And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!” Mark 13:37
I teach the youth class at my church – high schoolers. The question came up a couple weeks ago as to whether we are in end times and could we have a class on that.
That sounded good to me, especially since that’s a topic I’ve written about recently. I started pouring through the articles I’ve written over the years that touch on the topic both directly and indirectly. I was surprised at how much material I have! I‘m also seeing more and more content on YouTube about it. My favorite is DTBM. It stands for Discover The Book Ministries.
It’s been hard to organize everything into a usable structure, but I think I’m there. Still, I’ve left out a lot just so as to not overwhelm.
Following are the links to my articles in the order I plan on using them. Simply click on the title below to go directly to the article. In most cases, you’ll find more links in the articles themselves to resources I used or based the article on. I hope you – and my students! – find this useful!
“Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender, and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near.29 So you also, when you see these things happening, know thatit is near—at the doors! Mark 13:28-29
Thousands of Japanese Protest the WHO, WEF, Bill Gates, and Vaccines. So says the 4/15 article on Slay News. You might recall my most recent article The WEF and You on 4/8. It isn’t just a lone website, The Vigilant Citizen, who has a problem with the WEF. Japanese citizens aren’t too happy with them or the WHO and Bill Gates. Why?
I like the snake…
The WHO (World Health Organization) is pushing all countries into signing a Global Pandemic Treaty. Slay News explains:
…the Pandemic Treaty will grant the WHO, and its parent agency the United Nations, with sweeping global powers that override the laws of individual nations.
Under the treaty, the WHO will be able to enforce global lockdowns and other measures in the event of an “emergency” such as a pandemic or “climate change.”
All 193 UN member states – which includes Japan, the United States, and most other Western nations – are expected to sign the treaty next month.
Not only is the United States planning to sign the treaty, but it was Democrat President Joe Biden who urged the WHO to move forward with the plan in 2022.
Japanese protestors “demanded answers on crucial issues, such as the huge spikes in excess deaths and the lack of transparency on the adverse effects following vaccinations.”
Specifically, the WEF wants people to prove that they’ve received certain vaccines before they can access the so-called metaverse. The metaverse is an emerging virtual reality version of the Internet where people can “live,” work, buy items, “meet with friends,” and access social media. It is widely regarded as the next evolution of the Internet.
The World Economic Forum (WEF) is pushing for the “24-hour monitoring” of the general public using “biometric sensors—on, or even inside their bodies.”
Details of the plan were revealed by Yuval Noah Harari, a senior advisor to the WEF and its founder Klaus Schwab.
According to Harari, a self-described “transhumanist” who is credited as the architect behind the WEF’s anti-human agenda, tracking the public 24/7 will help globalists provide them with “much better healthcare.”
The last time I heard people using healthcare this vaguely it was Planned Parenthood talking about killing babies.
Tell me if you see what I see. There are three indicators of the end times happening right now. Pieces are gradually being put in place to create a one-world government, with the UN seemingly at the top of that food chain. 1) There’s a treaty in play for all governments to surrender their sovereignty under loosely defined conditions as interpreted by the WEF and UN. 2) Technology already exists to CHIP people just like we already do to our pets. It’ll be adapted to not just ID us but to monitor our activities. Such a program is already in its infancy in China. 3) Israel is warring with her Arab neighbors, not unlike end times as described by the prophets and Revelation.
The pieces are being arranged as we watch for the last piece to pull it all together – the anti-Christ, who will use this framework to rule all and bring peace temporarily. He will negotiate a seven-year treaty between Israel and her enemies, but he will break that piece precisely halfway in. That will be the beginning of the Great Tribulation.
Do you agree with me on the significance of these developments? I really do want to know if you agree with me or if you have other thoughts on these things!
Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. 1 John 2:18
WEF stands for the World Economic Forum. And what does the World Economic Forum stand for? Bluntly, they stand for mansions, private jets, and juicy steaks for them while doing their best to convince us of the merits of squatters and no personal property, walking or electric vehicles, and eating bugs. Think I’m kidding? OK. Try this slogan of theirs:
“You’ll own nothing, and you’ll be happy.”
