Connecting Some Prophetic Dots: Super Bowl, Days, Dates and Palindromes, Ground Hog Day, and Revival Done Right

Posted on February 4, 2020 by ez3728

Some of this I have addressed before in prior writings. Much of this is brand new, one week new in fact. God is moving, and unlike the Pharisees – who Jesus called hypocrites for refusing to discern the signs of their times, we are appointed to and therefore expected to see and recognize what God is doing, right now, during our times.
Luke 12:56
Hypocrites! You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it you do not discern this time? )

Meanwhile, instead of rebuke, the good news is the promise of faith activating our humble response, that through our understanding of our acceptance into Kingdom relationship, it can be through our lives and life experiences that the Lord will come into this earth and work His work, as we remain awake and aware of what He is doing in, around, through and for us:

Psalms 24:7
7 Lift up your heads, O you gates!
And be lifted up, you everlasting doors!
And the King of glory shall come in.

TIME OF THIS WRITING:
The time of this writing is February 4, 2020. We are just a month and a few days into the 400th anniversary year of our founding fathers making covenant (cutting covenant) with the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob while onboard the pilgrim ship Mayflower, requesting God’s providential hand upon a new nation (officially yet to be formed), a nation to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ:
In the name of God, Amen. We whose names are underwritten, ….. Having undertaken, for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith, and honor of our king and country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia, do by these presents solemnly and mutually in the presence of God and one of another, covenant, and combine ourselves together into a civil body politic, for our better ordering and preservation, and furtherance of the ends aforesaid (NOTE: “the ends aforesaid are ‘for the glory of God’); and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions, offices from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the colony: unto which we promise all due submission and obedience. In witness whereof we have hereunder subscribed our names; Cape Cod, the 11th of November, in the year of the reign of our sovereign lord King James, of England, France and Ireland eighteenth and of Scotland fifty-fourth, ……Anno Domini 1620
(NOTE THE YEAR: 1620)
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mayflower-Compact

THE BLESSING AND THE BREACH:
America has clearly been blessed by God, although as a nation it is becoming more and more evident we as a nation (not He) have broken that covenant by living, writing and enacting laws and policies in provocative opposition to biblical rules and morality (Psalm 2). Add to this 400th anniversary the day by day revealed biblical prophetic time markers and pointers towards the second appearance of Messiah, and praying folks can get a good sense as to what time it happens to be.

THE SUPERBOWL:
This past weekend was Super Bowl weekend. The Chiefs beat the 49ers in a startling comeback effort.
Many/most reading this piece likely already know about the prophecy by now-departed (2014) Bob Jones that declared when the Chiefs win the Super Bowl God will release His chiefs, and revival will break out. Revival. For your convenience, here’s a link to a post by Shawn Bolz, a respected man of God and prophet in his own right:
https://www.charismanews.com/us/79790-shawn-bolz-bob-jones-told-me-end-time-revival-would-come-after-chiefs-win-super-bowl

It says: Following the Chiefs’ win, Bolz wrote on Instagram, “I am not sure what it means when Bob Jones said ‘when the chiefs win the Super Bowl revival is going to break out,’ but I sure am excited. We haven’t been able to find any recordings of him saying this but he said it often to us. He often prophesied about sports teams and prophetic symbolism. He said when the chiefs win God is raising up His apostolic chiefs around the nation and one time he said ‘nations.'”

Last December a friend and man of God sent me a brief video of Lou Engle, a seasoned saint, who declared a word had first been birthed in him during the 7/7/07 Nashville Call (my wife and I, by chance [?] were there), and then had been brought forth more recently, that God would bring about a “Jesus Movement-like” revival in the Nashville area. I am grateful to now be living in that area, and I am assured that when (not if) revival occurs it will by no means be confined or constrained to the Nashville area, but will spread out to at very least the borders of our land. So the point is not to race to Nashville, but to be exactly where the Lord has called you to be. Discover that in prayer. Only be there.

AND NOW THIS WRITING:
I am writing this from my personal viewpoint. This is one man’s opinion, written in the fear of the Lord, and fully understanding that the plans of God in no way even small way exclusively revolve around me – even a hint of that attitude would only be religious arrogance, That said, what we each happen to experience, as saints, ought not be ignored nor overlooked. I am therefore writing this in obedience to the Lord.

Although neither one of us are musicians, in large part my wife and I believe we have been called to the Nashville area, for the very purposes of revival and particularly revival worship. Revival wants and needs mothers and fathers. Olders and Elders. Seasoned saints. Satan dreads revival, and fears pure and prophetic worship – explaining his personal investment into undermining such holy activity, poisoning it with performance, politicking, and worse. Meanwhile we are called to get it right, do it right, in accordance with the will and the word of the Lord. Ps 78 memorializes past failure of one generation failing to speak into the lives of other generations. By His grace we can do this right.

Yesterday we returned from a trip to Los Angeles. I happened to be there during the Kobe tragedy – in fact driving with a dear friend, yakking, we missed our freeway off-ramp and ended up exiting the 101 fwy onto Los Virgenes, about a mile or two from where that helicopter crash would occur the very next day.

Kobe’s death rocked us all. He had led an apparently charmed life, accomplishing great things in the world of sport and even entertainment, capturing the accolades and attention of a good part, if not all of, the Western world. His most-public life clearly wasn’t without fault, and yet the past years bear a notable and even glorious fragrance of redemption, and forgiveness, family and faith. He took communion earlier in the morning before the crash that took his life, the life of one of his daughters, and several other precious folks. The “Amazing Grace” rendition at Staples Center, sung by the artist Usher, was viewed around the world, and I believe the Lord used that to usher many, including many believers for the first time, into what true prophetic cry-out worship is all about. It is part of the plan. That is worship in spirit and truth. God is breaking in.

In fact, it is that kind of prophetic worship that, in its due time, is determined by the Lord to bring down Assyria (one prophetic name for the dark spiritual kingdom that will rage and rear its ugliest head during the toughest of times, soon upcoming). The word of God is non-negotiable, regardless as to what anyone might teach, preach or speak forth in futility, hoping that somehow God will come along on their perhaps well-intended but humanistic hope of Him abandoning His own eternal word. There will be huge battles and conflict at the end of this age. Zech 12-14, Matt 24. Ezekiel 38-39. And simultaneously there will be huge revival. A recent article on this EZ site addresses the Divine Dichotomy. Isa 60:1-2 tells us darkness will cover the earth and simultaneously we’re called and in fact anointed to rise and shine because His light will be upon us. Both are well on their way.

BACK TO THE IMPACT OF PROPHETIC WORSHIP IN THOSE DAYS:
Isaiah 30:31-32
31 For through the voice of the Lord
Assyria will be beaten down,
As He strikes with the rod.
32 And in every place where the staff of punishment passes,
Which the Lord lays on him,
It will be with tambourines and harps;
And in battles of brandishing He will fight with it.

YEAR AND DATES:
God speaks to His people and moves upon His people often in specific and notable calendar dates. He’s done that many times in the past.

Tisha B’Av – both the first and second temple were destroyed on the same day of the year. First by Babylon (586 BC), then by Rome (AD 70). The Jews were dispelled from England (1290), France (1306) and Spain (1492) on that same day. The final solution was initiated by Hitler on that same day (1941). There were additional dark events on that one day. Might God be working to get the attention of His people? The article below is not about today, but it is about A DAY on the calendar that appears marked for trouble – let’s simply look at this as one more way our great God chooses to move and to deal with His people and all people. He wants us to learn how He speaks.

First and Second Temple destruction and other Jewish tragedies that happened ON THIS DAY

911 – The numbers (911) that America utilizes still for emergency calls is the exact date of the World Trade Center attack. I happened to be there. These are the verses on and around Jeremiah 9:11 (one [verse 10] of which was ignorantly declared in pride as NY dedicated the land of the WTC disaster, failing to recognize the prophetic irony of their own plans to REbuild and REstore with sadly no mention of REpentance):

Isaiah 9:8-13
8 The Lord sent a word against Jacob,
And it has fallen on Israel.
9 All the people will know—
Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria—
Who say in pride and arrogance of heart:
10 “The bricks have fallen down,
But we will rebuild with hewn stones;
The sycamores are cut down,
But we will replace them with cedars.”
11 Therefore the Lord shall set up
The adversaries of Rezin against him,
And spur his enemies on,
12 The Syrians before and the Philistines behind;
And they shall devour Israel with an open mouth.
For all this His anger is not turned away,
But His hand is stretched out still.
13 For the people do not turn to Him who strikes them,
Nor do they seek the Lord of hosts.

2020:
Besides the implications of eyes with clear vision as the Lord watches the people on earth, the year numbered 2020 is exactly 400 years since our founding fathers’ primary pre-nation “national” covenant. 4’s stand big in God’s plan. The rains of judgment in the days of Noah. Egypt. Time wandering in the desert. Moses on Sinai. The spies in Canaan. Jesus in the desert.

2020 and JUBILEE:
The Bob Jones prophecy (re Super Bowl and Chiefs, and releasing chiefs, and revival) of course is profound. In the fourth quarter, the magic suddenly happened and the Chiefs came back from a seemingly hopeless deficit and were victorious, precisely and notably 50 years (the Jubilee anniversary) since Chiefs won the Super Bowl their first (and only other) time.

