Responding To An Unbeliever - Bible Qs and As

Republished from gracethrufaith.com

Saturday, February 20th, 2016

• Evangelism
• Salvation

Q. I was discussing the meaning of Matthew 15:24 with a co-worker today and he said that my Bible (the New King James Version) cannot possibly be God’s Word because God didn’t write the Bible in English, that the Hebrew vocabulary was so limited back in the day that the words didn’t exist to say what the passage says, that it’s impossible to accurately translate what may have been said into the proper context, and that whatever oral stories may have been handed down, that they were embellished along the way.

We then went onto the topic of Daniel 9:24-27. When I told him that the first 483 years were fulfilled to the day, he started on me about how they didn’t even have a Jewish calendar back when Daniel made the prophecy. They didn’t know what a year was.

He also said that dinosaurs and the Genesis account of creation are mutually exclusive, which is why we cannot take the Bible literally because science has already proven that dinosaurs existed. He also wanted to know how, if the theory of evolution is to be excluded, Noah could put billions of species of animals etc. on an ark that was only the size of a football field? Because, he says, we have billions of different kinds of species of living things and they would have all had to fit on that ark.
Will you please help me with these questions?

A. I assume you’re not asking me this because you think there may be some truth to what this person is saying. The fact is, there are no rational responses to these opinions because they aren’t based in fact. They are fabrications that your friend has chosen to believe to avoid the truth. Even though with a little research you can easily expose them as being ridiculous, it won’t change anything.

For instance, the existence of complex written languages in the time before the flood has been verified. And a copy of the Book of Isaiah was found among the Dead Sea scrolls. It was 900 years older than the oldest copy previously discovered, and yet varied by only a few words, none of which altered the book’s meaning. A few minutes of legitimate research on line will confirm that your Bible’s consistency with original texts exceeds every other ancient text and is beyond question.

The Old and New Testaments are the most thoroughly documented and verified works in existence. Daniel’s prophecy was authenticated by no less an authority than the London Royal Observatory over a century ago.

I don’t know of anyone who doubts the existence of Dinosaurs. A simple study that anyone can perform will show that the Ark was 450 feet long (1 1/2 times the length of a football field). At 75 feet wide each of the ark’s decks contained 33,750 square feet of floor space. Since the ark was 45 feet tall there was over 1.5 million cubic feet of space under its roof, equivalent to a train with 500 boxcars. According to zoological studies, of the 1.8 million (not billion) named species on Earth today, there are 1,000 species of amphibians, 6,000 reptiles, 9,000 birds, 15,000 species of mammals, and 20,000 of fish (who don’t count). The rest are insects. The average size of all the animals is equivalent to a sheep. Shippers load 250 sheep per boxcar. At 2 per specie the ark would easily have accommodated the number that would be required today, and in Noah’s day there were far fewer species.

But none of this information will do you any good, because had this person wanted the truth, he could have easily discovered it on his own. Instead He has chosen to believe a lie.

Remember, it’s not possible to debate or persuade or “sell” someone into the Kingdom. As Christians, we present the gospel, and then pray for those who hear it. Since only the Holy Spirit can convert someone, Anything more on our part is “casting our pearls before swine.”

Column One: Israel’s dangerous consensus

Republished from jpost.com

 

 

 

 

Directing his remarks at a friend of mine, he declared that 99 percent of Mossad and Shin Bet officers are leftists. 

IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot (R), Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (photo credit:GPO) 

Recently I found myself in a chance conversation with a former head of the Mossad’s Directorate of Operations. The former master spy, whom I had never met before, knew that I am a journalist.

He was aware of my political views.

Directing his remarks at a friend of mine, he declared that 99 percent of Mossad and Shin Bet officers are leftists. He then added triumphantly that according to a former commander of the air force whose name he cited, 99% of the air force’s pilots are similarly leftists.

Initially, I dismissed his comments as obnoxious chest-beating by a man who felt like irritating a group of right-wingers.

But given the source, it is impossible to simply brush off what he said. And to be clear, far more troubling than the prospect that Israel’s security establishment is uniformly leftist is the notion that there is any intellectual or ideological uniformity of any kind in the ranks of our defense community.

But given our defense community’s record in recent years, there is ample reason to believe that there is more than a grain of salt in the spy chief’s boast.

Consider Israel’s handling of Gaza.

According to a number of senior officers, at the end of Operation Protective Edge in 2014, the IDF’s senior commanders convened in Tel Aviv to determine how to handle the Hamas regime going forward.

During Protective Edge, Israel learned a few things about Hamas and about the strategic balance of power between Israel and Hamas in the region and the world.