You might remember seeing video on the news of their guest – a witch doctor – onstage with them and blowing into their faces. Who are these people anyway? They’re not elected, but they are powerful. They are “CEOs of mega-corporations, and representatives of global NGOs such as the World Health Organization.” Their aim is to penetrate governments to execute their vision of a world-wide order.
Look at China today. There are CCTVs monitoring the population in every city. Every citizen is given a certain number of points that are theirs to lose by not doing what the government demands of them. Losing too many points will result in severely limiting your ability to travel and your quality of health care…or any health care at all.
Look at the recent COVID disaster which saw compulsory vaccinations for many if they wanted to keep their jobs. Both the WHO and big pharma were complicit in creating this crisis as well as all the population controls they forced on us. It was a test run to see how far they could push us into compliance.
This isn’t conspiracy theory when the words “New World Order” were literally uttered during Davos several times. And a Satanic tapestry decorated their meeting hall. Note the naked woman giving birth on the far left with the trail of blood leading to Satan’s open mouth on the right. Also note the labels on the images in the detail of Satan’s head. It seems like the Three Wise Men and Mary are offering Baby Jesus up to Satan as well.
Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth.3 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. 4 His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born.Revelation 12:2-4
I thought that all looked a bit familiar.
Symbolism as a big deal to these types. They love to openly brag about what they’re doing via symbolism in their arrogance. For example, examine you’ll logo and you’ll see 666. The narrow line goes through the three O’s to make three 6’s.
One topic of discussion this year was a hypothetical Disease X which could be 20 times deadlier than COVID. And who was having this discussion?
… Tedros Ghebreyesus (Director-General of the World Health Organization), Roy Jakobs (CEO of Phillips Healthcare), and Michel Demaré (Chair of the Board of AstraZeneca). In other words, the guests were people who would profit greatly from another pandemic.
Having publicized their discussion, they have a lot of people terrified that the WEF might be truly working on making it happen.
Then there was indeed a complete discussion about a New World Order. It featured…
…Jake Sullivan – Joe Biden’s National Security Advisor. He’s not just a random guy. He previously served as Director of Policy to President Barack Obama, National Security Advisor to then Vice President Biden, and Deputy Chief of Staff to Secretary Hillary Clinton at the U.S. Department of State. Sullivan also served as senior advisor to the U.S. federal government at the Iran nuclear negotiations and senior policy advisor to Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.
Um…
Then there’s the topic of digital control. Remember the COVID passports we had to have to fly among other things? Consider that a dry run for the future. I don’t know why she was there to talk about it but the Queen of the Netherlands, Queen Maxima…
… said that a biometric digital ID should be necessary to obtain financial services, for school enrollment, “to know who got a vaccination or not” and for governmental subsidies.
Mark of the beast anyone?
and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Revelation 13:17
Next topic, censoring free speech. They agreed that fake news and disinformation need to be eradicated. Who decides what’s what? YUP, them.
It also helps their cause to invent new words like “ecocide”. When asked just exactly what that was, the reply was, well, you know, fishing, farming, and agriculture in general. That all gets labelled “ecocide.” It’s genocide against the planet, its eco systems.
The ultimate goal: To have humans feed off bugs and highly processed, barely digestible “food products”. They’ll be the ones eating delicious steaks. Not us.
Follow this link to the Vigilant Citizen Article About the WEF 2024 Meeting to see the entire article for yourself. Last I knew, you can read at least one article on The Vigilant Citizen site without buying the membership.
“The prime minister of Israel responded to the Jerusalem Declaration by calling it one of the four milestones in the history of Israel’s restoration: The Balfour Declaration, the founding of the Jewish state, the liberation of Jerusalem, and now the US recognition of Jerusalem as its capital. (Pg. 202)
“President Trump issued the Jerusalem Declaration, recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over Jerusalem and Jerusalem as Israel’s capital…on the eighteenth day of Kislev…So on the anniversary of the day the world issued its declaration that Jerusalem was not the capital of Israel, the president issued the Jerusalem Declaration proclaiming that Jerusalem was the capital of Israel.” (Pg. 203)
He also moved the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in a matter of months.
