Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

Skewed Logic
Jun 20th, 2010
Weekly CommentaryArt Sadlier
Categories: Commentary;The Nation Of Israel;Antisemitism

The whole world seems to act in an irrational way when it comes to Israel. Fairness goes out the window. The whole idea of the Israeli blockade of Gaza is obviously an attempt to prevent another war in Gaza. We are told that Hamas has 5000 rockets and missiles and they brag that they are committed to destroy Israel. Their goal is obviously to amass an arsenal of weapons that will make their task easily attainable. In the light of these facts it is beyond belief that the whole world turns against Israel when she moves to prevent her destruction by enforcing the blockade.

There is a great contrast in the way other nations are allowed to act in their interests. Recently the Taliban hung a seven year old boy for allegedly spying. Such a crime ought to bring outrage from the whole world, yet it went almost unnoticed. The world has a double standard!

In another glaring double standard, Turkey gives another demonstration of hypocrisy that goes virtually unnoticed. Turkish Prime Minster Recep Tayyip Erdogan blasted Israel over the deaths of nine activists aboard one of the flotilla ships after they attacked the Israeli boarding party. He accused Israel of crimes against humanity, and has led the international charge for an investigation and sanctions against the Jewish state.

On the same day as the flotilla raid, Kurdish rebels attacked a Turkish naval base, killing 12 soldiers. Last week, Erdogan's government responded with air strikes on Kurdish positions in northern Iraq that killed 120 people, including a 7-year-old girl. There were no calls for a UN Security Council meeting, no calls for a UN commission to investigate. Again we see the world has a double standard, one for Israel and one for the rest of the world.

In yet another incredible demonstration of the world’s double standard we hear about Hamas’s brazen proposed attacks on Israel. Hamas leaders stated that they would never change its policy of resistance against Israel. They said that Palestinians should initiate rocket attacks on Israel from the West Bank. Yet there was no condemnation, nor recognition of contradiction between this statement and the blame heaped on Israel for the defensive act of enforcing a weapons blockade.

In another contradiction of fairness, a top Syrian businessman at this weekend insisted that the Middle East peace process is a farce, and that there will never be peace or coexistence between average Arabs and the Jews of Israel. The Arab world has openly vowed to ultimately destroy Israel, and yet the burden is placed on Israel to make peace by making endless concessions to these same implacable enemies. By what skewed logic does the world carry on this double standard?

President Obama announced in a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that he's planning to send $400 million in so-called humanitarian aid to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. It is known fact that every cent that goes into Gaza falls into the control of Hamas, the President knows that. Again we have a double standard in the White House. They have called on Israel to remove the blockade while they finance a group that is sworn to annihilate Israel. The double standard is so glaring that it leaves you with the impression that the whole world is moved with deep, deep anti-Semitism.

Revelation 17:7-8
Jun 20th, 2010
Exploring RevelationArt Sadlier
Categories: Commentary;Prophecy;Book Study

The System Explained

"And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns." Verse 7

The angel will now explain the literal meaning of the symbols. The word 'mystery' does not mean 'Mysterious', but rather 'secret', that which hitherto has been hidden and is now revealed. The mask has now been stripped from the mother of harlots. That which has been shrouded in secret is about to be explained. The woman is associated with the beast which has seven heads and ten horns. The ten horns are represented in Daniel's image as the ten toes, (see Daniel 2:40-44 and Daniel 7:7).

Six centuries before John's vision it was revealed by God to Daniel that the power of world government would pass through the hands of four empires. The Babylonians, Medio-Persians, Greece  and Rome. The last of these, the Roman Empire was overthrown in 476 AD., however the Roman Empire was not completely wiped out. Though Rome has not risen again as a world empire, yet it has been kept alive in Europe as a political force. Through the political influence of Church of Rome. It has also been present in the colonial system of the countries of Europe, the British colonial Empire, the French colonial Empire, the Dutch colonial Empire, the German colonial Empire, the Belgian colonial Empire and also the colonial Empires of Portugal and Spain. It is interesting that when those Empires fell after WW 2, the treaty of Rome was signed and revival of the Roman Empire began.

Rome will rise again!  In fact the leaders of the EU boast that they are the return of the Roman Empire.

We read in Daniel 2:31-33 about the old Roman Empire. In verses 36-43 we have the interpretation, this is the Revived Roman Empire. In verse 44 we see that this takes place just prior to the establishment of Christ's kingdom.

