A lot’s happened in the 5 years since I started writing to friends on 28th February 2009 about current events prophesied in the Bible. The first email opened by explaining my grounds for doing so.:
“Last year, I encountered two conflicting claims about Jesus’ explanation of the parable on the end-time harvest of wheat and tares (Matt 13:36). So I went to check scripture but upon opening my Bible a deep excitement exploded within as I heard,
“This is ALL about to be fulfilled!”
WOW! Hence, my previous remarks about a sifting of the Church – in preparation for a rapid ‘sHifting’?”
My contacts had already been established over the previous year. As they were all familiar with scripture it wasn’t always necessary for me to quote or explain meanings. However, with that change in direction upon my hearing direct from the Lord it was opportune to stress the associated scripture, as follows.:
“Jesus urged His disciples to look out for and observe signs of the times. Regarding their questions about His return at the end of this Age, the earliest Gospel account has Jesus stressing 7 times,“Watch…be alert…on your guard“(Mark 13). Matthew 24 reports Jesus saying 4 times, “Watch…and when you see…” followed by the parables of the burglar and of the virgins:> “Don’t be caught napping!” [Is the Church still asleep?] Luke’s account has,“Be always on the watch…” (ch21:36) and chpt 12 (NIV) has sections on watchfulness and interpreting the times. In each Gospel Jesus commands,“Learn the lesson of the fig tree…”.Also, the Apostles went on to give more indicators…”
Regular contacts had started over a controversial move of the Lord in 2008 in Lakeland, Florida. This had featured healing evangelist Todd Bentley, whose rather rough, logger background and highly unconventional ways generated a heated debate in Christian circles.
I believe the Lord used it to test which disciples are really committed to applying His command to “Love one another”, which is how “the world may know the Father sent me” (John 17:23). Perhaps this would sift out those who are not yet ready for the more demanding move into this ‘New Season’?
Funnily enough each player involved 5 years ago has also been in direct contact with me this week: ‘Revd’ Bill’ – PK Davis (ace teaching on Matt 13 above) – ‘LL’ in reference to TB and Lakeland !!
That first email of 2009 referred to the increasing politicised provocation against believers within the UK, as well as the surveillance against which a director of MI5 warned. We’re well aware of rapidly discriminatory actions against believers in the last 5 years. But abroad, real persecution and terrorism have rocketed in the Muslim world, being most critical in northern Nigeria. So we’ve had it comparatively easy in Britain, but British and American leaders show an atheistic disinterest and lack of compassion over this dire situation.
We’ve also seen the rapid development of anti-Semitism and the creation of the alliance of Middle-Eastern nations prophesied in Ezekiel 38. I’ve written increasingly on this under the descriptor ‘Ezekiel Alliance’, or Gog-Magog. As Zechariah prophesied about Jerusalem, there have been intensifying discussions and sabre-rattling; the latest being that Mahmoud Abbas erupted in a rage over US Secretary Kerry’s proposal for the Palestinian capital to be located not in Jerusalem but elsewhere! (See Zech 12 and Israel Today report.)
That email read as follows:
The End-Game is Now In Play
Dear Friends – further to Rev’d Bill’s recent request re Christian Freedom, may I offer some observations upon our times and, in another message, suggest a way forward?
[Next 2 paragraphs as quoted in blue text above]
So, let’s watch closely what’s happening here and globally. When I’m by a newstand it’s noticeable that the Daily Telegraph is the only paper to headline matters of Christian concern – several within a fortnight recently. Eg. on 6 Feb it broke the news of Nurse Caroline Petrie’s suspension for offering to pray for a patient with front page headline ‘NHS staff face sack if they discuss religion’. We took exception to this and wrote to N.Somerset PCT saying we were glad their policy wasn’t in effect 3 years ago when Nina was fighting for her life! (I explained it was only because the night-duty nurse prayed that her throat immediately opened and she became peaceful, as shown on her monitor’s read-out.) So, we’re pleased to learn Caroline has been allowed to return to work, but I’m challenging the PCT’s ‘equality’ stance.
However, this is just one instance of the growing persecution of believers, principally through a policy supposedly promoting toleration but that’s now a tyrannical tool of intolerance – Equality & Diversity. There are other powers of suppression. Even the previous director of MI5 warns about UK sleep-walking into a police state (‘Abject nonsense’ responded a gov’t minister who lives on another planet). Rampant lawlessness now exists not only in society but also within legal authorities – laws not approved by Parliament – ‘snoop and snitch’ culture – correction punished and evil behaviour rewarded – ID cards and routine interception of email and phones – etc etc. Clearly, Banking isn’t the only thoroughly corrupt UK institution.//Let us, however, keep our eyes fixed on Jesus as we await the blessed hope of His glorious appearing.
May the Lord bless you and keep you and yours,
This continued in an associated 2nd email, as here.
STOP PRESS: Am interrupting preparation of the next post because the scripture I visited this morning was confirmed and reinforced upon opening today’s word from Glasgow Prophetic Centre (emphases mine):
I WILL CLEANSE YOU AND FREE YOU
“I am calling my Bride to purity and holiness.
– You ask me, ‘What does this look like in my life, Lord?’
– It is choosing to set yourself apart and living like my Bride, keeping yourself pure and spotless until the day of my return. Do not live like the other people do. Do not partner with sexual perversion and lust. But keep yourself spotless by refraining from the activities that the world sees as a ‘personal right’ and ‘normal’.
“You are called to be different to set a new ‘tone’ and a new ‘norm’ which is unsullied and holy. Pay attention to what you watch, look at, how you act and what your mind is focused on. Let me help you focus on things that are pure, untainted and blameless in my sight.
“Fix your gaze on me and I will enable you to walk free of all that has hindered you in this area. I will cleanse you and free you from all that entangles and snares you. Come to me.”
1 Peter 2:9-12But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. Leviticus 18:1-5;30The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘I am the Lord your God. You must not do as they do in Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. Do not follow their practices. You must obey my laws and be careful to follow my decrees. I am the Lord your God. Keep my decrees and laws, for the person who obeys them will live by them. I am the Lord. Keep my requirements and do not follow any of the detestable customs that were practiced before you came and do not defile yourselves with them. I am the Lord your God.”.
What was I studying beforehand? – and why?
In observing the debate on Gillan’s blog about the Anglican church’s deliberations over same-sex marriage I’d noted hardly anyone bothers with what the Son of God , our Saviour Jesus the Messiah, has to say on the issue.
What Jesus would say to individuals and churches today must surely be the same as 2,000 years ago, would it not? He is the same yesterday, today and forever (Heb 13:8) After visiting seven of the earliest churches in Asia Minor Jesus dictated a message to each one.
Therefore, ALL believers (clergy and laity alike) should take note of every rebuke and commendation, each good and bad point in those reports, learn from them all and make sure they’re applied in church today. As statted therein, Jesus “hates” all doctrine and deeds of idolatry and sexual immorality (“the depths of Satan”) that He observed in the churches of Pergamos and Thyatira in particular. (Chapters 2 and 3, Revelation)
Therefore, my receipt of today’s highly encouraging Lion Bites reiterated and confirmed this issue.
Monday’s Lion Bites is also directly applicable and I would emphasise its associated scripture:
CLEANSING FIRE
“Are you willing to be baptised afresh today – to be purified by the intense holiness and cleansing fire of God? Father God longs to turn up the heat, to burn up the dross – the sin that so easily entangles – so that we can stand before Him with clean hands and a pure heart.
“Are you willing… so that we can stand before Almighty God as a pure and spotless bride, holy and set apart for Him, the King of all Kings and the Lord of all Lords?”
Matthew 3:11-12 I baptise with water those who repent of their sins and turn to God. But someone is coming soon who is greater than I am – so much greater that I’m not worthy even to be his slave and carry his sandals. He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. He is ready to separate the chaff from the wheat with his winnowing fork. Then he will clean up the threshing area, gathering the wheat into his barn but burning the chaff with never-ending fire.
What do last month’s death of Ariel Sharon, previous Prime Minister of Israel – a sealed note on a revelation to that country’s leading rabbi, Yitzak Kaduri, that was kept for the first anniversary of his own death 8 years earlier – and Gabriel’s prophetic word to Jesus’ mother 2,000 years previously – all have in common?
A Matter of Timing
‘To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to pluck what’s planted…’ (Ecclesiastes 3:1-2)
That wisdom would apply not only to the connections between the above three persons but also to today’s blog. Note I didn’t write, ‘to the three persons’ lives’. Of course it does relate to that but, I’d submit, it also applies to their prophetic common denominator!
