By Chris Schang
During the end time the Bible says that wickedness and evil will run rampant all over the world. We can already see our world being consumed by liberal leftist propaganda such as legalizing gay marriages, allowing homosexuals in the pulpit, increased sexual immorality, and other vices that are clearly forbidden in the Bible. These facts are clearly seen in the in the following verses:
Mat 24:9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.
Mat 24:10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
Mat 24:11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
Mat 24:12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
Mat 24:13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
Mat 24:24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if [it were] possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
Mat 24:37 But as the days of Noe [were], so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Mat 24:38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
Mat 24:39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
2Th 2:9 [Even him], whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
2Th 2:10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
2Th 2:11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
2Th 2:12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
2Ti 3:1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
2Ti 3:2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
2Ti 3:3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
2Ti 3:4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
2Ti 3:5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
Not only will we see increased wickedness and evil in the world, there will be increases in violence, hedonism, pride, arrogance, liberalism, homosexualism, etc. that will eventually lead to a breakdown in the traditional family and social order. To be a Christian today is to rebel against these vices and to speak out against the "Hollyweird" experience that is beginning to invade almost every aspect of our lives and society. In fact the Bible said that these things would occur in the end times and that even Jesus warned that by resisting these things that Christians would be hated by all nations. Jesus said the world hated him first, so that we should expect that the world will hate us as well. In fact, the hatred will be so great that it will even pit family member against family member.
Not only will the world hate us, but the truth is that many who claim to be Christians will also fall away from the faith themselves. Wehter through peer pressure, the desire to fit in, etc. many will abandon the Christian faith and fall by the wayside living in the world. The Bible says that due to the increase in wickedness and evil that the love of many will grow cold.
Mat 24:12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
The Bible also warns that many people will be seduced by false teachers who will lead them astray with doctrines of devils and demons. It is amazing but a recent survey found that 57% of Christians believe that there is more than one way to Heaven. The truth is that this is complete blasphemy. The Bible is crystal clear that there is only one way to Heaven and that is through Jesus Christ. The following scriptures attest to this fact:
John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
1Ti 2:5 For [there is] one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
Surely we are living in the last days when even Christians would deny many of the cardinal doctrines of the faith, especially ones having to do with the essentials of salvation. The truth is that many people are living in the world and the world doesn't like the truth. The world is becoming consumed with the liberal leftist and socialist thought process that believe that everything is OK if it feels OK. This is paving the way for the legalization of gay marriages, adoption of children by gay couples, increased sexual immorality, etc. While none of us is perfect and we all have fallen short of being sinless, the truth is the problem lies in the fact that sinning has become OK as more and more people abandon the Christian faith. As they abandon the Christian faith they discard Christian values and morals.
Jesus gave us these signs so that we would know to remain faithful despite the changing atmosphere and environment around us. wickedness and lawlessness is gaining ground in the world, and soon the "man of sin" will emerge and carryout his dark deeds according to the Word of God. The rampant rise of evil in our society will help pave the way for the moral and civil decline in society. We are are already seeing increases in crime, suicide, homicide, and crowded jails. We are truly reaping what we have sown. God will not be mocked and no nation is safe from the judgment of God if they purposefully rebel against Him.
In my humble opinion, the first step in recovering from the rise of wickedness and evil in our society is to pray. We must pray without ceasing and pray that God helps deliver us from our own self inflicted immorality. The Bible says that the last days will be like as it was during the times of Noah, when wickedness and evil were so rampant that God flooded the Earth to cleanse it from such evil. Yet the lesson to learn is that even though God flooded the world and destroyed everything that lived except that which Noah took on the ark, it gives us a reason to long for the blessed hope of the rapture of the church that will remove us from the time and place of God's wrath that will fall on unrepentant sinners. Despite the darkness that is slowly but surely enveloping the world, we should seek the spirit of God and all the things that are of Him including love, joy, peace, goodness, etc.
