Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

Ye Have Troubled Me to Make Me to Stink Among the Inhabitants of the Land - Genesis 34:30
Dec 1st, 2019
Morning MeditationF. B. Meyer
Categories: Meditation;Inspirational;Book Study

The Bible does not hesitate to hold the mirror up to our fallen nature, or show us what we are. Here is Israel, the prince with God, who had power with man, in a very sorry plight. His children had involved him in it; but first, he had involved them.

Dinah. - Little did she realize all the evil which that visit of hers would bring on her people and on those whose guest she was. What took her there? Had her upbringing been unnecessarily strict, and did she want a little more freedom? There is an inevitable rebound with young people to the other extreme, if needless seventy has been brought to bear on them in their early days.

The probability, however, is that the laxity of her father's home, and the effect of her mother's gods, had made the line of separation a very faint one, and she felt no difficulty in overstepping it.

Simeon and Levi. - "Ye have made me to stink." On his dying bed Jacob remembered this treacherous cruelty and pronounced their scattering in Israel; though Levi undid the effect of that bitter curse by his obedience and devotion. In after days it was said, "My covenant was with him of life and peace," and though scattered, he was as salt. In Simeon's case the curse was not cancelled by any subsequent manifestation of obedience and devotion, and ran out its course.

There is encouragement and warning here.

Jacob. - The real mistake of it all was that Jacob bought that land, and settled too near the city (Genesis 33:18). As a pilgrim he had no right to do this. If Christian parents will settle down in fellowship with the world, they have themselves to thank for all the misery which accrues to themselves and children, and the dishonor to God.

NEWSLETTER Dec 2019
Dec 1st, 2019
CommentaryA. Sadlier
Categories: Printed Newsletter

Israel Rising

The Lord warned Israel 3,500 years ago that if they departed from Him and disobeyed Him He would drive them off the Promised Land and scatter them over the face of the whole earth.

“And it shall come to pass, that as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the LORD will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nought; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it. And the LORD shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other…” (Deuteronomy 28:63-62). Israel did disobey and God did remove them from the land.

But the Lord promised Israel that He would one day restore them to the Promised Land. Amos is just one of God’s prophets who foretold of the promise of restoration. “And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the LORD thy God” (Amos 9:14-15).

We see in the above verses and in many others that the day would come when God would restore His people. The scripture indicates that this would happen before Israel’s spiritual eyes would be opened, before Israel’s heart would return to the Lord. Israel’s spiritual eyes have not yet been opened. She has not yet recognized Christ as her Messiah. Nevertheless, all of the promises made to Israel in Amos 9:14-15 have now been fulfilled. And God will continue to exalt the nation along with severe chastening until that glorious day when Israel’s spiritual eyes are opened.

The Lord has been fulfilling His promises made concerning Israel’s rise, restoration, prosperity, power and blessing. God’s good hand has been on Israel in spite of her failure to humble herself and recognize her Messiah and Saviour Jesus Christ, who is God the Son.

We see this opening of Israel’s eyes to recognize her Messiah in a yet future day in Zechariah 12:10 “And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.” That has not yet happened.

“And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God” (Zechariah 13:8-9). This has not yet happened, but it will happen and Israel will be redeemed and restored to her relationship with her God.

This turning of Israel’s heart back to the Lord occurs after the Lord has raised Israel up physically, materially and nationally. It occurs along with a re-occurring chastening and ultimately a holocaust of the awful judgment of God upon His people Israel. Today we have been witnessing Israel’s God raising her up, exalting her among the nations. I emphasize that this blessing of God upon Israel is occurring prior to Israel’s recognition of her Messiah, Jesus Christ.

Israel’s rising has been absolutely amazing. For the last one hundred years we have witnessed God’s blessing being gradually poured out upon His people in spite of her refusal to recognize Christ as her Messiah. The rejection of Christ was the last act of rebellion that brought the dispersal of Israel among the nations of the world.

In the early 1900’s God began to move upon the hearts of Israeli’s to return to their land. In opposition, Satan has moved upon men to oppose Israel every step of the way. This was the beginning of great end time battle between Satan and Jehovah. That battle is now coming to climax. We are watching it unfolding before our very eyes.

During the 1930’s and 1940’s the Arabs opposed the Israelis’ return to the land.

In spite of this opposition against Israel, in1948, by the miracle-working hand of God, Israel became a nation again. As a result Israel fought a war she could never hope to win. A ragtag band of farmers and patriots with almost no weapons came up against five well equipped modern armies. The war lasted six months. Israel trounced the Arabs and drove them out of Israel. God miraculously intervened to give Israel an amazing victory. At that point Israel gained the status of a legitimate nation.
God had used Satan’s attack to raise Israel up in status in the world. That is the pattern that we see in all of God’s dealings with Israel in these last days. Satan attacks and God blesses and preserves Israel and Israel is raised up in her position and standing in the world. However, Israel persistently refuses to return to God in repentance, obedience and faith. The cycle is repeated over and over again.