[Aside: interesting to note the preceding verse 2:26 begins, God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy to a man who is good in His sight…]
Days before last Christmas I was struck by one of the main verses always featured in the festivities – something angel Gabriel said to young Mary, as blogged a few weeks ago (here). That post considers the prophetic and creative nature of his words brought direct from The Almighty. It closes by promising to explain the relevance of Gabriel’s prophecy of Jesus’ kingship to a vision received by rabbi Kaduri. Prior to that continuation, I suggested readers may like to read a brief blog on Jewish expectation of a saviour, or messiah.
Good as the promise is and with first paragraphs already drafted, I didn’t get around to finishing it in view of other topical material and home priorities.
In fact, it seems the time just wasn’t right. The unintentional delay opened up a window of opportunity for a confirmation to come along that I was on the right track. It must have been the Lord’s doing – and it’s good to know I wasn’t off-beam or had gone off at a tangent!
Now, in writing about it, I believe He’s pointing me to relevant scriptures and bringing further insights…bring it on Lord! I trust you will bear with my building upon what started out as a brief flash of inspiration – it all hangs together.
[Am reminded this is Jewish year 5774 (The Open Door) and what I’ve described above is like entering that doorway and noticing what’s at hand, then looking all around when past the threshold. Also, on checking this draft I hadn’t thought to write ‘flash’ but now recollect seeing several in the sky just before waking today. The last and brightest flash filled the whole sky and I thought it could be the lightning of Jesus’ return in glory.]
SO, back to what Gabriel said:
Gabriel’s Declaration
After reading out Luke 2 at a carol service I wanted to check the first chapter. There, part of what Gabriel said popped up off my Bible’s page and ‘hit me between the eyes’! And it buzzed in my brain for days, nay weeks, afterwards!
It was one of those ‘aha!’ moments when a scriptural insight strikes like a lightning bolt. Since childhood I’d heard of Jesus Christ as ‘King of the Jews’ many times. But this time a new understanding took me by surprise. More was yet to come about that prophecy recounted in the first part “I am Gabriel, …”. But what set everything off was distinctly different to what I wrote about in there. To recap:
In speaking to Mary, Gabriel told her about conceiving a child and giving him a specific name. And he went on to state what Jesus would become, “He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end…”.
An Insight
Suddenly, I realised the phrase underlined above meant Jesus would become the king of all descendants of the ancient Israelites, and the Jews in particular. But far more than that – Jesus has always beenKing of the Jews.
It hit me hard that in The Almighty’s sight, the crucified saviour of all Jews and Gentiles has been ‘King of Jacob’s descendants’ ever since His life on earth. Although not enthroned, proclaimed, recognised and reigning as such, none of that makes any difference as far as Yeshua Ha-Mashiach (Jesus the Christ) is concerned.
That is, He regards each and every Jew as one of His subjects and loves each of them – from His birth and throughout 2,000 years of rejection, and then to His return to reign and into the future ‘forever’…which is what I’m about to focus upon.
But the people’s leaders didn’t want to acknowledge that fact. They saw the northern rabbi from Galilee of the Gentiles as a dire threat because the populace had watched Him bring dead Lazarus out of his tomb alive, and thus believed in Him and may become followers.
In council with chief priests and Pharisees over how to prevent the Romans quelling the inevitable disturbance, high priest Caiaphas rebuked his fellows, “You know nothing at all, nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish”. A negative political stance, it was nevertheless a prophetical utterance. Jesus’ disciple John explains that peculiarity as, and making this the latest ‘whack on the forehead’.:
Now this he did not say on his own authority; but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for that nation only, but also that He would gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad. (Emphasis mine)
[Note: John was known to the high priest and recorded his above presumption about the Romans taking away their temple and nation. Caiaphas warned Pontius Pilate against releasing Jesus and accused him of acting against Caesar. So, the continued reliance on the term ‘King’ by the Jews is key in the decision to crucify Him. See John 11:45-57 and 18-19. Also, let’s not forget the magi came seeking Jesus as ‘King of the Jews’, which disturbed king Herod.]
Gospel accounts state Pilate was reluctant to order Jesus’ execution and then caved in to pressure from Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin, who all wanted Him dead. Thus, it’s easy to assume Pilate pacified them in order to avoid disturbances when Jerusalem was packed with pilgrims. However, the fact Herod Agrippa was the Judean monarch, as vassal of the emperor, indicates the Jews’ claim about Jesus, which Jesus did not deny, was similar to a charge of treason.
Therefore, Pilate had the reason for the death sentence affixed to the execution stake, or cross, namely ‘I.N.R.I’, which means ‘Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews’.
In so doing, Pilate unwittingly validated what the angel had declared in a message from the Throne of God. (The second he’d been assigned to deliver and declare with all the creative power of prophecy, as discussed in my earlier post.)
Regrettably, throughout its history the Church has been no better in its treatment of those who refused to recognise Jesus as their real Messiah. Until Emperor Constantine’s reign the Roman church financially supported churches in the Holy Land led by ‘desposyni’; that is, ‘The Lord’s blood-kindred’. However, this brotherly provision ceased after a dispute with Pope Sylvester. Under the new emperor the church in Rome became officially recognised and established with power across the empire.
Son of David
Although Gabriel hadn’t explicitly described Mary’s future child as ‘King of the Jews’, that’s what ‘the throne of his father David’ implies. And reference to Jesus as reigning over ‘the house of Jacob’ means He would be not only king of the tribe of Judah but also of the other eleven tribes descended from Jacob.
David had ruled 1,000 years earlier and unified Judah and the other eleven tribes, or Israel. Collectively they were known as ‘Bene Ya’aqob’, Sons of Jacob, also as ‘Bene Yisrael’ from his new name after having wrestled like a soldier with the Lord, or an angel – Yisrael, or ‘Prince with God’. (See Genesis 32, interlinear)
As a nation-state once again exists in the ancient land God promised to descendants of Abraham then that title of kingship applies to modern Israel too! In other words, Jesus is that nation’s unrecognised and unseen King, but Who is destined to rule and reign in the flesh, as proclaimed by the ancient prophets and himself during His last Passover meal.
Furthermore, as John explains, Caiaphas’ prophecy refers not only to Jesus giving His life for the Jews but also for other people. Also that Jesus would gather together from all over the world, uniting all who believe in God the Father, no matter whether Jew or Gentile.
Is this stupendous prophetic plan of action being fulfilled in our lifetime? That possibility will be considered in part 2…
Update 4 Dec 2014 – that second part remained unwritten but, as in the first section’s header, it was really a ‘matter of time’. What I intended writing has been overtaken by events, as reported on 26th November in Israel Today – see Arabs and Jews unite to agree only solution to Israel-Palestine issue.
T.E. Hanna’s paper published on his blog, to which my covering note links, is interesting reading. He deals with claims that Moses appropriated creation myths of Egypt and Mesopotamia for writing Genesis. He argues that, rather than adopting mythologies of the surrounding ancient East, Hebrew cosmology was written as a criticism of them as well as emphasising not only the God of Israel’s nature but also His superiority over other religions.
Hanna cites several scholars opinions, one of which is similar to what’s been mentioned several times in our church. That is, after having overcome the magical powers of the priests against Moses, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob directed each plague of Egypt specifically against a particular deity in the pantheon of gods. That is, the God of Israel dethroned them!
How Genesis Differs and is Superior
In view of my old, dead life having been connected with a brotherhood claiming descent from ancient Egypt, I was aware of the similarity of the Memphite cosmogony to that of Genesis. (Personal outline here.) Therefore, it was interesting to read Hanna stating,
Here, we find the creator-god Ptah bringing the world into existence out of nothing, and by means of verbal command.
He stresses the importance of noting this speech doesn’t involve an invocation to higher magical powers and “draws to the forefront the superiority of this creator-god”. Hanna summarises,
…Three profound similarities – creation out of nothing, speaking as the means of creation and the rejection of magic pointing to divine superiority – were completely unique to Egypt and Israel.
He stresses they are not the only similarities for the priests of ‘Sun City’ (Heliopolis) had a cosmogony involving ‘chaos gods’ comprising a ‘tohu bohu’ of formless, empty chaotic darkness – and a breath! Thus, both cultures considered that creation brought order out of chaos, but it would be inaccurate to assume and conclude, “the author of Genesis merely took existing religious imagery and re-packaged it”.
According to the Egyptian creation myths,
The natural world was not brought into existence by the creation of different elements such as the sun, moon, or sea. Rather, this world was brought into existence by the birth of various deities who, in turn, embodied these elements. Thus, Ptah did not speak and the sun appeared; rather, Ptah spoke and the sun-god was born. In contrast to this:
The God of Israel existed in transcendence from His creation. He spoke, and order came into the world. His creative act was not a birthing of other gods; instead, it was simply the bringing forth of natural phenomena. Thus, the God of Israel is not only shown to be superior, but shown to be solitary. In stark contrast to the polytheism of Egypt, the Genesis narrative lays out the supremacy of Israel’s monotheism.