God bless.
How has the United States' treatment of Israel brought about many of its latest natural disasters?
By Dr. David R. Reagan
I believe many of the blessings of the United States have been due to the fact that we have been a safe haven for the Jews. We are one of the only nations in the world that has not launched pogroms against them or persecutions, and also because we have been Israel's best friend ever since the state was reestablished in 1948.
But, the Bible says that in the end times ALL the nations of the world will turn against Israel over the issue of Jerusalem. Sadly, in the early 90's, the United States joined the rest of the world in their opposition to Israel. We did so primarily to ensure our access to Arab oil.
The turning point came in 1991 when the Soviet Union collapsed and the Jews of Russia began flooding into Israel at the rate of 2,000 to 3,000 a day for one year. Can you imagine that number — 2,000 to 3,000 a day for one year? Israel was literally overwhelmed. The Israeli government went to the World Bank and said since they couldn't handle the influx they needed five billion dollars. The World Bank responded that they would not give them a dime unless the United States underwrote the loan. And so, they went to the first Bush administration and asked if the United States would underwrite the loan. President Bush replied in the affirmative, but that there would be one condition. Israel must go to the negotiating table and start trading land for peace.
The United States is the ones who forced Israel into the suicidal policy of trading land for peace. We have been their chief arm twister ever since, forcing them to divide the land that God gave them. In doing so, we have been courting God's wrath in a very special way.
Look at these sobering verses in Joel 3:1-2, "I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat the valley of judgment, and then I will enter into judgment with them on behalf of my people and my inheritance Israel whom they have scattered among the nations and have divided up my land." God says in the end times He is going to bring special judgment against any nation involved in dividing up His land. We are now one of those nations involved in dividing up the land.
Connecting the Dots
In 2004, a White House correspondent named Bill Koenig wrote a book entitled Eye to Eye: Facing the Consequences of Dividing Israel. The book has a very prophetic cover on it, showing President Bush looking over his right shoulder eye to eye with a menacing hurricane. In the eye of the hurricane is the symbol of Israel — the Star of David.
In his book, Koenig attempted to show the relationship between U.S. mistreatment of Israel and subsequent natural disasters, economic setbacks and political crisis. Let me just share a few of the natural disasters with you.
It all began on November 1, 1991, when we forced Israel to the Madrid Conference. We forced them to sit down at the table and start negotiating away their land to the Palestinians. That conference began on November 1, 1991, and on that exact day the Perfect Storm formed in the Atlantic. That perfect storm produced waves of over 100 feet and almost completely destroyed President Bush's home in Kennebunkport, Maine. In fact, on November the 1st USA Today had twin headlines. On one side it said," Madrid Conference Convenes," the other side said, "Perfect Storm Forms."
Consider what happened in the summer of 1992 when Yitzhak Rabin was elected the new prime minister of Israel. The moment he was elected in June, we put pressure on him and said he must come to Washington, sit down with the PLO's Arafat, and negotiate and give land to Arafat. He came and sat down with Arafat. Their meeting began on August 24, 1992, and on that very day Andrew Hurricane slammed into Miami. It was the greatest hurricane in the history of the United States up to that point.
Consider the Camp David Summit in July of 2000, when Bill Clinton brought Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Yasser Arafat together. Clinton began to put pressure on Barak to trade away the heartland of Israel and also to give Arafat one half of Jerusalem. The day that conference began, fires broke out in the Western United States. Fifty fires consumed 500,000 acres of land before the end of the month.
Also, consider the White House celebration of Ramadan. It's the strangest thing why George W. Bush started this. I have no idea. This was Bush's response to 9/11 to schedule the first ever White House celebration of Ramadan. Someone once said scheduling a celebration of Ramadan after 9/11 was the equivalent to FDR scheduling a celebration of Shintoism after the attack on Pearl Harbor. It makes no sense whatsoever. It just doesn't make any sense! At this meeting, which was held in November of 2002, President Bush made this incredible statement. He said, "We have come to honor Allah, the God of Abraham." The very next day, a swarm of 88 tornadoes hit the central United States.