On the ground Israel learned that Hamas bases its offensive capabilities on civilian infrastructure.

Hamas placed its missiles, its communications centers and its operational commands inside civilian buildings including private homes, hospitals, clinics, schools, mosques and UN offices.

As far as the strategic balance and resources of both sides, during the war Hamas enjoyed the de facto backing of the Obama administration.

Throughout the war, the administration pressured Israel to accept Hamas’s cease-fire terms as dictated by its state sponsors Qatar and Turkey.

On the other hand, Israel was able to avoid bowing to the US’s pro-Hamas demands because throughout the conflict we enjoyed the open support of Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

In other words, during the war, Israel discovered that Hamas’s military strategy was based entirely on an implicit alliance with the West, which attacked Israel for targeting Hamas’s military infrastructure, which, again, was all based in civilian structures.

It might have been assumed that the IDF senior commanders would have based their post-war deliberations on these lessons. But according to senior IDF sources, that didn’t happen.

At the outset of that postwar meeting, IDF commanders were told that Israel’s best option was to assist in the reconstruction of Gaza – that is, the reconstruction of Hamas’s civilian-based military machine.

The discussion then moved to the question of how best to achieve that goal.

The notion that Israel is best off when Gazans are not living in the streets is certainly a legitimate one.

Perhaps it would have withstood scrutiny if it had been subjected to scrutiny. But it wasn’t.

And in hindsight, it is obvious that it should have been.

In keeping with the decision to support the reconstruction of Gaza, according to the Foreign Ministry, over the past year and a half Israel has permitted 3.4 million tons of building materials to be imported into Gaza. And yet, according to a recent report by the UN, 74% of the civilian buildings that were destroyed in Protective Edge have yet to be rebuilt.

In the meantime, Hamas has replenished its missile stores and rebuilt its military infrastructure, including its subterranean attack tunnels that traverse the border into Israel.

Both the continued suffering of the Gazans, and the sounds of drilling under the homes of Israelis living along the border with Gaza, indicate that at a minimum, the security establishment’s immediate post-war determination that Israel must permit building materials to enter Gaza was a bit hasty.

Then there is Iran.

Iran’s illicit nuclear program was first exposed in 2003. At the time, it probably made sense for Israel to follow the US’s lead in blocking Iran’s nuclear ambitions. But then, the Americans’ continued stumbles in Iraq made clear from as early as 2004 that perhaps the Bush administration wouldn’t be up to the challenge of blocking Iran’s path to the bomb.

The early suspicions that then-president George W. Bush would not block Iran’s nuclear ambitions became an all-but certainty in the wake of the publication of the 2007 US National Intelligence Estimate.

The NIE made the dubious claim that Iran had abandoned its military nuclear program in 2003.

Despite the fact that the claim was contradicted by the report itself, in light of Bush’s political weakness at the end of his second term, the NIE rendered it politically impossible for Bush to order a military strike against Iran’s nuclear installations. It also made it politically possible for President Barack Obama to initiate his pro-Iranian Middle East policy a year later.

As for Obama, despite his oft-stated claim that “all option remain on the table” for dealing with Iran’s nuclear program, any thought that he might be serious became patently absurd after he sided with the regime during the 2009 Green Revolution that followed its falsification of the results of the presidential elections.

None of this, however, made an impression on the security brass. Led by the Mossad, for more than a decade our senior commanders insisted that Israel could trust the US on Iran.

Last week Russia announced that it will sell Sukhoi Su-30 combat fighters to Iran. According to former senior Pentagon official Stephen Bryen, the sale will tip the strategic balance in the Persian Gulf in Iran’s favor and over time, give Iran “an answer to Israel’s air power.”

Iran’s acquisition of the Su-30s is but one of a panoply of weapons deals the regime has signed with suppliers since the sanctions regime was canceled last month. These sales, together with Iran’s clear path to nuclear capabilities mean that Iran’s rise to the position of regional hegemon is unimpeded.

This then brings us to Israel’s options, moving forward. Amazingly, it would seem that Israel continues to take its signals on Iran from the Americans.

After all, at least on the surface, Israel’s security establishment and our political leaders seem most concerned today with concluding a deal for supplemental US military assistance in the wake of Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran.

Perhaps a reassessment is overdue.

If Iran’s empowerment is now more or less a done deal, then the nature of the regime becomes the central variable that it may still be possible to change.

In the years that preceded the 2009 Green Revolution in Iran, a small group of former Mossad officers joined forces with a small group of American Iran experts in beseeching the government – and first and foremost the Mossad – to support the Iranian opposition in its bid to overthrow the regime. These calls were ratcheted up throughout the months of the Green Revolution in 2009 and early 2010.