Also, there are other significant differences, for example:
the order of creation differed with Light before sun and moon makes the creator distinct from them.
caring for images of gods was obligatory in Egypt, but Israel rejected all idols.
humanity is intentionally created in God’s image to reflect His glory.
Mesopotamian Influence
I’m surprised that Hanna doesn’t make any reference to the probable transmission of ancestral history, knowledge and traditions down through the patriarchal chain from at least Abraham, if not Noah, which the Hebrew slaves in Egypt must have known.
Instead, he attempts a cursory nod to similarities between Genesis and the Babylonian epics in noting the strong early influence of the Asiatic Hyksos people. He cites scholars as thinking that the reign of the Hyksos opened the door for Jacob and his large family. Also, the later expulsion of the Hyksos may account for the fact of a new king “who did not know of Joseph”.
Also, the huge effect of the Godly significance of Hebrew, its meanings and application in scripture is not considered at all. In fact, it relates to the Egyptian concept of ‘breath’, not only as being infused into mankind but also and importantly in connection with The Word of God. I’m learning about Hebrew and so its recognition would be welcome, but perhaps the young theologian may cover this aspect another time.
Yesterday’s news and announcement on this blog merits a brief explanation. As an ‘alert’, it was dashed off because I was about to close down for dinner but decided to quickly check ‘before-the-media’ news.
In fact, my short window on-line yesterday went in congratulating a friend on his political blog’s news. I mentioned that prophetic material in Ezekiel 38 is increasingly relevant. (As already disclosed, that topic had cropped up in my afternoon meeting.) Hence, my astonishment at reading the news from Debka – I was amazed that what I’d spoken of and referred to in writing had become news on that day!!
Why is this news of Turkey’s prime minster turning against Washington important?
If not the first, Tayyip Erdogan was one of the foreign leaders whom Barack Obama called very soon after taking office. After attending the G20 Summit in London, then with NATO in Strasburg and with the EU in Prague, President Obama went to Istanbul and Ankara on 7th April 2009, “to send a message to the world” (per White House transcript). In making a major speech to the Turkish Parliament on the Middle East, Obama wooed Turkey as “a critical ally”. [Is it a coincidence that Turkey soon moved from being a military ally of Israel to exhibiting great hostility, doubtless encouraged by POTUS’ own inclinations? – see Rewind re. Turkey.]
Two Arabic stations carried Obama’s speech live and Associated Press reported:
Making his first visit to a Muslim nation as president and calling for a greater partnership with the Islamic world in an address to the Turkish parliament, Obama called the country an important U.S. ally in many areas, including the fight against terrorism. He devoted much of his speech to urging a greater bond between Americans and Muslims, portraying terrorist groups such as al Qaida as extremists who did not represent the vast majority of Muslims.
“Let me say this as clearly as I can,” Obama said. “The United States is not and never will be at war with Islam. In fact, our partnership with the Muslim world is critical … in rolling back a fringe ideology that people of all faiths reject.
But Bill Koenig, White House journalist, made this prophetically accurate observation:
This will be an incentive for the enemies of the United States to keep going, believing the U.S. has no fortitude to fight, and that they are winning. [Bang on! Emphasis mine]
It was Obama’s opening salvo in moving the goal-posts and he developed his earlier claims during the tour that the US and Europe must change its attitude to the Muslim world. [From thence he went on to cause consternation in bowing to King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia.]
Two months later, the broadside fired in his Cairo speech made his lack of historical and political accuracy abundantly clear to informed observers. In encouraging a move towards principles of western democracy and welcoming the Muslim Brotherhood he sent an even clearer signal that American policy was now taking an about-turn.
The rest is history and confirms the bankruptcy of American foreign policy with the consequential geo-strategic re-alignment of the whole Middle-East. Iran has beaten the US hands down in nuclear negotiations and, after the fiasco over Egypt, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations can no longer trust Obama. Therefore, Russia is now taking advantage of the political vacuum in that region.
Therefore, after a close relationship with Prime Minister Erdogan from the outset of his presidency, the Turk’s turning away from Washington to Tehran is highly significant. This is especially so when we recall Turkey had major differences with Iran over Syria. [See Reuters’ article below for detailed update.]
OR, could Obama have instructed Erdogan to make it up with Iran? Or even to get in so POTUS could have a personal ‘take’ on the Iranians? I wonder…
As prophesied over 2,500 years ago, these peoples are coming together, not in any loose confederation, but in a political and military alliance under Russian dominance!!
EXCEEDINGLY INTERESTING TIMES! The words of the Lord given to His prophet Ezekiel accurately forecasted modern political developments in the region around the tiny state of Israel.
Joel’s report is interesting in tandem with Daniel Pipe’s article in Washington Times citing the Middle East as ‘The sick man of the world’. He writes, “…two examples point to a larger conclusion: maladies run so deep in the Middle East (minus remarkable Israel) that outside powers cannot remedy them” and then provides a quick summary of catastrophic failures of the Muslim Middle East.
So often there are war or rumors of wars to report from the Middle East. But this week Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a fascinating speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. It was chock full of good news.
One: Netanyahu said “Israel is the epicenter of world innovation right now.”
Two: The Prime Minister cited the Bible as one of the reason’s for the strength of the Jewish people and the Israeli economy.
Three: He gave interesting examples of Israeli innovation — including how scarce water resources has inspired Israelis to develop the world’s most advance technologies for re-using water, and how scarce agricultural land has inspired Israelis to learn how to get more milk out of every cow (“Whose cows produce the most milk? Don’t guess: it’s Israel. It’s a computerized cow. Every ‘moo’ is…
Readers who love to delve and checked out my recent claims on Genesis will be interested in an email received today about ancient cosmologies. Theologian T.E. Hanna is examining the religio-cultural influences of the ancient ‘cradle’ of civilisation upon the Hebrews and the Bible’s origin. He blogs,
A RECURRING criticism of the creation narratives in Genesis 1 and 2 point to the overwhelming similiarities between them and the surrounding cultural myths of the Ancient Near East.
In Rethinking Genesis, T.E. briefly refers to historians’ claims of Moses appropriating Mesopotamian and Egyptian creation myths for writing Genesis. I agree with his line of reasoning in asking if the purpose of the opening chapters of Genesis is to teach not about earth and humanity, but about God?
This argument is made in a research paper available to readers of his blog. He argues that, rather than adopting the mythologies of the surrounding ancient East, the Hebrew cosmologies were written as a criticism of them. As theological education for an emerging Israelite nation, the purpose of these narratives was to emphasize the nature of the God of Israel in contrast to the surrounding polytheism, while also conveying His superiority over competing religions.
If you love to delve then visit Of Dust and Kings, read what he and his readers say and, if interested, consider downloading the PDF of The Cosmology of Genesis 1.
The angelic being’s introduction of himself is familiar from Christmas scriptures. Yet I propose to connect his messages with the concept of prophesying into Time, especially regarding the Holy Spirit – and with an intriguing prophecy for Jewish people today.
Angelic Announcements
This post’s title is from Gabriel’s response to an elderly priest’s disbelief, to which I refer below. Several months later Gabriel was sent to a betrothed teenager, as depicted in 1898 by Henry Ossawa Tanner in Annunciation (click image for gallery). Her visitor greeted her,
“Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”
It wasn’t so much the surprise of an invisible spirit becoming visible that troubled her, as what he’d said and how it was said. But this messenger then reassured her,
“Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”
Although not disbelieving what he’d said, the young lady posed a logical question because she was a virgin, “How can this be since I know not any man?” So Gabriel explained,
“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible.”
At this Mary responded laudably, “Behold the maid-servant of the Lord. Let it be according to your word”.
How different was the young maid’s acceptance of this decree about her own future to that of Zacharias when Gabriel had visited him a few months earlier. Apparently, Mary hadn’t heard about what had happened. Otherwise, there would have been no need for Gabriel to have confided the news of that firstmiraculous conception.
So what went wrong for her cousin’s husband?
Zacharias had the once-in-a-lifetime privilege of burning incense in the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. In view of its performance being in the Holiest of Holies, this duty was done by drawing lots rather than by a rota from many teams of priests.
Whilst Zacharias was officiating, an invisible, supra-natural spirit subtly scintillated at the side of the altar. It proved to be a holy messenger – an archangel, so some believe. He brought news of the future mission of a mightily powerful man of God – the priest’s own son! But Zacharias and his wife Elizabeth were childless for she was well past child-bearing age!