Consider what came next — the incredible Road Map Plan. The Road Map was put together by the Quartet. You talk about an ungodly quartet: Russia, the United Nations, the European Union and the United States. The plan's purpose was to force Israel to give away its heartland. This was delivered by Daniel Kurtzer, the ambassador to Ariel Sharon, on May 4, 2003. The next day Colin Powell went to the Middle East to implement the plan. The first thing he did was to meet with the terrorist leader Hafez Assad who's now dead. As soon as the meeting was over, he called a press conference and announced he had promised President Assad that the Golan Heights would be promised in the Road Map. He said we would force Israel to give up the Golan Heights. That very day, the greatest tornado swarm in the history of the United States occurred — 412 tornados broke out. The previous high was only 177!
In summary, in those years between 1991 and 2004, during those thirteen years that the United States had turned against Israel, here's what's happened:
•9 of the 10 largest insurance events in U.S. history
•9 of the 10 greatest natural disasters as ranked by FEMA relief costs
•5 of the costliest hurricanes in U.S. history
•3 of the 4 largest tornado swarms in U.S. history.
All of these disasters were linked in one way or another to our attempts to press Israel into dividing its land or surrendering all or part of Jerusalem.
The world would laugh at this and the world would say it's coincidence. I don't believe in coincidence, I believe in "God incidences."
In the next segment of this "God, Judgment and the Weather" series, we'll look at how one political event in particular relating to Israel resulted in Hurricane Katrina.
I believe many of the blessings of the United States have been due to the fact that we have been a safe haven for the Jews. We are one of the only nations in the world that has not launched pogroms against them or persecutions, and also because we have been Israel's best friend ever since the state was reestablished in 1948.
But, the Bible says that in the end times ALL the nations of the world will turn against Israel over the issue of Jerusalem. Sadly, in the early 90's, the United States joined the rest of the world in their opposition to Israel. We did so primarily to ensure our access to Arab oil.
The turning point came in 1991 when the Soviet Union collapsed and the Jews of Russia began flooding into Israel at the rate of 2,000 to 3,000 a day for one year. Can you imagine that number — 2,000 to 3,000 a day for one year? Israel was literally overwhelmed. The Israeli government went to the World Bank and said since they couldn't handle the influx they needed five billion dollars. The World Bank responded that they would not give them a dime unless the United States underwrote the loan. And so, they went to the first Bush administration and asked if the United States would underwrite the loan. President Bush replied in the affirmative, but that there would be one condition. Israel must go to the negotiating table and start trading land for peace.
The United States is the ones who forced Israel into the suicidal policy of trading land for peace. We have been their chief arm twister ever since, forcing them to divide the land that God gave them. In doing so, we have been courting God's wrath in a very special way.
Look at these sobering verses in Joel 3:1-2, "I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat the valley of judgment, and then I will enter into judgment with them on behalf of my people and my inheritance Israel whom they have scattered among the nations and have divided up my land." God says in the end times He is going to bring special judgment against any nation involved in dividing up His land. We are now one of those nations involved in dividing up the land.
Connecting the Dots
In 2004, a White House correspondent named Bill Koenig wrote a book entitled Eye to Eye: Facing the Consequences of Dividing Israel. The book has a very prophetic cover on it, showing President Bush looking over his right shoulder eye to eye with a menacing hurricane. In the eye of the hurricane is the symbol of Israel — the Star of David.
In his book, Koenig attempted to show the relationship between U.S. mistreatment of Israel and subsequent natural disasters, economic setbacks and political crisis. Let me just share a few of the natural disasters with you.
