theater... any public place. Yet few of us know what to do in the first few seconds, and, quite frankly, it could mean life or death.

We're not trying to scare anyone. We know our days were numbered before we were born.

"Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them." Psa. 139:16   

And we can't add time to our preordained lifespan by worrying.

“And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?" Matt. 6:27

But we have to take the whole counsel of God, and the Bible also says not to put the Lord to a foolish test...we are to be wise and consider our steps.

"And Jesus answered and said to him, “It is said, ‘YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.’” Luke 4:12

"The naive believes everything, but the sensible man considers his steps." Prov. 14:15

You can watch Dave Fowler's presentation titled STEELING YOUR BODY,  available March 2019, on what to do if you find yourself in an active-shooter situation. You'll learn what's the first thing to do if God allows you to be in this situation.

It's time to think a little differently, live smart, or we might end up paying a steep price. It's hard to believe we even need to discuss this topic. but if you ever needed this info, you'll be grateful you learned it!

Use us, Lord!

Israel built a simple wall of separation that immediately solved their problem.

WALLS


There are over 250 references to walls in the Bible, mostly referring to protection. Israel apparently noticed this because in the 1990s there was a problem with people entering neighborhoods with intent to harm.

But once Israel built a wall to protect her citizens, the problem literally went away overnight. See photos (above) of the simple wall Israel built.

Jericho was famous for being a walled city. The wall was so strong it seemed impenetrable. But in the Book of Joshua, we see the Lord break down the walls to allow Israel to defeat the inhabitants of Jericho.

When Nebuchadnezzar defeated Jerusalem in 586 BC by building a siege wall around Jerusalem and for two years starving the city into extinction, the crowning blow of embarrassment was to tear down the city’s walls of defense.

“He burned the house of the LORD, the king’s house, and all the houses of Jerusalem; even every great house he burned with fire. So all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard broke down the walls around Jerusalem.” 2Kings 25:9-10

Seventy years later, in the Book of Nehemiah we find Israel in Babylonian captivity due to disobedience of not adhering to God’s commands. Then they were allowed to return to Jerusalem but her WALLS and GATES had been destroyed, leaving the newly returning inhabitants defenseless.

So what was the first thing Nehemiah did? He didn’t start by holding a spiritual revival. He began by doing the most practical thing possible, rebuilding Jerusalem’s walls and gates to make the city safe.

Nehemiah knew that a city without solid border walls and gates made spiritual revival senseless. Walls had to be built first. Only after the walls and gates were rebuilt for safety was Israel able to rebuild the rest of the country.

Even in the Book of Revelation, in the New Heaven and Earth where there is no death, mourning, crying or pain, we see God still uses walls and gates for the New Jerusalem.

“It had a great and high wall, with twelve gates,” Rev. 21:12

LEADERSHIP


God says He is the One who determines a nation’s leadership!

“It is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings;” Dan. 2:21

“…there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.” Rom. 13:1b

All of our presidents, from George Washington to Donald Trump, have been ordained by God and He is in control. If you don’t like who your leader is, take it up with God—as many of us did with some of our past presidents!

At a time like this, it’s also important to remember to pray for our leaders. That WILL make a huge difference.

“First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.” 1Tim. 2:1-2

I know many, many people who pray daily for our nation's leadership. If you don't have them on your prayer list, add them!! This has never been as important as it is now!

So, to recap, God is pro-wall. He’s in control of all world leaders, whether they realize it or not. And our current leaders need all the prayer he can get to know how to defend this nation’s freedoms so graciously given to us.

Use us, Lord!

....yod = 10

....hey = 5

....veh = 6

....hey = 5

So most of the Jews would create their tassels by wrapping the blue cord in a line in groups of 10, 5, 6, 5, with each group separated by two white knots. Therefore when they looked at the tassels, they saw spelled out “yod hey vey hey” or “Yahweh.”

Naturally, not all Jews agree. Some Jews disagree with the 10-5-6-5 numbers and rather tie their knots in a 7-8-11-13 sequence. But the point is, they all tie their tassel knots in a way that reminds them to obey Yahweh.

What’s really fascinating is what the letters in the name Yahweh actually mean. 

Yod means “hand,” specifically from the wrist to the tips of the fingers.

(Note: There is a different letter, kaf, that means palm. This is important because Jesus was nailed through His wrists (Red circle). If you nail someone to a cross with nails in their palms (yellow circle), the weight of the body will tear the soft skin and the person will fall off!)

Hey means to "behold," "show," or "reveal."

Vey signifies a nail, peg, or hook. It even looks like a nail.

So when you read Yahweh from right to left in the Hebrew, it reads: 

“Behold the nail, behold the hand.”

Or simply, 

“Behold the nailed hand.”

When you combine the meaning for the individual letters with the overall meaning of the word Yahweh, YHWH, which means “salvation,” then it translates to: 

“Behold, the nailed hand is salvation.”

So today, the Jews who so meticulously and piously tie their tassels so they can read the name Yahweh are looking directly at their true salvation—Jesus’ blood from the nailed wrists as the propitiation for their sins. 

When God said He would blind the Jews, He meant what He said! 

Only a few Jews become Believers in the Church Age. And most of those who do struggle with getting away from the Law. They tend to want to work Jesus into the Law instead of making Jesus' and Paul’s instructions their life’s focus. 

But getting back to God’s instructions to the Israelites to tie those tassels to remember His Commandments, we can certainly apply it to us living in the Church Age. What is it that we need to do to remember God’s Word on a moment-by-moment basis? 

From the Old Testament we have:

Psa. 119:11 "Your word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against You."

From the New Testament we have:

Eph. 6… "Therefore, take up the full armor of God…His Word."

To armor up, we’re to know the Word of God. Now, more than ever, we need to know God’s Word to discern good and evil. Satan is a liar, and the Word sheds light to discern truth from lies.

In June of 2016 I was probably the last one invited to New York City to be a part of some 1000 evangelical Christian leaders who met and asked questions of then-Presidential-candidate Donald Trump. It was an amazing experience and pretty much everyone there could sense God was doing something different in this nation.

A couple of weeks ago, just under 100 Christian leaders were summoned to the White House for dinner. I, unfortunately, didn’t make the cut for that list. 🙂 But from all accounts, it too was quite a dinner on par with a State Dinner.

The meeting, as reported by those attending, was for President Trump to listen to the leaders. Most of the comments were praise for what President Trump has accomplished for the Christian community in his less than two years in office.

Then President Trump talked quite bluntly about the upcoming mid-term elections. In essence, Republican losses could be disastrous. He quite adamantly said if we lose, we lose everything we’ve gained so far. He said:

“Campaign for the Republican candidates in your area or they will reverse all the things we’ve accomplished.”

But what was even more amazing was President Trump’s comments after the press was ushered out of the meeting. One attendee surreptitiously taped part of his remarks.

Here are a few notable President Trump quotes from the recording: (Read them carefully!)

I continue to make the case that the nation’s divide is no longer Republican vs. Democrat, but rather, God vs. Satan. Yes, there may be an exception here and there, but for the most part, that’s what’s going on.

Satan is now out of the shadows and into full view. Watching the news you would have to have your head buried in the sand not to see it. Lies have become so prolific it seems like truth doesn’t matter anymore.

But of course, we know truth does matter. There is a judgment day that…

“…will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts;" 1Cor 4:5

Of course, God straight-forwardly warned us about this spiritual battle:

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Eph. 6:12

We have to be realistic. We’re not up against flesh and blood. It’s not politicians, it’s not people about which we should be concerned. Rather, it’s the evil spirit behind the people.

Satan loathes Christians, America and truth. And this lying demon is pulling out all the stops to get at what he hates the most—you and me. Thankfully at the moment God has President Trump in the way.

I, and millions of others, pray for his protection daily.

   “pray without ceasing;” 1Th. 5:17

The Bible also gives us the solution to dealing with this spiritual battle. In Paul’s letter to the church at Corinth, he made this extraordinary assessment about how to win when dealing with spiritual warfare directed against the knowledge of God:

   “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God," 2Cor. 10:3-5

We are in a spiritual battle, not a flesh battle. The closer we come to the Lord’s return, the more Satan will be in the open coming after CHRISTIANS, after truth. Don’t think it’s anything else. Ephesians 6 point blank tells us what we should be doing.

   “Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil… so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.” Eph. 6:11,13

• The Bible, God’s Word, is our armor. The more we know His Word, the less Satan can dupe us and the more God can use us. And of course, prayer is our ultimate weapon that moves mountains.

   “And He said to them, 'This kind cannot come out by anything but prayer.'” Mk 9:2

A Call To Prayer

There’s never been a time in our nation’s history that His armor was needed more by His Believers. We must pray continuously between now and November 6 for the upcoming elections. Pray that Christians will turn out en masse to vote. Your prayers and vote matters.

I do believe God when He says:

The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. James 5:16

I also know God SEES our prayers coming to Him.

"And he said to him, “Your prayers and alms have ascended as a memorial before God." Acts 10:4

Because this is so important, I'm praying that God sees our prayers as a group coming to Him. And I hope you join our mass of ascending prayers!

WOW—ALL THAT BLOOD!

Understanding Your Jewishness as a Believer

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   “But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree, do not be arrogant toward the branches; but if you are arrogant, remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you.” Rom. 11:17-18

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We live in a very special time period where God has paused His preordained clock dealing with the Jews and allowed Gentile Believers to be grafted into/adopted into the rich root of the olive tree— the Jewish promises given to Abraham and the prophets.

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Yet few Believers understand their Jewish heritage. In fact, Satan has convinced 80% of the professing Christians to believe that the Jews rejected their Messiah and therefore the Church has inherited the promises given to the Jews.