However, their prayers for a baby were to be answered and the angel prophesied this special one would be filled with God’s Holy Spirit from before his birth! It isn’t any wonder the priest was in disbelief! When he asked, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years” , the angel’s response was most emphatic,
“I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and was sent to speak to you and bring you these glad tidings. But behold, you will be mute and not able to speak until these things take place, because you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in their own time.” (emphasis added)
If you’re unfamiliar with physician Luke’s investigation into those encounters with Gabriel and what happened when the two cousins met, and to Zacharias too, I’d recommend reading his full account here, by courtesy of BibleGateway.com.
[Perhaps confirmation of my having drafted the above came at yesterday’s house group? We studied Romans 7 and the cousins were mentioned as examples of those who adhere to righteousness rather than living enslaved to sin and death. Thank you Mieke!]
Prophesying is speaking forth the mind and counsel of the Lord God, as communicated to an individual. Therefore, it’s a declaration that cannot be known by natural means – a direct revelation from God. [For more see An Introduction to Prophecy.]
Now let’s examine Gabriel’s announcements in the light of John Kilpatrick’s message, as outlined in my recent posts:
1. In that last quotation, Gabriel issued a decree that happened immediately but which had a limited duration. That is, he spoke into Time by prophesying, did he not? Right away the priest became dumb until he was released from the decree’s power when the baby came to be named months later.
My underscoring of “my words…will be fulfilled in their own time” indicates New Testament support for ‘talking into Time’. Gabriel’s words brought from God were not only welcome news but also, and far more importantly, announcements on earth of declarations that had been issued in heaven. They’re excellent examples of oral statements of God’s will and are thus prophetic and creative, in we can understand from the Word of the Lord given to prophet Isaiah (Isa 55:11 – emphasis mine):
So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;
It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please,
And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
Thus, what God speaks not only through His holy prophets but also through His angelic spirits who minister to His people, as well as through His Son, is sure to happen sooner or later.
2. From the principles of Genesis 1 the power of divine and human speech is creative, . The presence of Holy Spirit is necessary to bring about a divinely created manifestation. A Hebrew understanding of ‘over’, or ‘hovering’, in Genesis 1:2 is that Holy Spirit was next to or immediately adjoining what was about to be acted upon – all that was required to start the process was a spoken word.
Therefore, when Gabriel spoke to Zacharias the combined action of his words and the Holy Spirit fully rejuvenated his wife’s body. She was no longer barren but could carry and bring a child to birth normally. And even in her womb Holy Spirit was present to make baby John respond to the sound of Jesus’ mother’s voice!! (Luke 1:39-41)
The same happened when Gabriel spoke to Mary. The ‘overshadowing’ power of the Most High that he referred to carries the same meaning as that of ‘hovering’ in Genesis. Being of the Holy Spirit, the same creative power that was ‘In the Beginning’ brought about an ‘immaculate’ conception after the angel’s prophetic announcement. That is, it would not happen until a decree, a spoken announcement, had been delivered and received. Once again Gabriel had spoken into Time – into the next nine months!
3. The creative application of Gabriel’s prophetic description of Jesus’ kingship and its relevance to a possible prophecy given to the late rabbi Kaduri warrants consideration in another post. Read about him meanwhile in Who are the Jewish people expecting?
Nina’s reference to a trumpet fanfare, actually two, heralding the Queen’s arrival, followed by her majesty’s entrance to an assembly of invited guests, brought an interesting insight from scripture which I’ll share later.
However, Nina went on to compare that event with the majesty of The King of Kings and asked how we think we will respond to being before The Almighty King of Kings. Immediately after Nina finished speaking, Viv Dawes ascended onto the stage to sing sublimely in adoration of Him as follows.:
Radiant Majesty divine
Seated on Your glorious throne
We worship, honour and adore Your perfect holiness.
.
Brilliant light shines with Your power
Burning flame, Your holy fire
Your Glory, Majesty And Holiness outshines the sun.
.
A rainbow halo surrounds You
Majesty shining in Glory
Eyes like flame, Face shines with brilliance
Feet as bronze, refined in a furnace.
.
Radiant Majesty sublime
Seated on Your glorious throne
The First and Last – Living One for ever and for evermore.
The inspiration for these words came to Mair Thorburn without any knowledge of what Nina had prepared months previously on the subject of God’s majesty. Radiant Majesty was completed on 6th September 2013 and is reproduced with Mair’s kind consent.
It’s marvellous how the Lord inspires people with similar messages. I agree with Mair’s opinion that it’s a bit like thousands of years ago when individuals separately heard and wrote the same words from the Lord and which were to become holy scripture.
The above song is best appreciated in accompaniment to the tune that was in her mind during inspiration: the introductory bars to Benedictus from Karl Jenkins’ The Armed Man: A Mass for peace. Hit the play button and read, or sing, those words in time to the music.:
Pause for reflection
A couple of scriptural points are noteworthy in Nina’s comparison of the Queen’s entry with that of His Majesty. It wasn’t so much the fact that royal protocol requires respect and focussed personal attention upon Her Majesty, for everyone’s gaze turns to catch sight of and follow her, and all ears strain for every word, to make sure nothing gets missed. So too, ourselves in His exceptionally awesome presence.
No, it was more the remarks about a trumpet fanfare that gave food for thought over a couple of references in Paul’s letters. On the face of it they may seem unrelated, but not so. One is about the resurrection of the dead and the other is on Jesus Christ’s return. In concluding his eloquent explanation of believers’ victory over death, Paul writes to the early church in Corinth,
Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed — in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.(1 Cor 15:50-52 per Bible Gateway)
In a letter to another Greek church (Salonika) he goes into finer detail given by Jesus about what’s to happen next:
For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore, comfort one another with these words. (1 Thess 4:15-18per Bible Gateway)
My reader, be blessed as you contemplate these insights…and let the Lord bring more.
Channel 5 is to broadcast the first feature-length episode of this acclaimed mini-series on Saturday 30th November at 9.00 pm – the eve of First Sunday in Advent.
More details on Channel 5 – this programme is billed as ‘breath-taking in scope and scale’ in its portrayal of major stories from the scriptures. Powerful performances, exotic locations, action-packed re-enactments and state-of-the-art CGI bring to life miracles, iconic characters and tales of faith and courage from Genesis through to Revelation.
As a ‘blockbuster’, the series promises to be much grander than even Cecil B De Milles’ spectacular epic-film The Ten Commandments, which etched a mental image into many millions that Moses had possibly looked like Charlton Heston!
Be mightily blessed as you watch and may you be inspired to find out what it’s all about. But better than seeing is getting a grip on the Bible, digging hands-on into its thick, rich pages and checking it all out direct with its Author. In hearing from Him it’s not at all so impossible for Him to point out special scriptures for you personally in making passages stand out as though in 3-D! After all, it’s the Best Instruction Before Leaving Earth!
You can see the Kingdom of God too, but you must be born again. (per producer’s website tweet)
In view of my recent reservations over severe criticism of a promise concerning the Welsh Outpouring, this is timely teaching upon the nuances of checking out prophetic words. Thank you Melissa.
Prophetic people live by confirmation. Having honed their spiritual senses, they search out and find witnesses to what they feel God is revealing to them. The keener the listener, the more precisely he or she will hear the confirmation. In my experience, highly risky instructions from God merit more detailed and numerous affirmations that are sometimes overt. If the Lord is leading one into a precarious situation (from natural observation), He often will send a highly specific word to engender confidence. Sometimes our faith needs a little strengthening.
Is God required to prophetically confirm His will for our lives in matters of personal destiny?
No. He is not beholden to give us more than His written Word. However, by His grace He has granted us precious prophetic gifts. By these gifts listed in 1 Corinthians 12, He benevolently communicates and confirms His will. These supernatural graces or charis of…
More nourishing morsels to munch in this repost from T.E. Hanna, which is apposite in view of my previous post’s reference to apostasy. If you’re unsure of that connection, check the insights Holy Spirit gave to Apostle Paul on the return of Jesus, as outlined in his two, brief letters to the Thessalonian church (here).
I like his following title’s pun as it refers to the popular Left Behind stories by Tim La Haye. The premise for the whole series was based upon the Pre-Tribulation Rapture, the concept of which, in my opinion, seems to be a particularly American fad. So I greatly appreciate T.E.’s unwrapping of the subject and helpful answers to good questions raised by readers, especially the inclusion of the parable of wheat and tares in the whole scenario.
This month marks the two year anniversary of Harold Camping’s prediction of when the rapture was to take place. In preparation for that great ascension into the sky, countless numbers of people quit their jobs, sold everything they had, and took to the streets to proclaim the coming day of Christ. The date was set for October 21, 2011, and they wanted to sound the trumpet so that nobody was “left behind”.