It all began on November 1, 1991, when we forced Israel to the Madrid Conference. We forced them to sit down at the table and start negotiating away their land to the Palestinians. That conference began on November 1, 1991, and on that exact day the Perfect Storm formed in the Atlantic. That perfect storm produced waves of over 100 feet and almost completely destroyed President Bush's home in Kennebunkport, Maine. In fact, on November the 1st USA Today had twin headlines. On one side it said," Madrid Conference Convenes," the other side said, "Perfect Storm Forms."
Consider what happened in the summer of 1992 when Yitzhak Rabin was elected the new prime minister of Israel. The moment he was elected in June, we put pressure on him and said he must come to Washington, sit down with the PLO's Arafat, and negotiate and give land to Arafat. He came and sat down with Arafat. Their meeting began on August 24, 1992, and on that very day Andrew Hurricane slammed into Miami. It was the greatest hurricane in the history of the United States up to that point.
Consider the Camp David Summit in July of 2000, when Bill Clinton brought Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Yasser Arafat together. Clinton began to put pressure on Barak to trade away the heartland of Israel and also to give Arafat one half of Jerusalem. The day that conference began, fires broke out in the Western United States. Fifty fires consumed 500,000 acres of land before the end of the month.
Also, consider the White House celebration of Ramadan. It's the strangest thing why George W. Bush started this. I have no idea. This was Bush's response to 9/11 to schedule the first ever White House celebration of Ramadan. Someone once said scheduling a celebration of Ramadan after 9/11 was the equivalent to FDR scheduling a celebration of Shintoism after the attack on Pearl Harbor. It makes no sense whatsoever. It just doesn't make any sense! At this meeting, which was held in November of 2002, President Bush made this incredible statement. He said, "We have come to honor Allah, the God of Abraham." The very next day, a swarm of 88 tornadoes hit the central United States.
Consider what came next — the incredible Road Map Plan. The Road Map was put together by the Quartet. You talk about an ungodly quartet: Russia, the United Nations, the European Union and the United States. The plan's purpose was to force Israel to give away its heartland. This was delivered by Daniel Kurtzer, the ambassador to Ariel Sharon, on May 4, 2003. The next day Colin Powell went to the Middle East to implement the plan. The first thing he did was to meet with the terrorist leader Hafez Assad who's now dead. As soon as the meeting was over, he called a press conference and announced he had promised President Assad that the Golan Heights would be promised in the Road Map. He said we would force Israel to give up the Golan Heights. That very day, the greatest tornado swarm in the history of the United States occurred — 412 tornados broke out. The previous high was only 177!
In summary, in those years between 1991 and 2004, during those thirteen years that the United States had turned against Israel, here's what's happened:
•9 of the 10 largest insurance events in U.S. history
•9 of the 10 greatest natural disasters as ranked by FEMA relief costs
•5 of the costliest hurricanes in U.S. history
•3 of the 4 largest tornado swarms in U.S. history.
All of these disasters were linked in one way or another to our attempts to press Israel into dividing its land or surrendering all or part of Jerusalem.
The world would laugh at this and the world would say it's coincidence. I don't believe in coincidence, I believe in "God incidences."
In the next segment of this "God, Judgment and the Weather" series, we'll look at how one political event in particular relating to Israel resulted in Hurricane Katrina.
Significance of Iraq in the Bible
It is really fascinating to note how much Iraq is discussed in the Bible! Many questions have arisen about Iraq since the U.S. and her allies invaded Iraq and removed the government of Sadham Hussein. No other nation in the Bible, except Israel, has more history and prophecy associated with it than Iraq. However, that is not the name that is used in the Bible. The names used in the Bible are Babylon, Land of Shinar, and Mesopotamia. The word Mesopotamia means between the two rivers, more exactly between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. That land is known today as Iraq. Many think of Iraq as “only” an oil rich nation, ruled by an evil dictator for 30 years. Here are a few facts regarding the important events and roles this nation has played throughout history:
1.The garden of Eden was in Iraq - Genesis 2:10-14
2.Adam & Eve were created in Iraq - Genesis 2:7-8
3.Noah built the ark in Iraq.