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Of course, that’s simply not true. Anyone with two brain cells should be able to read Romans chapters 9-11 and see God’s not finished with His chosen people. Once the preordained time period we call “The Church Age” is completed, God will remove all the Born-Again Believers and go back to dealing with the Jews again for 7 years.

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But in the meantime, even premillennial, pro-Israel Believers today are missing so much by not understanding our rich Jewish roots. For instance, the sacrificial system God had ordained for the Jews is fascinating under scrutiny. Let’s look closely at what the Passover sacrifices entailed in the first century as it overtly pointed to the death of the Messiah.

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When John the Baptist thundered, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” it would have resonated deeply with every Jew standing on the bank of the Jordan River. None would have missed the obvious connection being proclaimed because they lived in a world where God commanded innocent lambs to be continually sacrificed to pay for sin.

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"For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement." Leviticus 17:11

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God added this in the New Testament:

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“And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of bloodthere is no forgiveness. Hebrews 9:22

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These sacrifices to the Lord go all the way back to Cain and Abel (Gen. 4:4-5) and later Noah (Gen. 8:20-21).

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Personal sacrifices were made in the open-air plaza in front of the Jewish Temple at various times during the year, as prescribed by God in Leviticus. While the Day of Atonement each fall was the most important feast, it was the Feast of Passover in Jerusalem each year that was the most celebratory. It is simply hard to imagine!

Passover dinner is a big deal each year for even nominal Jews.

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Passover was held in Jerusalem each spring, and every male over the age of 20 mandatorily had to attend. There they would join over two million fellow Jews making their sacrifices of an unblemished one-year-old male lamb and eat the Passover dinner.

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During the meal, God commanded that they recount Moses and the miraculous exodus from Egypt when the Lord “passed over” the Jews on that same day 1450 years earlier. A major part of the exodus event was that the death angel passed over only those who had been covered by the blood of a lamb on their doorposts.

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Two million Passover attendees in Jerusalem each year astonishingly required some 20,000 sacrificial sheep to be slaughtered in a single day—between sunrise and sunset on the day of preparation when the other sheep were being sacrificed. The organization by the Levites who were charged with the monstrous task staggers the mind.

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Many Jews raised their own sheep for the yearly Passover sacrifice. But most did not and would instead purchase an approved lamb outside the Sheep Gate. The bulk of the sheep were raised five miles to the south in the grass pastures surrounding Bethlehem. Our Savior, called the Lamb of God, was born in the middle of all those sacrificial sheep.

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A few days before Passover, the shepherds would carefully bring thousands of sheep north from Bethlehem through a series of valleys ending in the Kidron Valley. It’s situated between the towering Temple Mount walls to the west, the steep sides of Mount of Olives to the east and Mt. Scopus to the north, making a natural pen for the thousands of sheep.

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Near the north end of the Temple Mount’s east facing wall was the Inspection Gate where the sheep were inspected in order to be declared “unblemished.” Once deemed to be acceptable offerings, the sheep could then be sold as Passover Lambs.

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Sacrificing 20,000 sheep in one place in one day was so spectacular that the Roman ruler, Pontius Pilate, would travel from his luxury Roman palace in Caesarea on the Mediterranean Sea to Jerusalem just to watch the day-long event.

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Pilate even had a special high tower built on the southeast corner of the Roman Antonia Fortress. From there he could peer over the Temple Mount’s walls and view the mesmerizing sight of some 40 lambs being sacrificed every minute.

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To perform this many sacrifices in one day, by necessity, meant most of the sacrifices were slaughtered in the area between the Temple Compound and the Antonia Fortress, north of the Altar.

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Above: According to Leviticus 1:11, all sacrifices had to be

performed north of the Altar. Because of the sheer

number of sacrifices needed in a day on Passover,

the sacrificial area stretched into the area between

the Temple Compound and the Antonia Fortress

(Shaded yellow area), giving Pilate a grand view of

20,000 animals being sacrificed in one day!

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In Jesus’ day, imagine a freshly bathed Jew, with his 1/2 shekel Temple tax in his pocket and his sacrificial lamb draped over his shoulders, standing with thousands of other Jews with their lambs, waiting their turn to enter the Temple compound. As he got closer to the sacrificial area, he could hear the all-male Levitical Choir singing continuously from the balcony.

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The Levitical Choir included singers and musicians who played on trumpets, harps, lyres and cymbals. Once you were in the sacrificial area it was customary to sing along with the choir.

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Singing for the entire eight hours of sacrifice required five groups of 100 singers rotating every 30 minutes. The deep base lyrics and musical accompaniment drowned out most of the sounds of the scurrying Priests and bleating sheep.

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When you reached the front of the line, the lamb's throat was slit by a priest who simultaneously caught blood in a cup. The cup was passed down a long succession of priests until it was thrown at the base of the great altar.

Above: The entrails of the animals sacrificed are

wheeled to the Altar located in front of the Jewish Temple.

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The entrails were removed and wheeled to the top of the altar, where a roaring fire burned the quite-greasy innards of the lambs. The flames burned throughout the day, leaping 30 to 50 feet into the air—so high Herod remarked he could see them from his palace on the other side of town.

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The amount of blood from so many sacrifices at one time apparently was a problem. In the picture above, I'm standing in front of a huge drain discovered about 20 years ago that comes directly from the sacrificial area. All that blood, as well as the history of the ages, flowed to the Dead Sea.

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NOTE: Today, cosmetic products made from Dead Sea mud seem to have special healing powers. Many European insurance companies cover expenses to the Dead Sea for treatments of things like psoriasis and other skin problems.

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With the entrails removed and the blood drained, the carcass was then taken back to the family to roast and eat for the Passover dinner. The entire carcass had to be 100% consumed before morning. With an average lamb producing some 50 pounds of meat, a single lamb would feed around 100 members.

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An average extended Israeli family in Jesus’ day would easily have 100+ members celebrating the Passover together. But smaller families would have to combine together in order to consume the entire lamb before sunrise.

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The meal began with the children going to the front door to see if Elijah was there. Jews to this day still set a dinner place for Elijah and send the kids to the door to see if Elijah has returned.

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“Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD.” Mal. 4:5

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They, of course, don’t understand that when Elijah does show up he will be one of the two witnesses described in Revelation 11 who are prominent in the first 3 1/2 years of the Tribulation.

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With Elijah not at the door and the house meticulously cleaned of leaven, the famous celebratory dinner could then begin. It included four glasses of wine spaced through the evening, and often the celebration stretched into the wee hours of the morning.

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The meal courses were served between explanations of the specific Passover foods (lamb, bitter herbs and

Close-Up of Traditional Jewish Food unleavened bread) and accounts of Moses and the Egyptian Exodus retold to wide-eyed children.

But there was another interesting characteristic of the days leading up to Passover. While the rest of the world worshiped multiple gods, the Jews worshiped one God, Yahweh. And Yahweh promised a future Redeemer would come and rule the world from Mt. Moriah in Israel.

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With the Romans holding a tight grip over the Jewish nation, every Jew longed for God's promised Messiah to appear. Most Jews expected another Moses-like Redeemer. And, like Moses, they expected their Messiah to show up on Passover. So Messianic fever reached its zenith each year at Passover.

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But it had been over four hundred years since God had communicated with the Jews through a prophet or a miraculous physical sign like Moses parting the Red Sea. Israel longed for those historical days again providing relief from the despised and cruel Roman Empire rule. So Israel longed for her Messiah to arrive.

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Therefore in the weeks leading up to Passover it wasn’t uncommon to hear Jews discussing the Messiah, saying “Would this be the year the Messiah will come and release us from the yoke of the Romans?”

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Just like “prophecy buffs” today, watching and waiting for the return of their Messiah, there were those at the time of Christ who also lived and breathed prophetic scripture. Based on Daniel 9:24-27, some had calculated that they were in the window of time predicted for the Messiah to show up.

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So it was amongst this national Messianic fever at Passover that God Himself shows up in the flesh and begins fulfilling all the Old Testament prophecies. To the prophecy buffs of the day, Jesus must have been exciting to watch as He fulfilled one prophecy after another. They KNEW the Messiah had come.

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Unfortunately, most missed the part where the Messiah had to first come as a sacrificial lamb, then return later as a King.

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But the prophecy buffs of the day were well rewarded for their attention to scriptural detail. No doubt many of them became Believers when all the dust settled and the Holy Spirit came rushing down to earth on Pentecost, 50 days after Jesus was crucified. All because they dug deeply into scripture.

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"The beginning of wisdom is: Acquire wisdom; And with all your acquiring, get understanding." Proverbs 4:7

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© 2018 Compass Int’l, Inc.

Bill and Susie Perkins founded Compass International, Inc. in 1993 as a non-profit, non-denominational ministry. For information on Compass’ Steeling the Mind Bible Conferences, Good Morning Lord! Bible studies, books, DVDs and Biblelands Cruises, go to compass.org

CQLJ!

In our public schools today students are being taught revisionist history, meaning they’re not being taught the truth about history. Rather, if history is taught at all, it’s a revised history meant to fit a liberal political narrative. And those revisions do not correctly portray our country’s founding fathers’ beliefs, why they founded the United States, etc.

Ask a public high school student today to tell you about the people and events surrounding our Declaration of Independence. If you get more than a blank stare (they don’t teach a lot of history in school today), students will most likely tell you that rich capitalistic white people stole the land from the Indians.

But fortunately the truth is easy to find. In 1492 Christopher Columbus bravely crossed the unknown Atlantic Ocean for the express purpose to bring the gospel to the unreached(1).

In 1620, those who crossed on the Mayflower fled religious persecution, wishing instead to worship a personal God, not a state-run God(2).

In fact, most of the original colonies and states along the eastern coast of North America specifically mentioned God and/or Jesus Christ in their incorporating documents.(3)

The founding fathers, and those who followed in our nation’s leadership for decades, were so engrossed in their Biblical beliefs that they left a trail of writings and monument inscriptions carved in stone. The stones cry out today against the lies being taught in our public schools and colleges.