In the war of 1967 the same scenario was repeated. For 19 years Russia rearmed the Arab world with the finest military weapons. They planned a war to utterly destroy Israel. It would be 200 million Arabs against 2 million Jews. The attack came from the combined armies of Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Kuwait, Algeria, and Lebanon. This was another war Israel could never hope to win. The tiny little nation of Israel responded and within six days drove out their enemies and conquered the Sinai, the Golan Heights, the West Bank (Judea and Samaria), East Jerusalem and the Temple Mount.

In this astounding, miraculous victory, God gave into Israel’s possession of almost all of the land that David had ruled over and the land that He had promised Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Sadly Israel gave up control of the Temple Mount to Jordan and failed to possess the spoils of the victory. Nevertheless God was lifting up His unworthy people to a higher standing in the world. Sadly Israel was not yet ready to open her eyes to receive Christ her Messiah and return to her God. With each trial the Lord was lifting Israel up, lifting up Israel’s position and standing in the world. With each trial God was working to touch and win the hearts of His beloved but rebellious people.

In the 1973 Yom Kippur war a large majority of the Jewish army was on leave on this High Holy Day. The Arab launched their greatest assault on Israel. 4000 tanks, 1,000 aircraft and 800,000 troups. They penetrated deep into Israel before Israel could mobilize. Again Israel should have been annihilated. Within two weeks the bulk of the Arab armies were destroyed. Israel was poised to take Cairo and Damascus which they voluntarily declined to do. Once again God had intervened. He was saying again to Israel, in effect, “Trust Me and obey Me and I will protect you and bless you.”

Alas, Israel did not respond in repentance and obedience to God’s mighty intervention on her behalf. Nevertheless God continues to work on His people with patience and longsuffering.

In the last seventy years almost the entire world has done everything in their power to stamp Israel out of existence and yet God has continued to raise Israel up.

The three satanically inspired wars were intended to remove Israel from the face of the earth. God gave Israel miraculous victories in each of these wars. In spite of these wars a God given transition came about in the nation of Israel. From an army of a rag-tag group of peasants and farmers, God has promoted Israel to become a nation with one of the world’s most powerful armies. Her military might today is astounding. Israel today is a leader in military technology and anti-missile technology. God has been raising Israel up. The greater the opposition the more God moves to strengthen and bless His people.

There is an ongoing war over the nation of Israel between God and His enemy the devil. Every time Satan launches an attack on Israel God intervenes on behalf of His people. The attacks escalate and God’s response escalates defending Israel and each time He raises Israel up to a higher level.

Today, Israel is world leader in science, medicine, agriculture and technology. Israel’s standing in the world is steadily increasing. Recently Israeli scientists have a found a remedy to the problem of pancreatic cancer and thyroid cancer. Agriculturally, Israel has also become the food basket of Europe and other nations.

In recent years Israel has discovered vast reserves of oil and gas that will make Israel among the world’s wealthiest nations. God is raising Israel up. The ultimate result will be Christ sitting on the throne of David in Jerusalem leading Israel in ruling the nations of the world.

Today that process is continuing. God is using President Trump to bless Israel. Trump has moved the US embassy to Jerusalem, recognizing the legitimacy of Israel as a nation, again raising Israel’s standing in the world. Recently Trump declared that it is legal for Israel to establish settlements in the West Bank. Even more recently Trump is entering into a military defence alliance with Israel. He has more recently issued an executive order against antisemitism in US collages.

The globalists and the socialists have mobilized all of their resources to destroy Trump. Instead of destroying Trump, God has blessed everything Trump has put his hand to do. Trump is making America great again, at least great in economic and military might. However, like Israel, America has not turned back to God. In fact America has become totally defiant of God. The verses of scripture that best describe the overwhelming American (and Canadian) majority are the verses that describe the pre-flood world. “And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5).

We also see America and Canada described in scripture as God saw Sodom and Gomorrah. “For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the LORD; and the LORD hath sent us to destroy it” (Genesis 19:13).

God is apparently giving America one more chance to repent. There is absolutely no evidence, no sign of repentance in America or Canada. The church is plunging into apostasy and socialism while the faithful remnant grows smaller and smaller.

What lies ahead for Israel? The devil will continue his efforts to destroy her. God will use these efforts to chasten Israel and win back her heart. God will deliver Israel and continue to raise Israel up. The devil will continue his efforts to destroy her. In fact scripture indicates that even greater attacks on Israel are yet to come and that God will follow up those attacks by greater moves to bless His people and lift up the nation of Israel.