These Iran experts argued that all Israel needed to do was provide secure communications to the opposition to enable its members to organize effectively, and to broadcast their messages to the public in Iran through radio, television and Internet servers maintained abroad.

Arming Iran’s many disaffected groups, including the Azeris, Baluchis, Kurds, Ahwaz Arabs, unions and women, wouldn’t be necessary, they said, (although it certainly would be helpful). They argued further that from Israel’s perspective, helping the opposition made sense even if the opposition failed to overthrow the regime. After all, the more time the regime was forced to devote to fending off challenges from home, the less time it would have to wage its campaigns against Israel directly and through its terrorist proxies.

These calls were dismissed out of hand by the security establishment. Our intelligence services in particular insisted that Israel could trust Washington to deal with Iran. Moreover, they maintained, Israel didn’t have a real dog in the fight over who leads Iran. This despite the fact that Israel is surprisingly popular among Iran’s citizenry, over a million of whom regularly listened to Voice of Israel Farsi broadcasts.

Six years on, there is no doubt that regime opponents are weaker than they were on the eve of the Green Revolution. But even today in the wake of the nuclear deal, they are far from a spent force.

The regime continues to fear the Iranian people – which continues to hate it – more than it fears anything else. This is why the regime rejected some 90% of the candidates running in the national elections later this month. This is why the regime outlawed every direct and indirect reference to Valentine’s Day this week.

This is why politically driven arrests and executions have increased massively since the supposedly reformist president Hassan Rouhani came to power in 2013.

THE NEED FOR the IDF to open itself up to unorthodox views manifested itself in a seemingly unrelated incident this week.

On Sunday Channel 2 broadcast footage of IDF Chief Rabbi Brig.-Gen. Rafi Peretz dancing at a wedding with a rabbi identified with the far Right.

Following the report, the IDF Spokesman’s Office announced that Rabbi Peretz had been summoned to the office of OC Manpower Maj.-Gen. Hagai Topolanski for clarifications.

The IDF’s response is alarming for the message it sends the officer corps and through it, to the security community as a whole. That message is that it is unacceptable for officers to have any contacts – let along an intellectual exchanges – with people who stand beyond a narrow spectrum of views.

This is bad enough for the elitist social message it sends. But given the threat environment Israel faces, narrowly defining the boundaries of permitted social and intellectual contacts is dangerous.

Today Israel is facing complex, multifaceted security challenges that exist and grow in an equally complex, multifaceted diplomatic environment. To develop the means of dealing with the challenges, our security establishment needs to cultivate a permissive intellectual climate among our commanders that rewards free thinking and promotes free thinkers.

Perhaps that retired Mossad commander was just a blowhard. Perhaps he was giving an accurate accounting of the intellectual climate in the senior ranks of Israel’s national security establishment. In all likelihood, the truth lays somewhere in the middle.

But what is clear enough is that the time has come to air out the ranks of our national defense establishment.

Our senior commanders need to reassess their operational assumptions in order to develop plans going forward that are based on a broad spectrum of ideas.

www.CarolineGlick.com

Noah and the Flood: Part 1 – The X-Men

Republished from gracethrufaith.com

Monday, June 30th, 2003

• Grace
• Israel
• Old Testament

When men began to increase in number on the Earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful and they married any of them they chose. Then the Lord said, “My Sprit will not contend with Man forever for he is mortal. His days will be 120 years.” The Nephilim were on the earth in those days – and also afterward – when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them (Gen. 6:1-4).

Take this literally, as we always do, and it’s one of the scariest verses in the Bible. The Hebrew phrase translated “sons of God” refers to beings who are direct creations of God, normally angels, and distinguishes the origin of the males in the passage from that of the females. Only two human males are ever described this way; Adam (Luke 3:38) and the Lord Jesus. In Psalm 82:6 the rulers of Israel are called children of the Most High but the context refers to their role as judges of the people, responsible for dispensing both justice and mercy. In John 1:12 we who have received the Lord into our hearts are given the authority to become children of God. There the notion is that of being born again as a spiritual child of God, a concept amplified in John 3:3-21.

The Testimony of Two Witnesses

To make sure we get the point of Genesis 6:1-4, the distinction appears twice. The males were direct creations of God while the females were the offspring of human parents. The passage clearly states that fallen angels somehow took on the form of human males and married human females who bore their children. 2 Peter 2:4 and Jude 6 mention the fallen angels as having been rounded up and bound in chains awaiting the Judgment Day, and In 1 Cor. 6:3 Paul hinted that the church will judge them for their actions. These children were called Nephilim (gigantes in Greek … origin of our word giant) a Hebrew word that translates “fallen ones.”