For instance, did you know that the 10 Commandments are pictured above the eastern entrance to the Supreme Court building? The inscription reads: “JUSTICE - THE GUARDIAN OF LIBERTY.” And above that inscription, carved in stone and prominently located front and center of the world's most famous law givers, is Moses holding the two tablets with the 10 Commandments. (Pictured below)

Even the doors of the Supreme Court have the two tablets with God’s law engraved on them.

Inside the Lincoln Memorial are numerous phrases that acknowledge God and citations of Bible verses. One quote states, “That this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—that government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from the earth.” Other quotes include Matthew 18:7, Psalms 19:9 and Isaiah 40:4-5.

On the apex of the Washington Monument are the Latin words “Laus Deo,” which mean “Praise be to God.”

In the White House, over the mantel in the state dining room is a quote from John Adams, “I pray Heaven to bestow the best blessings on this house and all that shall hereafter inhabit it.”

Inside the Jefferson Memorial are numerous Biblial references including: “God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that His justice cannot sleep forever.”

The Jefferson Memorial (pictured above) also quotes the Declaration of Independence, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights. That among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. With a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”

Patrick Henry (March 23,1775)
"We shall not fight ALONE. God presides over the destinies of nations...The battle is not to the strong alone. Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! Give me liberty or give me death!"

Religious artwork is found all around Washington DC, including in the Capitol Rotunda. There the prayer service of Christopher Columbus is prominently displayed, along with the Baptism of Pocahontas and the Pilgrims having a Bible study.

In the Library of Congress, The Giant Bible of Mainz and The Gutenberg Bible are on prominent permanent display. As is a bronze statue of Moses. And on the walls are Bible verses, including:

 “The light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not.” John 1:5
 
   “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore, get wisdom and with all thy getting, get understanding.” Proverbs 4:7
 
   “What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.” Micah 6:8
 
   “The heavens declare the Glory of God, and the firmament showeth His handiwork.” Psalm 19:1
 
In the Cox Corridor of the Capitol the words “America! God shed His grace on thee” are inscribed. And at the east Senate Entrance the words “Annuit Coeptis” — Latin for “God has favored our undertakings” — is there for all to see.

Recently, Hobby Lobby’s owner Steve Green put up hundreds of millions of dollars to finance the Museum of the Bible in Washington DC (pictured below). It’s located near the National Mall, only three blocks from the Capitol. The museum has hundreds of ancient Biblical artifacts and history exhibits.

References:

(1)

http://www.missionfrontiers.org/issue/article/christopher-columbus

(2)

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/8610141/Flashback-the-Pilgrims-who-set-sail-on-the-Mayflower-to-escape-religious-persecution.html

(3)

https://www.cusd80.com/cms/lib6/AZ01001175/Centricity/Domain/627/Christianity,_Our_Early_State_Constitutions,.pdf

Miscellaneous:

https://www.allabouthistory.org/spiritual-heritage-and-government-monuments-faq.htm

https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/issues/issue-35/columbus-and-christianity-did-you-know.html

© 2018 Compass Int’l, Inc.

 

Sometimes it’s hard to make sense of what’s ahead—what it’ll be like in heaven. After all, the Bible does say that our glorious future life is beyond anything we can imagine.“THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD, AND which HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART OF MAN, ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.” 1Cor 2:9We can’t even imagine how good it will be. With my imagination, I can think of a lot of A+ situations we could find ourselves in when we finally reach our heavenly goal. Yet no matter how good I imagine it could be, it’s better than anything I can think of! That’s amazing. We certainly won’t be sitting around on clouds playing harps.

So with all my "imagination" I have some questions. For instance, what age will we be in heaven? If we live to 100, will we look like that forever? Or will the men all look about 25 and the women 20?

Time, After Time?
Here's another question...eternity's a long time, so will we have a lot of time on our hands to fill? Will there be “time” after time? Many years ago I was taught that God is outside of time and when we get to heaven, there will be no more time. I didn’t understand it but accepted it as fact.But now as I look more closely at scripture, it clearly says there WILL be time in heaven.
 
"When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”   Rev 6:9-10Here we see people in heaven definitely referring to time, saying “how long.” They can see the tribulation going on on the earth, not having completed its full seven years of time.

But what about the new heaven and earth? Will time stop? Clearly not!

“But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death” Rev 21:8

Here in the New Heaven and Earth we see time mentioned regarding those who did not Believe the Gospel. They’re in the “lake of fire that burns...,” which is a reference to time for people who have died.

But this earth will be destroyed by fire one day at the end of the Millennium and we’ll have a New Heaven and Earth (Rev 21:1). Time will also be there:

“Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month.” Rev 22:1-2

Every month! There won’t be a sun or moon to measure time like we do today, but there’s definitely time somehow being measured in the New Heaven and Earth.

Einstein showed that time was a physical property that varies depending on mass, acceleration and gravity. Who knows if there's any gravity in heaven or how fast we'll be speeding through the universe.

Also it's important to note that time on this earth, as used in our lives, was originally created “good.”

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth…. God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day. Gen. 1:1,5

“God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good.” Gen. 1:31

We measure and mark time with birthdays, marriages, events and such. And when you think about it, the only bad thing about time is that, after Adam’s sinful fall, time ultimately brings death. But in heaven, there is no death, so time will be on our side.

Uh, how about restrooms?
So it’s a fact that time will be present in heaven. But what about restrooms? It’s always intrigued me that Jesus ate with His disciples after He was raised from the dead and in His resurrected body. Obviously He did this to show He was not a spirit, but rather He was truly resurrected with flesh and bone.“See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; touch Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. While they still could not believe it because of their joy and amazement, He said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave Him a piece of a broiled fish; and He took it and ate it before them.” Luke 24:39-42Jesus proved to His disciples that His resurrected body had flesh and bone by eating fish. Apparently His resurrected body functioned similarly to His original body.

We also know that when we get to heaven we’ll go to the big dinner, called the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19:9). There we’ll eat food and drink wine. Jesus said:

“And He said to them, ‘I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I say to you, I shall never again eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.’ And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He said, ‘Take this and share it among yourselves; for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes.’”   Luke 22:15–18

I’ve always wondered what the wine was like that Jesus made at the wedding in Cana. So I'm looking forward to tasting His wine at the Marriage Supper! Now it won't be polite to stare at your Baptist friends who've got no clue what to do. Just saying...

THAT BEGS THE QUESTION
But this eating food and drink raises another somewhat awkward but interesting question. If you eat food and drink wine, will you need to go to the restroom?Susie, my wonderful wife of almost 50 years, came to my rescue on this one. She, who has a physics minor, said she believes that our bodies will be so perfect, and the food and wine so perfect, that anything we consume will be perfectly absorbed and nothing will need to be eliminated. Whew! I’ll go with that.She makes a good point because we know our new bodies will be like Jesus’ resurrected body—flesh and bone—and absent of sin and decay.

“For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself. Phil 3:20–21

“Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is." 1John 3:2

So when the Rapture whisks us into the sky, we’ll leave our wretched sinful bodies behind and they’ll be transformed into new containers for our individual spirits. Bodies that won’t age or get sick, but can walk through walls (John 20:19). That'll be fun!

“For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked.” 2 Cor. 5:1-3

Our earthly bodies are referred to as temporary tents and our new bodies are referred to as eternal houses. That’s quite the upgrade, with or without restrooms.

Shalom!

© 2018 Compass Int’l, Inc.

In 1948 God allowed Israel to become a nation in the midst of howling wolves surrounding the fledgling country. In a land that had been dominated by Arabs for 800 years, Israel sprang up, seemingly out of nowhere.

On May 14, 1948, the day the United Nations announced that Israel had been given formal nation status, six Arab nations invaded Israel with the expressed purpose to wipe her out before she could even get her government and army established.

So much was at stake. The Arabs had grown accustomed to controlling that part of the world. They assumed it would be theirs forever.

Immediately, within hours of Israel becoming a nation, 1.2 million Arab troops from six countries came against a total population of 800,000 Israeli men, women and children. Anyone who has played the game of Risk knows those numbers don’t work for holding territory.

Yet against all odds, somehow Israel repelled the overwhelming forces who came against her, and the new nation began. One of the things they did was drain the swamps, literally, giving Israel much-needed agricultural space.

The bottom line is that Israel survived only because the Lord wanted her to survive in order to fulfill Bible prophecy. It was proof that the Creator God of the universe was, is and will always be, in total and complete control. The ultimate result was that after 2000 years of Jews being dispersed and ridiculed around the world, God changed everything in a day.

Some 70 years later, in similar fashion, on November 8, 2016, Donald Trump was elected President of the United States. He too was dropped into the midst of howling wolves who surrounded him, fully intent on destroying his duly-elected administration. He too had to drain the swamps.

From the day he was elected, the full force of the liberal left has assaulted him with any and everything available. They’re incredulous that they’ve lost control of so much money and power. They assumed that their control of our nation’s direction would be theirs forever.

But God changed everything in a day. God allowed, for His purposes, Donald Trump to become President. And President Trump has already done as much, or more, than Ronald Reagan did for Christians. Only the Lord could have arranged such an amazing story.

George Barna, the famous national pollster, has released a new book entitled “The Day Christians Changed America.” When you read it, you realize the title could have easily been, “The Day God Changed America,” because using his monthly polling he documents how Christians and their faith were the determining factors behind the inexplicable Presidential election results. 

It’s a fantastic read for Believers because it shows beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is still in control and used Believers to turn back the openly Satanic assault against God, family and country.

Unless you had your head buried in the sand, it had become quite clear that those in charge for the last eight years wanted to detach this nation from its moral base and world prominence.