I want to repeat and emphasise this process that has been going on and will continue to be carried out by God. After nearly 2,000 years of being set aside and severely chastened by God, God is now working patiently with Israel to ultimately bring them back to Himself. 

I repeat, we see that future day of Israel’s restoration in Zechariah 12:9-10, “And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.” Also in Zechariah 13:1, “In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.” Paul speaks of this day in Romans 11:26-27, “And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.”

I repeat for emphasis Zechariah 13:8-9, “And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.”

God is not finished with His chosen people Israel. We see His promise in Genesis 17:7-8, “And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.”

The promises of God cannot be broken. Beware of those who say they are building the Kingdom of God on earth here and now. Man cannot and will not build the Kingdom of God on earth. It will be brought in by Christ after the devastating judgment of God on the rebellious nations of the world during the tribulation period that is soon to come. Those who are assuming to build the Kingdom of God are unwittingly building the coming Kingdom of Antichrist.

It is the method of God’s working to restore His people that I am mainly dealing with in this article. Satan will continue his attacks on Israel and those attacks will escalate. In each attack the Lord will deliver Israel and further lift her up.

Scripture indicates what is yet to come for Israel                                                                                                              

There are at least four more major attacks on Israel that will result in God’s exaltation of His people. This will happen in spite of the fact that His chosen people are still yet alienated from Him. The attacks are, in this order. First - The war of Psalm 83, prior to the tribulation period. Second - The war of Ezekiel 38-39. Third - The holocaust of slaughter Antichrist pours out upon Israel. Fourth - The battle of Armageddon, when the world attempts the final solution, the destruction of Jerusalem and the elimination of the Jewish people.

First – The war of Psalm 83. We believe that this war is near at hand, the signs are everywhere. There are some important questions about this war. When does it take place? Does it take place before the rapture? Who are the combatants? What takes place after this war? We can find the answers to questions in scripture.

Who are the combatants in this war? Psalm 83:2, “For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head.” That is exactly what has been happening in Israel today. The Palestinians hate Israel and are determined to eliminate her at all costs. They are tools in the hand of Satan.

Psalm 83:3, “They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones.” This present scenario fits no other time in history. We have a people, the Palestinians, dwelling in the land of Israel seeking to drive Israelis out of their own God given land. They have repeatedly stated that there is no place for Israel from the river of Jordan to the Mediterranean Sea. They are adamant that the land belongs to the Arabs and that there is no place for Jews in it. The Imams say the Temple Mount belongs to Islam and that the Jews have no claim to it. The threat to destroy Israel is repeated almost daily.

Psalm 83:4, “They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.” Repeatedly the Arabs have said, “We will wipe Israel off the map.” Never in all of history has there has there been such a situation. Israel has been hated but never in such a scenario as today. Psalm 83:5, “For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee.” Never before has there been such an attack on Israel from within.

Ezekiel deals with the same scenario in Ezekiel 36:5, “Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Surely in the fire of my jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the heathen, and against all Idumea, which have appointed my land into their possession with the joy of all their heart, with despiteful minds, to cast it out for a prey.”

Idumea is Edom, which is the Palestinians. A recent study justifies this claim. “With despiteful minds” The Palestinians blow themselves to bits to kill a few Jews. Their families dance in the streets when their sons and daughter detonate a suicide bomb. What could be more despiteful?

The people named in this war are named in Psalm 83:6-8, “The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarenes; Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre; Assur also is joined with them: they have holpen (helped) the children of Lot. Selah.”

Edom = the Palestinians - The Ishmaelite’s = the Arabs among the Palestinians.  Ammon = the Jordanians - The Philistines = Hamas in Gaza. Tyre = Hezbollah in Lebanon.  Assur = Syria, which is a suburb of Damascus. These are the combatants in this coming war. All these are within or immediately around Israel’s borders.

Though Iran is not named in this war we are now witnessing Iran arming and preparing these countries for war against Israel. These preparations are going on at a furious pace.

Does this war take place before the rapture? This war takes place when Israel is not at peace. Israel is not at peace today. She has not had one moment of peace since becoming a nation in 1948. She will not have peace until Antichrist signs the seven year false peace treaty. We conclude therefore that this war will take place prior to the tribulation period, while Israel is not at peace. We are now unmistakeably seeing the tribulation period about to take place. “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching” (Hebrews 10:25). That indicates the war of Psalm 83 is near at hand.

The outcome of the war of Psalm 83?  We see this great attack by Satan with God intervening in a mighty way to deliver His chosen people. Isaiah 17:13, “The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.” The enemies of Israel will be driven out of the land.

“Let them be confounded and troubled for ever; yea let them be put to shame, and perish” (Psalm 83:17). Here we see the Palestinians driven away from the land of Israel, and the people around the borders of Israel who help the Palestinians are decimated and neutralized. God here moves to restore the entire land to His chosen people. Israel is once again lifted up by God as they possess the whole land of Promise.