The 70-year mystery – King Cyrus of Persia released Israel from Babylonian bondage after 70 years as prophesied. President Trump “released” Israel’s capital in his 70th year, a second modern Cyrus after President Truman was the first modern day Cyrus.
Truman, in fact, had been Israel’s “Cyrus” when he was a US Senator and then finished that job as president. See the following excerpt from my article, Pirates of the Sacred Spiral, Part 21, which includes quotes from the book, DNA; Pirates of the Sacred Spiral.
“The Rockefellers have been and continue to be part of the eugenics movement; population control and elimination of “undesirable” populations. Lest there be any doubt about this, their company engaged in such horrendous, pro-Nazi behavior that then Senator Harry Truman described their role regarding Hitler’s regime as “treasonous.” He was quite correct per the Constitution of The Unite States of America.
On September 22, 1947, Federal Judge Charles Clark issued against the Rockefellers in a civil case brought against Standard Oil. From his ruling, Standard Oil (the Rockefellers)…
“…can be considered an enemy national in view of its relationship with (German chemical company) I.G. Farben after the United States and Germany had become active enemies.” Pg. 267, DNA; Pirates of the Sacred Spiral
Additionally –
“Two months later, merely days before the Rockefeller-controlled United Nations voted on the question of a Jewish “promised land,” David Ben-Gurion, and other Jewish intelligence officers, entered Nelson Rockefeller’s office. They “arrived with their dossier” of incriminating proof that he had personally “committed treason against The United States of America…They had his Swiss bank records with the Nazis, his signature on correspondence setting up the German cartel, transcripts of his conversations with Nazi agents during the war, and finally, evidence of his complicity in helping Allen Dulles smuggle Nazi war criminals and money from the Vatican to Argentina.”
They blackmailed him into swinging the decisive South American vote at the United Nations to establish the state of Israel!” (end of excerpt)
Trump in fact referred to Truman in his declaration:
“It was 70 years ago that the United States under President Truman recognized the state of Israel.” (Pg. 209)
The Jewish word for Jubilee is Yovel, which literally means trumpet or ram’s horn. The sounding of the trumpet is central to the Jubilee and was sounded at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem by Rabbi Goren to mark Israel’s return to its land. Seventy years later it was President Trump who sounded America’s recognition of Israel’s capital. (Pg. 211)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “I want to tell you that the Jewish people have a long memory. So we remember the proclamation of the great King Cyrus the Great – Persian King. 2500 years ago he proclaimed that Jewish exiles in Babylon can come back and rebuild our temple in Jerusalem.” So the modern Israel recognized the modern Cyrus. (Pg. 220)
So President Donald Trump played the modern King Cyrus, and his name befitted his role. Trump, of course, for trumpet and his first name Donald, which means…World Ruler. (Pg. 224)
THE STREAM OF JUBILEES
1867 – at the same time Mark Twain wrapped up his Middle East Tour, Charles Warren begins his survey of Jerusalem.
1917 – Allenby liberates Jerusalem
1967 – Israeli soldiers enter the old city and Jerusalem is restored to the Jewish people.
2017 – President Trump’s Jerusalem Declaration gives Jerusalem legal sanction by the world’s foremost superpower as Israel’s capital.
THE CONCLUSION
“Now it shall come to pass, when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord your God drives you, 2 and you return to the Lord your God and obey His voice, according to all that I command you today, you and your children, with all your heart and with all your soul, 3 that the Lord your God will bring you back from captivity, and have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the nations where the Lord your God has scattered you.4 If any of you are driven out to the farthest parts under heaven, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there He will bring you. 5 Then the Lord your God will bring you to the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it. He will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers.” Deuteronomy 30:1-5
There are so many more details and perfectly timed events leading to Israel’s return as a physical nation that I couldn’t really present them all without simply reproducing The Oracle here in full! See the charts below which give a timeline and additional events that all worked towards Israel’s return as a nation after 2000 years in exile. It is the only nation in history to have achieved such a thing.
I hope you’ve found this series enlightening and are motivated to buy the book!