The former administration had done everything within its power to wipe out all Christian influence in this nation. They pushed one anti-biblical theme after another for eight long years. And the nightmare ended, against all odds, only when God used Believers and their underlying faith to change the direction of America in a single day.

Donald Trump is now the captain of our ship and is exposing the most unimaginable atrocities perpetuated on Christians in America by the last administration. How long this reprieve will last is up to the Lord, but in the meantime, we pray for God’s protection of President Trump and his administration. And we thank the Lord the election didn’t turn out differently.

And if you want to see what was FACTUALLY behind the presidential election, order George Barna’s book from Compass: The Day Christians Changed America. It’s so captivating for Believers I practically read it all the way through without stopping!

Within the pages of Barna’s book are several references to the invitation-only meeting I attended with other Christian leaders in June of 2016. Barna says that meeting was a turning point in the Presidential campaign.

I believe him. I wrote about the meeting that evening in my hotel room. I was exhausted from a long but exhilarating day, but managed to bang-out the post for Facebook before I fell asleep.

I was motivated because at the end of the meeting I had just witnessed most of over 1000 Christian leaders, dressed in suits and skirts, get down on the floor of a hotel ballroom to pray for our nation. I wanted to share that incredible moment as best I could.

And as I was leaving for the airport the next day, I glanced at the post and was dumbfounded to see it already had over 200 SHARES. Amazingly it was eventually shared over 2,000 times between the original Compass Facebook post and my personal Facebook page.

I then sent it to our 25,000 eNews subscribers and we spent weeks in our office answering calls from people who received email “Forwards.” Based on the response, I just KNEW God was up to something. You can read the article in our eNews Articles section online, titled “Donald Trump Meets with Evangelical Leaders.”

And as we now all know, the Lord allowed, or maybe even orchestrated, an amazing power shift in our political landscape. For whatever reason, He didn’t want those Satanic left-of-the-left liberals to take over just yet. Thankfully He’s given us this temporary reprieve from an undeniable march toward world government.

I remember before the 2016 election that I was thinking the Rapture had a chance to happen during that particular September’s Rosh Hashanah. It’s humbling to know that since then, countless people have been saved from the coming Wrath of God. And millions of babies have been born—eternal blessings from God. So God’s delay is good in a lot of ways.

Our patience is necessary in these last days, until God’s timing for that fateful moment of the Believer’s departure is upon us. And thankfully our time-extension includes President Trump’s unlikely election. Otherwise a lot of us might be witnessing from prison!

So get this book about the untold story of how God used the faith of Christian Believers to change America’s direction. I know you’ll enjoy it as much as I did.

Shalom!

Bill

© 2017 Compass Int’l, Inc. 

Bill and Susie Perkins founded Compass International, Inc. in 1993 as a non-profit, non-denominational ministry. For information on Compass’ Steeling the Mind Bible Conferences, Good Morning Lord! Bible studies, books, DVDs and Biblelands Cruises, go to compass.org

LIKE us on Facebook: facebook.com/compassbible and FOLLOW us on Twitter: @compass7 and Instagram: @compassbible

“Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;
Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness;”
Is. 5:20

The United States has enemies who wish to take us down.
It’s easy to see our sworn enemies outside our borders, like North Korea and Iran, and take appropriate defensive action. But it’s harder to see our enemies our borders. Yet they exist and are actually more dangerous if not acknowledged.

In the 1930s during the Great Depression, the Communist Party in America gained a foothold. They continued to grow until they reached 85,000 members by the early 1950s.

In the spring of 1954, Senator Joseph McCarthy held hearings on unAmerican activities exposing the Communist threat. These hearings were broadcast live on television and shocked America.

Due to what was learned in the hearings, President Eisenhower expanded his loyalty-security program through which he identified and fired hundreds of federal workers who had infiltrated our government. Congress responded by passing a law that was designed to outlaw the American Communist Party.

Despite revisionist history that has dubbed McCarthy as being on a witch hunt or causing an unnecessary “red scare,” the truth is Communism was a growing threat from within our borders, and McCarthy exposed it for what it was. Growth of Communism was shut off and the Communists had to find another way to reach their goal of defeating America.

In 1958, W. Cleon Skousen, an ex-FBI agent, wrote a book entitled The Naked Communist. Having seen what was going on in America from the inside, he wrote brazenly about what the Communists were up to.

In the book he soberly lists 45 goals the Communists wanted to achieve in order to take over America. This list was read into the Congressional Record in 1963.(1) Reading the entire list will make you want to cry, so I’m listing only five zingers:

17. Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers' associations. Put the party line in textbooks.

41. Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents.

11. Promote the U.N. as the only hope for mankind. If its charter is rewritten, demand that it be set up as a one-world government with its own independent armed forces.

21. Gain control of key positions in radio, TV, and motion pictures.

26. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as "normal, natural, healthy."

It would be difficult to argue they’ve not achieved these goals.

Russian Communist Vladimir Lenin famously said, “Give me just one generation of youth and I’ll transform the whole world.”

Needless to say, the Communists have stealthily invaded this nation without firing a shot. Everything America has stood for in its first 200 years was being dismantled piece by piece until the Lord allowed Donald Trump to be elected.

The liberal-controlled media (CNN-Communist News Network, NBC, CBS, ABC, et al.) has been on a rampage to do anything and everything to keep the lid on where they have been taking our country.

When Obama was elected president, glowing reports and sweeping accolades for the new president flooded the liberal media airwaves. What do you think would have happened if a group of people led by George Bush had started a multi-million dollar fund to undermine Obama’s presidency and to fight him every step of the way? They would have been arrested. Yet that is exactly what is happening with Obama.(7)

How long the Lord will allow President Trump to fend off his foes is anybody’s guess. Regardless, a LOT of damage has already been done through the years—under both Democrat and Republican administrations.

For instance, public education has been totally decimated. Are you aware that today, literally one out of every five high school graduates can't even read?!(8) And yet we spend more per student than any nation in the world.(9) Where is the outcry?

In 1994 at a Steeling the Mind Bible Conference in Vail, Colorado, we had a two-hour presentation on the sheer evils of a new education program being rolled into public school systems nationwide. Called Outcome-based Education, or OBE, it was in-your-face evidence that progressives had come out of the closet using OBE as their perfect Trojan horse for social engineering.

National pride, gun control and Christian views on creation and miracles were being openly ridiculed while the environment, socialism/globalism and homosexuality were lauded. Curricula were made easier to pass and “absolutes” were abandoned.

The result was that we graduated dumber kids who were more likely to use illegal drugs and become more promiscuous.(4)

Due to people and groups who saw through the maze and protested its curriculum and true goals, OBE was replaced by Goals 2000. Same song, different verse. As Goals 2000 was exposed, it was eventually replaced by No Child Left Behind, which dumbed down curricula so that everyone passed. After 10 years of schools treading water, making virtually no improvements, Mr. Obama picked up the education baton in 2009 and called it “Common Core.”

Common Core actually had some pure education teaching fixes, but the assault on Christian values continued. Between 2010 and 2015, Obama directed $7 billion to turn around 5,000 failing schools. The only problem was there was no accountability with the money. Imagine sending out $7 billion to liberal educators without supervision! So there’s no surprise that it was a colossal failure.

Andy Samrick, an education policy expert with the American Enterprise Institute said of Obama’s investment:

“(Obama’s $7 billion investment) is the greatest failure in the U.S. Department of Education’s 30+ year history.”

But what Obama didn’t accomplish with education, he did through secular social engineering of our kids.

Why Do We Have Public Schools?
The purpose of education should be to train students in communication, writing, speaking, research, problem-solving and critical-thinking. It’s not just knowing the answers to questions on a test. It should teach them how to live, work and think. And for Christians, education is worthless if God is not the central part of it.

And do realize that education is not religiously neutral. The publishers of school books teach from either a secular or biblical worldview. There’s no middle ground. Students learn to view the world from either a secular or biblical lens. Obama’s legacy is that now public schools brazenly indoctrinate students with a philosophy that is virtually opposite of scripture.

Matt Walsh recently blogged about what schools are teaching to 11 year olds:

A concerned parent sent me a school newspaper for Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School in Falls Church, Virginia. Among the other hard hitting pieces of journalism targeted at children, ages 11-13, is an article on “transgender rights.”

The article explains how Obama “improved the lives of transgender people by fighting the discrimination against them,” but all of that is now in jeopardy because of President Trump.

The next article delves into the intricacies and wonders of various forms of gender identity, including “transgenderism,” “non-binary,” “bigender,” “agender,” “demigender,” “genderfluid,” and “genderflux.” I’m obviously more innocent and naive than the typical middle schooler these days, so I’d never even heard of some of these.(2)

I doubt few adults understand all that, much less an 11 year old. When they kicked God out of the schools, they lost their rudder. Public school, the largest time-influence of our kids, is unabashedly and enthusiastically teaching that the world is not about God, but about man.

“For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator,” Rom. 1:25

James Dobson of Focus on the Family has taken the gloves off concerning sending kids to public schools. He recently said on his radio program:

“Christian parents should pull their children out of public schools, now, to protect them from spiritual damage, extreme indoctrination, and other serious problems.” (10)

God says parents should teach their kids about God, Who He is, what His rules are and what He expects. And they are to teach His spiritual truths all day long.

“You shall teach them (God’s Word) diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.” Deut 6:7

If we are commanded to teach our children God’s Word from the time we get up to the time we go to sleep, that would include the eight or so hours during the middle of the day while they are at school. But instead of teaching God’s truth, central planners mold them into functionally illiterate graduates that are unable to think critically, much less know their purpose in life.

And without understanding God’s purpose, depression sets in. So not surprisingly, teen suicide has doubled in the last ten years.(6) But depression is also coming from the amount of drugs taken—illegal and legal.

