Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

Revelation 13:4
Aug 23rd, 2009
Exploring RevelationArt Sadlier
Categories: Commentary;Prophecy;Book Study

"And they worshippeg the dragon". That has been Satan`s ultimate goal from the moment he fell from grace. Listen to Satan in Isaiah 14:13, "I will ascend into heaven".  "I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation".  Verse 14,  "I will ascend above the heights of the clouds",  "I will be like the most High".

We can understand something of the circumstances that surrounded Satan`s fall as we read what God has revealed to us about this event. We see Satan as the Covering Cherub as he hovers over the throne of God, he is the closest to God there in heaven. He sees the glory of God, he sees something of the majesty of God, he looks on as all of heaven worhips God. Satan said in his heart, I want that, I want what God has. He said in his heart I want the Glory of God, I want to be worshipped as God is worshipped. From that moment he set as his goal to have the world of men and angels worship him. He has worked to that end for thousands of years and is still striving to obtain that objective. He offers men all kinds of incentives to have them worship him in the here and now, but his ultimate plan is what we see unfolding in our text today.

Satan is not opposed to religion, his goal is to have his own religion, the worship of himself by the world. Satan is opposed to Christianity, but he uses it in the last days to bring the worshippers to worship his man, the antichrist and through the worship of antichrist he will seek to bring the world to worship him, see 2 Thess. 2:3,4.

"Who is like unto the beast"? The world will be impressed, they will say, what can Christ do that the beast cannot do?. In fact they will be deceived into actually believing that he is Christ.

I believe that he will deceive the apostate church into believing that he is Christ. I believe that he also will deceive Israel into believing that he is their Messiah and that he will deceive Islam into believing that he is their Mahdi. The whole world will be deceived. They will be deceived by Satan and the beast, 2 Thess.2:9. They will also be deceived by God as well, 2 Thess. 2:10,11.

"Who is able to make war with the him"? We see the beast in the last half of the tribulation period as the most powerful man that has ever lived on the earth. God allows Satan to attempt to work out his purposes, removing all restraints upon Satan. This is Satan's hour!  He has been bragging for millenia that he can dethrone God, that he can run the kingdom in God's place. God says go to it Satan, lets see what you can do? As the scene unfolds we see the world in ashes and ruins, we see a world ruined by Satan.

God allows the whole scenario to play out so that when great experiment is over, the world of men and angels will know beyond any question that sin and rebellion against God does not pay. The contest between God and Satan is a moral contest, and God seems to tie His hands behind His back instead of crushing Satan. I believe God does that not for Satan's sake but for the sake of men and angels who are watching throughout all of the ages.

Israelis: Obama Does not Support Israel
Aug 23rd, 2009
Daily NewsIsrael Today
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

Most Israelis feel that US President Barack Obama is reversing his nation's traditional strong support of the Jewish state, and replacing it with policies that favor Israel's antagonists.

A survey of Israelis conducted earlier this month revealed that a mere 12 percent of Israel's believe Obama supports Israel. Forty percent said Obama's current peace policies clearly favor the Palestinians.

At the same time, 59 percent of Israelis polled said that the outcome of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction convention last week made it clear Israel has no partner for peace.

At the convention, Fatah adopted a new party platform that legitimizes terrorism against Israelis and threatens to renew widespread violence if Israel does not meet Arab demands. Fatah also elected a number of terrorism advocates to its powerful central committee.

On the flip side, the poll found that 64 percent of Palestinian Arabs still feel that US peace policies in the region are biased in favor of Israel.

The poll was conducted between August 9 and 15 by the Ramallah-based Palestinian Center for Police and Survey Research and the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Israel - Sweden Tensions Build Over Libelous Article
Aug 23rd, 2009
Daily NewsIsrael Today
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

Tensions between Israel and Sweden continued to build over the weekend after last week's publication in Sweden's largest daily newspaper of a feature story accusing Israeli soldiers of harvesting organs from Palestinian Arabs.

Israel's Foreign Ministry lashed out at the newspaper over the story, as did other Swedish newspapers, calling it anti-Semitism disguised as legitimate criticism of Israel. Ministry officials likened the story to medieval blood libels that engendered hatred of the Jews by claiming they killed Christian children to use their blood to bake unleavened bread during Passover.

But calls for the Swedish government to officially condemn the story were rejected. Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt insisted in a blog post that his government would not curtail what he called "freedom of speech."

At Sunday's cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu again demanded that Sweden condemn the contents of the libelous article, and Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz said those who won't condemn the article may not be welcome in Israel.

Earlier in the day, Israel's Government Press Office confirmed that it had refused credentials to enter the Gaza Strip to a reporter from the Swedish newspaper that printed the story. It is feared the reporter and the newspaper would again publish wild Palestinian accusations as though they were fact.

Bildt is scheduled to visit Israel in September. Israel may try to cancel that visit if the current crisis has not blown over by then.

Brotherhood of the Redeemed
Aug 23rd, 2009
Thought for the WeekA.W. Tozer
Categories: Meditation;Inspirational

Anyone making even a quick review of Genesis will discover that God has told us more about His presence in creation and in history than about the details of human civilization. We believe that eternity dwells in the Person of God and that the material universe came into being through God's creation. The first man and woman in the human race were created. They failed in their initial encounter with Satan, our archenemy. Following that, the Genesis record becomes a narrative of human failure against the abiding backdrop of God's faithfulness. God Himself, through the Holy Spirit, points out a universal problem: the natural brotherhood of human beings is a sinful brotherhood. It is the brotherhood of all who are spiritually lost. But the Bible has good news. It is the revelation of a new brotherhood, the brotherhood of the redeemed! We know it in our time as the believing church of our Lord Jesus Christ in all nations. It is a new brotherhood among men based on regeneration-and restoration!

A Nation Abused
Aug 23rd, 2009
Weekly CommentaryArt Sadlier
Categories: Commentary;Prophecy;Warning

Long ago the Lord warned Israel that if they would not obey His voice and trust in Him alone that He would cause them to be abused by the nations of the world. That is the history of Israel for some 2000 years now. Today Israel is still estranged from God and today the nations of the world are still abusing her.

Word has filtered through that President Obama is leveraging the threat of Iran's nuclear weapons against Israel. His proposition is that if Israel will cease building in East Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria then he will try to bring  sanctions against Iran to stop her from obtaining a nuclear bomb. The implication is clear that if Israel does not yield to his will he will stand back and let Iran blow Israel off the map with a nuclear bomb.

In other words Obama`s goal is to please the Islamic world, Israel is to be sacrificed one way or the other to gain the acceptance of Islam. This is just as horrible an act of antisemitism as Hitler`s holocaust. The world does not see this for what it is because the world is blinded by the god of this world.

In another example of this very same anti-Israel sentiment we read about the brazen assault on Israel`s right to pray on the Temple Mount. It is in the very same spot where God actually dwelt and met with His people and cleansed them from their sins. Yet the Arab League this week accused the Jews of violating international law by praying on the Temple Mount.

The Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa insisted that under international law, Jews are forbidden from praying atop the Muslim controlled Temple Mount.

It is astounding that after so many long years the prophecies of God`s Word are being fulfilled exactly as foretold. The sequel to this story is that the rest of these prophecies will also be fulfilled. God has said that He will destroy the enemies of His people Israel. We also read in Ezekiel 37:27,28  "My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And the heathen shall know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore."

Go ahead Mr. Obama, play the losing game.