The Oracle is about “…all events that take place in time and space (and) are woven together apart from time & space, woven by the hand of God.” (Pg 43)
Every Sabbath day from ancient times, the Jewish people gather in their synagogues, open up their scrolls, and read the ancient Scriptures. Thus, on every day of the week including Sabbaths, there is a specific portion of Scripture appointed to be read. The portion is called the parasha.” (Pg 43)
From Mark Twain’s Innocents Abroad: “Palestine,” Twain avowed, “sits in sackcloth and ashes.” And Jerusalem, the “stateliest name in history”, was in reality a village, so small he could circle it – all “rags, wretchedness, poverty and dirt” – in a hour. In retrospect at least, Twain was one of the most famous visitors to Palestine in the 19th century, and his book The Innocents Abroad the most famous 19th-century account of it. The book is known above all for its description of the desolation of the landscape…
Compare this to Deuteronomy 29:
and the foreigner who comes from a far land, would say, when they see the plagues of that land and the sicknesses which the Lord has laid on it: 23 ‘The whole land is brimstone, salt, and burning; it is not sown, nor does it bear, nor does any grass grow there…
This Scripture was read aloud in every synagogue around the whole world on 9/28/1867, and yet no one knew the significance at that time. That date was Twain’s last day in the Holy Land, and he was present in the synagogue when that passage was read, a prophecy he fulfilled.
By the way, San Francisco’s Longitude is 122.4194W. Jerusalem’s Longitude 35.2137E – 92.79 degrees of separation or 25.78% of earth’s circumference. Twain certainly came from a far land.
And Twain’s real name? Samuel Clemens. Samuel = God has Heard and Clemens = Merciful
And so it began. The Children of Israel had prayed for their land back for 2000 years and it seemed He was not paying attention.
But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 2 Peter 3:8
Indiana Jones (just to be sure you know…)
Charles Warren
CHARLES WARREN
Warren was the Indiana Jones of Jerusalem. An officer of the British Royal Engineers, he came to measure not just the current Jerusalem but the ancient one. He had to dig it up. He dug an exploratory shaft which happened to link up with Jerusalem’s ancient water system. That led to the original Jerusalem that had been buried for 2000 years. The shaft was discovered less than 30 days after the coming of The Stranger, Twain. In fact, Warren was there in the synagogue the same day as Twain.
As for that ancient water system? That was the one through which King David’s men conquered Jerusalem.
His survey of Jerusalem was so successful it opened the way for him to survey all of Israel from Dan to Beersheba, the same borders given in the Bible eight times in Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel and 1 & 2 Chronicles. For example:
So all the children of Israel came out, from Dan to Beersheba, as well as from the land of Gilead, and the congregation gathered together as one man before the Lord at Mizpah. Judges 20:1
Twain’s description and Warren’s survey set the stage for the return of the Jews and the Jewish nation. Before one takes possession of a property, one needs the description and the survey!
God was preparing the land of Israel for its return to His children of Israel.
Warren later wrote his vision and plan of how Israel would become a nation again, titled Land of Promise. He believed Old Testament prophecy that Israel would be a nation again. His vision was that European debt could be used to finance the return of the Children of Israel and teach them how to farm that land. He wrote the deserts could again blossom, that Israel could attain a high standard of living and again become a “land flowing with milk and honey.” (pg. 59)
Indeed, one year after Twain’s book came out. Mikveh Yisrael was founded to teach Jewish people how to farm in Israel. In that same decade would come the first Jewish agricultural settlements since ancient times. Coincidentally(?), just after that the Russians would begin a Jewish persecution that would drive Jewish people home once more. (pg. 60)
PROPHECY
Here is an instance of prophecy which can be seen being fulfilled in modern times. God’s protection promised in Isaiah 31:4-5 :
B-24 Liberator Bomber
“As a lion roars, And a young lion over his prey (When a multitude of shepherds is summoned against him, He will not be afraid of their voice Nor be disturbed by their noise), So the Lord of hosts will come down To fight for Mount Zion and for its hill. 5 Like birds flying about, So will the Lord of hosts defend Jerusalem. Defending, He will also deliver it; Passing over, He will preserve it.”
Birds might be seen as prophesying the planes of WWI.