Unbelievably, one of every five boys have been diagnosed with ADHD, resulting in one in ten boys being prescribed the psychiatric drug Ritalin or Adderall, which are known to cause depression.(11) In all, 8.4 million kids are taking prescription drugs. And the elephant in the room is that ALL mass shootings at schools have one thing in common…the shooters were all taking psychiatric prescription drugs.(4)

The Columbine School mass murderers, Harris and Kebold, had brains full of serotonin, a chemical that causes violence and aggression. It came from Harris taking Zoloft and Luvox. Kebold’s records are officially sealed, but witnesses have testified publicly that he took Paxil and Zoloft.(4)

You would think the fact that 22 international drug regulatory agencies warn that these antidepressant drugs can cause violence, mania, psychosis, suicide and homicide would be enough to convince doctors to NOT give those drugs to kids. Apparently not.(4)

ADHD and other so-called “mental disorders” are only diagnosed by a checklist of behaviors. There’re no scientific or genetic tests, brain scans or X-Ray that verifies mental disorders as disease requiring dangerous psychiatric drugs to “treat” them.(3)

Yet parents of 8.4 million kids throw caution to the wind when all they would have to do is ask to see the lab test, brain scan, blood test or X-Ray that proves the child has a mental disorder that requires drug “treatment.”(3)

“Any recommendation for more mental health ‘treatment,’ which inevitably means putting more people and more kids on these psychiatric drugs, is not only negligent, but considering the possible repercussions, criminal.” CCHR International

Who Should Teach Your Child?
A Christian parent should want his child to be taught by a teacher with a biblical worldview. Then the students can be taught to compare everything to what God says, in order to learn what God wants.

So what Christian parent would send their kid in to an environment that literally mocks Christianity and God’s Word? Especially when God’s instructions to parents are clear:

“Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it.”  Proverbs 22:6

Since children are born sinners they need to be “trained” to know what is good and evil. And who should define what is good and evil? Obviously the Lord Who created us. And He gave us all we need to know in His Word—wisdom comes from God.

“The fear (reverence) of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”   Prov. 9:10

“… if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” James 1:5

So it’s no surprise that when God was kicked out of public schools in 1963, Satan filled the void and things have been progressively going downhill since. Students cannot publicly acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, while at the same time students can discuss Allah, Confucius, Karl Marx and a host of other godless people. So it’s safe to say that Satan has compromised our public schools.

But too many parents refuse to acknowledge the facts. Or they simply say they can’t afford to send their kids to a Christian school. Which, quite frankly, is admitting that money is their god.

“Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE,” says the Lord. “AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN;” 2 Cor. 6:17

Another reason we hear is that parents send their kids to public school so they can be “salt and light.” Really? Do you really want to send your kids into a Satanic battle they will most likely lose? For every one kid who survives there are dozens who buy the lie and lose their faith.

Some People Don’t Want To Hear These Facts
In the 24 years of doing Steeling the Mind Conferences, we’ve never had an outburst from an audience member that interrupted a speaker’s presentation. Until this year. Halfway though Russ Miller’s presentation last month at Steeling Noah’s Ark, one person did just that. She screamed out, “That’s not true!”

Unfortunately, what Russ was saying in his presentation entitled “Inside The Public School Nightmare” was, in fact, true. He was methodically going down a long list of facts about public schools today; things most parents either don’t know or willfully ignore for a variety of reasons.

Apparently, hearing all the cold hard facts at one time was too much for this lady. After a brief exchange back and forth with the lady, Russ continued to document his long list.

By the time he finished, pretty much the entire room understood the gravity of the public school situation. There is no excuse for any Christian parent to allow their child or children to go into Satan’s playground.

If you’re blessed to have children, the Bible says don’t yoke them with unbelievers.

“Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, the fruit of the womb is a reward.” Psa. 127:3

“Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?” 2 Cor. 6:14

“See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.” Col.2:8

The bottom line is this:
If God’s Word is not allowed to define what sin is, then on what basis can anything be weighed or examined? You can call it what you want, but if it’s not God’s basis, then it’s Satan’s. There is no gray area or middle ground. You either use God’s measuring stick, or you’re using Satan’s.

The entire Steeling The Mind Conference, including the presentation on public schools that upset that lady so much, is available on DVD for $29, or you can download and watch it for $4.95 each or all conference downloads for $19.95. Click here to see the titles and/or order. See also Curtis Bower's presentation on "The Communist Agenda in the U.S." here.

References:

(1) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1561529/posts

(2) http://www.theblaze.com/contributions/matt-walsh-christian-parents-your-kids-arent-equipped-to-be-public-school-missionaries/

(3) https://www.cchrint.org/issues/childmentaldisorders/

(4) http://psychiatricfraud.org/2011/04/the-real-lesson-of-columbine-psychiatric-drugs-induce-violence/

(5) http://www.wnd.com/2013/04/radical-increase-in-kids-prescribed-ritalin/

(6) http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/03/health/kids-suicide-deaths-increase/index.html

(7) http://nypost.com/2017/02/11/how-obama-is-scheming-to-sabotage-trumps-presidency/

(8) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/06/illiteracy-rate_n_3880355.html

(9) https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-education-spending-tops-global-list-study-shows/

(10) https://www.thenewamerican.com/culture/education/item/25675-christians-urged-to-pull-children-from-public-schools

(11) http://ritalinsideeffects.net

Uri Bezmenov, a KGB agent who defected in the late 1960s, said in 1984 that Russia knew American academia was a big supporter of communism.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/sep/13/37-percent-of-americans-cant-name-any-of-the-right/

Islam is the Religion, a Muslim is the person who follows Islam

As the Muslim population grows exponentially in the world, so does their influence.

Regarding the 4 million Muslims who have immigrated to Germany in the last 30 years, but who refuse to assimilate into German society, Chancellor Angela Merkel candidly admitted, "Germany's attempt to create a multicultural society has utterly failed."

The Merkel remarks only add more fuel to the growing debate over immigration and Islam. If the world continues to ignore Islam's stated desire to take over the world, it will ultimately give them victory. The following is a brief recap of facts of which everyone should be made aware.

The Qur'an
The Qur'an (the Islam Bible) was written by one man, Mohammed, about 1400 years ago. History shows Mohammed was a mass murderer, warlord, and had several wives (polygamy). Mohammed claims he received the Qur'an through revelations from the angel Gabriel in the seventh century (actually a demon). The Qur'an demands that all worship Allah, who was the moon god of ancient Mesopotamia. Allah and Jehovah God are NOT one and the same.

Islam Is NOT A Peaceful Religion!
In the first part of the Qur'an, Mohammed included a large number of peaceful passages. Toward the end of the book he penned more violent passages, AND, instructed that if there were any contradictions between passages in the book, followers of the Qur'an were to use the last/ more recently penned passage.

The result was that all the peaceful and tolerant passages recorded in the early part of the Qur'an were superseded by the latter more violent passages. The Qur'an is loaded with direct commands and warns that you will burn in hell if you ignore even one of them.

Under Shari'a law, you can not disagree with the Qur'an. Free speech is not allowed. The word "love" is not in the Qur'an. Neither is "Jerusalem." In 622 Muhammad founded the first Islamic state, a theocracy in Medina, a city in western Saudi Arabia located north of Mecca.

Shiites and Sunni
When Mohammad was poisoned to death in 629 AD, the family of Mohammad was split as to a successor. Those who followed Bakr were called "Sunni" and those who followed Ali were called "Shiite." 85% of Muslims are Sunni. The Shiites control Iran (Biblical Persia), and have large populations in southern Iraq, Yemen, Bahrain, Syria and Lebanon. Sunni Muslims control or dominate Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, and several smaller countries.

Iran (Shiite) loathes Saudi Arabia (Sunni)
Saudi's Sunni Muslim population believes that Shiites aren't real Muslims. In Saudi Arabia the law doesn't allow Shiites to hold jobs in politics or judicial posts, to testify in court, or to intermarry with Sunnis.

The most recent reason for the disdain between the Shiites and the Sunnies dates back to the 1980s when Saudi Arabia gave Iraq/Sudamn Hussian money and weapons to fight Iran. In that war, over 500,000 Iranians were killed. Iran has not forgotten and forgiveness is never an option in the Islamic religion. Iran would love to invade and take control of Saudi Arabia - home to Medina and Mecca - considered the two holiest cities for Muslims.

There is no distinction for the Muslim between the political and religious. Islam is less than a religion and more of a religious and political ideology. It demands control over every level of society: legal recourse, beliefs, morals and manners, worship specifics. Islam means 'submission.' The Qur'an demands it.

Muslims expect to take over the world and institute Shari'a law everywhere. Spreading out from the Middle East, Muslims have been multiplying like rabbits in Europe, averaging 6 kids per family. In France, one in ten are Muslim. Many European cities, including Amsterdam, Marseille, France and Malmo, Sweden are already one-quarter Muslim. Paris is now surrounded by a ring of Muslim neighborhoods.

A Muslim man can have up to four wives. With American and European birthrate at less than 2 per family, Muslims are destined to have majorities in the not so distant future. It's simple math.

Muslims In Europe
The Europe you know is changing. According to the German Central Institute Islam Archive, the total number of Muslims in Europe in 2007 was about 53 million. San Diego University recently calculated that a staggering 25 percent of the population in Europe will be Muslim just 12 years from now. Bernhard Lewis has predicted a Muslim majority by the end of this century.

All throughout Europe there are entire Muslim neighborhoods where very few locals reside or even dare to walk. Even the police avoid them at all costs. All the women are berka dressed- covered from head to
toe except for the eyes. Husbands, by Shari'a law, walk three steps ahead in public. There are thousands of mosques throughout Europe. These fast-growing neighborhoods are the building-blocks for territorial control of increasingly larger portions of Europe, street by street, city by city. It is the world of parallel societies created by Muslim mass-migration.

