Armageddon, Setting the Hook

                      Armageddon, Setting the Hook

     With the present world events and things going on I am constantly hearing people ask is this the end times. This is an older post that describes what is to happen in the end times. The church environment I grew up in back in the 50's and 60's was very endtime oriented. Our chuch drank real wine and everybody out of the same cup, One of our stranger beliefs, at least by todays standards was that our pastor broke a small loaf of real bread and passed half to each side of the church. Some people say you are to use unleavened bread, our pastor and church said Christ is risen, end of discussion.

      Sooner or later the endtime has to start. Revelation 9:15 says that an event will happen that will destroy a third part of manking. Could the Corona Virus do that. Time will tell, but if you read this post you will read a lot of what the Bible says will take place in the endtime.  At one point it speaks of an Army of 200 million men moving east across the Euphrates River, China could field such an Army, and if they feel they need to secure their source of oil it gives them reason to do just that.

      Is America about to get sucked into the Middle East in a way we can't get out of.  There has been a lot of discussion on the matter lately and it has made me start searching the things I know the Bible says.  So here is what I see the Bible saying and the Left Behind scenario is not part of it.  The Bible lays out what is coming pretty clear. One night this week at about 4AM I woke up with this on my mind, just as it did when I originally wrote this post in 2013. It is more pertinent now than ever. 

    

    Is America about to get sucked into the Middle East in a way we can't get out of.  There has been a lot of discussion on the matter lately and it has made me start searching the things I know the Bible says.  So here is what I see the Bible saying and the Left Behind scenario is not part of it.  The Bible lays out what is coming pretty clear.

    

      Sometimes when you get a thought at 4:00 AM that is somewhat of a revelation and can’t go back to sleep the best thing you can do is simply get up and make a note and hope you can then go back to sleep.  That does not always work because sometimes the thought unleashes a torrent of other thoughts.

      To clear your mind of the thoughts sometimes you have to put them all on paper to get them out of your mind.  It is the only way to get them out of your mind so you can finish your night’s sleep.  Sometimes it is so you do not lose them.  When you are at an age where senility is diminishing your ability to recall information is another reason.

      Events in the news about the situation in Syria triggered a memory from my youth.  The churches I grew up in always said Gog and Magog meant the area occupied by Russia today.  It reminded me of the saying in the Book of Ezekiel which describes what is commonly called the battle of Armageddon.  Chapters 34 and 35 both talk about it, but the part that hooked me was the reference to Persia, Ethiopia and Libya.

      In Biblical days Persia extended all the ways to India.  At least that is what my Smith’s Bible Dictionary says.  That means it included the lands of what is today called Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran.   I also know that Somalia adjoins and may have been part of Ethiopia in those days and finally it mentions Libya.  So what does that matter?   It talks of putting hooks in the jaws to draw the Armies to this great battle.  Both America and Russia have been involved in all three areas in the last sixty years or so.

Ezekiel Chapter 38

1And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 2Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him,  3And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: 4And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords: 5Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet

14Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord GOD; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it? 15And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army: 16And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes

      That is a pretty good description of how America got drug into Afghanistan, Libya and now maybe even Syria.  Oh and don’t forget Somalia and the events that led up to the Black Hawk Down story.  The question is are we simply seeing the stage set for the battle of Armageddon.

      Isaiah gives a vivid description of what it is to be like at the time of the end in Chapter 30.  He especially mentions a couple things that could be applied to this day and age.  Verse 25 talks of the Towers falling and great destruction.  The significance of this is that in verse 26 he talks about the moon being as bright as the sun.  He also talks about the sun being seven times brighter.

       So why is this significant?  I like to let the Bible explain the Bible and one of the only places the sun, the moon and the stars are mentioned together is in Joseph’s dream.  Based on that, when I see the moon being as bright as the sun, it means women being equal to men.  Then in the end of that verse the sun being seven times brighter means an increase in knowledge. Which agrees with the prophecy of Daniel 12:1-4 makes it pretty clear.

              1And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. 2And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. (Definitely end time stuff here) 3And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.  4But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.

     Backing up a little bit.  Ezekiel 38 also talks about a land called Tarshish.  It is a place that is not clearly defined in the Bible, but they were a people who made their living on the seas hauling goods and merchandise.  Items they are described as carrying on their ships are peacocks which come from India and tin which came from the area of what is now Spain.  In my college days I read a book entitled America B.C. by Barry Fell which describes finding archaeological evidence that ships from Tarshish and other countries came to the new world before the time of Christ.  Many scholars argued and questioned his discoveries because it was not his regular field of study. 

       Questioning findings of lay people is not uncommon.  The man who discovered and proclaimed the field of plate tectonics in 1912, which is now accepted, was never recognized during his own lifetime.  The reason being he was a trained meteorologist  and did not have the academic background to support his claims which he put forth in his book of  The Origens of the Continents and Oceans in 1915.  Alfred Wegeler died in Greenland while doing research in his field. 

       The reason these books fascinated me is that there had to be some explanation as to how people got to the New World and Australia after the great flood of the Bible, but then I discovered the Bible said in Genesis 10:25 that the earth was not divided till after the flood.  Good enough for me.