But Nephilim also appeared after the flood as foretold in Gen 6:4 (“and also afterward”). Returning from their first view of the Promised Land, the 12 spies reported seeing them among the local people (Numbers 13:33). This is one reason the Lord instructed the Israelites to wipe out the entire population of Caanan (Deut. 20:16-18) including their animals before settling down in their new land. Like Nephilim, the Rephaim were also called giants and are mentioned throughout the Old Testament. Goliath was from the Rephaim. We would call these people aliens today, being of extra-terrestrial origin.

And now research of documented alien encounters shows a consistent interest in and inspection of the human reproductive system. Are aliens using humans to grow and harvest offspring creating a super race among us as some have claimed? Does the apparent increase in alien contact signal another return of the Nephilim? In the KJV translation of Daniel 2:43 there’s an obscure reference to someone from the 4th kingdom “mingling themselves with the seed of men” in the last days. Is the antichrist part alien, or in command of alien forces? In Matt 24:37 the Lord spoke of the Last Days being “as it was in the days of Noah.” Think about it.

Back To Genesis

The mixed marriages of Gen. 6 contaminated the human gene pool. This was an attempt by Satan to thwart the plan of God by preventing the birth of a Redeemer, since a direct descendant of Adam was required, a man without sin. Fossil evidence reveals that Satan was also tinkering with animal genetics before the flood since the various strains of dinosaurs and such couldn’t have been created that way. What little we understand of God’s creative capability tells us He wouldn’t have made an animal with a body too big for its skeleton, and a brain too small to effectively control it. Nor would He have created birds too heavy to fly or fish that couldn’t swim. His creation was perfect and He pronounced it all “very good.” Fossils were formed at one time and one time only, during the Great Flood, and were left as evidence of pre flood disobedience. Man sinned, allowing Evil into the world, and God had to destroy His creation and begin again. It’s a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God (Hebr. 10:31).

But Noah Found Grace In The Eyes Of The Lord.

Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time (Gen. 6:8-9). The Hebrew here means perfect in his generations, not sinless. Within the above context it’s clear that Noah was chosen for two reasons. First, his genealogy was not contaminated by intermarriage so a direct line to Adam could be preserved, and second, he was faithful. Even in the worst of times the Lord has always preserved a faithful remnant to begin again and Noah, though a sinner, had walked with God all his life.

Genesis 6:5-6 says that every intention of man’s mind was evil and God saw no alternative to destroying them all. Having given mankind 10 generations, great teachers like Enoch, a living reminder in Methuselah (the name means his death shall bring) and a 120 year count down (Gen. 6:3), in the year Methuselah died the Great Flood came, 1656 years after Adam’s creation. And the record shows that not one of the world’s inhabitants joined Noah on the Ark. Just like the people of our time, they didn’t believe God would ever judge them. Like the man said, “The only thing we learn from history is that we never learn anything from history.”
More next time.

The drunken delusion of Heidi Baker

The Now Prophecies explained: Jan Markell interview with Bill Salus

Saudi Arabia and Turkey Preparing For Massive Ground Invasion Of Syria?

image: http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/images/recent/warfeb102016.jpg
By Michael Snyder - The Economic Collapse Blog February 16, 2016

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350,000 soldiers, 20,000 tanks, 2,450 warplanes and 460 military helicopters are massing in northern Saudi Arabia for a military exercise that is being called "Northern Thunder".  

According to the official announcement, forces are being contributed by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain, Sudan, Kuwait, Morocco, Pakistan, Tunisia, Oman, Qatar, Malaysia and several other nations.  

This exercise will reportedly last for 18 days, and during that time the airspace over northern Saudi Arabia will be closed to air traffic.  This will be the largest military exercise in the history of the region, and it comes amid rumors that Saudi Arabia and Turkey are preparing for a massive ground invasion of Syria.

If you were going to gather forces for an invasion, this is precisely how you would do it.  Governments never come out and publicly admit that forces are moving into position for an invasion ahead of time, so military exercises are a common excuse that gets used for this sort of thing.

If these exercises are actually being used as an excuse to mass forces near the northern Saudi border, then we should expect an invasion to begin within the next couple of weeks.  If it happens, we should expect to see the Saudi coalition storm through western Iraq and into Syria from the south, and it is likely that Turkey will come in from the north.