2/1/2020 AM – BREAKFAST WITH A WOMAN OF GOD, A WIDOW
In the AM my wife and I shared a breakfast meeting with a mighty woman of God who had lost her anointed husband and two children in a plane crash, many years ago. The Jesus Movement had lost a prophetic worship leader. There were parallels to the Kobe tragedy – both events were the result of people failing to make good decisions at critical times. Note to us all, btw.

2/1/2020 2PM – A MEMORIAL FOR A MAN OF GOD:
That same day, still one day prior to the Super Bowl, the Lord spoke briefly through me at a memorial service for our beloved pastor of nearly thirty years. The gathering brought back together hundreds of older saints who had come into the Kingdom during a most wild and crazy, sloppy and messy and magically powerful Jesus Movement revival (Look, Time, and Life Magazine articles, etc.) and yet that revival suffered suicide, scandal, split, accusations, and a lawsuit.

We had been radically saved, were young, zealous and yet without a whole lot of wisdom, in desperate need of covering and the loving input of spiritual fathers and mothers  in the faith. That kind of generational covering would have come by way of olders/elders, of which we had precious few. We found ourselves left on our own. At the 2/1/20 memorial service, I briefly spoke and said (paraphrased as it was not prepared): “Get ready for revival. We have been kept here by God at this older stage of our own lives for this purpose – so that young ones who would come into the upcoming revival can do better than we did and avoid the errors and failures we experienced. There will praying, God-loving, God-fearing and God-knowing elders. They will have us. Get ready”.

2/2/2020 SUPERBOWL SUNDAY – Pre-Game:
I woke up early that AM having received something from the Lord, and began writing rough notes. I later spoke to a small group of some of my/our dearest praying friends minutes before the kickoff and mentioned:
A. The Bob Jones prophesy

B. The fact that the date had a notable numeration to it – it was a most-rare “palindrome day” (numbers read the same backwards and forwards: 02/02, 2020. That had not occurred in over 900 years.
“The previous palindrome date in all formats came 909 years ago on 11/11/1111. The next will come in 101 years on 12/12/2121 and after that there will not be another until 03/03/3030. Solihull School Maths Department wrote on Twitter: “Today is a Palindrome Day in all date formats (UK, USA, ISO). It’s also a palindrome day of the year (33) and there are a palindrome number of days left in the year (333). Quite a unique day!”
https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/02/world/palindrome-day-february-2-2020-intl-scli/index.html

C. It was Ground Hog Day! I had already heard/read earlier in the week that there would be a Super Bowl commercial with Bill Murray reprising his role in the Ground Hog Day movie.

Now I was understanding why – this whole weekend and all of its “supernaturalness” was and is about revival, and us getting to do it over and do it right this time. It was about the people of God that our Lord had been preparing, pickling, marinating, refining, even frustrating, as He brought and continues to bring us into the place of emptiness of self so we can be filled by Him and with His spirit for the purposes of His return, for His glory, for the Daniel 12 great exploits.

SUPERBOWL SUNDAY – 4th Quarter:
The Jeep commercial with the Ground Hog Day theme aired during the last quarter of the game, when the Chiefs suddenly woke up and magic happened. In the movie – the clock clicked 6AM time and again. Bill Murray got to do it over and over again, until he got it right.

This upcoming revival is our invitation from the Lord to do it over, and to get it right.

In that hilarious movie, Sonny and Cher sang “I got you, babe” and meanwhile the magic happened.
Meanwhile #2: The chords of our heart can sing: “I got You, Lord, and You’ve got us. We are your people, for such a time as this.”

Coincidences? Co-ordained Incidences? Could it be?
I think so.

What a blessed time to be child of God, a son or daughter of the soon and coming King of the universe and Commander of the armies of heaven. Adonai Tzevoat.
https://www.jewelsofjudaism.com/adonai-tzevaot-the-lord-of-armies-bemidbar/

Saints and even pre-saints: If you can hear this, if there is anything out of line in your life, topple it over now. Take it down now. Run to the glorious place of complete surrender.

And meanwhile, Lord, in our own zeal, help us to not manufacture revival, but to manifest revival.
In Your time and by Your spirit, only for Your glory.

all scripture NKJV

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Posted in Anointing, Apocalypse, Blessed, End Times Related, Everything, Fear of the Lord, Holy Spirit, Movement of God, Personal Relationship, Prophecy, Repentance, Timing, Understanding & Knowing God, Worship | Leave a comment

Walvoord re Zechariah

Posted on January 30, 2020 by ez3728

I love reading the writings of John Walvoord. This dedicated scholar went home to his reward years ago. I humbly disagree with him on his view of rapture timing (I believe the saints are here for the tribulation but not the wrath), saints abandoning their God and thus disqualifying themselves from eternal life (ask Judas Iscariot, and Demas 2Tim 4:10), etc. Meanwhile John Walvoord has explained and taught me much, and I honor him and his work.

Zechariah is not an easy prophetic book, because the plan of God is not an easy plan. Zechariah chapters 10-14 addresses (then) near-future events, and also speaks all the way to Messiah’s (soon) return at the conclusion of this age. Almost diplomatically just lightly touching on the absolutely most severe “Jacob’s troubles” (Daniel 12, confirmed by Matt 24:21), Walvoord speaks in much greater clarity and clinical sobriety to 70AD and then almost lightly referencing some consecutive companion verses, assuming sober readers will themselves envision the activity on earth and the troubles upcoming to still-stubborn Israel towards the conclusion of this age – a remnant of whom will, because of the unmatched magnitude of trouble, finally turn to and cry out for their long-denied but at that time admittedly identified Messiah Y’shua.

The point of this exercise is to hopefully present a concise overview of circumstances that so dramatically are confirmed by analysis of eternal scriptural truth. Zechariah is not a friendly book to teachers who want to espouse a dominionism view of the world getting predominantly saved prior to the Lord’s return, nor does it fit in well with the related weak theory that 70AD checked the boxes for being the worst time in the history of mankind. Zechariah has to be embraced in its reality of context, and when that happens, much opens up in the spirit of the reader to the fullness of end-times prophecy and plans.

Like other tough portions of scripture, Zechariah was not written to freak out the people of God. It was written for our understanding and admonition, upon whom the end of the age has come (1 Cor 10). No further EZ commentary is required. I suggest you open your bible to the chapters in Zechariah and read along and speak with the Lord as you read.

First, here’s the Daniel verses referenced above
Daniel 12:1-4
Prophecy of the End Time
1 “At that time Michael shall stand up, The great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people;
And there shall be a time of trouble,
Such as never was since there was a nation,
Even to that time.
And at that time your people shall be delivered,
Every one who is found written in the book.
2 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake,
Some to everlasting life,
Some to shame and everlasting contempt.
3 Those who are wise shall shine
Like the brightness of the firmament,
And those who turn many to righteousness
Like the stars forever and ever.
4 “But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.”

Below is John Walvoord at his very best. Thank You, Lord, for this dedicated theologian and lover of Your word.

Walvoord Commentary
Zech 9:16-17
The divine deliverance predicted here will come on that day, a reference to the end time. God will care for them as a shepherd cares for his flock (cf. 10:3). Then Israel will sparkle in His land like jewels in a crown. This is a beautiful cameo of the fulfilled promises concerning the people in the land (cf. Amos 9:11-15). They will be attractive and beautiful symbols of all God has done for them. Divine blessing on nature will produce conditions of plenty (cf. Joel 2:21-27) so that physical health will also be assured (Zech. 9:17).

(3) Messiah Will Destroy the False Shepherds at His Coming.
10:1-5
The exhortation in verse 1 is transitional, indicating that the source of natural blessings (rain and plants of the field) is the Lord, not idolatrous and deceptive false shepherds (vv. 2-3). As a result of the deception by the false (and apparently foreign) prophets and diviners, God’s people wander like sheep. Therefore God announced that He would bring wrath and judgment on the false shepherds and victory to His flock (cf. Micah 5:4). The remedy for the nation’s deception focuses on the coming of the Messiah who is described in a fourfold way as the Cornerstone (cf. Isa. 28:16), the Tent Peg … the Battle Bow (cf. Ps. 45:5), and the Ruler (cf. Gen. 49:10; Micah 5:2). These terms emphasize the strong, stable, victorious, and trustworthy nature of Messiah’s rule. The Lord will not do all the fighting but will empower His people to conquer like mighty men. His presence (He will be with them) will enable them to be victorious.
(4) Messiah Will Regather All Israel (10:6-12).

The worldwide scope of this prophecy relating to both Israel and Judah and God’s activity on behalf of His Chosen People indicate that the final regathering of Israel just before the Second Advent of the Messiah is in view.

10:6-7
God announced that He will strengthen (cf. v. 12) and deliver all Israel (Joseph was the father of two major Northern tribes, Ephraim and Manasseh). Because of His compassion they will be restored and reunited (cf. Hosea 1:11), with their sins forgiven and forgotten — as though I had not rejected them, enjoying communion with God (I will answer them). The name of the northern tribe of Ephraim was sometimes used for the Northern Kingdom (cf. Hosea 10:6; 11:8, 12). Israelites will be glad and joyful and will rejoice in the Lord because of God’s blessings on them.