On October 22, they woke up to find themselves and their families left destitute, without any savings or means of income, with their shoes still treading the soil of our world. The rapture had not taken place.
Harold Camping was not the first to predict the date of the rapture. In fact, October 21 was not even his first prediction. He had predicted it to happen earlier that same year, on May 21, and before that he had declared September 6, 1994 to be the correct date. Before Camping, there were multiple predictions for 1993, allowing for a seven year tribulation before the glorious appearing in the year 2000. Prior to this, Edgar Whisenant had issued predictions for 1988, 1989, 1992 and 1995. Chuck Smith had predicted 1981, while the Jehovah’s Witnesses predicted 1914, 1918, and 1925.
Perhaps the most impactful prediction, however, was issued by the Baptist preacher William Miller and further popularized by the preaching of Samuel Snow. While Miller asserted 1844 as the year in which Christ would return to rapture His church, Snow narrowed the date to October 22. Much like Camping, the result of this popular prophecy led to a movement whereby his ever-growing following yielded all of their earthly possessions and sat waiting with joyous expectation for the heavens to rend and the Messiah to summon His beloved. So great was the cry that arose on the day to follow that October 22, 1844 became lodged within the annals of Christian history known only as the Great Disappointment.
As best as I can tell, the Great Disappointment was the first prediction of the rapture in Christian history, which is (on the surface at least) a strange event for a faith previously spanning a full 1800 years of history. Even more strange is how common subsequent predictions became. One would expect that, given the mystical history of Christianity, we would see proclamations of the impending rapture long before the nineteenth century. One would expect this, to be sure, until one began to study the doctrine itself. Then, the strange lack of prophetic utterance suddenly makes sense.
Before the nineteenth century, the doctrine of the rapture simply did not exist.
What Lies Behind The Rapture
The church has always looked forward with eager anticipation towards the return of Christ. Christian eschatology has long held that the world would come to be judged, the old things would pass away, the Kingdom of God would manifest in its fullness, and we would celebrate our eternal presence in the midst of the new heavens and the new earth. Heaven would come down as the New Jerusalem, and all things would be made right once more. This has always been a singular event.
Not until the 19th century did we see the return of the King split into two events. At this point, a theologian by the name of John Darby theorized that there were actually two occurrences foretold in scripture: the day of Christ, and the day of the Lord. The former consisted of Christ’s return to gather up His faithful; the latter referred to Christ’s return to judge the world. For the first time in Christian history, Jesus was taught to return not once, but twice.
Another theologian by the name of C. I. Scofield grabbed hold of this idea and ran with it. Around this time, Scofield published the first publicly available “study bible” in history. This consisted of a bible translation with explanatory notes in the bottom half of the printed book, and it became immensely popular. The resulting “Scofield’s Bible” quickly spread throughout the Christian culture, and with it came the rise of Dispensationalism. Dispensationalism not only gave us the doctrine of the rapture, it gave us a new view on our world as well.
What The Rapture Has Left Behind
The appearance of the rapture, within Dispensationalist theology, is foreshadowed by the continuing collapse of our world into sin and destruction. The closer we come to that glorious summoning, the darker and more corrupt our world will get. It is within this understanding that we often refer to “the signs of the times”, usually followed by pointing to some great ethical violation that our culture lauds as virtue. Dispensationalism places the human experience in the midst of a worldly trajectory towards oblivion, identifying ourselves as a remnant of God’s people who are clinging fast to the cross in the hope of persisting until the reinforcements arrive.
In contrast to this, the overarching narrative of scripture does not speak of God abandoning His creation to ever-deepening destruction. The trajectory of scripture is a positive one, one that speaks of a God who is intimately involved with His children, whose Spirit still broods over the waters as He did in the opening pages of Genesis. This is a God who enters into the fullness of the human experience in the incarnation, who proclaims a Kingdom of God that is at hand, who sends forth His children to be emissaries that bring restoration and healing to a world that is suffering and broken. This is about a world that is continuing to get better, not worse.
This is what the rapture ultimately leaves behind: that we are active participants in God’s manifesting Kingdom, agents of mercy who are called into His work and through whom the world is being transformed. This is the image we see in John’s Revelation; not that our world is swallowed up in darkness so that God creates it anew, but that the New Jerusalem descends into our midst, that the Kingdom of God is overthrowing the enemy’s earthly rule, that the glorious creation which He so lovingly fashioned in the opening pages of scripture is one that He is at work restoring.
Yes, there will come the day when the trumpet shall sound and Christ shall judge the living and the dead, separating us into our chosen kingdoms. Yes, we will still face trial and strife and tribulation as we live out our lives in the brokenness of our world. Yes, the King will return for His citizens.
But the glorious hope to which we cling is not a distant one, it is immediate. It impacts our lives in this moment. We are not simply holding fast to the anchor of our soul and waiting for our lives to run out or for Christ to return. The Kingdom is coming, even now, even here. Our hope is for this world, and it leaps from here into eternity.
Many thanks TE for such an excellent, succinct summary which puts the unorthodox pre-trib rapture into its proper perspective.
I strongly recommend the ensuing interesting discussion onOf Dust and Kings– click on link and scroll to foot of TE’s original post.
More in-depth consideration may be found on Your True Christian Journey in::
A British breakfast TV interview circulating ‘over the pond’ among American Christians brings attention to injustices suffered by a couple of hoteliers at the hands of our courts.
I was intrigued to find two translations of the Bible directly relevant to both sides of the interview’s controversial point!
First of all, thanks are due to John McTernan for linking to a transcript in Monday’s blog Real Christianity on display, and to Tony Puccio for informing me of its email circulation in Arizona.
NB: this post’s stats occasionally show ‘peak viewing’ when it gets circulated. So I’d ask that it be read in the spirit it is written.
Let’s look at the issue together as I ‘flesh it out’.:
ITV, Britain’s first commercial station, broadcasts Daybreak as a morning magazine. Its presenters Aled Jones and Lorraine Kelly interviewed Peter and Hazelmary Bull the day before they appealed to the UK Supreme Court over a £3,600 fine for refusing to rent one of their hotel’s double-bedded rooms to a homosexual couple. As clearly stated on their website, rooms were available for married men and women only. (The Bulls are supported by The Christian Institute and further details, including on-going reports may be found under Bulls’ B&B Trial.)
Aled Jones’ faith
Aled Jones is well known as a former treble chorister and singer with many albums to his credit, as well as presenter of BBC’s Songs Of Praise (see MirrorTV brief ‘bio’). It’s a typical anodyne BBC programme, however when speaking to journalist Catherine Francis for Inspire magazine, he said the programme attracts millions of viewers from around the world and,
“Songs Of Praise aims to uplift and spiritually enhance its viewers, whether or not they’re Christian, and they need to feel comfortable watching it. It’s a genuine honour to be associated with it…”
She continues, ‘And Aled’s passion is clear to see about the Christian faith,
“Christianity is real, it’s now, it’s happening and it’s exciting – it’s not sedate or simply part of history. Jesus toppled over the market stalls in the Temple – this is a person with passion, a person with love, with blood running through his veins. That’s what it’s all about for me.”
Well said sir, and I think it’s important to keep that in mind when considering today’s matter. Has he changed his views?
The Daybreak interview
The interview has been transcribed fairly accurately by Dr Michael Brown, a scholar, speaker and author of 22 books, including The Real Kosher Jesus. He blogged it a week ago today as An older woman puts today’s compromised preachers to shame. Therein he sets the scene.:
At a time when so many of our Christian leaders are guilty of compromising the gospel before the media, dishonouring the Lord as they try to make God’s Word palatable to the world, it was an older British woman…who displayed a backbone of steel, a deep and consistent faith, and a theological clarity while being grilled on national TV. Cheers for Hazelmary Bull!
And make no mistake about it. This is not some slick, camera-friendly couple, versed in the latest clichés and fitted with the coolest wardrobe. This is a couple grounded in the Word and committed to Jesus. Today’s Christian leaders could learn well from their example.
Jones took the lead and started with a neutral ‘voice-over’ video outlining the case. The presenters were not unpleasant but wanted to know why the Bulls were contesting the loss of their Appeal in 2012. It may have got intense because of their seeming inability to grasp the Bull’s Biblical position. Or were they just acting professionally on behalf of a religiously illiterate British audience and consequently asking questions from a simplistic viewpoint?
Whatever their approach, it helped the Bull’s present their case clearly and admirably. Take a look at the video clip:
Here’s the transcript section of Dr Brown’s short article; his comments in italics.:
When asked why they were going ahead with the appeal after all they had been through, Hazelmary replied,
“The reason we have continued with this is because we feel there are arguments still to be made, because we are hoping that some way or another, a pathway will be found through this so that two different lifestyles—which at the moment have had a head-on collision—two different lifestyles could live together in our society.”