In the Netherlands, 60% of the population see the mass immigration of Muslims as the number one policy mistake since World War II. Another 60 percent see Islam as the biggest threat since WW1. They have Muslim official state holidays. The Christian-Democratic attorney general has stated he is willing to accept sharia in the Netherlands if there is a Muslim majority.

Muslims who immigrate/mass migrate do not assimilate into the culture of their new country, refusing to learn the language and demanding their own Shari'a courts of law. In England sharia courts are now officially part of the British legal system. There are about 100 sharia tribunals operating in Britain with
Muslim courts deciding cases in London, Manchester, Bradford, Birmingham and Nuneaton.

In France school teachers are advised to avoid authors deemed offensive to Muslims, including Voltaire and Diderot. Many neighborhoods in France are nogo areas for women without head scarves. The Pew Research Center reported that half of French Muslims see their loyalty to Islam as greater than their loyalty to France. One-third of French Muslims do not object to suicide attacks. The British Centre for Social Cohesion reported that one-third of British Muslim students are in favor of a worldwide Caliphate (Muslim rule). Even the history of the Holocaust is
vanishing in Europe because of Muslim sensitivity.

In some elementary schools in Amsterdam the farm can no longer be mentioned, because that would also mean mentioning the pig, and that would be an insult to Muslims. Many state schools in Belgium and Denmark only serve halal food to all pupils.

Muslims In The U.S.
There are varying estimates of the number of Muslims in America ranging from 5 to 10 million, and of course, with their high birth rate, they are growing exponentially. There are roughly 1450 mosques in the U.S!

In Hamtramck, Michigan, the City Council has approved Muslim 'call to prayer" to be broadcast on loudspeakers five times a day. Anyone who has ever heard these "prayers" understand the problem. Sounds like a guy with a stomach ache... incredibly discordant!

In Dearborn, Michigan there are so many Muslims inresidence that they effectively control the local government. Football practice times were changed at one of the high schools in order to accommodate Ramadan, a month-long time of fasting. Non-Muslim football players had to change normal practice times to accommodate Shari'a law.

President Obama appointed Arif Alikhan and Kareem Shora, both devout Muslims, to key Homeland Security Posts. Shora has referred to anti-U.S. jihadists as heros. Alikhan has referred to Hezbollah as a "Liberation Movement."

And no one gave a second thought when Keith Ellison (D-MN), was sworn into the 110th Congress with his hand on a copy of Pelosi and U.S. Rep. Ellison using Koran to swear to Allah the Qur'an. Speaker Pelosi had her hand on on the Qur'an also.

Anjem Choudary, a Muslim Cleric, speaking in an interview on ABC News, October, 2010, said, "We do believe as Muslims the East and the West will one day be governed by Sharia. Indeed we believe that one day the flag of Islam will fly over the White House."

The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) is currently campaigning to have so-called "Islamophobia" recognized by the international community as a form of racism prosecutable under international law. This would include any expression the Islamists find offensive, which in practice would amount to a global gag order on any critical discussion of Islam. Last year, the Obama administration co-sponsored with Egypt a U.N. Human Rights Council
resolution against "racial and religious stereotyping," which offered cover to the Islamists in their drive to put any criticism of their religion off limits.

Israel and the Muslims
Israel is in the hot seat due to their proximity in the Middle East to all the Muslim countries. Since 600 AD, God has allowed the Muslims to grow up around them. But the Muslim war against Israel is more than a war against Israel. It is jihad against the West. Israel is simply on the front lines. Without Israel being planted so firmly in the middle east, Islamic imperialism would have moved much faster.

Many in the world, including many misunderstanding Christians, ridiculously argue in favor of abandoning Israel in order to address the grievances of the Muslims. But that would not mean Muslims would all of a sudden change their behavior and values.

On the contrary, the end of Israel would not mean the end of our problems with Islam, but only an escalation. It would mean the start of the final battles for world domination. If the Muslims defeat Israel, they will go after the next country in line, until they conquer the world.

A Big Problem To Watch
90% of all the oil coming out of the middle east must pass through the "Strait of Hormuz," on Iran's western border. Iran could paralyze the world overnight by shutting down that waterway. Is there any chance they won't try?

Yemen is another choke point on the other important waterway, the Red Sea. Yemen controls a strait called, "Gates of Tears." 3.3 million barrels of oil ship through there every day.

For obvious reasons, Iran wants control of Yemen and is funding the terrorists there. The terrorists have grown so strong that Yemen has just been labeled, "a threat to global stability" by the U.S. State Department. The U.S. is quietly sending ships, troops and weapons to Yemen.

The U.S. is providing F-16s to arm Saudi Arabia to defend themselves against what they believe will ultimately be a Muslim vs. Muslim war between Iran (Shiite) and Saudi/Yeman (Sunnie). The Muslims are always fighting, even each other (Gen 16:10-12). Saudi jets have already begun dropping bombs in Yemen at the terrorists camps. Over 250 border towns have already had to close, including 50 schools.

Almost 70% of the world's gas and oil reserves are at stake in this region. When this spark finally ignites, it could easily cause oil to shoot up past $200 a barrel, much like the 1973 Arab oil embargo or 1979 Iranian crises. When the price of oil goes up, so does the price food, transportation, business costs, etc. Most everything in life is affected by the price of oil.

Conclusion
All the countries the Bible says will battle Israel in the last days, are in fact, Muslim. Don't be fooled into thinking that this is a struggle over land in Israel, or Muslim extremists in the world. The struggle is about whose god is the real God. Is the true god "Allah," whose Qur'an says Islamic forces will conquer and rule the world? Or is the One True God "Jehovah" of the Judo-Christian Bible, Who says His Son Jesus will rule the world from His throne in Jerusalem? I peeked at the end.... it's Jehovah!

And since Jehovah is in control of all things, that means He is allowing all that's going on in the world for His purposes. And the future will have some just dandy witnessing opportunities. And you and I have answers! In fact, we had a conference in Tempe and recorded eight new Steeling the Mind DVDs- several that shed great light on what's going on in the world. A perfect opportunity to bone up on Biblically centered info for those conversations with your unsaved family members, neighbors, co-workers or God-ordained encounters with strangers. Check them out, buy 'em and pass them around!

Shalom!

Bill Perkins

If you would like to print this article click here: Islam's World Agenda

© 2017 Compass Int’l, Inc.

Bill and Susie Perkins founded Compass International, Inc. in 1993 as a non-profit, nondenominational ministry. For information on Compass’ Steeling the Mind Bible Conferences, Good Morning Lord! Bible studies, books, DVDs and Biblelands Cruises, go to compass.org

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"Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever" Dan 2:20

When we go to Israel, our guides are usually non-Christian Jews. To be a guide in Israel means you are licensed by the State of Israel only after completing the equivalent of a two-year college course studying the hundreds of Biblical sites in the promised land.

So the vast majority of our Israeli guides are articulate, well-educated...but secular--meaning not religious. They usually observe Passover and Day of Atonement but nothing else. Sorta like some Christians go to church only on Christmas and Easter.

It is always perplexing to us on our Israel trips to hear the guide say things like, "Over here God used miracles for David to defeat the Amorites," or "Here's where Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead," yet totally miss what they are actually saying.

They talk about God and Jesus all day long, quote passages out of the Old and New Testaments, but don't connect the spiritual dots. They refer to Him by name, but the deep and powerful meaning of that name escapes them.

What Does "Yahweh" Mean?
"Yahweh" is the personal name of God in the Bible. Called the Tetragrammaton, it is composed of four letters, no vowels. The Hebrew letters are Yod, Hey, Vav, Hey, read right to left in the Hebrew (see above), left to right in English (YHWH).

Hebrew letters all have meanings. You're going to love what the letters mean in "Yahweh"!

Yod
Yod is the smallest letter of the Hebrew alphabet and is masculine in gender. It portrays the symbol of an entire hand, or closed hand, from the wrist to the fingertips. This is distinguished from another letter, kaf, that means "palm."

Hey
Hey is feminine and means "to behold," "show" or "reveal."

Can you tell where this is going?

Vav
Vav is masculine and signifies a nail, peg or hook, signifying being nailed or bound together.

So when read in Hebrew, right to left, God's name means:

"Behold the Nail, Behold the Hand"

Or simply,

"Behold the nailed hand."

It gets even better when you combine the meaning of the individual letters with the overall meaning of the word—Yahweh, YHWH, which means "Salvation," then it basically translates:

"Behold, the nailed hand is salvation."

There are other Biblical references to the Messiah's pierced hands and feet:

"...they will look upon Me whom they have pierced" Zech 12:10

"...they have pierced My hands and feet." Ps 22:16
 

With the name of God being so specific, it
makes one wonder how in the world do the
Jews, especially the Jewish guides in Israel,
miss the fact Jesus came as the Messiah?!

The answer, of course, is in scripture. God has "blinded" them.

"... And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?" For this cause they could not believe, for Isaiah said again, "He has blinded their eyes, and He hardened their heart; lest they see with their eyes, and perceive with their heart, and be converted, and I heal them."John 12:39-40

But God has not blinded us. His Holy Spirit living in us reveals truth to Believers through the Word of God. So we've looked at the Hebrew letters in "Yahweh" and shown how, in no uncertain terms, they specifically spell out "Behold the Nailed Hand."

Here's another nugget along those same lines...

"Yahweh" is the personal name of God, much like Abraham and Sarah are personal names. Words like Elohim (God), El (mighty), Shaddai (almighty) and Adonai (master) are titles. And of course "Lord" is a title.

Consider the Third Commandment:

"You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain." Deut. 5:11

The word "LORD" above is not in the original manuscripts. "Yahweh" is what was originally written. The Jews changed the word "Yahweh" in their Torahs because they believed it was blasphemy to pronounce the personal name of the Lord out loud.