10:8-10
Israel will be regathered from present worldwide dispersion. God announced, I will signal for them. The term “signal” means “whistle” (as in gathering a swarm of insects; cf. Isa. 7:18) or “pipe” (as a shepherd using a reed pipe to gather his flocks; cf. Judges 5:16). The latter meaning seems more appropriate in view of the shepherd/sheep imagery in the general context (Zech. 9:16; 10:2-3; 11:4-16; 13:7). Their regathering will be accompanied by redemption and multiplication (10:8b; cf. Hosea 1:10). On the human side their return will involve the fact that they will remember God. On the divine side God said, I will bring them back. Egypt and Assyria are representative of all the countries of Israel’s dispersion (cf. Hosea 11:11; Zech. 10:11). Gilead and Lebanon are probably named to indicate the northern and eastern extents of Israel’s occupancy of the land promised to Abraham (Gen. 15:18; cf. Deut. 30:3-5).

10:11-12
In regathering Israel to the land, God will remove every obstacle to restoration, pictured in terms of the ancient deliverance when He brought Israel through the sea on dry land. Again Assyria and Egypt were mentioned to represent all Israel’s enemies (cf. v. 10). The prophecy closes with its opening phrase, I will strengthen them, so that Israel’s behavior (walk) will be in His name (i.e., she will glorify Him by obeying Him).

3. The Rejection of the Good Shepherd and Its Consequences for Israel (Chap. 11)
This dark chapter conveys the cause for the delay in Israel’s realizing the blessings of chapter 10.
a. The coming of wrath introduced (11:1-3)

11:1-3
This lamentation portrays the impending devastation that will result from the people rejecting the Messiah as the True and Good Shepherd (vv. 4-14). The language obviously involves personification, but the references to the cedars of Lebanon … oaks of Bashan, and lush thicket of the Jordan suggest devastation of the entire land of Israel from the north to the south, including of course its inhabitants. All three areas — Lebanon, Bashan, and the Jordan — were heavily forested. Shepherds would wail because their pastures would be devastated. Even lions who lived in the thick woods around the Jordan River would roar because of the destruction of their living areas.

The general description of the devastation is to be taken literally. However, some writers have viewed the trees as representing the glory of Jerusalem, particularly the temple which was constructed, in part, of lumber. While this is doubtful, the general period of the destruction, whether literal or figurative, probably includes the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in a.d. 70.
b. The cause of devastation indicated (11:4-14)
In this difficult but messianically significant passage, Zechariah was directed by God to portray Israel’s true Shepherd-Messiah. Then (vv. 15-17) Zechariah was required to portray the wicked shepherd, pointing to the end-time Antichrist. The passage (vv. 4-14) is probably not intended to be a strict dramatic portrayal, for this would require the unlikely cooperation of other actors in the narrative. The passage focuses attention on Israel’s spiritual condition at the time of Christ’s ministry and the consequences of her rejection of Christ, the True Shepherd.

11:4
God told Zechariah, Pasture the flock marked for slaughter. To “pasture” includes not only feeding but also directing and defending. The “flock” was the nation Israel which God had designated for slaughter by the Romans.

11:5
There is debate whether the buyers of the flock and those who sell them were Jewish leaders or foreign oppressors. However, their own shepherds are Jewish leaders who would fail in their responsibilities to care for their people (cf. 10:3).

11:6
The climactic phase of Israel’s apparently pitiable condition was God’s withholding of pity: I will no longer have pity on the people of the land. This divine withdrawal seemed to result from the people’s rejection of their true Shepherd-Messiah, stated in verses 8-13. The king to whom God would hand over Israel was apparently the Roman emperor (cf. John 19:15, “We have no king but Caesar”). God would not deliver them from the Roman armies.

11:7
As commanded, Zechariah portrayed the work of a shepherd tending the flock marked for slaughter (cf. v. 4), especially the oppressed of the flock. This perhaps refers to the believing remnant at Messiah’s First Advent. Like any good shepherd, Zechariah took two staffs to use in directing and protecting the flock. The staffs were given the symbolic names of Favor (or beauty, grace, pleasantness) and Union (lit., bands or “ties”). They depicted God’s gracious benefits toward His people (cf. 9:14-17) and the internal union of Israel and Judah as a nation (cf. Hosea 1:11).

11:8-9
The identity of the three shepherds disowned by the True Shepherd is not indicated (accounting for the more than 40 interpretations of v. 8!). Most likely, the shepherds refer to three kinds of Jewish leaders — prophets (custodians of the Law), priests, and kings (or civil magistrates) — all of them inadequate. Closely linked to the disowning of the three shepherds is the flock’s disowning of their True Shepherd whom they detested, a word (used only here in the OT) that means to loathe to the point of nausea. The Messiah (portrayed by Zechariah) repudiated His role as Shepherd (I will not be your Shepherd), and He relegated the flock to their doom, involving foreign oppression (Let the dying die and the perishing perish) and internal civil strife (Let those who are left eat one another’s flesh). An alternate interpretation sees this last clause as speaking of the cannibalism that occurred in the Roman siege of Jerusalem in a.d. 70.

11:10-11
The revoked covenant (symbolized by breaking the staff called Favor) had been made with all the nations, apparently to secure God’s providential protection of Israel. The divine disfavor on Israel because of her rejection of the True Shepherd resulted in spiritual blindness (Rom. 11:25) and national destruction and dispersion. Only the believing remnant (the afflicted of the flock) who recognized Jesus as the true Messiah understood His true origin in God.

11:12-13
Israel’s appraisal of the True Shepherd’s worth was 30 pieces of silver, the compensation price for a slave gored by an ox (Ex. 21:32). Baldwin thinks 30 pieces of silver for a slave indicates the “high value set on human life” in the Mosaic Law (Zechariah, p. 184). Whether or not this is correct, the choice of the slave price was probably intended as an insult to the Shepherd, worse than a direct refusal to pay Him any wage. Throwing this handsome price (an obvious use of irony) to the potter shows its trifling worth (the potter was one of the lowest of the laboring class). This prophecy was fulfilled in Judas’ betrayal of Christ (Matt. 26:14-16; 27:3-10; for a survey of problems relating to Matthew’s citation of this passage, cf. Hobart E. Freeman, An Introduction to the Old Testament Prophets. Chicago: Moody Press, 1968, pp. 340-2).

11:14
Zechariah then broke the second staff called Union to picture the dissolving of the national solidarity of Judah and Israel. Discord within the nation was one of the factors that led to the destruction of Jerusalem in a.d. 70 and a new wave of worldwide dispersion.
c. The consequences of rejecting the True Shepherd (11:15-17)
After rejecting the True Shepherd, the flock of Israel will accept a foolish and worthless shepherd. This is a prophecy of the end-time Antichrist who will do the very opposite of Christ the True Shepherd (cf. John 5:43).

11:15-16
Zechariah was called on to portray a second prophetic role, this time a foolish shepherd. The Hebrew word rendered “foolish” (eveel) suggests a person who is a coarse, hardened fool. This shepherd will have no concern for the flock and its needs; he will be interested only in his own gluttony. Instead of defending the flock, the foolish shepherd will destroy it (cf. Rev. 13:7).

11:17
Thus the foolish shepherd is also a worthless shepherd who rightfully deserves the condemnation pronounced (Woe). The arm indicates his strength and the eye his intelligence. The foolish plottings of the worthless shepherd will be annulled when the True Shepherd returns (cf. 12:10; Rev. 19:19-20).

We’ll end there for now. Walvoord’s PRE-cap of his next session tells us this:

  1. The rejected King enthroned (chaps. 12-14)
    Chapters 12-14 are one “oracle” (KJV, “burden”; cf. 9:1) concerning God’s people Israel. The events predicted deal with one future time period (except for 13:7) and center in the city of Jerusalem. Thus the prophecies of these chapters rank among the most significant in the Old Testament.
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Here’s an interesting view forward….

Posted on January 2, 2020 by ez3728

My dear friend Avner Boskey is dedicated to our Lord and involved in a worldwide prophetic ministry based out of Beersheva. I love this guy. He has his nose in the book, his ears up to heaven, his head in the clouds, his feet firmly planted on God’s soil. This video oughta stretch, challenge, entertain, encourage and provide some high-octane ignition for your spirit-man.

 

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Flies in the prophetic ointment – the potential and the peril of the divine dichotomy

Posted on December 17, 2019 by ez3728

There are prophets in the land, always. God has ordained that. For anyone leaning towards cessationism (believing that the supernatural ceased when the canon of scripture was complete) – Paul in 1 Cor 13:8 is telling us that prophecy will cease when perfect-Jesus returns to earth, not before that. Hey – knowledge hasn’t ceased. Who would be so naïve as circumcise that one verse to cut off prophecy and leave knowledge? Ans: Cessationists.

And meanwhile the saints accurately believing in both:
A. the office and ministry of the prophet, and even
B. prophetic words brought forth by virtually any other saint as they might be moved upon by the Holy Spirit at any ordained moment,
have often witnessed and heard silliness, exaggeration, inaccuracy, and worse.

So what to do? What is happening?