In Daniel 7:7 we read, "And it had ten horns."  That is the stage of the Roman Empire that has not yet come to pass, it will not come to fruition until the peace treaty is signed. It will last 3 1/2 years then give way to the world wide kingdom of Antichrist.

In Revelation 17:7 John's amazement is directed toward the woman and her influence. The angel says, the mystery involves not only the woman but also the beast that carries her.

"The beast...which hath the seven heads  and ten horns", we need to understand that there is a political system and a religious system involved here, a world  Empire and  a world  Church.

Verse 8, "The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is."

We have a further description of the beast. "the beast that was", that is the past history of Rome. "And is not", that is the Roman Empire's condition over the last 1500 years. "And shall come up out of the bottomless pit", or is about to come up out of the bottomless pit. This refers to the restoration of the Roman Empire by Satan through his man Antichrist. Rome will not be revived until the Antichrist comes on the scene. That which is taking place in the EU today is just preparation for the coming of Antichrist.

"And go into perdition", this refers to the destruction of the kingdom of Antichrist at the coming of Christ. Antichrist's kingdom will be short lived.  "And they that dwell on the earth shall wonder," 'Wonder' means to be amazed.

The kingdom shall rise so rapidly, it shall totally control the whole earth. It will have a great religious system that will totally control all men. It will have a astounding economic system that will absolutely amaze and shock all men everywhere. You will not buy or sell without it being recorded by the system of the beast. You will not buy or sell without the permission of the beast. Everything on the planet will suddenly come under his power.

The people of the world will stand in amazement at how rapidly all this happens and at how vast and extensive the control will be.

Matthew 2:13-23 PT.2
Jun 20th, 2010
Weekly Bible StudyArt Sadlier
Categories: Commentary;Exhortation;Book Study

The Flight into Eygpt

We have looked at the reason for the flight, now we will look at;

The Instructions for the Flight

And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.  Verse 13

Satan is crafty, satan is powerful and satan is cunning and deceitful. Joseph was no match for satan and neither are you and I. However God knew what Satan was doing! In this situation God intervened, "Behold the angel of the Lord appeared unto Joseph in a dream saying..." This was no ordinary dream, this was evidently a semi-concious state in which there was a confrontation with an angel.

This kind of dream was unique to Bible periods of revelation. It was experienced by men like Daniel, Peter, Jacob, Joseph and Pharoah among others.

There is an element of mystery in scripture. Why God reveals Himself in so many different ways we are not certain. Why does God allow Satan to drive Joseph, Mary and Jesus down into Eygpt? The answer is only partially given in the fact that scripture says, out of Eygpt have I called My Son. Why does God tolerate Satan's attacks? There is great mystery about the conflict of the ages. There is a great mystery about evil.

Paul said, "For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way."  Why did God allow sin in the first place? Why does God deal with it in the way He does? Why does God allow it to continue? We know some of the answers to those questions, but there is much we do not understand about the purposes of God! We do know that every evil thing in the universe will ultimately bring glory to God!

We know that the man in an eternal hell will bring glory to God, he will be to the glory of God's holiness and justice. The man in heaven for eternity will bring glory to the praise of God's mercy and grace. 

The instructions were given to depart. "Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt" Often throughout the troubled centuries the Jews found refuge in Egypt.  At this time there were more than a million Jews in Alexandria. They had control over portions of the city, they would find a welcome sanctuary among fellow Jews.

The Duration

"And be thou there until I bring thee word." To be in the will of God is a wonderful thing! The enemies of God's children plot, scheme and rant and rave, but God's children are safe in the hollow of His hand when they are in His will.

We do not know how long they were in Egypt, except to know that they weren't there very long. Then the Lord just blew out the candle of Herod's life. Multitudes of men and women down thriugh the ages have defied God and persecuted His children. The question is where are they today? They are in hell and they are there forever!

Men like Hitler, Mussolini, Nero, Diacletian and many, many others. They have made the earth seem to shake with their hatred of God and His people, but they are in hell today! Christian do not fear the mighty of this world.

The Provision for the Flight

Where did they get the provisions for the journey? They were poor according to Mary's offering for her purification. (Luke 2:24)  Matthew 2:11 tells us where the money came from, it came from the gifts of the wise men. I like that, God could have dropped it out of the sky, but He didn't! He moved upon the hearts of some men who loved Him. Latter, some wealthy women would seem to finance Christ's ministry. A rich man would give Him a grave!

All down through the church age God has been moving on the hearts of men and women to finance what He wants done! If we can discover what the Lord wants done, the Lord will move upon the hearts of His people to finance it.