         Getting back on track I will let the first chapter of Zephaniah speak for itself.  It describes what the end times will be like and how God will pour out his wrath on mankind.  The Bible gives a lot of writing to the issue of the end time.  People who read the Bible and believe God will be prepared and know what is coming.  The Bible tells us so.  The third chapter also has some hard things to say.  I could put all the verse in this writing but it would make it to long for a blog.  If you read it from the source maybe you will believe it and start studying  the Bible to get to really know the Lord.

      In the media today it sure sounds as if America is getting sucked into the whole Middle East thing.  Russia is against us, as is China which makes the whole situation even scarier.   The real problem is that there is a time coming that is worse than the battle of Armageddon.  The last part of Ezekiel 38 makes that all clear.

17Thus saith the Lord GOD; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee against them?  18And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, that my fury shall come up in my face. 19For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel; 20So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.  21And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord GOD: every man’s sword shall be against his brother. 22And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. 23Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the LORD.

      There will come a point when most men will be looking forward to being delivered from the things going on in this world.  In Matthew, Christ makes clear that there will be a period of tribulation and that those who are to be delivered from the earth will not be delivered until after a period of “Great Tribulation.”  So if we are about to enter into a period that brings us up to the Rapture and the Great Tribulation we should start to see the fulfillment of one last prophecy from the Bible that could not have been fulfilled till the time we now live in.

       In Revelation Chapter 11 it talks about the two witnesses to the end time.  They will testify for three and a half years.  They will be delivering their testimony and can’t be killed till they finish it.  When they do finish their testimony they shall be killed and lay in the street for three and a half days.  It says the world shall celebrate their death and exchange presents and the whole world shall see them lying in the street.  That is something that could not have happened until this day and age.  Jesus makes it clear that most of mankind will go through a portion of the Tribulation and then his people will be delivered.  So those who buy into the Left Behind view of the end times are in for a rude awakening.  Not because I say so, but because the Bible says so.

     My goal is not to terrify but to open some people’s eyes as to what the Bible says about what is coming in the end times and show from the Bible itself that we may be at a time where it is all going to come to pass.  If it does we need to be right with the Lord and forget about the worldly things than mean nothing and prepare those we care about to get right so they are with us for all eternity.

         One of the last events prophesied in the Bible is in Revelations 16:17-21

17And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. 18And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. 19And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. 20And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. 21And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent:( a talent is about seventy pounds) and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.

            If you think this can't happen and think that the Tsunami and the Japanese earthquakes were big,  You might read my blog of 24 July 2012 and see what a lay person says on the situation.  I already showed what two lay people got right and got no respect for.  Hope this at least gets some people thinking.

You can't avoid it, or escape it, but you can make you peace with God and at least know where you will be when it is all over.

Constitutional Duct Tape for a Sinking Ship of State

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2011

Constitutional Duct Tape for a Sinking Ship of State

     It seems the ship of state is sinking fast and no one seems to know how to plug the hole and get it sailing again.  The steady bleeding of jobs is taking its toll.  Everybody knows the problem but nobody seems to have an effective solution.  Further proof of the problem showed up on the television this morning.  The U.S. Postal Service is in danger of going out of business.  Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution requires the government to establish and manage a Postal System.  It also requires the posting of Roads.  Does that mean making roads or just posting signs so people know where they are going.  I am not sure on that one, but I am sure that the Founding Fathers meant for the government to meet these obligations in perpetuity.  So maybe if we look a little harder at the Constitution we might find some sound answers.

          It is my feeling the Constitution address's what I am about to propose.  If it does it is a duty the government is not only required to do, it is something the government is required by the Constitution to do. The Constitution requires the government to provide for the welfare of the country and taking care of our home(infrastructure) should be covered.  It is a duty the government is not performing. They certainly have tax offices in every state.  Considering that the duty to collect taxes and providing for defense and common welfare are all in the first paragraph of Secion 8, Article 1 it would seem they have equal importance.  It is my opinion that the founding fathers felt our nation would be very blessed and providing for the few who were not was the responsibity of those of us who are. However providing for the welfare requires more than taxation.  When you provide for the welfare of your family you provide a home, food, clothing and the necessities of life.  If you have children you provide them a safe and healthy place to play and live.  Those are things you do to provide for your families welfare.  It is by that understanding and my reading of the Founding Father's writings that I believe they felt those things should be provided to every American. If the government was doing what it is required to do we would not be in the situation we are in.  There are a great number of Constitutionally questionable agencies and programs the government runs.   One more that is Constitutionally mandated, to take care of infrastructure (necessary to the welfare of the people), should not be a problem.

     It is time for all hands to come on deck.  The ship is going down if it is not fixed.  Their is ample proof that the present politicians do not get the gravity of the problem.  They want to put a band aid on the problem and it needs many rolls of duct tape at a minimum.  This can be proved by their solution of the debt limit problem after much bickering.  They intend to cut a whole $2.4 Trillion dollars out of the budget over a ten year period.   It may be admirable that they see there is a problem, but they do not get the magnitude of the problem.  This can be seen in the fact that the daily interest on the national debt is $1.2 Billion dollars.  Well over ten years that equals $4.38 Trillion.  So in ten years they will be over $2 Trillion dollars more in debt than when they started.  Another of their brain farts is to give business's a $5,000 tax break for hiring someone, to make something they can not sell because the economy is dead. With all the other problems that is not good at all.  However there is a solution.  A "New Program" that pays for itself.  It is our only hope and I think it is Constitutionally mandated.