In reality, what is happening is the spirit of man, whether by ignorance but good intent or otherwise, will often show up within the prophetic utterance, and that will lead to inaccuracy and eventually to trouble. I will not go so far as to say that everyone who has operated in the prophetic office or ministry and perhaps died before what we might consider “their time” was being judged by God (some in fact may have been taken home to their reward!), but I am personally inclined to think that some of the stuff we hear has, unfortunately, contained a confusing mix of accuracy and then also inaccuracy – and there can be accountability attached to that. Meanwhile let’s not blame God.

I recently heard (youtube) a prophetic word pertaining to Donald Trump that calls him a man of few words. Really? I have no trouble recognizing the call of God on our President’s life, and his position in his critical office as being on time, and of God. But a man of few words?

So what is the issue? Why the flies in the holy ointment? Is God not able to maintain completely accurate prophecy? Of course He is. Both testaments illustrate the accurate and inaccurate. The potential and the peril, in fact. Ask Hananiah re the latter.

What is the issue? It’s important to understand this, so that as things heat up, as the lost look more desperately for a supernatural message of truth, and as the saints look to the words of a prophet as a true word from the Lord, we have to expect a battle for not only the souls of men, but for the tongues of men (and women).

I humbly put forth that to measurable degree there’s a lack of sufficient biblical study and therefore a lack of clear understanding of the scripturally revealed times in which we live, and would go so far to say that many men and women with truly prophetic gifts might be tainting their prophetic words (adding a fly to the ointment, if you will) by adding to what the Lord has spoken to them additional prophecy, from their own hearts (read Jer 23).

Because eschatology (the study of end-times/end-of-age events) is sometimes considered as either:
A. Unable to be understood by the “average” believer and therefore never sufficiently personally studied; OR
B. A fanciful distraction or an extra-curricular option to our daily Christian-life theology,
I am concerned that some and perhaps many prophets skew or embellish what they have truly received from the Lord, couching those accurate words with phrases like: “and there will be great blessings of prosperity and world peace” (prior to our Lord’s return), in fact contradicting and ignoring words like those of our Savior who tells us:

Matthew 24:21-30
21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.
23 “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it.
24 For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.
25 See, I have told you beforehand.
26 “Therefore if they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the desert!’ do not go out; or ‘Look, He is in the inner rooms!’ do not believe it.
27 For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
28 For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together.
29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

The greatest days of trouble will precede the days of the return of our Lord, to redeem His people. What is there to NOT understand about these verses? “IMMEDIATELY” is “Eutheos”. It really means immediately. Those verses were not fully filled in 70AD when the temple was destroyed. Nor was Daniel pointing to the AD 70 temple destruction when he said functionally the same exact thing:

Daniel 12:1-2
1 “At that time Michael shall stand up, The great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people;
And there shall be a time of trouble,
Such as never was since there was a nation,
Even to that time.
And at that time your people shall be delivered,
Every one who is found written in the book.
2 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake,
Some to everlasting life,
Some to shame and everlasting contempt.

Daniel clearly was not speaking of AD 70, since the Jewish people were anything but delivered at that time. Nor were many sleeping in the dust risen up to the final judgment. Daniel was speaking to the return of the Lord (which is why Jesus in Matt 24 also told us to go back and read Daniel when the abomination was in the temple in those final days).

What has to occur in these upcoming days is the saints obtaining a sober understanding that our great God has a great plan that includes contradictions and contrasts, divine dichotomies, if you will.

Isa 30:27-32 – The towers will fall, Assyria will come with tambourines (prophetic worship). In apparent contradiction to such violent activity the saints will have an anointing as if they were attending a festival with flutes. Meanwhile the wicked, increasing in numbers and in wickedness, will be invoking His wrath:
27 Behold, the name of the Lord comes from afar,
Burning with His anger,
And His burden is heavy;
His lips are full of indignation,
And His tongue like a devouring fire.
28 His breath is like an overflowing stream,
Which reaches up to the neck,
To sift the nations with the sieve of futility;
And there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people,
Causing them to err.
29 You shall have a song
As in the night when a holy festival is kept,
And gladness of heart as when one goes with a flute,
To come into the mountain of the Lord,
To the Mighty One of Israel.
30 The Lord will cause His glorious voice to be heard,
And show the descent of His arm,
With the indignation of His anger
And the flame of a devouring fire,
With scattering, tempest, and hailstones.
31 For through the voice of the Lord
Assyria will be beaten down,
As He strikes with the rod.
32 And in every place where the staff of punishment passes,
Which the Lord lays on him,
It will be with tambourines and harps;
And in battles of brandishing He will fight with it.

Isaiah 60:1-2 – Darkness will cover the earth and simultaneously (and in apparent contradiction) the saints are told to arise and shine because glory will be upon us:
1 Arise, shine; For your light has come!
And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.
2 For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth,
And deep darkness the people;
But the Lord will arise over you,
And His glory will be seen upon you.

We’re told that if we faint in the day of adversity our strength is small – these verses are eternal and apply to all times including the end times – the times our Lord (and Daniel) told us of the greatest adversity:
Proverbs 24:10-11
10 If you faint in the day of adversity,
Your strength is small.
11 Deliver those who are drawn toward death,
And hold back those stumbling to the slaughter.

And meanwhile David offers us this eternal truth:
Psalms 27:13-14
13 I would have lost heart, unless I had believed
That I would see the goodness of the Lord
In the land of the living.
14 Wait on the Lord;
Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart;
Wait, I say, on the Lord!

See what’s being revealed to us? Contradictions and dichotomies so that light is distinguished from darkness. We’re not to speak, teach, prophecy, ignore, or in any manner try to adjust the fullness of the word and plans of God to fit something we’ve been taught by men, hoping an “easier word” will work more effectively than the word of God.
The saints in fact are warned to not mess with what is written. And we are called to know what is written and to proclaim it, in and out of season.

We need not and better not dial-down the prophesied troubles in some futile (even if well-intended) effort to motivate others to continue expanding the Kingdom and doing good works (that has to happen at all times, btw), nor does the word tell us to hunker down and preach only angry warnings. The whole word is sufficient for its purposes. It is perfect. It is Echad.

God’s promised end-times shaking work (can you feel it beginning? I can) as spoken of in Haggai and reiterated in Hebrews tells us the troubling is purposed and intended by God to draw people to Him.

We are called to understanding and to accuracy, to prayerfulness and carefulness, not to add, detract, nor to imply God’s plan is too tough or too difficult to understand, or impossible to fulfill.

Here’s the famous verse in the famous Psalm:
Psalms 23:5
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.

That means the table is set for us, by God – WHILE the battle rages, WHILE the enemy is at war.
Double negative here: We are not advised to not enjoy our God’s feast in the midst of the battle.

Peter tells us our not being terrified by our enemy is to them a sign of perdition. That is bible-speak for the enemies of God being warned they are toast.

David (Ps 23) even put forth that the anointing of the Lord is upon us, right smack IN the battle. That’s the overflowing oil in our cups.

Today’s prophets, like all prophets, do well to pray into deep understanding of the word of God. It will keep them from ruin, from accountability of avoidable error. In some cases it might keep some from death.

God is not fooling around these days. The prophet who has a dream, let him tell the dream (Jer 23 – read the whole chapter – good stuff).

Jeremiah 23:28-29
28 “The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream;
And he who has My word, let him speak My word faithfully.
What is the chaff to the wheat?” says the Lord.
29 “Is not My word like a fire?” says the Lord,
“And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?

For God’s sake (and for our own sake), let’s work to get this right. There is grace for that. The world is relying on saints who will speak the work in truth, in accuracy, and in the fear of the Lord. In fact, that’s one of many reason why I believe the saints, mature ones to guide the new ones and to assist in the great final harvest of unsaved folks getting saved, will be here through the troubles, though of course not through the wrath.

All scriptures NKJV

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Posted in Anointing, Apocalypse, End Times Related, Everything, False Teachers, Fear of the Lord, God's Word, Hearing God, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Movement of God, New Testament, Obedience, Old Testament, Personal Relationship, Prophecy, Prophets, Psalms, Revelation(s), Salvation, Sin, Testing, Timing, Tribulation, Understanding & Knowing God, Wisdom, Word Of God, Worship | Comments Off on Flies in the prophetic ointment – the potential and the peril of the divine dichotomy

Cause and Effect. Jealous God. Proactive Housecleaning.

Posted on December 14, 2019 by ez3728

Exodus 20:5-7
5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,
6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
7 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.

The captivity in Babylon was a dark 70 years for the covenant people. They had disobeyed their great God, time and again. Though He had revealed His complete (Echad) personality to them – even prior to the Sinai revelation (above), they had taken Him lightly. The result was predictable:

2 Chronicles 36:15-16
15 And the Lord God of their fathers sent warnings to them by His messengers, rising up early and sending them, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place.
16 But they mocked the messengers of God, despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, till there was no remedy.

Fast Forward to Ezekiel: While a vast number of Jews were already in captivity, Ezekiel the prophet was supernaturally transported back from Babylon to Jerusalem, so that he might see what God already saw.
Ezekiel 8:1-6
1 And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house with the elders of Judah sitting before me, that the hand of the Lord God fell upon me there.
2 Then I looked, and there was a likeness, like the appearance of fire—from the appearance of His waist and downward, fire; and from His waist and upward, like the appearance of brightness, like the color of amber.
3 He stretched out the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of my hair; and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven, and brought me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the north gate of the inner court, where the seat of the image of jealousy was, which provokes to jealousy.