Her purpose, then, is marked by conviction and conciliation: How can we live together in the same society when we have such different convictions?
Lorraine Kelly: “May I suggest that maybe you are in the wrong business? Because when you think about it, only 47 percent of couples now are actually married, so when you do that, you forget all the arguments and all the rest, but actually from a business sense, sure, it doesn’t make any sense.”
Hazelmary Bull: “No, on the face of it, it looks like that because we have always refused a double-bedded accommodation to unmarried heterosexual couples.”
When challenged by Kelley, Hazelmary explained, “It’s Bible-based; it’s entirely Bible-based.”
(Pastors, take note of her words. This is how we should operate our local assemblies as well, based on the Word, not on marketing principles.)
Aled Jones: “As a Christian, the God you worship is a loving God, is a tolerant God. And if people are in a civil partnership, they are obviously in love, so what is wrong with them sharing a bed?”
(Note that Jones came to national fame as a hymn-singing child, and in 2004 he was voted Religious Broadcaster of the Year by the Churches Media Council for his work with Songs of Praise. He still hosts BBC’s Songs of Praise show, and within the last four years he has released albums featuring hymns and Christmas songs. What in the world happened to Aled Jones?)
How does Hazelmary reply to his challenge? You’ve got to love this!
HB: “I think it’s a myth to believe that entirely. He is a loving God, that’s true. He’s a forgiving God, but there is—
AJ: “And a tolerant one?”
HB: “He is a longsuffering God; He’s not entirely tolerant because the Bible is full of cases when He does finally bring judgment about. We felt that we wanted to, as far as possible, live according to His instructions, and the Bible is very clear about marriage.
Boy, did she nail it! There is a difference between God being longsuffering and God being tolerant, and yes, “He’s not entirely tolerant because the Bible is full of cases when he does finally bring judgment about.”
Do you think we’ll be hearing a lot of lines like that from some of the pastors featured on The Preachers of L.A.?
LK: “It’s 2013…2013!”
MB: “God hasn’t changed; Jesus says He’s the same yesterday, today and forever. He hasn’t changed, the Bible hasn’t changed, and we are wrong—we are living in a dream—if we think that He has changed His laws to suit us, because that’s not the case at all.”
Exactly! Most of the world is living in a dream. In fact, much of the church is living in a dream too, having been put to sleep by smooth-tongued preachers who have watered down the Word in a futile attempt to make it “contemporary.”
LK: “So you don’t accept that you have done anything wrong at all? You don’t accept that, that was offensive?”
MB: “We find this thoroughly regretful, because we clearly state that we prefer to let double-bedded accommodations to married couples.”
(She then explains, in answer to Kelly’s question, that this is clearly stated on the website.)
LK: “When two people come check in, how do you know that they are married or not?”
HB: “That’s a fair question. We have a script, and we try very hard not to offend. Remember, we have been there for 28 years, and this is the first time we have had any problems. We have a script whereby where we say very gently and politely, if one person shows up at the door—say it’s a male—we say, “Is this for you and your wife?” And oddly enough, they will say, “No, well, not actually my wife. We’re partners, or it’s my girlfriend or whatever”.”
How telling! They never had a problem when refusing an unmarried heterosexual couple over the course of 28 years, but when it comes to two gay men, the Bulls are brought to court.(RB emphasis)
Kelly then pointed to the low percentage of couples in the U.K. who are marrying, to which Hazelmary responded, “Well, I don’t know the numbers, and I’m not entirely interested in the numbers because of course we’re running this—”
LK: “Well, you should, as a businessperson…“
HB: “Well, we’re running this under our own roof, and God demands that our faith doesn’t end—”
LK: [interrupting with some hostility] “Your God demands. Your God.”
HB: [without batting an eyelash] “God demands that our faith doesn’t end at the kitchen door. He means for your faith to run in every corner of your life. You can’t just section Him off like that. So one would think that dealing with Christians, we would be fair and honest and upright and honourable and live according to the Bible, because the Bible is the Christian’s textbook.”
Bravo, Hazelmary Bull!
Now go watch the video, give it a thumbs up and share it with your friends. It’s a testimony like this that should go viral, rather than the words of some preacher who is waffling, unclear and not wanting to sound closed-minded or offensive.
Let’s speak the truth in love without making excuses, just as our courageous sister did. God Himself will back us, and the haters and mockers will not be able to shout us down.
Jones’ controversial question
As ‘good cop, bad cop’, Kelly and Jones played atheist Scot and anodyne believer who bowls a doctrinal googly,
“As a Christian, the God you worship is a loving God, is a tolerant God. And if people are in a civil partnership, they are obviously in love, so what is wrong with them sharing a bed?”
Bull: “I think it’s a myth to believe that entirely. He is a loving God, that’s true. He’s a forgiving God, but there is…”
Jones: “And a tolerant one?”
Bull: “He is a longsuffering God; He’s not entirely tolerant because the Bible is full of cases when He does finally bring judgment about. We felt that we wanted to, as far as possible, live according to His instructions, and the Bible is very clear about marriage.”
Many viewers, and readers, could take Jones’ point as reflecting his own conviction. However, is it not just as possible for him to have played ‘devil’s advocate’ in asking from a political stance, thereby to elicit and show the Bull’s strength of conviction?
Also, he may have had in mind a verse form Apostle Paul’s grand theological letter to believers in Rome, wherein he chides them over judging one another:
Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realising that God’s kindness leads you towards repentance? (Romans 2:4)
That’s from my New International Version Insight Bible, but Mrs Bull adroitly responds from the very same verse as given in my New King James study Bible:
Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?
Fascinating. The ‘protagonists’ use the same concept from slightly different translations. The original Greek is ‘anoches’, which means ‘tolerance’ but is rendered ‘forebearance’ in the Interlinear Greek Bible. Mrs Bull correctly clarifies it as being a conditional term, not a never-ending presumption upon the grace of God in Jesus Christ. Hence, the vital importance of their being in right standing with God’s decrees as revealed in His Word.
But not so for Aled Jones. Out of the confession from his own mouth, he has declared ‘As a Christian’ that there’s nothing wrong in homosexuality. Even if any of the reasons we considered above are relevant, nevertheless the declaration from his heart is what counts in heaven. It’s a far from sensible stance! It’s apostasy – the falling away from the tenets of Christian faith.
As Dr Brown queries, what has happened to Aled Jones?
Dubious doctrine
The controversial point of Jones’ question, of course, is not only his presuming God will turn a blind eye to sin (of any sort!) – but also the inference that gay relationships are approved by God. So, anyone unfamiliar with the issues could infer from his claim of being a Christian that such practice is sanctioned by believers, if not by the wider church.
Nothing could be more mistaken. Aled Jones is unwise to entertain dubious doctrine.
The correct Christian position on this subject was defined in the first formal gathering of strategic church leaders within twenty years of Jesus’ ascension. This apostolic event is known as the Jerusalem Council. We can be sure, therefore, of their thorough familiarity with Jesus’ teachings and instructions and, assisted by The Holy Spirit, would therefore make the correct decisions on any doctrinal issues.
The Council was called to discuss the admission of non-Jewish believers as followers of ‘The Way ‘ of Yeshua Ha Meshiach, Jesus Christ. According to the account in The Acts of The Apostles, the Jerusalem Decree sent to those Gentiles of Antioch, Syria, closed with the following basic stipulations upon admission to fellowship in Jesus.:
For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. (Acts 15:28-9 NKJV per BibleGateway.com; emphasis added)
That requirement to abstain from improper, non-marital relationships has never been rescinded. Only folly pretends redefining ‘marriage’ will alter the divine intention behind that declaration against immorality and fornication (porneias; Greek ‘of prostitution’).
It is logical, therefore, to state any consideration or claim to there being nothing wrong with allowing ‘porneia’ within the precincts of a Christian house is utterly absurd.
On the same day John McTernan blogged about this interview the news broke of Aled Jones and Lorraine Kelly being axed as presenters on Daybreak. Also, comments made online around that time haven’t been complimentary about them. Even back in August his position was in question.
It’s intriguing that a definite decision came fast on the heels of Aled’s declaration! Is it part of the promised ‘shaking’? I wonder…
My friend’s hit a thought-provoking indicator, which I’d heard some time ago in connection with the cause of the ‘Arab Spring’: ie. the inability of Tunisian and Egyptian poor to afford crippling wheat prices. These had escalated because of US demand for conversion of wheat to ethanol fuels!
Habakkuk 2:2
[ The Just Live by Faith ] Then the Lord answered me and said: “Write the vision And make it plain on tablets, That he may run who reads it.