Thousands of times God put His personal name in Scripture and each time it's been changed to a title!

If a man wrote a love letter to his wife, would she want to read "Dear Woman" or would she rather read "Dear Susan?"

"Yahweh" wanted a personal relationship with the Jews. He even set up a temporary sacrificial system so He could live right in their midst. But they couldn't quite grasp His provisions.

"Then the Lord said, "Because this people draw near with their words and honor Me with their lip service, but they remove their hearts far from Me, and their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote" Is. 29:13

In the Church Age, Jesus is the personal name we use to address our Lord of Lords. We can say, "Jesus, Lord of my life." But it's actually quite
impersonal to address Him with titles like "Dear Lord," "Lord God," etc.

"Jesus" wants a personal relationship with you. But no more sacrifices are necessary. Yahweh paid it all on the cross and has given you the power of
His Spirit living in you to accomplish His will.

Praise The Lord!

BP

If you would like to print this article click here: A Peek Behind the Name of God

It's not the word "Easter" that's the problem...

The Perceived Problem:

Over the last 50 years or so, many people have written about the pagan origins of the word "Easter." And, despite the word being used in the KJV translation in Acts 12:4, a lot of Believers in good Bible-teaching churches have been taught that "Easter" can be linked to the fertility Goddess Astarte and other such proclamations.

I, too, had read several references that bemoaned Easter as a "Satanic" holiday. Hearing all the (mis)information caused me to offer rewards to my children if they could go the entire Resurrection Day holiday without saying the word "Easter."

But last year, Roger Patterson of Answers In Genesis wrote an excellently researched article showing the misinformation and myths floating around that supposedly tie "Easter" to a number of Satanic origins. He convincingly showed that the word "Easter" was a translation / transliteration of the word "resurrection" and its roots could be traced to solid Believers during the Reformation.(1)

Patterson pointed out that the basis for which the connection between Easter and Astarte is made is like saying, "Since Babylon was called the 'Golden City,' then McDonalds 'golden arches' must be rooted in Satanic ritual." That's quite a stretch!

And now the myths of Easter's origins have been repeated so long and so often that most believe them to be fact... when they're not facts at all.

Just to be clear, Easter bunnies and colored eggs ARE terrible--in a league with Santa Claus--missing the mark altogether and should never be part of any Christian Easter/Resurrection Day celebration.

But the word "Easter" actually comes from the German root word for "Resurrection." And the reformers of Martin Luther's day were the first to use the word, which had zero connection to Astarte the fertility god.

So much for making "Easter" the bad guy.

That being said, I still believe we should call the day of Jesus' resurrection "Resurrection Sunday," if for no other reason than to make the point that it has nothing to do with the Easter bunny and colored eggs.

The Real Problem

However, there IS a real BIG PROBLEM with WHEN we celebrate Resurrection Sunday--of which few Christians seem to be aware. And even though almost all Protestant churches will continue to celebrate Easter or Resurrection Sunday on the verifiably wrong Sunday, it's important for Believers to know when and why it should be celebrated.

There are four big days that Church Age Believers could make a case to celebrate each year:

1) The Birth of Jesus. 2) The Death of Jesus. 3) The Resurrection of Jesus. 4) The Arrival of God's Holy Spirit to indwell Believers on earth.

Two of the four get a lot of attention from Believers: Christmas and Resurrection Day.

The Day Jesus Was Born

The Bible doesn't give us a clue when Jesus was born. He was unlikely to have been born on December 25, but hey, maybe He was conceived on that date and born in September. 🙂

Since the Lord didn't reveal the date, there's no problem celebrating His birth on December 25. And thankfully the whole world celebrates His birth together, even though Satan has pretty much hijacked Christmas with Santa Claus-- which we refer to as "Satan's Claws."(2)

The Day Jesus Died Jesus died during the Passover celebration either in 30 AD or 33 AD. Nisan 14 fell on Wednesday in 30 AD and Friday in 33 AD.

Bible scholars are not unanimous on which is correct. But frankly it's a moot point regarding His resurrection because whether His death occurred in 30 AD or 33 AD, the Feast of First Fruits would have been the following Sunday.

The Day Jesus Was Resurrected But the Lord DID tell us when the Resurrection occurred. It occurred the Sunday after the Passover Shabbat, on the Feast of First Fruits. And the date for the first Passover celebration is quite clear in Exodus 12.

"You shall keep (the lamb to be sacrificed) until the fourteenth day of the same month (Nisan)..." Ex. 12:6

"And you shall observe this event as an ordinance for you and your children forever." Ex. 12:24

Therefore, it's a no-brainer that we should be celebrating Resurrection Sunday on the Feast of First Fruits, or the first Sunday following the Jewish Passover.

The Jews go to great lengths to celebrate Passover on the correct date that God instructed, on Nisan 14.

"They observed the Passover in the first month (Nisan), on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight, in the wilderness of Sinai; according to all that the LORD had commanded Moses," Num. 9:5

So it's not rocket science to know what day the Jewish Passover should be celebrated-- it's Nisan 14 on the Hebrew calendar--and all we have to do is celebrate Jesus' Resurrection Day on Feast of First Fruits, which is the Sunday following. But often we don't!

Strangely, the date we celebrate Easter/ Resurrection Sunday has no connection to Passover and sometimes it doesn't even fall on Passover week! Last year we missed it by a month!

(Note that Nisan 14 is not a fixed day of the week and therefore the Jewish Passover celebration week moves around each year.)

2016 (Last year) Passover/Nisan 14 fell on April 21 Correct Resurrection Day: April 24 Catholic Easter Date - March 27 (Incorrect!)

You have the same dilemma for 2021 and 2024 as the Catholic Easter dates also fall on different dates than the Passover week.

2021 Passover/Nisan 14 falls on March 27 Correct Resurrection Day: March 28 Catholic Easter Date - April 4 (Incorrect!)

2024 Passover/Nisan 14 falls on April 22 Correct Resurrection Day: April 28 Catholic Easter Date - March 31 (Incorrect!)

Why Are The Dates Off? So what happened that made Christians start celebrating Easter/ Resurrection Sunday on the wrong dates every few years? The answer is rooted in Catholic anti-Semitism.

By the early fourth century, many leaders of the church were still celebrating Passover and the Resurrection every year beginning on Nisan 14, the day of Jesus' crucifixion. Others were making the celebration day the first Sunday after Passover, which was scripturally correct.

Both days had notability as Jesus HAD to shed blood and He HAD to rise again.

The necessity of shedding blood:

"For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement.” Lev. 17:11

The necessity of a resurrection:

"... if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins." 1Cor. 15:17

In 325 AD, the first Council of Nicaea met. These were Catholic Bishops gathered by Constantine in the city of Nicaea. They addressed and voted on several theological issues, including the issue of what day to celebrate Resurrection Day--the 14th of Nisan (Passover) or the Sunday following the 14th.

The Nicean Bishops dismissed Nisan 14th because they wanted to distance themselves from the Jewish Passover. The Catholics believed that because the Jews killed Jesus the Church had inherited all the Biblical blessings from God. This anti-Semitic view of God's chosen people still prevails today in the Catholic Church.

But it gets worse! Not wanting to connect anything to the Jewish Passover, they also discarded the Sunday following Passover, the Feast of First Fruits, as the day to celebrate Easter.

These Catholic Bishops decided against using scripture to determine the date. Instead, they decided that Easter/Resurrection Day should be completely unrelated to scripturally based Passover date! Good grief, what were they smoking!

The Bishops instead came up with their own ridiculous and unbiblical way to determine when the Resurrection Day occurred! Specifically, they decided Easter should fall on "the first Sunday following the first ecclesiastical full-moon that occurs on or after the day of the vernal equinox." The vernal equinox is when the sun crosses the equator in the spring, which is the first day of spring.

By the Catholic Church basing the Resurrection Sunday date on the moon and the first day of spring, it removed any possibility of Easter being connected to Passover!

They explain it this way on catholic.com, answering the question "How is Easter Sunday determined?" After first admitting that Easter SHOULD immediately follow Passover, which occurs on Nisan 14, they then add:

"Christians didn't like being dependent on the pronouncements of rabbis for how to celebrate Christian feasts, so they (the Council of Nicaea) came up with another way of determining the date. They decided that Easter would be celebrated on the first Sunday after (never on) the Paschal full moon." (3)

Really? Let's think about that for a moment... God established the specific day for Passover to be celebrated, Nisan 14. This was one of the greatest days in the entire Old Testament. Jews were commanded to celebrate the day each year with a feast, forever! And don't forget that Believers are adopted/grafted into the Jewish promises.

"...adoption as sons through Jesus Christ ..." Eph. 1:5

"...grafted in..." Rom. 11:17

The Bible tells us that Jesus was crucified during the Passover celebration and His tomb was discovered empty early Sunday morning, three days and three nights later, on the Feast of First Fruits. Therefore the Resurrection is forever tied to Passover and the Jewish feasts.

But rather than connect Resurrection Day to the Passover and celebrate our Jewish roots, the spiritually defiant leaders of the Catholic Church decided to change the date of the Resurrection so as not to be connected to the Jewish Passover! That is like changing/ adding to God's Word--which is NOT GOOD!

"I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book;" Rev. 22:18

This was Satan at his best--getting the Catholic Church to loathe Israel and the Jews so much they didn't want to be associated in any way with the Jewish Passover.

And all this stems from the Catholics holding to an a-millennial doctrinal stance ... foolishly believing the Church has inherited God's promises to the Jews. This also proves the incredible importance of accurately understanding Bible prophecy!

If you have the wrong eschatological position it will distort how you interpret the scriptures. The Catholic Church holds to an a-millennial position which means they don't take scripture literally.