Note the remains of the ramp built by Roman soldiers
MASADA
The fall of Masada marked the final destruction of Israel by Rome. The siege lasted under six months. Our sole source is Flavius Josephus, a Jewish rebel leader captured by the Romans, in whose service he became a historian. Rather than be taken captive by Rome, the soldiers decided to die as free men and drew lots to appoint ten executioners for everyone there. Finally, these ten drew lots to appoint the last who would execute the other nine, then commit suicide.
Masada was the possession of the Israeli soldier. The man who would recover it would be the first commander of the newborn Israeli army, Yigail Yadin. Just as the last Israeli soldier was linked to Israel’s fall, so Yadin would be linked to Israel’s rebirth. Israel would be restored in the order its fall. When the tombs were excavated, they found a parchment containing the “dry bones” prophecy of Ezekiel 37:
Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. 3 And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”
His father was Eliezer Sukenik, the man who discovered the Dead Sea Scrolls! (pgs. 146-149)
Next time: Two modern-day Cyrus’s who brought Israel home
I recently read The Oracle by Rabbi Jonathan Cahn. He presents both the prophecies of Israel’s return that date back to Moses in Deuteronomy and their fulfillment in modern times. He uses the Socratic Method of teaching us. Named for the Greek Philosopher Socrates, it’s a fictional dialogue between a knowledgeable person like a teacher and a student to convey factual information.
Cahn invents a story of someone sent to learn a mystery or mysteries. He finds a wise man called The Oracle who gradually imparts to him the improbable story of Israel’s return as a country.
The amount of information is much more than I feel I can present in this forum. My intent is to give you the best overview I can without getting into the weeds too much. You can always buy the book and learn much more about Israel’s return post WWII as a country. Page numbers listed below in parenthesis refer to page numbers in Cahn’s book where the information before can be found.
In this concerning time of antisemitism, I think it’s important we all fully understand the depth of God’s love and commitment to His chosen people so we can talk about Israel knowledgeably to those who are against them as well as resist the temptation to succumb to antisemitism also.
I offer the advice of Gamaliel from Acts 5 when he cautioned against opposing the disciples.
“…if this plan or this work is of men, it will come to nothing; 39 but if it is of God, you cannot overthrow it—lest you even be found to fight against God.”
Here are a few guiding principles Cahn raises in hearing his message.
First, a few modern-day men are mentioned as having fulfilled prophecy. This isn’t a reflection of their Godliness. God can use whomever He will to fulfill His Word.
Second, prophecies can apply to more than one instance.
Third, as I’ve written in other articles, you need to decide just how many times you can try to cite “coincidences” before you must admit to a pattern, a design.
With these opening thoughts in mind, I offer the following overview, complete with a more succinct timeline produced in Excel for your reference.
ROME DESTROYING JERUSALEM/ISRAEL
Recall Jesus’ prophecy from Matthew 24:2 – “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.” That’s exactly what the Romans did, but they didn’t stop there. They renamed Judea as Palestine after the Israelites ancient enemies, the Philistines. Palestine means the land of the Philistines. That was part of the overall war against God and His will for His chosen people, the children of Israel.
And what of Gaza? Gaza is in the Bible also. It was the center of the Philistine people. The northern end was their capital. In fact, this is where they took Samson after defeating him…temporarily. When he recovered his strength, he pulled down their temple onto all their leaders.
Not only are Arab children raised from birth to hate Jews and see their destruction as a great thing, but it is also a teaching straight out of the Koran!!
Note that in the Hamas assault on Israel, the attackers gleefully shared video of their atrocities. Even the Nazi SS had psychological problems committing their horrors.
ISRAEL’S JUBILEES
“The Jubilee is the year that follows the passage of seven ‘weeks of years’ (seven cycles of sabbatical years, or 49 total years). This fiftieth year deals largely with land, property, and property rights. According to regulations found in the Book of Leviticus (25:8), certain indentured servants would be released from servitude, some debts would be forgiven, and everyone was supposed to return to their own property in jubilee years.” Wikipedia
350 years is 7 Jubilees. Seven is considered the number of completeness. Note in the charts at the end of Part Three and under Stream of Jubilees the seven exact 50-year periods between events bringing about Israel’s return as a nation.
THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE
Israel’s land had to be released to them to return to it.
Peaceful now. Then…not so much!