4.The Tower of Babel was in Iraq. - Genesis 11:5-11
5.Abraham was from Ur, which is in Southern Iraq. - Genesis 11:31 & Acts 7:2-4
6.Isaac’s wife Rebekah is from Nahor which was in Iraq. - Genesis 24:3-4 & 10
7.Jacob spent twenty years in Iraq and met his wife Rachel in Iraq. - Genesis 27:42-45 & 31:38
8.Jonah preached one of the greatest revivals of history in Nineveh - which is in Iraq. - Jonah 3
9.Assyria which was in Iraq conquered the ten tribes of Israel.
10.Amos cried out in Iraq!
11.Babylon which is now Iraq destroyed Jerusalem.
12.Daniel was in the lion’s den in Iraq!
13.Belshazzar, the King of Babylon saw the “writing on the wall” in Iraq.
14.The three Hebrew young men, Sharach, Meshech, and Abednego, were thrown into the fiery furnace in Iraq (it is good news to know that JESUS has been in Iraq too as the 4th person in that furnace !)
15.Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, carried the Jews captive into Iraq.
16.Ezekiel preached in Iraq.
17.The wise men were from Iraq.
18.Peter preached in Iraq.
19.The “Empire of Man” described in Revelation is called Babylon which was a city in Iraq!
20.Nimrod established Babylon & Tower of Babel was built in Iraq - Genesis 10:8-97 & 11:1-4
21.The first world Empire was in Iraq - Daniel 1:1-2 &2:36-38
22.Satan made his first recorded appearance in the Garden of Eden which was in Iraq - Genesis 3:1-6
23.The events of the book of Esther took place in Iraq - Esther
24.The book of Nahum was a prophecy against a city in Iraq - Nahum
25.The book of Revelation has prophecies against Babylon, which was the old name for the nation of Iraq - Revelation 17 & 18
26.The confusion of the languages took place in Iraq— Genesis 11:5-11
Perhaps the most interesting of all the mentions of Iraq in the Bible is the one in Revelation (Revelation, chapter 18) which features a city called "Babylon" as a great financial center of the world. The activity of this city of Revelation 18 has puzzled prophecy teachers and students for a long while! According to Revelation 18, Babylon will become the financial capital of the world in the end times.
Since Babylon has laid in ruins for centuries, it was tempting for teachers to conclude that the Revelation 18 Babylon must be an allegorical referrence to another city, a modern city like New York, or some other city. Recently however, we have seen the Unites States and allies dismantle the dictatorship government there. What will happen next in Iraq is unclear, but could it be that we are about the see Iraq internationalized and Babylon rebuilt? It has been estimated that the oil reserves of Iraq are greater than those of Saudi Arabia. If developed properly, a lot of money would result! Are we going to see a city called Babylon rebuilt in Iraq to control all this wealth? The average person would conclude that building such a city would take quite
a while, but would it?
In 1942, the U.S. Gov't. searched for a place to extract U235 isotopes from uranium to manufacture a nuclear bomb. They found suitable property in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The Army started with three facilities in this project. Added to these were schools, shopping centers, cafeterias, a hospital, a newspaper, entertainment, and other facilites, with a 75,000 population. And here is the surprise. All of this was built and up and running in just eighteen months! Now that was in 1942. Technology of today could make it happen more efficiently!
Many prophecy students are watching the developments in Iraq very closely. Many are asking if a city might be built there called Babylon when the hostilities cease, to control all the wealth that will be there. Building a city and moving the computers there to establish a financial center would be very easy to do with today's technology. To consider that Revelation 18 might be fulfilled literally before long is fascinating to say the least! If we see this starting to develop, it will be just one more among many signs that the return of Christ is near.
by Gary Fisher
1.The garden of Eden was in Iraq - Genesis 2:10-14
2.Adam & Eve were created in Iraq - Genesis 2:7-8
3.Noah built the ark in Iraq.