The goal would be to take out the Assad regime before Russia, Iran and Hezbollah could react.  For the past couple of years, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and their allies have been funding the Sunni insurgency in Syria, and they were counting on those insurgents to be able to take down the Assad regime by themselves.

You see, the truth is that ISIS was never supposed to lose in Syria.  Saudi Arabia and her allies have been funneling massive amounts of money to ISIS, and hundreds of millions of dollars of ISIS oil has been shipped into Turkey where it is sold to the rest of the world.

The major Sunni nations wanted ISIS and the other Sunni insurgent groups to take down Assad.  In the aftermath, Saudi Arabia and her allies intended to transform Syria into a full-blown Sunni nation.

But then Russia, Iran and Hezbollah stepped forward to assist the Assad regime.  Russian air support completely turned the tide of the war, and now the Sunni insurgents are on the brink of losing.

Aleppo was once the largest city in Syria, and Sunni insurgents have controlled it since 2012.  But now relentless Russian airstrikes have made it possible for Syrian, Iranian and Hezbollah ground forces to surround the city, and it is about to fall back into the hands of the Syrian government.

If this happens, the war will essentially be over.

Saudi Arabia, Turkey and their allies have invested massive amounts of time, money and effort into overthrowing Assad, and they aren t about to walk away now.

If the war was to end right at this moment, a weakened Assad regime would remain in power, and Iran and Hezbollah would be the dominant powers in the country for years to come.  And once Assad died, it would be inevitable that Iran and Hezbollah would attempt to transform Syria into a full-blown Shiite nation.  This is something that Saudi Arabia and Turkey want to avoid at all costs.

So they are actually considering what was once absolutely unthinkable a massive ground invasion of Syria.

But if Saudi Arabia, Turkey and their allies go in, they run the risk of a full-blown war with Russia, Iran and Hezbollah.  Just consider some of the comments that we have seen in recent days...

Reacting to a potential troop deployment, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem said Saturday, "Let no one think they can attack Syria or violate its sovereignty because I assure you any aggressor will return to their country in a wooden coffin."

Pavel Krasheninnikov, a deputy of Russia s State Duma, has warned Saudi Arabia that any military ground operation in Syria without Damascus consent would amount to a declaration of war, Press TV reported.

We could literally be looking at the spark that sets off World War 3.  I can t believe that Saudi Arabia and Turkey are actually considering this.

And if it does happen, you can rest assured that Barack Obama gave them the green light to go in.

Unfortunately, it sounds like the decision may have already been made.  Just consider what Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu is saying&

"If we have such a strategy, then Turkey and Saudi Arabia may launch a ground operation," he added, fueling concerns that a foreign troop invasion may soon further complicate the already turbulent situation in the war-torn country.

Earlier, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE voiced their readiness to contribute troops for a ground operation in Syria on the condition that the US would lead the intervention. Damascus and its key regional ally, Iran, warned that such a foreign force would face strong resistance.

And in addition to all of the forces massing in northern Saudi Arabia, the London Independent is reporting that the Saudis have sent troops and aircraft to a military base in Turkey...

Saudi Arabia is sending troops and fighter jets to Turkey s Incirlik military base ahead of a possible ground invasion of Syria.

The Turkish foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, confirmed the deployment in a statement to the Yeni ^afak newspaper on Saturday, days before a temporary ceasefire is due to come into force.

There are reports that Saudi officials are saying that the decision to send in ground troops is "irreversible", and Reuters is reporting that the Syrian government claims that some Turkish troops have already entered the country&

The Syrian government says Turkish forces were believed to be among 100 gunmen it said entered Syria on Saturday accompanied by 12 pick-up trucks mounted with heavy machine guns, in an ongoing supply operation to insurgents fighting Damascus.

"The operation of supplying ammunition and weapons is continuing via the Bab al-Salama crossing to the Syrian area of Azaz," the Syrian foreign ministry said in a letter to the U.N. Security Council published by state news agency SANA.

Of course the Turkish government is not going to confirm that report, but what we do know is that Turkey is shelling Kurdish forces on the Syrian side of the border.  The funny thing is that these Kurdish forces are actually being supported and supplied by the U.S. government.

So the Turks are not supposed to be doing this, but according to Reuters they have been doing it for two days in a row anyway&

The Turkish army shelled positions held by Kurdish-backed militia in northern Syria for a second day on Sunday, killing two fighters, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said.