Palestine had traded hands through conquerors until the Ottomans were the last. They were the ones who had to release it for the Jews to return. It all happened due to a missing metal star from the Church of the Nativity, which caused a conflict between the Greek Orthodox and Latin clergies that oversaw that church.
Russia sided with the Orthodox clergy while the Ottomans along – with France, Britain, and Sardinia – sided with the Latin clergy. This was the start of The Crimean War.
The Ottomans took out massive loans from their European backers which ended up bankrupting them. Two years after the war ended, the sultan enacted the Ottoman Land Code to register all the land and levy taxes to finance his debt. It wasn’t enough.
He enacted the second, new Ottoman Land Code (of 1867!), which allowed foreigners to buy land, which was illegal up to that point.
Jews started buying up land, often through third parties unbeknownst to the Ottomans until too late. Jews were a minority in Jerusalem in 1867 but became a majority within a few years (pg. 59)
MISSING STAR -> CRIMEAN WAR -> EUROPEAN LOANS -> OTTOMAN DEBT -> OTTOMAN LAND CODE -> JEWS RETURN
Next installment: Did Mark Twain fulfill Moses’ prophecy in Deuteronomy?
“There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen andfared sumptuously every day.20 But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate…” Luke 16:19-20
John Barnett’s lesson was, in large part, a response to a question he had gotten about where we go after we die. Part of his lesson used the story of the rich man and poor Lazarus, and that specific portion is the focus of this article. Most of the points here are his, but I’m also giving you my own reactions and observations from my own studies. The entire video is 49 minutes and well worth the time to watch it all, but the section I’m concerned with here starts at about 20:15.
First, Barnett suggested that this is not simply a parable, but a true story Jesus was telling. He points out that this is the only time Jesus tells such a story where someone is actually named. By the same token, I had always considered Job to be a fictional illustration. I later learned that most consider it to be factual, seeing as how Job is named instead of being presented as an anonymous figure.
Barnett used this story as an illustration for Hades. It is where we all go when we die physically, but this is not the end for us. Revelation tells us there is the pit of fire for some and a new heaven and earth for others. Hades itself has two divisions that Barnett calls an “Unhappy Hades” and a “Happy Hades.” The rich man found himself in the former while Lazarus was comforted in the latter. In this way Hades is the forerunner of our final destination.
Jesus tells us that Lazarus was comforted in Abraham’s bosom. The rich man cried out and called Abraham by name to send Lazarus with just a drop of water to cool his tongue.
First, how did he know that was Abaraham? Their lives were separated by centuries. Also, Abraham died many centuries before Moses and the prophets her refers to in verse 29. He never met them, so how could he know anything about them?
This reminded me of a podcast interview with a man who had died and seen both hell and heaven. I found out he doesn’t live far from me in Tennessee, so I contacted him and we met him and his wife for dinner at a halfway point between our homes.
One of the things he described about being completely in the spiritual realm is that he became all-knowing. He knew and understood everything! He conversed with Jesus mentally and was aware that Jesus was also holding several dozen other conversations simultaneously. This sort of unlimited awareness seems to have confirmation on 1 Corinthians 13:12 – “For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.”
If you’d like to hear that podcast interview, it’s on The Confessionals, Episode 266. The host interviewed both him and his wife, Jason and Amy Knapp.
A drop of water was of supreme importance and hope to the rich man. Why? He says he was tormented in the flame, but something else came to my mind. I’ve read the book 23 Minutes in Hell by Bill Weise. He also had been shown hell and heaven and was told to spread the word that hell is indeed real, that God has no desire that any should go there.
He was tormented by a demon who repeatedly slashed him with talons and scales, but he never bled. He had no blood, no liquid of any sort. This reminded me of Leviticus 17:11 – “For the life of the flesh is in the blood…”
We will all have eternal bodies. Some will be eternally dead and some eternally alive with God in heaven. The difference aside from the fiery pit of brimstone is blood. I can’t begin to imagine the absolute horror of living in an eternal body with no blood, not one drop of moisture in me. Then the fire, brimstone, and demons tormenting me for eternity!
And there was no hope for the rich man from the moment of death. Abraham described “…a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.” Luke 16:26
There was no hope of leaving his torment nor any hope of comfort coming to him.