     The Constitution in Article 1, Section 8, Paragraph 1 requires the government to be in charge of collecting taxes and also for the defense and general welfare of the United States.  Taking care of your home(the Nation) is a duty that comes under providing for the welfare.  The problems with infrastructure need to be addressed with a tax that creates a permanent program to maintain our home.  You do not take care of a home part time or only when  you want to.  It requires an ongoing and long term commitment to keep things in working order.  You do not wait till bridges are falling down or roads are collapsing.  You have to be continually at it or the cost of repair is magnified.  In my previous blog "Getting Our House In Order"  I outlined a plan that would do this.  We need a program that is paid for by a continous influx of funds to keep it going.  My solution is to put a tax of $1.00 per gallon surcharge on gas.  It should be given directly to the states in which it is collected.  Nobody wants to pay more tax,  but nobody wants to sleep in the streets or risk having Chinese become the national language because of our debt obligations.  I like to call it a One for America Program.

     We need a balanced budget, but more than that we need jobs and this program creates jobs and  creates them in perpetuity.  The jobs created generate tax payments that help get the government back on its feet.  The heavy machinery required to build and maintain infrastructure is mostly American made and the materials will mostly be American made and supplied.  Once this is in order America needs to reign in and down size our military.  We need to quit being the world's police force.  Yes we need to maintain our defenses, but having troops all over the world is not the answer.  Vietnam should have taught us that, if nothing else.  America needs to start taking care of America.  We need to quit swatting flies with sledgehammers.  If we had put as much time and planning into the retaliation for 9/11 as the enemy did getting ready to attack.   They(the enemy) would be history.  The attackers spent almost seven years getting ready for that attack.

      From a program I watched President Bush gave the order that if it was necessary military aircraft should shoot down a commercial jet.  A little later in the program they interviewed a pilot who was scrambled on 9/11 to defend America.   He stated the only way he could have taken down a commercial jet was to ram into it with his plane.   His, hundreds of  millions of dollars, jet was not even armed.    When we have aircraft the taxpayers pay hundreds of millions of dollars to build and then  they are not even armed.  This is a problem and a waste.   If we are suddenly attacked by whoever for whatever reason.   What do we say, "Wait a minute I need to go load my guns."  This is not the exception this is the norm.  I was in a rear echelon job in Vietnam and when our base was attacked we had to stand in line and sign to get a rifle and one clip of ammunition.  I mean the enemy was supposedly coming through the wire, but signatures were more important than our lives.  The armorer was just doing his job, but he got over ruled and thumped pretty good for failing to use some common sense.  He was over ruled by a knuckle sandwich.  Please note this happened in a combat zone that had no fronts.  The enemy was everywhere, not just in front of us. If the military can not be trusted to hold armed weapons we have a problem.  If soldiers did carry armed weapons maybe so many would not have died in the Fort Hood shooting incident.
    
    The Constitution requires the government, in the same paragraph that provides for taxes and the military,  to provide for the welfare of its people. Several of the key writers of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution advocated for government responsibility for the poor, needy and aged.  Paine, Jefferson and Franklin agreed it was a duty of the state.  No one in this country should go to bed hungry and no one should be living on the streets  unless they choose to do so.   No one should die for lack of medical care.  It is something that should be furnished to every American and not just 80% as Medicare does.  That was a conspiracy with the insurance companies I am sure.  As I am just a few months from turning 65 that is being made clear to me by the daily pleas for my money to insure me for the other 20%.

              Do we have to have a dole?  No we should not, but we should provide a means for those receiving assistance to perform some service in return for what they get.  If they refuse to work, fine they can eat in soup kitchens(which by the way create jobs cooking and cleaning) and sleep in a bed in a government flop house that provides nothing more than a bed, bath and a shower.  If that is not acceptable to them they can either find a job or go sleep under a bridge.  The choice is their's, those in need, to make.  There are plenty of things communities need done that those getting assistance can do.   If they physically can not work fine, but just handing it out for nothing is an insult to those who are trying to make the system work.  Nobody gets a free ride, unfortunately that is not the truth.

     When the government starts cutting off  people's checks, that they worked all their life to get,  the politicians will find out what anarchy is all about.  When people no longer believe in the system and return to a bartering society as many did during the Great Depression.  The government will feel the impact of their incompetence. In my opinion we are not far from that day.  If somebody does not stand up and do something the ship is going down.  When our economy collapses it will make the Great Depression look like a cake walk.  It does not have to happen, their are solutions.  If you agree with me share this with someone, if you do not, then you can tell me why I am wrong.  Thanks for reading.  They say the pen is mightier than the sword and I believe it.  If enough people share this, someone who can make a difference may get a copy.