(“provoking to jealousy” means just that: something was being done by the people of God that was so abominable to their God, it was provoking Him to jealousy. An “image of jealousy” was/is any image set up by the people that was preferred, revered, or prioritized over God, or His ordinances)

4 And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision that I saw in the plain.
5 Then He said to me, “Son of man, lift your eyes now toward the north.” So I lifted my eyes toward the north, and there, north of the altar gate, was this image of jealousy in the entrance.
6 Furthermore He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations that the house of Israel commits here, to make Me go far away from My sanctuary? Now turn again, you will see greater abominations.”

We looked at this verse earlier – and this word had been given to the people, earlier. It is eternal:
Exodus 20:5
5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,

And later (than Ex 20, but earlier than the Ezekiel account) He had told them and acted upon His Exodus 20 word of warning.
Deuteronomy 32:20-21
20 And He said: “I will hide My face from them,
I will see what their end will be,
For they are a perverse generation,
Children in whom is no faith.
21 They have provoked Me to jealousy by what is not God;
They have moved Me to anger by their foolish idols.
But I will provoke them to jealousy by those who are not a nation;
I will move them to anger by a foolish nation.

All this to say – we, New Testament saints, are fully under the blood of Calvary and yet remain accountable to God, to the fullness of His word. 1 Cor 10 tells us the OT was written for our admonition, upon whom the end of the ages has come.

We can write and teach and preach and philosophize about how much He loves us unconditionally, and make believe that His holiness bows to His kindness, but that has been proven inaccurate throughout both testaments. Ask Hananiah.

Isaiah (chapter 28) tells us line must be upon line, precept upon precept. The unchanging word of God will remain radioactively active – alive and well and eternal and non-negotiable. Every jot and tittle, says/promises/decress/warns our Lord.

God, particularly in these days of escalating intensity and shaking, is calling His people to holiness, as always. And to consecration, as always. And to death to self, as always. And to pressing in to His discovering His perfect will and then walking in it, as always. Everything else is useless and will in fact prove to be useless.

“Teach us how we ought to pray” was answered by New Testament, we’re-all-under-grace Jesus, with “When you pray say…’Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven’ ”.

His will is His word.
We’re invited to consider: The order in the family. The order between husband and wife. The order in raising and instructing kids, functioning in ministry, conducting business, living life, identifying and casting down our own idols. You name it. We’re invited, in fact, into proactivity for the purposes of our success, and even more importantly Him being glorified.

Like the matter of “images of jealousy” and man’s part in their construction, this assists us in even understanding a little more clearly the concept of “abomination of desolation”. It is more than a title of something dark and ominous looming ahead in the last days, in the temple, prior to the Lord’s return to house clean His house, and His earth. It’s about false gods and even false godliness that is viewed and considered by holy-God as being so despicably abominable as to drive God away. He, being jealous, will not have that. Particularly, and now, the great  Groom is revealing His jealously for His bride.

Revelation 21:24-27
24 And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it.
25 Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there).
26 And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it.
27 But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

We are invited, by example, by the prophetic word yet to be fulfilled (Isa 30, below), and by our understanding of who God is, in His fullness, to consider our lives, daily, and to houseclean, daily.
Isaiah 30:20-23
20 And though the Lord gives you
The bread of adversity and the water of affliction,
Yet your teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore,
But your eyes shall see your teachers.
21 Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying,
“This is the way, walk in it,”
Whenever you turn to the right hand
Or whenever you turn to the left.
22 You will also defile the covering of your images of silver,
And the ornament of your molded images of gold.
You will throw them away as an unclean thing;
You will say to them, “Get away!”
23 Then He will give the rain for your seed
With which you sow the ground,
And bread of the increase of the earth;

Scripture NKJV

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Posted in Apocalypse, Blessing, Cleanliness, End Times Related, Everything, False Teachers, Fear of the Lord, Holiness, Israel, New Testament, Obedience, Old Testament, Personal Relationship, Prophecy, Prophets, Repentance, Revelation(s), Righteousness, Sin, Testing, Tribulation, Understanding & Knowing God, Word Of God | Comments Off on Cause and Effect. Jealous God. Proactive Housecleaning.

[THE TIME OF THE PARENTHETICAL]

Posted on November 13, 2019 by ez3728

 

Stick with me through this writing, please. It is a somewhat long, weighty and perhaps complicated, but it is exciting and it is current. And it is critical not only to our understanding of events (including even WHEN our God promises to open things up to us), but also critical to our understanding of all scripture, as we are being shown HOW God speaks prophetically to His people. Some of this has been covered before in this blog. Some has not. Another benefit to walking through this is that I believe it can insulate you from speculations that are based only upon what we know NOW. I believe certain things are reserved for their specific time of revelation and disclosure (1 Peter 1:12, for example). Understanding that basic truth will give you peace and position you for full understanding when it is time to understand.

Mark 13 parallels Matthew 24 – Jesus is talking to His disciples about trouble ahead.
Some saints attempt to write off all the tough stuff as having been done once, and therefore done – proclaiming that since Titus destroyed the temple and most all of Jerusalem in the first century, then except for a few trouble-bumps along the NT road, we’re simply here to be evangelizing and smiling until it’s time for the wedding. That would be nice and convenient and comfortable, but it’s inaccurate, ignores the words of Zephaniah and Daniel 12 and parts of Zechariah, and in fact sets the saints up to be offended when things don’t happen as they’ve been erroneously taught. It also sets teachers up for some serious accountability and diminishing of their reward.

Mark 13:14-26
14 “So when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not” (let the reader understand), “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.
15 Let him who is on the housetop not go down into the house, nor enter to take anything out of his house.
16 And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes.
17 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days!
18 And pray that your flight may not be in winter.
19 For in those days there will be tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the creation which God created until this time, nor ever shall be.
20 And unless the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake, whom He chose, He shortened the days.
21 “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or, ‘Look, He is there!’ do not believe it.
22 For false christs and false prophets will rise and show signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.
23 But take heed; see, I have told you all things beforehand.

Jesus goes on to say IN THOSE DAYS – meaning in the days just following the events just described
24 “But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light;
25 the stars of heaven will fall, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.
26 Then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.
Jesus not having come in the clouds with power and great glory after the destruction of the temple in 70AD, the toughest-times-are behind-us theory falls short of historical reality.

THE PARALLEL ACCOUNT
Matthew 24:15-30
15 “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand),
16 “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.
17 Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house.
18 And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes.
19 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days!
20 And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath.
21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.
23 “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it.
24 For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.
25 See, I have told you beforehand.
26 “Therefore if they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the desert!’ do not go out; or ‘Look, He is in the inner rooms!’ do not believe it.
27 For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
28 For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together.

(EZ NOTE: Matthew uses the word “eutheos” to quote Jesus. It ONLY means “immediately”, not “in 2,000 years” after the temple came down by the Roman army)
29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

Here’s something interesting – hence the title of this writing. “The Time of the Parenthetical”.
Mark 13:14:
14 “So when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not” (let the reader understand), “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.

Matthew 24:15-16:
15 “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand),
16 “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.

The NKJV and the NIV translations present the words of Jesus in red, BUT the parentheticals in both Mark 13:14 and Matthew 24:15 are presented in black – implying the disciple/writers, Mark and Matthew, both chose to insert their own parenthetical in the exact same place of Jesus’discourse. Really? That doesn’t even follow logic. Two separate writers contract the same editorial-itch to pen the identical personal, punctuated insertion in the exact same dialogue of Jesus?

Meanwhile the NASB accurately has the parenthetical in red.
Mark 13:14
14 “But when you see the abomination of desolation standing where it should not be (let the reader understand), then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains.
Matthew 24:15-16
15 “Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16 then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains.

That, brethren, is correct.

Those parentheticals are from the mouth of our Lord. Jesus spoke those profound and in fact critical parentheticals. Our Lord is in fact telling us that WHEN something happens on earth – WHEN the final abomination of desolation appears in the yet-to-be built-again temple in Jerusalem, at that time the readers are invited and instructed to go back and read the book of Daniel – because something is in that book that is even currently sealed up at very least in measure – AT THAT TIME and according to the plan of God, will be fully unsealed. Is that possible? Are we even told that by God via the prophet Daniel?

Daniel 8:24-26
24 His power shall be mighty, but not by his own power; He shall destroy fearfully, And shall prosper and thrive; He shall destroy the mighty, and also the holy people.
25 “Through his cunning
He shall cause deceit to prosper under his rule; And he shall exalt himself in his heart.
He shall destroy many in their prosperity.
He shall even rise against the Prince of princes; But he shall be broken without human means.
26 “And the vision of the evenings and mornings Which was told is true; Therefore seal up the vision, For it refers to many days in the future.”