God uses the Antichrist to grant Israel authority to build the Temple and re-establish the Levitical worship. God allows Satan to lift up his man Antichrist to come to power and become Israel’s temporary benefactor. Rebellious Israel will be deceived into believing Antichrist is their long awaited Messiah. John 5:43, “I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.” They are even now looking for Messiah to come and allow them to build the Temple. Antichrist will be that false Messiah.

Antichrist is a deceiver and he signs a seven year false peace treaty with Israel and the nations. This occurs as the tribulation period begins. Now Israel will be enabled build the Temple and establish the Levitical worship.

The war of Ezekiel 38-39                                                                                                   

However, Israel still has a problem. The Muslim nations far beyond Israel’s borders will be in a rage against Israel because they defeated their Muslim people and have driven them off the land they have claimed as belonging to Islam. Islam has also claimed the Temple Mount as belonging to them.

In response there is going to be a war very early in the tribulation period. There is going to be an alliance of Muslim nations that will come against Israel to attempt to totally annihilate the Jewish state and reclaim Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. Russia will lead them in an apparent attempt to gain control of Israel’s oil and gas reserves.

Notice who it is that launches this attack. Ezekiel 38:2, “Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him.” Bible scholars agree that this is Russia.

Notice the army with Russia in this great attack. Verse 4, “And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords.” Notice they are armed with primitive weapons probably due to the fact that Antichrist forced total disarmament on the world through the great peace treaty. Notice also the size of this army, “a great company.”

Verse 5-6, “Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet: Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee.” We see the nations identified, Persia = Iran, Ethiopia, Libya, Gomer and Togarmah = Turkey. “And many people with thee.” We see this great army joining Russia invading Israel.

The timing of the war is clearly early in the tribulation period when Israel is at peace and at rest because of the peace treaty. Though it will be a false, short lived peace, it will be at the only time of peace for Israel from 1948 until Messiah comes.

Today the Islamic nations of the world have vowed that Jerusalem is theirs and that they are prepared to launch a war with 1¼  billion Muslims against 7million Jews.

Today, perhaps unwittingly speaking of the war of Ezekiel 38-39, President Erdogan of Turkey announced plans for the 57 member States of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to join forces and wage war against Israel from all sides. If the members of the OIC unite their military forces they would have an army of 5.2 million, plus the Russian army which will join them. They would go against Israel’s army of 160,000.

President Erdogan of Turkey stated, “We will not allow Jerusalem to be taken from the Palestinians.” We see the clear description of the preparations for Ezekiel’s war.

Russia, Turkey and Iran have now entered into an alliance, which is further indication of the coming war Ezekiel tells us of. The plans for the wars of Psalm 83 and Ezekiel 38-39 are clearly underway.

These events were prophesied by the Word of God 2,500 years ago and we now stand on the cusp of their fulfillment. The prophet warned of the hour in which we are now living, “Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come” (Joel 1:15).

This war is another attempt by Satan to destroy Israel. God allows this war to go forward as a means of further chastening Israel to ultimately bring them to the place of repentance and restoration.

God preserves Israel from this massive attack by directly intervening. When it is over He further lifts up His people. The result of this war brings Israel to a new exalted position. All opposition of Islam is now totally removed, and is completely destroyed as the Muslim and Russian army is annihilated by God on the battlefield. Now Israel is able to build the Temple without opposition.

Antichrist’s Assault on Israel                                                                                                                                                  

The next major attack against Israel is made by Antichrist at the mid-tribulation point. Antichrist is now used by Satan in a massive slaughter of Jewish people. “And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations” (Revelation 13:7). Zachariah tells us that two-thirds of all living Jews will die at that time. That could be as many as ten million Jews. Matthew describes this time in Matthew 24:21, “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be” (Matthew 24:21).

This will be the darkest hour Israel will ever face. But Israel’s God will use it to judge Israel and arrest the hearts of His rebellious people. He will come and crush Antichrist in the battle of Armageddon. At that time the Lord will finally win the hearts of His chosen people. “And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God” (Zechariah 13:9).Christ will come and sit on the throne of David in Jerusalem and Israel will be exalted as the leading nation in the millennial Kingdom. Israel will be exalted by her merciful loving God. God’s purpose for Israel will finally be realized.

Israel’s Problem and God’s Solution                                                                                                                                      After long years of rebellion against God and unbelief, the final act of rebellion was Israel’s rejection of God the Son and His crucifixion. Unbelief brought judicial blindness down on Israel.

