Friday, November 11, 2011

Repent! For the Kingdom of Heaven is near!

"Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near."

Solomon had it right, "There is nothing new under the sun." What has been will be again. And it is. Jesus first coming was heralded by many prophets, but one man in particular paved the way, John the Baptist. His message was of repentance, commitment and purification. The Messiah came and conquered the world through spiritual victory and is coming again to conquer all kingdoms physically. But there is someone who will be coming in between these two comings that Christians have been anxiously looking for as well, the  Antichrist. The Beast. The abomination that causes desolation. And I believe his appearance is immanent.

Biblical prophecy is being set up and fulfilled around us everyday. First, I want to address a subject that is under much contention. The physical nation of Israel. Some say they are still God's favorites. Some say they are irrelevant. And many say a lot of things in between. There is no doubt that God favored and was fighting on their side in the Old Testament. Jesus definitely gave them the land of Israel as their inheritance. The question is was this promise nullified or revoked when the New Covenant was ushered in or because of the Jew's rejection of Jesus through His death on the cross. Generally speaking, most have no scriptural basis for this belief. At least I have never heard of any and don't think any can be found because of Paul's words to the Romans,

"I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! ... God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew... Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! rather because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious... I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that your may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved... for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable."

Israel's inheritance was not apart of the Old Covenant. It was an gift that stemmed from Abraham's faith and faithfulness. Israel was carried off into captivity and occupied many times, but none of these revoked their ownership of the land. Israel was even occupied in Jesus' day by the Romans. But as in Elijah's day, He has always kept a faithful remnant for Himself. And the promise and the inheritance is not revoked for the faithful on account of the unfaithful. The geographic land of Israel belongs to the Jew's ,the natural sons and the adopted sons, and it is where He will return to. It is where he will set His city. And He will fight for it.

"This is the word of the Lord concerning Israel. The Lord, who stretches out the heavens, who lays the foundation of the earth, and who forms the spirit of man within him, declares:  “I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling. Judah will be besieged as well as Jerusalem.  On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves.  On that day I will strike every horse with panic and its rider with madness,” declares the Lord. “I will keep a watchful eye over the house of Judah, but I will blind all the horses of the nations.  Then the leaders of Judah will say in their hearts, ‘The people of Jerusalem are strong, because the Lord Almighty is their God.’
 “On that day I will make the leaders of Judah like a firepot in a woodpile, like a flaming torch among sheaves. They will consume right and left all the surrounding peoples, but Jerusalem will remain intact in her place.
 “The Lord will save the dwellings of Judah first, so that the honor of the house of David and of Jerusalem’s inhabitants may not be greater than that of Judah.  On that day the Lord will shield those who live in Jerusalem, so that the feeblest among them will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the Angel of the Lord going before them.  On that day I will set out to destroy all the nations that attack Jerusalem.

I say all this to get to this: I believe the Beast and his false prophet are walking the Earth. Jesus it the descendant of the child of the promise, Issac. The false Christ will be a descendant of the false son, the illegitimate son, Ishmael. There has been some very alarming events in the news lately. This is the most disturbing:

"Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are convinced that the End of Days has come. They believe the Shia messiah known as the “Twelfth Imam” or the “Mahdi” will appear soon to establish a global Islamic kingdom known as the caliphate. What’s more, they believe the way to hasten the coming of the Twelfth Imam is to annihilate Israel (which they call the “Little Satan”), and the United States (which they call the “Great Satan”). We should not, therefore, be surprised that Iran is probing for weaknesses in American intelligence and homeland security. Khamenei told Iranians in July 2010 that he personally met with the Twelfth Imam. He also claimed to be the personal representative of the Mahdi on earth, and said all Muslims must “obey him.” Meanwhile, Western intelligence agencies say he continues to work with Ahmadinejad and the Iranian military to develop nuclear warheads and the ballistic missiles to deliver them.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2011/11/07/why-irans-top-leaders-believe-that-end-days-has-come/#ixzz1dPj0f400

There is a lot of time spent studying Biblical eschatology(end times study), and there should be. But take some time and read some Islamic eschatology sometime.  It is eerily similar to ours. Governments overthrown. Evil eradicated. Righteousness reigns. Messiah. God  reigning on earth. You would think you were reading Revelations. Except the names and winners are changed. You have to understand that the Antichrist and false prophet are not going to be against Christ. Satan never wanted to oppose Jesus. He wanted to be Jesus and have everything that He has. And He has been mimicking him ever since the beginning.

The world is so interconnected that globalization is the only option at this point for the politicians. We are in a bubble here in America. We see Islam and Muslims as fringe and obscure. And we still have a sense of Nationality and freedom. But

"As of 2009, over 1.5 billion or about 23% of the world population are Muslims.[1] Of these, around 62% live in Asia-Pacific, 20% in the Middle East and North Africa, 15% in Sub-Saharan Africa and around 2% in Europe & Americas" - Wikipedia

And this was in 2009. Islam is sweeping the world. I've often wondered why the U.S. is not mentioned in Biblical prophecy. We have such a instrumental place in the world. We are the concentration of the vast majority of wealth and power. We are said to be founded on Christian principles. Most Americans probably cringe inside every time the hear the word Islam or Muslim after 9/11. We know that the southern half of the U.S., at least, is armed to the teeth. How on Earth could this be true?: "All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast". I think Americans have demonstrated, despite our failings and disregard for Jesus' commandments, that we would fight to the death over our freedom. So how would America ever be in submission to an Islamic, Antichrist, world government? Maybe it is because we are not here. Everyone knows how much Muslims, and particularly Iraq, hate Israel and the Jews. But this fact is mysteriously absent from the headlines: Israel is the "little Satan" to them. America is the "Great Satan". And when all this World War lll starts going down who do you think will be their first target? God promised to fight on Israel's behalf and to secure His kingdom on that land. There was no such promise made for this land.

Be watchful. Be ready. Repent! Do not give the Devil a foothold. Remember  Jesus' words,

"Do not worry about what you will eat, or what you will drink, or what you will wear. Do not worry about your life."

"Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me"

"If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity he will go. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, with the sword he will be killed. This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints."

There is a great delusion coming and is already showing it's head today. Your enemy, the Devil, will use any and every tactic to devour you and get you turn away from Jesus. Purify your lives and be ready to give anything and everything for His name. Repent! For the kingdom of Heaven is near!

Feel free to comment or ask questions! 

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