Turkey on Saturday demanded the powerful Syrian Kurdish YPG militia withdraw from areas that it had captured in the northern Aleppo region in recent days from insurgents in Syria, including the Menagh air base. The shelling has targeted those areas.

image: http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/images/ads/TFP_freedvd.jpg

The hostility between Turkey and the Kurds goes back a long, long way.  The Syrian Kurds are not threatening Turkey in any way right now, but Turkey is using the instability in the region as an excuse to lob artillery shells at a hated enemy.  It is an act of naked aggression that the Obama administration should be loudly denouncing.

In addition, it is being reported that Syrian government forces have also been getting shelled by the Turkish military...

Anatolia news agency reported that the Turkish military hit Syrian government forces on Saturday, adding that the shelling had been in response to fire inflicted on a Turkish military guard post in Turkey s southern Hatay region.

Turkish artillery targeted Syrian forces again late on Saturday, according to a military source quoted by RIA Novosti. The attack targeted the town of Deir Jamal in the Aleppo Governorate.

Needless to say, the Russians are quite alarmed by all of this.

In fact, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev is warning about what could happen if things spiral out of control&

In the wake of Saudi Arabia s proposal to send in ground troops on Thursday, the Russian Prime Minister claimed the move could spark a new world war.

"A ground operation draws everyone taking part in it into a war," he told the Handelsblatt newspaper.

"The Americans and our Arab partners must consider whether or not they want a permanent war."

If Saudi Arabia, Turkey and their allies launch an invasion and make a mad dash to take out the Assad regime in Damascus, the Russians will inevitably respond.

And if tactical nuclear weapons are necessary to keep the invading forces out of Damascus, the Russians will not be shy about using them.

I don t know if I have ever seen a scenario which was more likely to initiate World War 3 than the one that we are watching unfold right now.

So what has the mainstream media been saying about all of this?

Incredibly, they have been almost entirely silent.  When he went looking for news about these events, James Bailey could find almost nothing on either Fox News or CNN&

I just visited the home page for Foxnews.com and found not one single mention of the insane events now unfolding in the Middle East. I could not believe it, so I used my Find tool to search for Syria and Saudi Arabia. Not one mention!

Of course that could change at any moment, but nothing there when I checked. Their stories were all about the meaningless Presidential election, which has already been decided regardless of what we think about it, and other stories about entertainment, sports, Congressional political theater, etc.

So I went to CNN and found just about the same thing with one news story about the Syrian cease fire, but when I read it there was no mention of any of the big events that have developed this week. This is truly an amazing media blackout!

But Fox News does have space to run headlines like these...

Spanish man skipped work for 6 years, still got paid

48 people rescued from stuck tram cars at New Hampshire ski resort

Lovelorn elephant takes out his rage on more than a dozen cars

And CNN apparently thinks that these news stories are more important than the potential beginning of World War 3...

Kanye West drops album, says he s $53 million in debt

Dutch cops train eagles to hunt drones

Teen hands out 900 flowers to girls at school

If Saudi Arabia, Turkey and their allies are going to conduct an invasion of Syria, the most likely time for this to happen will be by the end of this month during these military exercises.

If we can get to March 1st and no invasion has happened yet, perhaps we can breathe a little sigh of relief.

But if it does happen, and the Russians and the Iranians decide to shoot back, it really could be the start of World War 3.

If you have not been paying attention up until now, you need to start, because this could literally change

Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=132#4cmz1jQ2ML5uK938.99

J.D. Farag Mid-East Prophecy Update February 14th 2016

Jonathan Cahn - Teaching on the 9th of AV (the day of calamity for the Jewish people) throughout history starting with Moses prophecies in Leviticus

The Grand Deception: How False Doctrine Is Key To The End Time Scenario – Jack Hibbs

The Olivet Discourse … Luke’s Version

 

 Republished from gracethrufaith.com

Saturday, February 14th, 2015

• Featured
• Israel
• Old Testament
• Prophecy
• Rapture

A Bible Study by Jack Kelley



Students of prophecy often pay more attention to Matthew’s version of the Olivet Discourse because of its greater length and detail. But when we bypass Luke’s account, we miss one third of the Lord’s message. That’s because the disciples asked the Lord three questions and in Matthew 24 He only answered the last two. Also, it’s Luke’s answer to their first question that confirms the whole message as it relates to the End Times.