I’ve often pondered the seals of Revelation. I’ve studied and studied them over and over again to find what part of Revelation we are in (because we all know something is coming) and I think we can be pretty sure now where we are on God’s timeline based on something that is happening in Israel as we speak. Although this is a detail of the seals that many skip over because it hadn’t been revealed yet, it is my belief that this little detail was revealed to me (and probably others) the other night and this blog is to bring awareness to it. THIS IS IMPORTANT TO KNOW FOR THOSE OF YOU WATCHING.
This blog post is more like ‘which came first, the chicken or the egg?’ The above title may be back to front because it began as My Journey To Freedom and Number 7. I trust you too will be encouraged by my explanation of that conundrum.
Here’s what happened.:
A friend who organises social breakfasts asked me to tell my story about becoming a Christian. I guess she’d dipped into it on this blog – yet that’s only a brief bit. But how can I deliver the whole lot in speech and not as script? On top of that, when editing my original account I found nostalgia took me down a ‘rabbit hole’ and wasted time.
Only then did I do what I should have done at the outset – ask myself what I wanted to say. I’d put the cart before the horse! I now jotted the main points and was surprised to find there’s 7. Now that’s encouraging for it suggests everything’s ok. Nina thought so too when I did a test run with her. Now please note, we’re not the sort of folk who look for meaning, symbolism and significance in things, although we appreciate the possibility.
[Readers of long standing may note my interest in coincidences arises after events, not in expectant anticipation or forecasting future connections. My discernment of links in ‘God-incidents’ possibly arises from my training in scientific observation and analysis as a disinterested participant. It’s claimed ‘fact is stranger than fiction’, which is why I’ve always tended to steer away from novels. Furthermore, after laying down my ‘old self’ after rebirth in Christ I’ve also avoided my past interests.]
HAH! Upon finalising my Tuesday’s talk I now find its crib-notes done as l a r g e print total 7 pages! What else! What other quantity should I have expected?
In the Bible number 7 is symbolic of divine perfection, and I believe this is understood in other cultures too. Time is measured in units of 7 days – the calendar week. Genesis, the Book of Creation, states everything was created in 7 days with the last being when God was satisfied and rested upon completing His work of creation.
If the concept of a weekly cycle is applied to that of the year then 1/7th equates to 52 days and a ‘design purpose’ for the year’s seventh 1/7th could be that of resting before another cycle starts. That had been in mind in Pause 4 thought when musing about having unexpectedly arrived at the close of a personal cycle. So, it made sense to take a more relaxed pace over August and September and await any changes.
PRINCIPLE OF 7 AND MY JOURNEY
Now, a few weeks later, ‘7’ has got my attention once again and so I take notice and new notions drop into mind like inspired potions infused from ‘above’. As my task is to talk about my past, it is as though a door has opened for me to see and walk through in my spirit. Whilst writing, I recollect the Hebrew date for this ‘new year’ not only signifies an open door but is also shaped like a 7; although as the 4th letter of Hebrew alphabet it denotes No. 4. (Not mentioned in The door to a ‘new season’.)
My first thoughts were:
7 years are said to complete a growth cycle, as in ‘Seven ages of man/woman’.
so it’s appropriate to consider seven’s multiples, 14, 21, 28, etc, as cyclic too.
major changes or significant events happened on or around the 7th, 14th & 21st anniversaries of my Christian walk.
my personal life took hugely significant changes of direction at each 3 x 7 years, ie. every 21 years and around my birthdays. Number 3 denotes completion and unity.
These notions were confirmed last night when I learned the 7th letter of the Hebrew alphabet is Zayin (pronounced ZAH-yeen) and then read John Parson’s comment,
Since Zayin represents both the number 7 and a sword, it is not surprising that it is used to divide or ‘cut up’ time into units of sevens (The Letter Zayin, emphasis added)
Perhaps you’d like to check all this yourself and see if it may apply to you too? Only a couple of days after realising the significance of those aspects I heard a contact-lady at our online US-church mention a couple of major traumas in her family life. I noticed they were seven years apart. (She’s since confirmed having had personal insights on this – thank you W.)
So which came first, my journey or several number 7s? Of course, objectively I noticed all the events before, during and since gaining my freedom. Recognising they’re linked inextricably with number 7, then I must conclude the spiritual principle was the active and persistent power orchestrating those events, as in the scale of 7 musical notes.
Thus, 7 came, and comes, first.
Should you wish to continue reading about my journey into freedom, please click here for its first ‘leg’ or installment.
INFO – installments of original (2013):
No 7 and my journey into freedom
“You shouldn’t be at our school!”
Searching for truth leads me into captivity
The last day of my life came ‘like a thief in the night’
Rescued from Satan by The Lord of Hosts
The real Truth delivers me from captivity
Confirmations of the reality of my visionary encounter
[Images courtesy of Stoon at Freedigitalphotos.net and Melissa at Definingwords.com]
AN IMPORTANT, BRIEF RESUME OF HISTORICAL FACTS, which followed the 1967 onslaught from Israel’s neighbours. In the current crisis we see Syria, Russia, Iran and Egypt still featuring 40 years later in the Middle-East as America, Nato and Britain are sidelined. But it’s not so much that none of the latter feature in scripture and where God’s attention is focussed upon, as their leaders chose to ignore, even mock, His will over marriage. Therefore, it’s no wonder that Putin, Prince of Gog, mocked and has brow-beaten a Western president and a prime minister to take the lead over this matter and across the Middle-East!!
(Dallas, Texas) — Today is Yom Kippur, or the “Day of Atonement.” It is a Biblical holiday, the day when God called the children of Israel to repent of their national and individual sins and sacrifice animals to receive atonement, or forgiveness, of their sins. It is the highest holiday in Judaism.
Yom Kippur also marks the day when the modern state of Israel was nearly “wiped off the map” by her enemies. Forty years ago today, the Russian-trained and equipped air forces and armies of Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack on the Jewish State, a move that nearly succeeded in destroying Israel.
Today, therefore, many Israelis are fasting and praying and reflecting on their lives and going to synagogue — some because of tradition, and some to follow Old Testament customs (albeit complicated by the lack of a Temple in Jerusalem).
Melissa’s description speaks right into what I sensed during worship yesterday as our assembly sang “You provide the fire, I’ll provide the sacrifice”. I sensed a flickering spread of orange and red with ill-defined objects bowing low and knew this was before the Throne of God. Mulling over Rev 4, I wondered if the image represents the flames of the seven spirits. So be mightily blessed as you inwardly digest this post.
Symbols of the corporate church abound in scripture. We are alluded to as the bride of Christ, God’s vineyard, the body of Christ, and His temple built of lively stones. Whenever it comes to the individual believer, however, I’ve heard relatively little in the way of scriptural symbolism. In preparation for a conference this month, I stumbled onto a rich trove of delights in studying the 7-candle menorah. The following is a digest of my findings that may prove to stir something within you, too!
Before we start, let me briefly explain the difference between the 7-candle and 9-candle menorah, and why we are focusing on the former. The 7-candle menorah is the traditional candelabra prescribed for use in Tabernacle of Moses. It has come to be a symbol of Judaism and much more as we will, here, divulge. Nine-candle menorahs are known as Hanukkah menorahs, and are lit during…
Truly, I much prefer covering prophetical rather than political/military matters. But some things based upon the Word of God need saying when the occasion arises. So I’ll be brief:
This time last week I read reports of mobilisation around the eastern Med and the Gulf in preparing for a US missile strike upon Syria by the weekend. In view of the ‘ready-to-go’ status, I wasn’t surprised my son’s flight in that region set for Friday was brought forward to early Thursday. PM Cameron had urgently recalled Parliament from its Summer recess and later that day sought all MP’s backing for military support of the US and associates’ attack. The PM has been concerned over the very dreadful plight of civilians in Syria and long canvassed Obama for action of one sort or another.
(The US has trained Syrian rebels in Jordan, who’ve already been in action. Assad had warned this would trigger retribution, including use of chemical weapons – see DebkaFile’s analysis with their original report of mid-August).
Thursday evening’s news referred to PM Cameron stressing that military action is a “Judgement call” – see Channel4 News and Friday’s The Independent. As we know, the PM lost the House’s vote. Much has been written about this and so I’ll be succinct. It’s noteworthy that after having heard Cameron tell him UK is unable to help the US, Obama suddenly changed his mind about the strike – not even telling his military chiefs or allies! (DebkaFile refers.)
What struck me is, not so much the complete about-turn by both leaders, as a likely connection with both having forsaken the ways of the Lord and failing to stand on his Word – God is not mocked!