We read about this unbelief and blindness in Romans 11. “What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded” (Verse 7). Israel has not obtained salvation and the promised blessings of God. Because of unbelief they were blinded to the truth. “The election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded.” Those Jews who respond to the gospel message are saved and have obtained God’s blessing upon them, they become a part of the church. But the majority of Israelis who have rejected the gospel are blind to the truth of God and will remain that way until the end of the dispensation and Christ removes the scales from their eyes.

“For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in” (Verse 7). “(According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.” (Verse 8).

When the last Christian is saved and the church is full or complete God will begin to open the eyes of blinded Israeli’s. We read about that in Zechariah 12:10, “And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.”

Also in Zachariah 13:1, “In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.” Since the blinding of Israel because of their unbelief, the fountain of the cleansing blood of Christ has not been opened to the nation of Israel. It has been open to individual Jews who, upon obeying the gospel are saved and become a part of the body of Christ, the church.  

But when the church is complete and the Lord returns to redeeming Israel every living Jews will be saved. “And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob” (Romans 11:26).

This is clearly revealed in Zachariah 13:9, “And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.” The Lord’s long program for the salvation of Israel will be complete.

Note – When we read about the salvation of the elect, understand it is referring to the nation of Israel which is an elect nation. Every Jew or Gentile who is saved is saved by faith which is the expression of his or her individual choice.

God does not elect who is to be saved or lost. He foreknows who will come to Christ by faith and be saved and foreordains them to be conformed to the image of Christ. To be conformed to the image of Christ is the believer’s ultimate sanctification. “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren” (Romans 8:29).

I repeat that although God foreknows who will respond to the gospel He does not choose or foreordain who will be saved. “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied” (1 Peter 1:2).1

To clarify in our minds, the rapture takes place prior to the tribulation period. It involves the Bride of Christ, the Church saints only. 1 Thessalonians 4:16 states clearly that the rapture involves the dead in Christ, the Church. Only those Jews who have been saved and are a part of the Church will take part in the rapture. Israel will not take part in the rapture; they will not be redeemed until the end of the tribulation period.

There has been a gathering together of Israel, a return to the Promised Land that has taken place in the last 100 years. Israel in her unsaved condition has been gathered from the four corners of the earth back to the Promised Land, but that is not the rapture. When Christ returns to the earth, He will complete that regathering and all Israel will look upon Him whom they have pierced. At that time every living Jew will be saved but that is not the rapture. They will not be taken to heaven but go into the glorious Kingdom of Heaven on earth.

Luke 1:312-33, ” And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.”                                                                                                                       

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

America Not in Bible Prophecy

In 597 BC King Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem, the Temple Mount and deposed Israel’s king. He killed thousands of Jews and led thousands of Israelis into captivity. The Temple was God’s dwelling place on earth. Why didn’t He intervene? How could a Gentile king do this without a Divine response?

Daniel reveals God’s sovereignty over earth’s kings. “Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his:   And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding” (Daniel 2:20-21).

In fact we see that it was God who appointed Nebuchadnezzar to be king over Babylon.  Understand that God sets up kings to carry out His purposes.

God also appointed Cyrus the Persian, Alexander the great, Caligula, Pilate, Kaiser Wilhelm, Emperor Hirohito, Kim il Sung, Mao Tze Tung, Joseph Stalin, Adolph Hitler and every other murderous dictator in history.

Bible prophecy tells us in advance how these despots, who seemed to have absolute power on earth, were but pawns in the overall purposes of God in history. God sets up kings and He brings them down according to His will, to fulfill His purposes.

God permitted Nebuchadnezzar to destroy Jerusalem as part of His plan to bring judgment on disobedient Israel. It was during the Babylonian captivity that Daniel was given the prophetic outline of future history from the order to rebuild the Temple down to the reign of Antichrist in the last days. God has a purpose in everything He does.

In all of these divine appointments the free will of man is never violated by God. Nevertheless God uses the wickedness and rebellion of man to carry out His plan and purposes.

God allowed a man to be president of the United States, a man who was a disciple of radical socialist Saul Alinski, Barack Obama. Barack Obama inculcated socialism into the halls of government. He allowed socialism to be imbedded into what is now referred to as the deep state. He promoted the globalist socialist one world order. God allows men the liberty to attack Him and His program. Remember God will never prevent man from exercising his free will. But remember that man must face the consequence of his wrong choices.

I personally do not believe Trump is a born again believer. Nevertheless, God chose a Donald Trump to become the President of the United States, I believe in order to demonstrate to America the benefit of capitalism and its attendant freedoms. He has promoted Israel and he has fought against the global socialist agenda of Antichrist. He has defended religious freedom in America and around the world. One of God’s great purposes is to try men, not that He may discover what is in the hearts of men but to reveal the heart of man to himself and to the world. “The LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD'S throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men” (Psalm 11:4).