Daniel 12:1-9
1 “At that time Michael shall stand up, The great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; And there shall be a time of trouble, Such as never was since there was a nation, Even to that time.
And at that time your people shall be delivered, Every one who is found written in the book.
2 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, Some to everlasting life, Some to shame and everlasting contempt.
3 Those who are wise shall shine
Like the brightness of the firmament,
And those who turn many to righteousness Like the stars forever and ever.
4 “But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.”
5 Then I, Daniel, looked; and there stood two others, one on this riverbank and the other on that riverbank.
6 And one said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, “How long shall the fulfillment of these wonders be?”
7 Then I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever, that it shall be for a time, times, and half a time; and when the power of the holy people has been completely shattered, all these things shall be finished.
8 Although I heard, I did not understand. Then I said, “My lord, what shall be the end of these things?”
9 And he said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.

Jesus (Mark 13 and Matt 24, above) is not only confirming the words of the prophet Daniel, but telling us that there is a sovereignly-intended and appointed time when those prophecies in Daniel will be unsealed, for the reader to understand, and to teach others.
Wow God!

The saints, as promised, will be equipped for those toughest of days, to accomplish the necessary great exploits.

These passages also tell us that, unlike many hopeful but inaccurate popular teachings, Jesus will not be returning “any day now”.
There is no rebuilt temple in Jerusalem.
There is no abomination of desolation sitting in the temple that isn’t there yet.
Stay tuned though. The hopeful Jewish people, still with the veil of understanding over their eyes, but still His covenant people, have already constructed all the components and materials to be used in that rebuilt temple. They just don’t quite yet know it will their Jesus appearing as their Messiah. But they will. It will be glorious and it will be good.

Some would like to say there were “abominations of desolation” in the temple several times throughout history. This is true. Antiochus Epiphanes modeled that evil mantle and demonic activity, but he was dead and gone even before Jesus gave the Mark and Matthew prophecies. So that prophetic-math-logic doesn’t work for him. The Romans were horribly sacrilegious in their desecration of the temple, after Jesus ascended. But Jesus did not appear in the sky “eutheos” (immediately) after those days of tribulation. It therefore awaits fulfillment.

Let’s read John Walvoord’s commentary re these portions of Daniel. His historical account is accurate, and also his understanding of these words still awaiting complete fulfillment is accurate:

Walvoord re Daniel 8:23-25.
“Years later from among one of the four horns (kings) there would arise, Gabriel said, a severe (stern-faced) and cunning king (a master of intrigue; cf. deceit, v. 25). A powerful ruler, he would devastate property and destroy people in order to expand his kingdom. The holy people, the nation Israel (cf. “saints,” 7:18, 22, 27), would be a special target of his oppression. In subjugating Israel, many would lose their lives just when they thought they were safe. His antagonism against Israel would also be against her God, the Prince of princes. Yet this mighty conqueror himself would be destroyed by supernatural power. His rise was not his own doing (8:24) and his downfall was not by human means (he died insane in Persia in 163 b.c.).

(EZ 3728: Walvoord goes on to offer us an accurate historical account of events that function as an antitype to the final “FULL-FILLMENT” that has yet to occur. The underline of Walvoord’s last sentence is mine)
“The king referred to here is known as Antiochus IV Epiphanes. After murdering his brother, who had inherited the throne in the Seleucid dynasty, he came to power in 175 b.c. In 170 b.c. Ptolemy VI of Egypt sought to recover territory then ruled over by Antiochus. So Antiochus invaded Egypt and defeated Ptolemy VI and proclaimed himself king in Egypt. This was his growth “in power to the south” (v. 9). On his return from this conquest, trouble broke out in Jerusalem so he decided to subdue Jerusalem (“the Beautiful Land,” v. 9; cf. 11:16, 41). The people were subjugated, the temple desecrated, and the temple treasury plundered.

“From this conquest Antiochus returned to Egypt in 168 but was forced by Rome to evacuate Egypt. On his return he determined to make the land of Israel a buffer state between himself and Egypt. He attacked and burned Jerusalem, killing multitudes (cf. 8:10). The Jews were forbidden to follow the Mosaic Law in observing the Sabbath, their annual feasts, and traditional sacrifices, and circumcision of children (cf. v. 11).

“Altars to idols were set up in Jerusalem and on December 16, 167 b.c. the Jews were ordered to offer unclean sacrifices and to eat swine’s flesh or be penalized by death.…….

(HERE’S THE HALF-FILLMENT AND FULL-FILLMENT EXPLAINED)
“…..There is no question among expositors that Antiochus is in view in this prophecy. What was prophesied was fulfilled literally through him. However, the prophecy looks beyond Antiochus to a future person (the Antichrist) of whom Antiochus is only a foreshadowing. This coming one is said to “stand against the Prince of princes” (v. 25). This can be none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. Thus the prophecy must go beyond Antiochus and look forward to the coming of one whose ministry will parallel that of Antiochus.

Bingo.

BTW and FYI: No place in scripture are we told that God in His wisdom cannot nor will not ever fulfill an already fully-filled prophecy.
At the same time, Jesus assured us that every single last detail “jot and tittle” would be fulfilled at least once, to its fullness – not one detail overlooked or omitted. So historical events that did/do/don’t check all the prophetic boxes are still pending, and – perhaps to our wonderment – some that may have been fulfilled once, just might occur again. Isaiah 28:21 describes the end-time work as “unusual”. Stay tuned.

It will be accurate and stunning, and it will both draw as well as drive us all to prayer and worship and study. In fact, I would go so far as to say press into those three disciplines now. Familiarize yourself even with the mysteries. As we sense and see the pot beginning to boil, determine to press in now. The times of the conclusion of the age are upon us.

“Having done all to stand”, says Paul.

Wonderfully, we have the parenthetical promise that as we press in, and as the time ripens, these currently cloaked mysteries will be opened to us, so that we can succeed, and also explain and teach others. Seasoned saints being here during the most troubling days contradicts the hopeful doctrine that the church gets swept up and away several years before the Messiah comes streaking through the sky to judge the wicked. John Walvoord and many other astute students of scripture have written opinion pieces supporting their view of a pre-Trib rapture. We shall see.

The pre-Trib rapture doctrine in essence describes a divine escape plan for the mature and learned saints, who would be taken away, leaving only new convert (Jews, mostly) left on earth to figure it out for themselves and also try to evangelize a world that has grown darker than it will have ever been prior to that time. That in fact contradicts the teaching procedure of God outlined in early verses Ps 78 – the result in that psalm being dismal failure for the uninstructed warriors.

I personally believe the saints are here for the Trouble, but raptured prior to the outpouring of God’s Wrath. The Tribulation-Wrath differentiation is critical, and deserves recognition. That differentiation also sets the timing of events in order. Additionally it coordinates with the biblical account of holy men like Daniel and Ezekiel being right in the midst of the troubles, not raptured out of trouble. Ministers minister in the midst of trouble.

2 Timothy 2:15
15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
(NKJV Strong’s)

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“An act of God”

Posted on October 30, 2019 by ez3728

One can argue all day that America is not Israel. And they are correct.
Israel is Israel.
Nonetheless the Lord deals with every nation, particularly with nations that:

  • Proclaim His name
  • Make covenant with Him (FYI: our first one was in 1620 aboard the Mayflower and then in Jamestown, by our founding fathers. This coming year is the 400th anniversary of the first covenant. Fours have proven to be a big-deal number prophetically, btw: desert wanderings, bondage of Egypt, temptation in the wilderness of our Lord, flood of Noah);
  • Call upon Him in days of trouble. The synagogues and churches were full for 2-3 weeks after 9/11. Everyone sang Amazing Grace at services.

You get it.

The past 399 years America has been a marker-nation in God’s plan, even though clearly we have not done all things right. There remains corruption on either side of the political aisle. And things are getting worse.

Sadly we continue to enact laws that are absolutely opposed to the laws of God.
We’ve made a way for more babies to be murdered than any nation, ever.
We’ve legalized same-sex marriage. We don’t even know whether that was on the books in Sodom and Gomorrah, or just winked at. We might have set a new low.

One would hope/assume/think/pray that the same folks in government, at every level, who would (accurately) declare fires etc. as acts of God would consider well God’s oversight of lifestyles that continue to be supported and even encouraged, and the laws that continue to be made, and refrain from supporting policies and from enforcing current and even writing new laws that are in absolute defiance of His laws. From elementary grade sex/gender-option school curriculums to sex change operations for prisoners, to wholesale abortion laws, to prosecuting Christians for upholding their convictions while allowing Islamic conversion prayers to be inserted into public school tests, are we not  disqualifying ourselves, as a local-to-national culture, from singing/requesting  “God bless America”? The greatest blessing to our nation at this late time would be national repentance.

Wanting to keep this brief, let’s look at Amos 4:6-13 (the whole little book is worthy of contemplative reading and praying over).

The good folks who assembled the bible created this heading for this section of scripture:
“Israel Did Not Accept Correction”
This is all about how righteous-God, in His mercy – instead of immediately destroying a wicked and rebellious nation, progressively elevates His corrective activities to try to awaken them and draw them to repentance.

It is notable that many times in scripture the true prophets are labelled as party-poopers, while the easy-slogan guys filled auditoriums.
Let’s see how it goes.