Here’s why. When a prophet revealed events that would take place beyond the lifetimes of the people he was speaking to, the Lord often provided a short term partial fulfillment to validate the distant prophecy. This is because He had told the people that if what a prophet said didn’t come true, then the people were not to fear him, for he hadn’t spoken for the Lord. (Deut 18:21-22)

There are numerous partial fulfillments in Scripture that would serve as good examples of this, but perhaps the clearest one comes from John 5:43. Speaking to Israel, Jesus said, “I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him.”  He was referring to the anti-Christ, who many in Israel will believe to be the Messiah when he comes on the scene at the beginning of Daniel’s 70th week. But just before Jesus was handed over to be executed, Pilate offered to free Him as a sign of Roman mercy, traditionally expressed on Passover. He gave the people a choice, the innocent Jesus who came in His Father’s name, or a convicted killer named Barabbas who came in his own name. The people chose Barabbas. It was the partial fulfillment that validated the Lord’s prophecy of Israel and the anti-Christ in the 70th Week.
And as we’ll see, the destruction of Jerusalem in 69AD was the partial fulfillment that validated the Lord’s prophecy of the End Times. Let’s take a look.

Luke 21:5-36

Some of his disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God.  But Jesus said, “As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down.” “Teacher,” they asked, “when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are about to take place?” (Luke 21:5-7)

According to Mark 13:3, it was Peter, James, John and Andrew who asked. And in Matt. 24:3 we can read their complete question. “When will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
This is our first hint that things will be different in Luke’s account. He only has the disciples asking the first question, the one about their immediate future.

As we get started, it’s important to understand that none of the gospel writers thought of themselves strictly as historians. Had the Lord only wanted to document history, one gospel account would have been sufficient. Instead, each writer was assigned a different audience, and under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, tailored his account to meet the needs of that audience. Each also portrayed Jesus a little differently to show a particular side of Him. Matthew wrote to the Jews showing them that Jesus was their Messiah-King, the Lion of Judah.  Mark wrote to the Romans, describing Jesus as the humble Servant of the Lord.  Luke wrote to the Greeks, portraying Jesus as the Son of Man, and John wrote to the Church identifying Jesus as the Son of God.

Among other things, this was the fulfillment of four Old Testament prophecies of a figure God called “The Branch”, a messianic reference. In Jeremiah 23:5 the Branch is called the King. In Zechariah 3:8 He’s the Servant. In Zechariah 6:12 He’s the Man and in Isaiah 4:2 He’s the Branch of the Lord. In each case the word Branch is capitalized.  OK, now let’s get to the Lord’s answer.
He replied: “Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and, ‘The time is near.’ Do not follow them. When you hear of wars and revolutions, do not be frightened. These things must happen first, but the end will not come right away.”
Then he said to them: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven. (Luke 21:8-11)
In the beginning, His answer sounds a lot like those in Matthew 24:4-7 and Mark 13:5-8. But that’s about to change.

“But before all this, they will lay hands on you and persecute you. They will deliver you to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. This will result in your being witnesses to them. But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death.  All men will hate you because of me. But not a hair of your head will perish. By standing firm you will gain life.” (Luke 21:12-19)

These verses clearly describe the lives of the Apostles in the earliest days of the Church. Peter and John testified before the Sanhedrin. Paul was on both sides of this prophecy, first attacking Christians with a vengeance and after his conversion bearing witness to leaders like Felix, Festus, and Herod Agrippa. Of the original 12 disciples, only John died of natural causes, and all of them suffered through the most terrifying forms of torture without ever recanting a single word of their testimony.
“When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, and let those in the country not enter the city. For this is the time of punishment in fulfillment of all that has been written. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! There will be great distress in the land and wrath against this people. They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. (Luke 21:20-24)

Once again, the bulk of this passage is identical to Matthew’s account, but there are two striking differences showing us that they’re not describing the same event. First, in Matthew 24:15 the warning sign that it’s time to flee is the Abomination of Desolation standing in the Holy Place. Here it’s the positioning of the Roman army around Jerusalem.
Normally it would be too late to flee when a besieging army could be seen encircling a city. But in 68-69AD the political situation in Rome was unstable to say the least. The former general of the Roman armies in the Middle East was a man named Titus Vespasian. He had recently turned his command over to his son, also named Titus, so he could position himself to become the next Emperor. (This came to pass upon the death of Nero in 68, and Vespasian was named Emperor on July 1, 69.)  He had been concerned that he would need more military backing to make his claim good, so even though the legions now under his son’s command had already begun their siege of Jerusalem, Vespasian ordered them to disengage and return to Rome. When they began pulling back to prepare for the journey, the believers in Jerusalem who had been taught the Lord’s warning hastened to escape the city.