God always places a choice before men. A right choice brings blessing, a wrong choice brings chastening or judgment. Today America is standing at a crossroad of choice without excuse for her choice. If America makes her choice socialism she will be walking the devil’s road. I believe that like Venezuela, America will quickly become a third world nation and will quickly become a prey to her superpower enemies. She will be removed from a role in the end time scenario.   

God always moves on men and nations to choose. What I fear most is that the America which has known the truth of God’s Word has already chosen to rebel against God and abandon Him. America has, like Sodom plunged into wickedness and is totally in rebellion against God.  America is already an apostate nation. Even much of the Evangelical Church has apostatised and has departed into socialism.

I fear for America and Canada. It is time to choose. Joshua said to Israel “choose you this day whom you will serve.”                                                                                                                                      

Are we seeing the divine prophetic indication that America is omitted from end time prophecy by the rise of those socialists who would bring America down? The rise of socialism in America seems to be the reason God will remove America from the end time prophetic scenario.

America has been overtaken by radical socialism or communism. America is in the midst of a socialist, cultural revolution which is centered in the Democratic Party. Progressivism is the tool of the socialists to destroy the moral fabric of the nation which has been centered in Christianity. Tear down everything that God has ordained for man and replace it with everything Satan intends for man.

I repeat; Socialism and Christianity are diametrically opposed. Christianity is the plan and purpose of God. Socialism is the agenda of Satan. The Cultural Revolution is a declaration of war on God. Socialism makes the state the final authority in place God. Such a state is intended to be the Kingdom of Antichrist, Satan’s ruler of this world. The war between socialism and capitalism and its attendant freedoms is a war between Satan and God. Marx said, “My goal in life is to dethrone God.” He is Satan’s man declaring Satan’s war against God.

Today we see a climactic war raging in America. The intention of Satan is to destroy America to establish his one world socialist Kingdom. It is his intent to replace God as the ruler of this world.

That has been his intention since he rebelled against God in heaven shortly after his creation by God. “For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High” (Isaiah 14:13-14).

Here we see again the sovereign Lord of heaven and earth allowing Satan, His enemy to move against Him. We realize of course that God has a purpose in everything He does and in everything He allows.

We know that for 50-60 years Satan has been using his men to indoctrinate Americans with socialism. The educational system, the media and a cabal of billionaires and politicians have been Satan’s major tools to accomplish this. Today we are shocked to learn that half of all Americans are open to socialism or favour it.

Right now in America there is a tremendous war raging to turn America into a socialist state. America is the block under the wheel of a world-wide Socialist empire. For Satan to achieve his goal he must eliminate Christianity. That has always been the number one objective of socialism. We are seeing this agenda being carried out in America and around the world.

The second objective of socialism is to eliminate capitalism and democracy. Individual freedom and economic independence keeps men independent and impossible to enslave. Karl Marx said that his second objective in life was to destroy capitalism.

We see in Revelation 13:16-17 men economically enslaved by Antichrist. “And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.”

In Revelation 13:7-8, we see man’s liberty taken away by Antichrist. “And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”

The war is now raging to enslave men and those promoting it are deceived into believing they are creating a socialist utopia for mankind.

Paul opens our eyes to this great last day deception in 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12. “And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”

Right now as this war to enslave the world through socialism is raging, the alarming thing is that very, very few understand what is taking place.

The globalist socialists have now been backed into a corner by Trump.  We are now entering into a very dangerous time. They are totally committed to their agenda and they are not about to let their agenda be destroyed. Watch out!

Civil war, economic collapse or will God allow Satan to bring about some catastrophic event?

Look up our redemption is near at hand!