For instance they take the six references to a "thousand years" of Jesus' reign on earth to mean a "long time." Correctly using a literal translation we understand that Jesus will reign 1000 years on the earth as King.

If the Catholic Church properly viewed the scriptures literally, they would be pre-millennial and embrace the Jews as God's chosen people. But their poor doctrine and anti-Semitic views blinded them to the point that they incorrectly changed the day we celebrate Resurrection Day.

But we can't be too hard on the Catholics. Martin Luther also misunderstood and loathed Israel and the Jewish people.(4) Although he was correct with his protesting of Catholic Church doctrines and policies, God did not reveal to him at that time the Catholic Church's incorrect eschatology positions.

In fact, Catholic eschatological error continued to be passed down to Protestant denominations for another 100 years or so before pre-millennial doctrines exposed the error of a-millennial theology.

Summary So to nail shut the case for which day we should be celebrating Resurrection Day, we need to quit being led by the incorrect calendar dates of the Catholic Church. Instead, we should use the scripturally commanded Nisan 14 date to determine which Sunday to celebrate.

Bottom line, Resurrection Day should be the Sunday following Passover. This year it falls, by chance, on the correct day. But it has no connection to Passover, which as Believers adopted into the Jewish promises, we should also be celebrating each year!

So if you're a pastor reading this, do you have the spiritual conviction to celebrate Resurrection Day on the Sunday following the Jewish Passover in the years to come? Or are you just going to continue using the incorrect dating of the Catholic Church? Pray about it!

Bill Perkins Founder and Executive Director Compass International, Inc. compass.org A non-profit ministry Biblecruise@compass.org

If you would like to print this article click here:Should We Celebrate "Easter"?

Notes: (1) https://answersingenesis.org/holidays/easter/is-the-name-easter-of-pagan-origin/

(2) Satan’s Claws/Santa’s Claws

(3) https://www.catholic.com/qa/how-is-easter-sunday-determined-palm-sunday-ash-wednesday

(4) http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/martin-luther-quot-the-jews-and-their-lies-quot

(5) http://tlarsen2.tripod.com/thomaslarsen/easterdates.html

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The cold-hearted murders by Muslims in Paris finally exposed to the world what we're actually dealing with in respect to Islamic ideals and goals. Their goal is simple: They fully expect and work toward the world becoming 100% Islamic under Shari'ah Law.

You can laugh at Islam's world domination agenda if you want, but this clash of values will continue worldwide until either the Muslims are in full control or they are defeated. Yes, defeated. They will defeat us or we will defeat them. And if we don't begin to think in those terms, we will lose.

Over 100 Syrians, dozens of Lebanese soldiers, 10 Kurds, two American journalists, three American and British aid workers, were beheaded by the Islamic State in just the past year. These are not war kills, but rather mostly innocent humans who were murdered as a sort of appeasement to Allah.

Europe is in a mess
There are some 50 million Muslims living legally or illegally in Europe today, steadfastly refusing to assimilate into the local culture. The liberal European governments, until recently, left the Muslims to themselves. But inaction is not what is needed. By not addressing the true problem from the beginning, the Muslim population in Europe has now grown to be pretty much unmanageable.

Consider Belgium
This is the fourth year in a row that the number one baby name is "Mohammad." 40% of the school children are Muslim. And, surprise surprise, the Muslims won't assimilate into the Belgium culture, instead remaining segregated and using their own schools and Shari'ah courts.

Now Even Japan
Wanting to equally offend the world, the Muslims have now announced they have two Japanese men in custody and are demanding some $100 million or they will beheaded.

What's Really Happening
As the Church Age draws closer to its exciting conclusion for Believers, God is setting the stage for the Tribulation events to begin. We can see in the Bible that all but one country (Russia) who comes against Israel in the Tribulation is Islamic.

And it's fascinating to read that in the Tribulation, a large number of those who die standing on their belief in Jesus are actually beheaded.

An uncountable number of deaths in the Tribulation are due to faith in Jesus (Rev. 7:9-14), and it's most interesting that "beheading" is the only death specifically described.

So what we're seeing take place in the world today is simply a prelude to the satanic wars of the Tribulation when beheadings will be quite common for the uncountable millions who follow Jesus. So much so that those of us in heaven will be crying out, "How much longer?" Rev 6:9-11

Setting the Stage
While the West has been for decades buying Satan's lie by actively declining God's blessing of children (via birth control, abortion and other non-Godcentered priorities), the Muslim population is multiplying at four to five times the rate of natives in the countries in which they've immigrated. The FACT is, it's only a matter of time before they can just VOTE themselves into control of governments.

But they're not just waiting to have enough babies to get their way. They now have enough population currently in place in Europe to begin brazenly exerting their power. France and Belgium are just the first to see the Muslims' true intents.

Look at History
In the 1st Century AD, it seems as though Satan saw the need to blunt the early church's explosive growth so he used Mohammad and Islam as his tool.

Since 600 AD, Islam grew east and west. With the exception of the Crusader Period for a brief time around 1100 AD, the Muslims basically spread unchecked. And by the 1500s, they reached so far as to control all of Spain, Portugal and Greece!

Christianity is spread through sharing the good news of a loving God Who sent His Son as Savior, paying for our sins and promising eternal life to all who simply "Believed."

But in Islam there is no promise of salvation. The Muslim believes that when he or she dies, they stand before Allah to have their life's deeds judged, hoping he allows them into Paradise. The lone exception is through martyrdom where the martyr not only is promised heaven with 72 virgins, he could also bring with him 72 members of his family. Sick.

This is not a sick joke. This is quite appealing to the typical martyr who is a Muslim male between the age of 18 and 35, has no assets, no job and no future. The promise of going to heaven (referred to as "Paradise" by Islam) as a hero to his family is expertly fanned by Satan's minions.

The Messenger of Allah said: "I have been commanded to fight against the people till they testify that there is no god but Allah, that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah." Muslim 1:33

And with over 100 verses in the Koran that say to murder the Jews and/or Christians, it's easy to push those Satanically blinded youth into doing what to us is unthinkable.

America's First War was against... guess who?
So Islam has spread through the fear of an unloving, unforgiving god who requires strict obedience to the Koran. Those who didn't convert had the choice of paying "tribute" or bribes, or were killed by beheading. Imagine going on one of their mission trips! "Worship Allah or we kill you!" We shake our heads at the tactics but it's been hugely successful for 1400 years! Most Americans think our first war was in 1812 against Britain. But that's not true. After our war for independence from 1776 - 1784, our first war was actually against the Muslims!

When we began as a nation in the late 1700s, along with the rest of the civilized world we paid tribute (bribes) to the Muslims of North Africa, to not attack our merchant ships in the Mediterranean Sea. Only when Thomas Jefferson was elected President in 1801 did we cease paying these bribes.

Interestingly, Jefferson didn't just stop paying bribes. After reading what was in the Koran, he also sent a fleet of American ships to bomb the smithereens out of the North African coastal harbors of Tunis, Algiers and Tripoli. Only after repeated pummeling by the Americans did they agree to allow our ships safe passage.

Which brings up a major point. You can't fairly negotiate with a Muslim. The Bible says Arabs are born irrational (Gen 16:12).

You may think you're negotiating, but they simply lie about their intentions, and they love to fight...which is irrational. If you don't knock them in the head, they won't get it.

Israel, surrounded by their Muslim enemies, has found this out the hard way.

The Muslims have broken every treaty they've ever signed with Israel. 100%!

The only thing Muslims truly understand is pain and consequence. Muslims only wave the white flag if the pain is so great they think they will lose the battle. But surrender is only to delay until they attack again later.

Israel exists today because they inflict enormous pain in response to all acts of Muslim terrorism. And they certainly don't trust the Muslims for their safety. Imagine if the Muslims had a nuclear bomb...how long before they would use it on Israel? And the West? Two seconds.

Muslims Are To "Behead" Foes
But why in the world do Muslims behead their enemies? That seems to us quite archaic. But there is
a simple answer. The Koran, their bible, calls for beheading their enemies.

"So when you meet those who disbelieve, strike their necks until you have inflicted slaughter upon them..." Surah 47:4

"I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve, so strike them upon the necks...." Surah 8:12

So they behead because Allah says to behead. You have to keep reminding yourself that Allah is just Satan in disguise for this to make any sense. We have to call a spade a spade.

Beheadings in the Tribulation

The Bible also tells us where all this will culminate. After the Church Age ends, the Bible specifically mentions "beheadings" as a major way Believers die in the future 7 Year Tribulation.

That's amazing since we're starting to actually see the Muslims beheading people pretty much weekly around the world.

And they're the only ones doing that barbaric act. So, if we're close to the end of the Church Age, we can easily project who the bad guys are in the Tribulation that follows.

It'll be Satan, using the Muslims, against God's Israel. Thankfully we know who wins. And thankfully we'll not be here to personally experience the shear horror of all those heads rolling.

And until the Rapture, what we MUST DO is be wise and aware as God allows all these things to come together for His purposes. And be willingly used by Him to witness His True Agape Love as He opens doors of opportunity.

And certainly do pray for our country's protection because it's no longer hoping our kids and grand-kids will have the same lifestyle we've had, it's now our kids' and grandkids' freedom that's at stake!

Our mostly Christian founders fought for these privileges:

> Freedom of religion.
> Freedom of speech.
> Freedom of assembly.
> Freedom of the press.
> Freedom of addressing grievances.

None of these are allowed under Islam!

One of the topics at a Steeling the Mind Bible Conference is "Beheadings and the Bible" by Shahram Hadian. He was a Muslim before getting saved and fleeing to America. His presentation is a must-see for every American, Christian or non-Christian! An "eye-opener" as we say.

Shalom!

Bill

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