But before the Romans could leave entirely, Titus Vespasian sent word to his son that the troops wouldn’t be needed after all and ordered them to resume their siege of Jerusalem. By then all the believers had escaped.
In the month we call August of 69 AD the walls were breached and the Temple was captured. The interior furnishings caught fire and the heat caused the gold plating on the wooden ceiling beams to melt. As the liquid gold ran down the walls it flowed into the cracks between the stones. When the fire had gone out and the stones had cooled, the Roman soldiers tore the ruins apart stone by stone to get the gold that had flowed between them and solidified. Not one stone was left standing on another, in fulfillment of the Lord’s prophecy (also in Luke 19:43-44).

In 70 AD the Roman army completed its conquest of the Holy Land in the siege of Masada. Although over one million Jews had perished, according to tradition not a single believer died in the destruction of Jerusalem. (Some historical accounts place the fall of Jerusalem and the Temple one year earlier in 68AD but the general consensus is that it happened as I’ve described it.)

The second difference in the two accounts is that while Matthew’s version ends with the 2nd Coming and is world wide in its focus, Luke describes the Jewish diaspora and the ensuing control of Jerusalem by the Gentiles. In short, Luke’s account has so far been confined to describing events concerning the fall of Jerusalem. He was describing the short term partial fulfillment within the lifetimes of the Lord’s audience that validates the ultimate fulfillment at the End of the Age.
“There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” (Luke 21:25-28)

Suddenly the Lord expanded His answer to include the whole world and the End of the Age. Those who are alive on Earth when the signs He described begin to happen are to understand that the culminating event will be the Lord’s return, just like Matthew and Mark said.  And believers are told that when we first begin to see the signs, we should start looking at the sky in expectation, because the Lord will be on His way for us. Notice how the narrative changes from the third person, “men will faint from terror” and “they will see the Son of Man coming” to the second person, “lift up your heads” and “your redemption is drawing near“.  He was distinguishing between believers and the rest of the world.

And pay particular attention to how the focus changes from the end of the sequence, “they will see the Son of Man coming“, to its beginning “when these things begin to happen“. If you didn’t already know it from Paul’s teaching you wouldn’t recognize that He’s hinting at two separate events, the Rapture and the 2nd Coming. But since you do, you can.  And you can also see that the second coming is at the end of the sequence, but our redemption (rapture) will take place at its beginning.

He told them this parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees. When they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near. Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near.
“I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
“Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap. For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth. Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.” (Luke 21:29-36)
As in Matthew’s account, the fig tree parable is not meant to signify Israel, but the speed with which these events will unfold once they begin. The fig tree was the last one to get its leaves in the spring, so they knew when they saw leaves sprouting on the fig trees, that summer was really close.  In the same way, the span of time between the beginning of the End Times signs and the Lord’s return will be relatively short.

I think this summary was meant both for the generation alive during the fall of Jerusalem and the one that’s here at the End of the Age. Thirty five years after the Lord spoke these words, the Romans began their three year campaign to complete the overthrow of the Jewish nation. Many who were taught this prophecy by the very men who got it straight from the Lord’s mouth were still alive when this happened.  And at the End of the Age many who are alive as these signs begin to appear will still be alive at their conclusion.

The last sentence is especially meaningful. “Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.” By watching for the sign of the Roman armies encircling Jerusalem and praying for deliverance (from all that was about to happen), believers on Earth at the time were able to escape the death and destruction of Jerusalem’s judgment.  Just so, by watching for the End Times signs and praying for deliverance, the  believers on Earth in our time will be able to escape from the death and destruction of Earth’s judgment (to stand before the Son of Man).

As you know, I don’t believe the Lord ever gave a clear teaching on the Rapture of the Church. But with two brief mentions, “When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near” (Luke 21:28) and “pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man ” (Luke 21:36) He gave the clearest hints of His entire earthly ministry that the Church will be delivered from the end times judgments. (60 years later, when He visited John on the Isle of Patmos, He confirmed this, saying, “Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth” (Rev. 3:10). Before the end times judgments begin we’ll be standing before the Son of Man, having met Him in the air (1 Thes. 4:16-17).

The King James version of Luke 21:36 reads “pray that you may be counted worthy to escape” and there are those who use this verse to justify a partial rapture, saying only those believers who are worthy will be taken.  But it’s important to remember that just as it was then, so it is now.   No one will be counted worthy based on his or her own merits.  We pray for our salvation and are made worthy by accepting the Lord’s death as payment for our sins and believing in His resurrection, because by one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy (Hebr. 10:14). 

Now you can see that the partial fulfillment of the Lord’s prophecy, found in the first century destruction of Jerusalem, confirmed the ultimate fulfillment of all that He said would happen soon to the entire world.  You can almost hear the footsteps of the Messiah.  (This is an expansion of a study I originally posted on 08-24-13).