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

David & Svea Flood

By Stephen Davey

In 1921 David Flood, his young wife, Svea and their little 2 year old son left Sweden for the interior of Africa. They traveled with another young missionary couple – these two couples had been active church members, they sang in the choir, Svea played the violin and was the church soloist. But they had committed their lives to the gospel for unreached tribes in Africa. They were filled with enthusiasm and optimism as they literally hacked their way through the mountains of the Congo, to begin their ministry at some yet undetermined, unreached village. To their surprise, one village after another refused them entrance, convinced that they would anger the village gods and bring them great trouble. Days of carrying their own supplies, hungry, weak, they prayed as they reached another village on the side of a mountain that they would finally find rest and ministry opportunities. But the chief in the village was even more hostile than all the others. He demanded that they leave. Their biography reads, “They struggled to carry their supplies to the summit and after putting up their tents they knew they were too weary to set out again. So they decide to clear the brush and build mud huts, doing their best with these hostile villagers.  During the next agonizing weeks, which stretched into agonizing months, David and Svea Flood struggled with learning Swahili and, along with the Erickson’s, tried everything they could, but the village chief only tightened his grip on his people. Villagers were prohibited from even visiting the missionaries – only one little boy was allowed to go up and sell them chickens and eggs. David was amazed at his wife’s insistence that while they might never reach the village – and probably never impact Africa, she could perhaps win this child for Jesus Christ. So, every time this boy visited their camp, she showered him with love and attention . . . sure enough, the other missionaries watched one afternoon as Svea knelt with this little boy and lead him in a prayer of repentance. He had to keep his decision for Christ a secret in the village, lest he not be allowed to return, or worse. But to the others, this mission was a failure. Eventually the Erickson’s decided to leave David, Svea and their little boy and return to an established mission station many miles away. Even though the Flood family battled malaria, desperately crude conditions, they decided to stay. Sometime later Svea announced that she was expecting their second child. She was already weak and struggling physically and David feared the worst. It was too late to travel through the jungles of the Belgian Congo without risking her life and the life of their unborn child – the baby would be born in their mud hut, on the mountain. The young native Christian carried the news back to the village and the chief surprisingly allowed one of the women to serve as a midwife. By the time the baby was due, Svea Flood was weak with malaria – when the African midwife arrived, Svea was groaning in pain and suffering from high fever. Their little girl was born, and Svea whispered that she be called Aina (ah-ee-nah), one of the classical Swedish names for girls. 17 days later, Svea Flood died. Hopeless and filled with bitter rage, David dug a crude grave for his 27 year old wife. How could he possibly care for his 2 year old son and now a sickly little baby girl without assistance? He hired a young man from the village, along with several others and took his children down the mountain and to the mission station. He was finished with the ministry, the gospel, and God. As far as he was concerned, God had taken the life of his faithful bride and their ministry had been nothing less than a tragic waste. The problem was, returning to Sweden was a monumental task – David knew that he had no one to feed or care for his baby girl. The Erickson’s had been unable to have children and David offered them the opportunity to adopt Aina. They were thrilled at the chance and agreed. With that, David took his son and left the station – never to return again . . . in fact, he never even looked back. Before Aina turned 1 year old, Joel and Bertha Erickson had their food poisoned by unbelieving natives and within days of each other, they both would die. Aina was once again without parents. She would soon be claimed by another missionary couple and raised as their own daughter. When she was 3 year old, Aina and her adoptive parents left the mission field of Africa for good and eventually settled in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Her Swedish name was changed to Aggie. Aina would later write that, even as a young girl, she knew she was different. She would become known as the daughter of the missionary who died on the mountain, rescued by missionaries who were poisoned and, really, as her biography title reads, “Be a girl without a country.”  Eventually, Aina attended North Central Bible College in Minneapolis and married a godly young man who entered the ministry. Years went by. Aina had no information about her father. She knew very little of her past. She knew her parent’s names of course and their homeland of Sweden, but that was about it. She hardly had time to think about it . . . with a husband and a family and a busy ministry; in fact, her husband, Dewey Hurst. He had become the president of a Bible College in Seattle, Washington. Then one day, unexpectedly, a Swedish religious magazine appeared in her mailbox. She had no idea who had sent it, and of course she couldn’t read the words. But as she turned the pages, one photograph arrested her attention. It was a picture of a small white cross planted in the earth over an obvious burial site –and on the cross was the name, Svea Flood. She jumped in her car and raced to the home of a college professor who was Swedish. She translated as she read – two missionaries, pushing through the African jungle, camping at night and traveling by day came across a village in the Belgian Congo and came across this burial plot and took a picture. They began to inquire and found out that it was the missionary mother of a baby; then the death of the mother, but not before leading one African boy to Christ; then how the father left her in the hands of fellow missionaries. The article continued, sadly, Svea Flood didn’t live long enough to learn that the little African boy they had won to Christ on that mountain top went on in time to gain permission from the village chief to start and build a school. Gradually, this now mature young man, teacher, leader, taught the Gospel of Christ and all his students came to trust in Jesus Christ as well. And they then evangelized their parents, and even the chief became a Christian. Now that village has 600 believers