There you have it; a few new observations and insights into a too-familiar Bible story. I hope you’ve benefitted from fresh look at the rich man and poor Lazarus!
Between God, Julie, and me we’ve managed our way through many joys and trials. We have two beautiful daughters of whom we are so very proud.
I still love to make Julie laugh, because her laughter is music to my ears. I never tire of it! Her smile is a thing of beauty, and she remains my jewel as much today as when I played the song my best man wrote with me and recorded in a studio. My lyrics, his music, and his musical talents (‘cause I have none!). I still think that’s my favorite engineered surprise for her.
Julie’s favorite is when I secretly booked her to accompany on a business trip to France, and we spent a week on our own in Paris and Versailles on our own when business was done.
There are so many other memories that I find it hard to pick out individual ones anymore. There are the Fall bicycle rides around Put-In-Bay Island in Lake Erie, our Saturday morning breakfast dates, family vacations and lots of museums, her family’s cottage at the lake, and the blur of raising our girls!
When I look at that picture of us in the limo leaving the church for the reception hall, who could have guessed at all the bliss and the trials to come? All I know for certain now is that she is still my Jewel!
Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” Genesis 15:5
Apollo 8 Mission Patch
I grew up on the NASA space programs. I watched launches of the Saturn V rockets with their mighty, staccato roar. Born and raised in Toledo, OH, I had a special pride in fellow Ohioan Neil Armstrong who was born and raised in Wapakoneta, OH. He retired there in the shadow of the Armstrong Air & Space Museum. I’ve been there, saw moonrocks, and enjoyed the history.
The space race was very real to us. We were sure that the Russians would do something to thwart our moon landing with one of their unmanned probes. The Apollo 13 disaster/triumph had the world on the edge of its seat. Prayer was encouraged by all.
Apollo 8 was the first time a manned ship left earth orbit and circled the moon. It’s noted for the first color photo of an “earth-rise” and their Genesis 1 reading on Christmas Eve as they wished us all well on “the good earth.”
You’d think by now I’d know just about everything to do with the entire Mercury/Gemini/Apollo, having lived through it and all that’s been written about it. Still, I enjoy watching documentaries that I haven’t seen before. There always seems to be some new nugget that I was unaware of.
For example, you might have heard the phrase in the last seconds before liftoff, “guidance is internal.” I only recently learned what that means. The rocket had gyroscopes that determined its precise location and orientation relative to the earth. Those were constantly updated by a laser array feeding programming to those gyros up to the last possible second to avoid the rocket spinning off into the ocean. Once off the ground, think of the rocket and planet as two completely different objects in space with the earth rotating away beneath the ship.
Stars. I saw a documentary about Apollo 8 just a few days ago. One of the astronauts shared just how black it was behind the moon at one point. The dark side of the moon does see sunlight, but on one orbit into the “dark side” of the moon, he described how there was no sunlight nor even reflected light from earth. It was black beyond description until he could see the universe beyond the moon.
He said there were so many stars that he couldn’t make out any of the constellations. Think about that. Here was a trained astronaut who could navigate anything from a dinghy to a spaceship using celestial navigation. They could, if they had to, navigate their ship by orienting where they were by spotting one constellation or even just one star or another.
In that obliterating darkness that opened the heavens to him, he could find none for the multitude of stars, like dust, before him.
He counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by name. Psalm 147:4
I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Genesis 12:3
I saw a remarkable video recently put out by Rabbi Jonathan Cahn. He shows us video evidence of God actively keeping His Word in real time in two separate instances. The first involves the above verse from Genesis 12 and an individual cursing Israel. God keeps his promise in full sight of everyone.
Secondly is a lightning strike the day before Pope Francis announced that the Roman Catholic Church will allow blessings of homosexual couples, which clearly contradicts God’s Word. Lightning struck a statue St. Peter in his former diocese before becoming pope. However, it wasn’t just that lightning struck the statue. It was the place, the way the statue was damaged, and the incredible timing of the event that make it incredible.
I won’t say anymore lest I take away the impact of you seeing it for yourself. Here’s the link:
Jeffrey H. King's Blog 