6 “Also I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities.
And lack of bread in all your places;
Yet you have not returned to Me,”
Says the Lord.
7 “I also withheld rain from you,
When there were still three months to the harvest.
I made it rain on one city,
I withheld rain from another city.
One part was rained upon,
And where it did not rain the part withered.
8 So two or three cities wandered to another city to drink water,
But they were not satisfied;
Yet you have not returned to Me,”
Says the Lord.
9 “I blasted you with blight and mildew.
When your gardens increased,
Your vineyards,
Your fig trees,
And your olive trees,
The locust devoured them;
Yet you have not returned to Me,”
Says the Lord.
10 “I sent among you a plague after the manner of Egypt;
Your young men I killed with a sword,
Along with your captive horses;
I made the stench of your camps come up into your nostrils;
Yet you have not returned to Me,”
Says the Lord.
11 “I overthrew some of you,
As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,
And you were like a firebrand plucked from the burning;
Yet you have not returned to Me,”
Says the Lord.
12 “Therefore thus will I do to you, O Israel;
Because I will do this to you,
Prepare to meet your God, O Israel!”
13 For behold,
He who forms mountains,
And creates the wind,
Who declares to man what his thought is,
And makes the morning darkness,
Who treads the high places of the earth—
The Lord God of hosts is His name.

(NKJV Strong’s)

Verses 6-12 are about escalating troubles.
Verse 13 establishes God’s absolute right, as Creator, to do what needs to be done.
“Lord God of hosts” is His warrior name, btw.
AKA: King of the universe and Commander of the armies of heaven.

We are happily assured it will eventually end well, for those who are found in Him………

Isaiah 4:2-6
The Renewal of Zion
2 In that day the Branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious;
And the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and appealing
For those of Israel who have escaped.
3 And it shall come to pass that he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy—everyone who is recorded among the living in Jerusalem.
4 When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and purged the blood of Jerusalem from her midst, by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning,
5 then the Lord will create above every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and above her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night. For over all the glory there will be a covering.
6 And there will be a tabernacle for shade in the daytime from the heat, for a place of refuge, and for a shelter from storm and rain.
(NKJV Strong’s)

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said the following in a new conference re the current raging fires:
“This is simply put in plain parlance, an act of God”

Here’s the link to the CBS article
https://www.cbsnews.com/live-news/fire-in-california-latest-getty-kincade-sonoma-tick-fires-evacuations-today-live-updates-2019-10-29/

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“TROUBULATION”

Posted on August 6, 2019 by ez3728

Troubulation: The title is not an accidental misspell.

The etymological relationship between Tribulation and Trouble is apparent.
The trouble with the word TRIBULATION is that (even most and sober) believers are often inclined to see Tribulation only as a period of time. TROUBLE however has daily, even conversational qualities about it. Whether or not a student of scripture is recognizing the times in which we live as the early stages of the SEASON of tribulation, or not, is between you and the Lord. I have my opinions. Peruse the www.ez3728.com blog site if you like. There’s both word and theme search facilities.

Regardless of opinion re this being “just seasonal” or “the season” of trouble, most everyone on earth can see there’s lots of trouble happening around us, on all fronts. And the tendency, even for saints, is to address the symptoms as opposed to addressing the root cause(s) – the “disease”, if you will.

God meanwhile, in crafting a world far more glorious and more complexly wired than we might recognize, tells us, in varying places in His word, how things are put together. Even with such revelation, we would do well to understand His ways are not our ways. There are things people do or participate in on earth, unaware of resultant effects or consequences that might manifest in the heavenly as well as natural realms.

The Wiring Mystery and Complexity of God – imagine something like this – except make-believe-change some of the labels from Limit Switch, Diode, Solenoid or Battery to Rebellion and Abortion and Ungodliness and Pornography and even Divorce (Mal 2:16). Add some labels like Wickedness and Violence, and Disunity and War. Of course all of God’s creation is not about the negative. Other parts of the Divine wiring diagram would be labeled Kindness, Friendship, Love, Healing, Restoration, etc. God’s creation is a GOOD plan. He’s done a great work. We’re the ones who have cut, twisted, and even attempted to redesign and rewire His great work. The point to the metaphorical illustration is: we impact things, for the negative or the positive. And this writing happens to be about the troubles we are experiencing in our nation right now. As I write, flags are at half-staff.


Horrific outbursts of violence in our society often generate responses and conditions, most all of which might be well-intended efforts (from varying perspectives) to address and terminate Symptoms. Yet the Disease continues.

Meanwhile, called to be shining lights in a darkening world (Isa 60:1) as believers we are invited and called and charged to dig deeper, study soberly, pray in alignment with the word of God, understand the ramifications of compliance and defiance to His word, and to speak the truth in love to all around us.

Scriptural-Wiring Truth:
Psalms 12:8
8 The wicked prowl on every side,
When vileness is exalted among the sons of men.

There’s correlations between situations and sins and sufferings, between lifestyle choices and how things go socially, between covenant relationship (personal, marital, national) and blessing or accountability.

The cause and effect of unholy national living is chillingly played out throughout scripture, and is currently chillingly playing out in the streets of America. At the risk of offending some: It is not about gun violence. Guns happen to be a tool of choice. Removing the tool will not remove the violence. Of course careful monitoring of gun-accessibility is a good thing, but most violent criminals don’t shop for legal guns in hunting stores. Meanwhile, were we to magically eliminate guns (I won’t even begin to address governments that illegalized guns prior to becoming military dictatorships), violence would take on other forms. Man-“kind” killed mankind thousands of years before the invention of gunpowder.

The issue is a deepening and intensifying worldwide sin climate. We are where we are in the prophetic biblical timeframe. Read the whole book. A defiant  world has sown rebellion to God for millenniums. The crop of trouble has been watered by everything from counterfeit religions to greed to perversion to spineless and impotent churchianity. The God-intended “salt of the earth” church has for the most part modeled a tasteless and powerless and boring God to a starving and dying world, and the world has understandably looked elsewhere.

2 Timothy 3:1-2
1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, ……

AGAIN: Psalms 12:8
8 The wicked prowl on every side,
When vileness is exalted among the sons of men.

Vileness exalted has opened a floodgate for acts of wickedness, just as God’s wiring diagram of creation has intended. (Isa 1:19-20).

Our covenant nation, has sadly brought it upon ourselves.
The fix is not REbuild, or REstructure, or REvision of laws. Nor is it about REpublican or Democrat. The issue is REpentance.

Here’s more eternal truth, with a promise:
2 Chronicles 7:14
14 if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

Defining “vileness” is reasonably clear. Investigation into what God loves and calls us to walk in, and comparing that to what God hates and particularly what God cites as abomination, paints a reasonably clear picture.

Repentance goes beyond sorry. There’s a “turning-away” component to repentance. A purposeful change as to how things are done, handled, embraced, ignored.

The Psalm 12:8 citation of “wickedness” is about a spirit, not an act. The wicked acts are the symptoms/ Wickedness is a spirit that is unleashed and in fact fueled, by vileness.

Pornography, abortion, intentional crime, same-sex marriage, happen to be abominations to the Lord.
A covenant nation, in particular, is responsible for its actions.
The result is violence.
Jeremiah 40:3
3 Now the Lord has brought it, and has done just as He said. Because you people have sinned against the Lord, and not obeyed His voice, therefore this thing has come upon you.

We’re shown, from the past, that unchecked, it can drive things to a terrible condition.
Isaiah 1:15
15 When you spread out your hands,
I will hide My eyes from you;
Even though you make many prayers,
I will not hear.
Your hands are full of blood.

Deuteronomy 32:16-17
16 They provoked Him to jealousy with foreign gods;
With abominations they provoked Him to anger.
17 They sacrificed to demons, not to God,
To gods they did not know,
To new gods, new arrivals
That your fathers did not fear.

Psalms 106:37-38
37 They even sacrificed their sons
And their daughters to demons,
38 And shed innocent blood,
The blood of their sons and daughters,
Whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan;
And the land was polluted with blood.

“Ah but wait! Those verses are Old Testament! We’re under the blood of the cross.”

Indeed we are. So was Paul – the converted murderer that God redeemed and called to speak into the great true grace of God that would be upon us who believe. He wrote the book of Romans.

That blossoming church – and all who would read the New Testament in subsequent years, are presented with these eternal truths:

Romans 1:16-32
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.
17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,
19 because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.
20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,
21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
22 Professing to be wise, they became fools,
23 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.
24 Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves,
25 who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
26 For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature.
27 Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.
28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting;
29 being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers,
30 backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
31 undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful;
32 who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.

I am of the personal opinion that the teaching and preaching (and writing) of the above verses will shortly be cited as a hate crime, an insensitivity to alternative lifestyles, groups, trends, and “progressive” movements of society. That too is foretold to us in scripture.

It’s all in the book that few want to read, and at which even fewer choose to tremble.

Meanwhile, the troubling work is by our merciful God who is:
A. Not willing that any should perish but that all might come to repentance; AND
B. Has called His saints out of darkness and expressly admonished and even warned us not to partake in the sins of this life; AND
C. In love, to warn every man.