and an active church profession Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. All because of the sacrifice and the tears and the sowing of David and primarily Svea Flood. Aina couldn’t believe the news. She began to cry and thank God for letting her learn the truth of her parents and their sacrifice and the harvest of fruit. For their 25th wedding anniversary, the Bible College gave the Hursts a vacation in Sweden, where, among other things, Aina could search for her father. It wasn’t difficult to find his family – David Flood had remarried, had 4 children, but his wife had also died. Now, as an old man, he was wasting away as an alcoholic and professed agnostic who dared anyone to talk to him about God. After an emotional reunion with her half brothers and sister, Aina brought up the subject of seeing their father. They weren’t too optimistic about the idea – he had become deeply bitter, had little to do with any of them and, most of all, hated God. They told her, “Look if you do see him, don’t talk about spiritual things . . . whenever he hears the name of God, he flies into a rage.” Aina was determined to see him. She eventually made it to his little apartment – the door was answered by a housekeeper. Inside his room there were liquor bottles on every window sill; the table was covered with more bottles. And in the far corner – she wrote in her autobiography – was a small, wrinkled old man lying on a rumpled bed, his head turned away. Diabetes and a stroke had further crippled him to this one room for the past 3 years. The housekeeper bent down and said, “Papa, Aina’s here.” He turned toward me and I took his hand. “Papa?” I said. He began to weep. “Aina” he said, “I never wanted to give you away.” “It’s all right, Papa,” I said softly, holding him my arms, “God took care of me.” He stiffened suddenly and the tears stopped. “God forgot us all,” he spat, “Our lives have been  like this because of Him. I was in Africa all that time . . . and only one little boy . . . and then I lost your mother.” “Papa, I’ve got a little story to tell you. You didn’t go to Africa in vain. Mama didn’t die in vain. The little boy you won to the Lord grew up to win that whole village to Jesus Christ. Today, 40 years later, there are now 600 people in that village serving Jesus Christ because you followed the call of God in your life.” David Flood turned slowly around until his eyes met mine – hopeful eyes, longing to believe what I told him . . . longing for the turmoil of his life redeemed in some way.” “Papa, it’s a well known story now . . . we have a great God.” The tears returned . . . he began to talk. By the end of that afternoon, the kindness of God had brought him back to repentance, and forgiveness and restoration of fellowship. Aina and her husband eventually returned to America . . . a few weeks later, David Flood went home to heaven. Aina would learn that in the final hours of his life – in his delirium, he had actually begun speaking in Swahili. Let me give you one addendum to this remarkable story. It would be a few years later when Aina and her husband would attend an evangelism conference in London. Several leaders representing denominations and associations of believing churches throughout Africa were there to give their reports. One report was given from the nation of Zaire by the superintendent of that national church association; he represented just over 100,000 baptized believers. He spoke eloquently about the spread of the gospel in his country. He said, “We now have 32 mission stations; a 120 bed hospital; several large Christian schools – and our churches now have 110,000 baptized believers. Afterwards Aina rushed forward to ask him some questions – one in particular. I’ll let her speak from her own writing, “Sir, could you have met a young missionary couple by the name of David and Svea Flood? They were on a mission station – and all I know about it is that it was high on a hill.” “Yes madam,” he replied, “I used to sell them chickens and eggs . . . it was Svea Flood who led me to Jesus Christ.” “And who are you?” “I am Svea Flood’s daughter; I was born on that mountaintop.” Tears began to run down his cheeks, he embraced me and in African style held me and began swaying with me, sobbing from the depths of his soul. “I’ve so often wondered,” he cried, “whatever happened to that little white girl whose mother died for us.” He said to me, “You must travel back to that village – your mother is the most famous person in the history of our church. She agreed. And after months of planning, Aina and her husband made the long journey back to the place of her birth. They eventually arrived at the outpost where she had been given by her father to the Ericksons – the missionary couple who had worked with her parents for some time. This was the outpost where she’d lived as a little toddler, playing in the dirt with her African friends, learning the Swahili language. She visited the graves of her adopted parents, the Erickson’s, who were poisoned to death when she was barely 1 year old. But eventually they drove several miles to the village her parents had desperately tried to reach. Only this time, there were hundreds of villagers waiting and cheering as she came into view – they had built arches covered with flowers for her reception. Aina writes, “Eventually, the pastor of the village church led me up the hill, all the people following; at the top of the hill was a flat place beneath a grove of trees. The pastor pointed to it and said, “This is where your parents mud house once stood . . . this is where you were born.”  He then turned and pointed, without a word, to a simple grave, framed in cement, and over it stood a tall beautiful palm tree, overlooking the entire valley below. And marking the grave was that small white cross – and on it written, Svea Flood (1896-1923). I was standing where my mother had stood – declaring the gospel to one small boy. Aina writes, “And now I knew the harvest of the seed she had sown.” The pastor opened his Bible, crowded around were 100’s of believing villagers, and he read a single line from the Psalms. Psalm 126, verse 5. They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.” If God knows what it means to weep. God knows what it means to suffer loss. God knows what it means to sow seed that doesn’t seem to bear fruit. But God knows the end . . . He knows the end of the story . . . that tears of sorrow and loss and frustration and pain and grief will soon be wiped away . . . replaced by indescribable joy. And the fruit of His gospel seed . . . you and me – the fruit of your efforts which you have no idea exist . . . along with hundreds of thousands of villagers – and David and Svea Flood and all the others we’ve been privileged to study – we, the fruit His harvest of joy – will live forever.