SEEING THINGS AS THEY REALLY ARE

Introduction

As main-stream media sticks to the pro-Palestinian narrative, and ignores any evidence to the contrary, it is deeply depressing to see that America and Great(?) Britain have totally failed to understand the true intent of Iran and its proxies (see recent article on the significance of Gaza, and why Israel has no alternative but to ensure the destruction of Hamas). Betraying our allies was once considered indefensible; now it is seen as a political expedient. I examine our moral decline and how our once reliable and authoritative main-stream media bears considerable blame for misleading the Nation. I also look at whether these things have End-Times significance.

Confirmation Bias

Confirmation bias is the tendency to seek out information that supports any hypothesis that one may have and, conversely, ignore information the runs counter to one’s particular theory or proposition (Wikipedia).

The more we are convinced something is true, or want something to be true, the more likely we are to filter out opposing evidence. Warren Buffett once said: “What the human being is best at doing is interpreting all new information so that their prior conclusions remain intact”. We fool ourselves into only seeing that which we want to see. So, when media correspondents have very strong personal opinions, their reports are likely to be prejudiced and dangerous.

Misinformation

Those whose world-view is reliant on main-stream news outlets are almost bound to be swayed by authoritative and convincing argument and information even when it is: not true, partly true, or biased. Those who peddle poorly researched information, accept material from terrorists as fact, and deny the right of reply, and equal time to those who wish to present a different view, are guilty of distortion.

Awareness of confirmation bias and misinformation, and recognising the powerful influence main-stream media has on people, should help us to avoid the pitfall of being misled by a lack of discernment and by not seeking to evaluate a variety of sources of news and information. Integrity is our keyword and we should seek to be like the “Noble Bereans” in the Book of Acts (Acts 17:11) who listened eagerly to what was being said by Paul the Apostle and then diligently searched the scriptures for confirmation and, in our case, going beyond the Bible to diligently search other reliable sources of information.

Hardened Hearts Against Israel

The Bible has much to say about hardened hearts and it contains many Scriptures about eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear. Pharoh’s heart was hardened against the Israelites (Exodus 9:12). The dire consequences of ignoring God’s prophets are spelled out in Ezekiel 12 (before the exile to Babylonia) where God says: “They have eyes to see but do not see and ears to hear but do not hear, for they are a rebellious people” (Ezekiel 12:2). For eyes that do not see etc., see also: Jeremiah 5:21; Isaiah 43:8; Mark 8:18; Romans 11:8 and so on. It appears that the world’s heart is being hardened against Israel. Many people are listening to, and accepting without question, propaganda from noisy liars.

Israel stands alone, betrayed by those who purported to be her allies and facing genocidal attacks from Iran and its proxies.

My only positive thought is that it could be God’s intention that Israel is to stand alone and, in particular, rely on Him. The Israelites have been rescued by God’s hand in the past, when they had nowhere else to turn; e.g., Escaping from Egypt and Pharoh’s army; being saved from Haman’s genocidal intentions, being saved, at the 11^th hour, from Hitler’s genocidal intentions.

Currently, Israel is undoubtedly in the blazing furnace, but God will deliver them, and if He doesn’t do so by miraculous intervention, a remnant will survive and Jesus will return to Jerusalem to rule and to reign.

Prophetic Significance

As many readers will know, my focus is on Biblical prophecy and whether world events are fulfilling those scriptural predictions, and that is not always easy to determine. The most clear and accurate recent fulfilment of at least 10 detailed prophecies was the re-establishment of the Jewish nation in Israel in 1948. The survival of the Jews’ national identity in dispersion, which was maintained for nearly nineteen hundred years was, in itself, miraculous. Furthermore, Israel’s rebirth and survival are an absolutely essential part of End-Times prophecy: which will be fulfilled.

Where we are now, in the End-Times timeline, is less clear: we need to carefully weigh whether events line up with Scriptural predictions. Certainly, we seem to be moving towards all the world being against Israel (Zechariah 12:3), and that has been exacerbated by the way many main stream broadcasters are selective and manipulative in the way they portray events. On this latter point, satan is the master of deception who leads people away from the truth: the original liar (Genesis 3:1-4). “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.” (1 Timothy 4:1). In his second letter to Timothy (2 Timothy 3:1-7) Paul wrote:

“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people. They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over gullible women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth”

UK

Looking at the state of our nation, as a semblance of the description in 2 Timothy, we are the epitome of continuous appeasement causing decline into immorality.

A seemingly very reasonable form of humanitarian liberalism has spread and diluted fundamental moral values. Fear of offending encourages us to water down any view that appears contrary to perceived political correctness. We are subtly encouraged to compromise in the cause of peaceful coexistence in a pluralistic society and, invariably, finding the middle ground sounds both reasonable and sensible. Luke-warmness is the order of the day and, with clever packaging and gentle coaxing, immorality is made to sound as though it is enlightened tolerance.

The State condones that which is clearly defined in the Bible as unwholesome behaviour, and calls it “an alternative life style” or “preferred orientation”, and condemns anyone who suggests that it might actually be, unwholesome!

Unborn babies are killed in the name of freedom of choice and convenience. Genetic engineering is encouraged in the furtherance of scientific research. We dumb down our Christian heritage in the name of broad-minded pragmatism and multiculturalism. We use elegant language to conceal our move away from fundamental truths that have been given to us for a purpose. We exploit the poor and call it the luck of the draw or self-preservation.

As a nation, we worship other gods: the god of self, of rights, of money, of materialism, of humanism, of sex, of greed, of exploitation. We allow power to be abused and accept it as political astuteness, the way of the world, or not our problem. We pollute the air with profanity, pornography, and the portrayal of extreme violence; all in the name of freedom of speech. We contaminate the environment with chemicals and pestilence, fumes and waste, in pursuit of short-term gain. We see the banks, once bastions of our economic well-being, now managed by gamblers who use our collective High Street deposits for speculative trading, without any interest in the people or products of the companies and ventures in which they “invest”. We ridicule the values of the past in the name of enlightenment. If we object to this move away from Christian principles we are accused of fundamentalism, or prejudice, or fanaticism, or narrow-mindedness, or bigotry, or discrimination.

Legislation, ostensibly designed to protect human rights and encourage civil liberties, is hijacked by vociferous minorities demanding equality, acceptance, endorsement and even the requirement that their views or “life style preferences” be taught in schools. I could go on, suffice it to say, opposing ungodliness in our society is as hazardous as protesting against the trend proved to be for the Old Testament prophets!

Conclusion

The world is in a mess, but many go on oblivious to the truth, as people did in the days of Noah (Matthew 24:37). Jesus will soon return and it will be as unexpected as the flood was in Noah’s day. Be strong. stay alert and pray constantly for enlightenment and understanding about the truth of what is happening in the world around us. And last but not least, remember that; our God is almighty, His Kingdom is eternal, His dominion is all encompassing and His plans will never be thwarted.