QUES TO US ALL: Before criticizing the unsaved, who are accountable though they may not know any better, are we, with the added accountability of knowledge, in any manner contributing to vileness being exalted, that in turn opens the wider door for wickedness?
Would anyone care to own the fact that in any way supporting or contributing to pornographic activity contributed to a spiritual climate that fostered mass shootings? That X-rated movie one might watch, or market, or participate in, in part unleashes wickedness. Refer back to the wiring diagram example, sort of. We don’t know what our own sin fertilizes.

In denying the God our forefathers covenanted to serve, in provoking Him to action by legislation of laws and policies that contradict holy principles, we are collectively bringing a curse upon our nation. That curse is violence.

SOME STATS TO CONSIDER:

SUICIDE – Suicides per day in the U.S.: 123
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_in_the_United_States

ABORTION: U.S. abortions per year: approx. 650,000
From 1970 through 2015, a PRO-CHOICE organization, the Guttmacher Institute estimates there have been 45,789,558 abortions in America.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abortion_statistics_in_the_United_States

DIVORCE AND BROKEN FAMILY:
The American Psychological Association estimates 50% of all marriages end in divorce, and although there has been a slight drop in that rate it is because younger adults are not marrying until later in life – many are living with each other outside of marriage.
https://www.apa.org/topics/divorce/

PORNOGRAPHY
https://www.webroot.com/us/en/resources/tips-articles/internet-pornography-by-the-numbers
Every Second:
28,258 users are watching pornography on the internet.
$3,075.64 is being spent on pornography on the internet.
372 people are typing the word “adult” into a search engine.

Every Day:
37 pornographic videos are created in the United States.
2.5 billion emails containing porn are sent or received.
68 million search queries related to pornography- 25% of total searches- are generated.
116,000 queries related to child pornography are received.

FAIR QUES: Are any of us opening the door to vileness further?

Isaiah 66:1-2
1 Thus says the Lord: “Heaven is My throne,
And earth is My footstool.
Where is the house that you will build Me?
And where is the place of My rest?
2 For all those things My hand has made,
And all those things exist,”
Says the Lord.
“But on this one will I look:
On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit,
And who trembles at My word.

Our great and loving and merciful and patient God loves mankind so much that He sent His Son to carry all of the sins of anyone who would repent. How spectacular is THAT?

Back to Psalm 12, in its fullness there’s an assurance for the saint in the distinction between the wicked and righteous:
Psalms 12
1 Help, Lord, for the godly man ceases!
For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.
2 They speak idly everyone with his neighbor;
With flattering lips and a double heart they speak.
3 May the Lord cut off all flattering lips,
And the tongue that speaks proud things,
4 Who have said,
“With our tongue we will prevail;
Our lips are our own;
Who is lord over us?”
5 “For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy,
Now I will arise,” says the Lord;
“I will set him in the safety for which he yearns.”
6 The words of the Lord are pure words,
Like silver tried in a furnace of earth,
Purified seven times.
7 You shall keep them, O Lord,
You shall preserve them from this generation forever.
8 The wicked prowl on every side,
When vileness is exalted among the sons of men.

(scripture: NKJV)

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One Path

Posted on July 30, 2019 by ez3728

The elder John, having been around the “Christian block” many many times in his many years of faithful living, was writing to a woman he cited as “Kyria” – noble lady. What a great title!

2 John 1:4-6
4 I rejoiced greatly that I have found some of your children walking in truth, as we received commandment from the Father.
5 And now I plead with you, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment to you, but that which we have had from the beginning: that we love one another.
6 This is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, that as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it.

The commandments are timeless in their holiness. And were there to be a “new” commandment (as God continues to speak throughout the ages) it would align with and confirm, instead of violate or dispute the word of God that is already and eternally in place. That word is eternal and non-negotiable in its completeness, holiness, accuracy, timeliness, accountability, volatility, you name it. And God is jealous over that word. It does not waiver, nor does it morph or adjust to the eroding-by-the-day moral climate of our times. That is both a promise and a warning.

The falling away of many, noted in scripture and particularly cited as an end-times propensity, is a reality that is not intended to be mocked or overlooked. Nor will our great God tolerate such activity, particularly in His church.

Daniel 11:35
35 And some of those of understanding shall fall, to refine them, purify them, and make them white, until the time of the end; because it is still for the appointed time.

The word goes on to assure us God will violently address unrepented sin in His church, particularly unrepented sin in people of position and influence:

Revelation 2:20-23
20 Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.
21 And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent.
22 Indeed I will cast her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds.
23 I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts. And I will give to each one of you according to your works.

Whoa.

I believe we are seeing our Lord, IN HIS MERCY, even stick His foot out, in hope of and for purposes of eventual restoration of some who would repent.

Is God taking the sins of the saints lightly, particularly in this age of challenge, prior to His return? He is not. And He is warning us to beware of the conditions that will arise and prevail and challenge holiness.

2 Timothy 3:1-9
1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:
2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good,
4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
5 having a form of godliness but denying its power.
And from such people turn away!
6 For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts,
7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
8 Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith;
9 but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was.

THE REMEDY:
Having done all, to stand.
Ephesians 6:13-14
13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness,

SOME TRUTHS:
If you continue in the faith.
Colossians 1:23
23 if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.

If any draw back my soul has no pleasure in them.
Hebrews 10:37-38
37 “For yet a little while,
And He who is coming will come and will not tarry.
38 Now the just shall live by faith;
But if anyone draws back,
My soul has no pleasure in him.”

Do not be deceived
Galatians 6:7-9
7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.
8 For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.
9 And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.

The inheritance set aside for the holy:
1 Corinthians 6:9-10
9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites,
10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.

There never has been, nor ever will be, a parallel path to holiness .
What might at first be cited as “progressive” adjustments to the word of God, no matter how “kind” or “inclusive” they might at first and for a season appear to be, are contrary to God’s holy plan, which is the best and exclusive plan.

Sin leads to death. Always has and always will.

Humanism contradicts God.
We are invited to choose the ways of our Lord.
His ways are higher and better and lead to life.

We are invited to partner with God in our successful walk, and in fact are told to make straight paths for our feet.

Wandering paths can at first appear to be parallel paths. That is a deception. They are not.

Over the brief 40+ years of my personal faith-walk, I have seen ministries and ministers rise up and speak convincing words and present convincing theories, doctrines, philosophies and arguments that enticed, intrigued, and got hold of many saints. I’ve sometimes seen anointings and positions of authority and church prominence intoxicate some. I’ve seen saints stumble, cause others to stumble, and fall. Anything other than biblical accuracy and daily humble submission to the full word of God is guaranteed to fail.

Holiness leads to life.
Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
At the risk (and it will happen) of being called religious or narrow-minded, exclusive or archaic, we are invited by God to hold, in love, the line on holiness, and to represent a holy God by our own holy lifestyle. Confirming or affirming unholiness is a blasphemy. It is not love. It is in fact paving a path for the destruction of others, as well as self.

We are absolutely called to be walking in love. Obedience to the word of God, is intended by God to be a joy, not a burden. And our love for our God is represented by our keeping His commandments.
1 John 5:2-3
2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments.
3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.

Eventually all will pan out. The Good Book tells us so.
The “parallel” paths will prove to only be roads to destruction.
The path of life will be clear, and bright, illuminated by His word. It will lead us to Zion.

Again – as per a recent post, we are called to embrace humility, comprehending and therefore coveting the safety and success of walking humbly before God and man.
Zephaniah 3:12
12 I will leave in your midst
A meek and humble people,
And they shall trust in the name of the Lord.

All scripture NKJV

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Posted in Anointing, End Times Related, Everything, False Teachers, Fear of the Lord, Free Will, God's Word, Hearing God, Holy Speech, Legalism, Obedience, Personal Relationship, Pride, Repentance, Salvation, Sin, Testing, Tribulation, Understanding & Knowing God, Wisdom, Word Of God | Comments Off on One Path

Did the prophet Isaiah ever think he’d (sort of) be a podcast?

Posted on July 20, 2019 by ez3728


Here’s a link to the FB page EZ3728 that in turn will take you to a podcast that has begun, centering on the book of Isaiah and at the same time launching us into many more places in both testaments to clarify, weigh against, confirm and complement the prophetic words of this great prophet.
https://www.facebook.com/Ez3728/
I find myself sometimes posting things on the ez3728 FB page that I haven’t posted here. It is simply more convenient, and in the past I’ve pretty much reserved this blog site for longer writings.

You can download an app at www.podbean.com, and then free-subscribe and stay up to date on these podcasts.

The specific Isaiah 11&12 podcast link is: https://ez3728.podbean.com/e/isaiah-11-12-72019/

The broader link to the ez3728 podcast adventure can be located here  (this will allow you to access to all earlier-recorded podcasts: Isaiah 1-11):
www.ez3728.podbean.com

It’s easier for you to poke around those link and familiarize yourself with the program, than it is for me to try to explain it all (aka the one-eyed man in the land of the blind).
The more you fiddle around with podcast stuff, the more you will get it.
God is good. He’s shown up faithfully each and every time we’ve met. I am thinking this is pleasing Him…..

 

 

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Posted in Anointing, Apocalypse, End Times Related, Fear of the Lord, God's Word, Israel, Jesus, Old Testament, Revelation(s), Tribulation, Understanding & Knowing God | Comments Off on Did the prophet Isaiah ever think he’d (sort of) be a podcast?