4.The Tower of Babel was in Iraq. - Genesis 11:5-11
5.Abraham was from Ur, which is in Southern Iraq. - Genesis 11:31 & Acts 7:2-4
6.Isaac’s wife Rebekah is from Nahor which was in Iraq. - Genesis 24:3-4 & 10
7.Jacob spent twenty years in Iraq and met his wife Rachel in Iraq. - Genesis 27:42-45 & 31:38
8.Jonah preached one of the greatest revivals of history in Nineveh - which is in Iraq. - Jonah 3
9.Assyria which was in Iraq conquered the ten tribes of Israel.
10.Amos cried out in Iraq!
11.Babylon which is now Iraq destroyed Jerusalem.
12.Daniel was in the lion’s den in Iraq!
13.Belshazzar, the King of Babylon saw the “writing on the wall” in Iraq.
14.The three Hebrew young men, Sharach, Meshech, and Abednego, were thrown into the fiery furnace in Iraq (it is good news to know that JESUS has been in Iraq too as the 4th person in that furnace !)
15.Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, carried the Jews captive into Iraq.
16.Ezekiel preached in Iraq.
17.The wise men were from Iraq.
18.Peter preached in Iraq.
19.The “Empire of Man” described in Revelation is called Babylon which was a city in Iraq!
20.Nimrod established Babylon & Tower of Babel was built in Iraq - Genesis 10:8-97 & 11:1-4
21.The first world Empire was in Iraq - Daniel 1:1-2 &2:36-38
22.Satan made his first recorded appearance in the Garden of Eden which was in Iraq - Genesis 3:1-6
23.The events of the book of Esther took place in Iraq - Esther
24.The book of Nahum was a prophecy against a city in Iraq - Nahum
25.The book of Revelation has prophecies against Babylon, which was the old name for the nation of Iraq - Revelation 17 & 18
26.The confusion of the languages took place in Iraq— Genesis 11:5-11
Perhaps the most interesting of all the mentions of Iraq in the Bible is the one in Revelation (Revelation, chapter 18) which features a city called "Babylon" as a great financial center of the world. The activity of this city of Revelation 18 has puzzled prophecy teachers and students for a long while! According to Revelation 18, Babylon will become the financial capital of the world in the end times.
Since Babylon has laid in ruins for centuries, it was tempting for teachers to conclude that the Revelation 18 Babylon must be an allegorical referrence to another city, a modern city like New York, or some other city. Recently however, we have seen the Unites States and allies dismantle the dictatorship government there. What will happen next in Iraq is unclear, but could it be that we are about the see Iraq internationalized and Babylon rebuilt? It has been estimated that the oil reserves of Iraq are greater than those of Saudi Arabia. If developed properly, a lot of money would result! Are we going to see a city called Babylon rebuilt in Iraq to control all this wealth? The average person would conclude that building such a city would take quite
a while, but would it?
In 1942, the U.S. Gov't. searched for a place to extract U235 isotopes from uranium to manufacture a nuclear bomb. They found suitable property in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The Army started with three facilities in this project. Added to these were schools, shopping centers, cafeterias, a hospital, a newspaper, entertainment, and other facilites, with a 75,000 population. And here is the surprise. All of this was built and up and running in just eighteen months! Now that was in 1942. Technology of today could make it happen more efficiently!
Many prophecy students are watching the developments in Iraq very closely. Many are asking if a city might be built there called Babylon when the hostilities cease, to control all the wealth that will be there. Building a city and moving the computers there to establish a financial center would be very easy to do with today's technology. To consider that Revelation 18 might be fulfilled literally before long is fascinating to say the least! If we see this starting to develop, it will be just one more among many signs that the return of Christ is near.
by Gary Fisher
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