Let’s recall from a previous post on the US Administration’s problems how the Amplified Bible spells out chapter 6 of Paul’s letter to the Galatians:
Do not be deceived and deluded and misled; God will not allow Himself to be sneered at (scorned, disdained, or mocked by mere pretensions or professions, or by His precepts being set aside.) [He inevitably deludes himself who attempts to delude God.] For whatever a man sows, that and that only is what he will reap.8 For he who sows to his own flesh (lower nature, sensuality) will from the flesh reap decay and ruin and destruction, but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. [BibleGateway]
We cannot pretend to know how the Lord is working in all this, but it’s instructive to note the PM’s “judgement call” may have a deeper connotation than is ordinarily assumed!
Cameron railroaded through Parliament a completely unnecessary Statute to redefine marriage. His American mentor has led nationally and internationally in this and now faces troubles across several fronts, including the Muslim Brotherhood (see this by Joel Rosenberg).
Thus, they’re reaping as they’ve sown within their very own political system. AND it has come through attempting to deal with an evil regime in cahoots with another – but how can our leaders expect to be righteous in this issue when they’re not in others?
So, this round has been won by the ‘Ezekiel 38 Alliance’, or ‘axis’ as David Blair terms it in his commentary West’s failure to act. Analysing America’s three main interests in the Syrian issues, Caroline Glick hits the nail on the head in Obama’s bread and circuses. International Business Editor for the Telegraph, Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, also makes several good points in A Fairly Honourable Defeat. This comes with insights from his father’s involvement in Syria in 1942.
Yesterday’s development is the proposed transfer of Assad’s chemical weapons into deep shelters in Iran, thereby averting any US attack (report here) and possibly using the move as a bargaining chip. [Debka reported ahead of the invasion of Iraq that Saddam Hussein’s WMD stock was moved into Syria. Many years later I noted the ‘Vicar of Baghdad’, Canon Andrew White, corroborate this claim on TV.] A fortnight ago Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu warned,
“Syria has become Iran’s testing ground….Iran is watching and it wants to see what would be the reaction on the use of chemical weapons.”
Today brings news of joint US-Israel tests at sea of interceptive missile systems for protection of Israel and Jordan in the event of the conflict expanding into the region.
So tensions continue to simmer near boiling point….
Recent tragic news from Syria and developments in the Middle East can, in fact, give Christians a deeper understanding of the holy scriptures.
I’ll share my opinion on how this may be so but, first, we’re instructed to pray for those in power, including their need for wisdom in handling crises. Jesus’ brother James wrote to those following ‘The Way’,
If anyone lacks wisdom we should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault…(James 1:5)
He cautions that in so doing we need to believe and not doubt because such a person will not receive anything from God. Political leaders would, therefore, show wisdom if they are able to believe and fully appreciate God’s Word, not only in living morally but also in dealing with international events such as those foreseen over 2,500 years ago about a specific Middle Eastern coalition. We note that, in the end, God’s stated goal for three major people groups is as follows;
24 In that day Israel will be one of three with Egypt and Assyria—a blessing in the midst of the land, 25 whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, “Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.” (Isaiah 19 NKJV, Biblegateway)
There’s a long way to go before that outcome is achieved, incredible as it seems at present. But current events do show the Holy Bible is not obsolete, or irrelevant for modern times. But this isn’t new! Many Old Testament verses were fulfilled in 20th Century with the amazing ‘overnight’ creation of a nation-state and the consequential return of dispersed tribes belonging to the ancient Hebraic people. Nearly 2,000 years ago, after having destroyed their capital Jerusalem and sacred Temple because of an armed revolt against Rome’s authority, Emperor Hadrian kicked them out of their homeland after another revolt (for details see Timeline).
Hundreds of years beforehand, however, prophets heard and recorded what the Living God declared about events in the far, far distant future. The fulfillment of His promises through the establishment of modern Israel is something deserving fuller examination. So, too, is Psalm 83’s warning to those people surrounding Israel who plot to ‘wipe it off the map’. (The ancient tribal names may no longer apply but their rage continues within their descendants, as broadcast ceaselessly abroad.)
However, my focus is upon the Biblical references to other peoples on the fringes of the then-known world, as centred around the ‘cradle of civilisation’. They were in lands now known as Persia, Syria, western Egypt or Libya, Turkey as well as southern Russia and central Asia.
Whatever any migratory, trading or hostile connections may have been between those folk, it is a most remarkable fact that the Lord foresaw an alliance forming between them that would become enemies of the Hebraic people living in territory established by King David. Ezekiel, a major OT prophet, received detailed oracles about this coalition led by ‘Gog’. The only other mention of this entity is in the apocalyptic vision Apostle John had of the revelation that God gave Jesus Christ, as recorded towards the end of the Book of Revelation (Rev 20:7-10).
The fact that Russia is now getting deeply involved and taking the lead in a strategic coalition that was identified millennia ago as a major player in the Middle-East, and furthermore which aligns itself against Israel, simply cannot be ignored. All political leaders would, therefore, be well advised to tread very carefully in dealing with this alliance.
For what it’s worth I’d like to add my ‘tuppence worth’ but it must of necessity be all too brief. Readers who like digging deeper than mainline media’s cursory overviews (eg. by visiting links suggested in an early blog Not on the 10 o’clock News), may be aware of the following.:
Israel
I’d ask that fellow believers consider their attitude toward modern Israel because some ministries are mistaken in this regard. For instance, a guest post on Cranmer’s blog has reported one ministry as strongly denouncing Israel at festivals over the Summer. I’m aware this may be a touchy topic, but Fran Waddam’s historical comments are helpful for those unfamiliar with the real, rather than revisionist, 20th Century history of Israel. It’s now followed by a CMEW item on Kairos Chaos in the Church, which I recommend. (NB: ignore any flash pop-up ads on Cranmer’s site.)
Syria & Iran
The outrageous chemical attack upon children could, in my opinion, be one way Iran’s leaders are testing President Obama’s resolve and poor credibility. (Iran’s active control of Syria was reported here.) There are increasing concerns over the reliability of claims that it was done by Assad’s forces, and which doesn’t exactly stack up with signals intel and is voiced by, among others, Jerome Corsi and Walid Shoebat (here).
Iran would seize upon any attack by America as a pretext to attack Israel in a greater measure than done in recent minor occasions (Farsnews). They see such a war as facilitating the appearance of the Shiites’ Mahdi (as here). Thus, it isn’t far-fetched to suppose Iran may attempt the final, threatened blow to eradicate Israel.
Saudi Arabia
Obama’s credibility is non-existent as a result of his polices and actions on Egypt and in Libya, not to mention ‘Benghazi-gate’. Following his 2009 Cairo speech, a deep rift opened between him and the Saudis over his deep humiliation of president Mubarak. Fully aware of the dangers Obama was blind to, they endorsed the Egyptian army’s removal of Morsi and leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood. Also, as members of The Arab League who have denounced Syria, the Saudis met with Russian leaders to sway their support of Syria’s Assad by tempting them with favourable oil/gas deals, as herein.
Egypt
The above quotation from prophet Isaiah is an oracle from the Lord about Egypt. Those closing verses allude to His end-time redemptive plan for three peoples, but its second verse is once again apposite: not as for the Ethiopian takeover 2,800 years ago but for these times too:
“I will set Egyptians against Egyptians; Everyone will fight against his brother, And everyone against his neighbour, City against city, kingdom against kingdom…”
How to be succinct with what’s on my mind about Egypt? In Cameron: A war against Al-Qaeda… I referred to Mark Gabriel’s experiences with the Muslim Brotherhood as an Egyptian professor of Islamic history. His exposure of Islam and Terrorism gave me grave reservations over Obama’s insistence upon the outlawed MB’s attendance at his 2009 Cairo speech. My initial points are as herein.
President Obama probably gambled upon the MB having become a peaceful democratic political party but his Muslim roots should have taught him to know better – much better. William Koenig in his Eye View from The White House, puts it this way:
The Egyptian apparent decapitation of the Muslim Brotherhood’s leadership could have enormous impact on the future of many countries and derail White House/ State Department Muslim Brotherhood plan in the Middle East.
McCarthy’s ‘Reds under the beds’ witch hunts of communists was a false alarm by comparison with the MB infiltration of US politics and government. Where the totalitarian system of communism failed, another succeeded beyond its wildest dreams – and even Barack Hussein Obama isn’t entirely to blame! The infiltration started 60 years ago in response to the CIA seeking help against communists. George Bush and many in USA and Western democracies were bamboozled into mistaking Islamist intentions.
The MB’s objectives are known to many well-informed analysts and journalists but largely ignored by politicians and public. I cannot, therefore, recommend highly enough that every reader take time to visit the following links, of which extracts are shown.
Resetting US Foreign Policy by ‘ne plus ultra’ Caroline Glick; cogent as ever > ‘Obama’s decision to outsource the US’s Syria policy owed to his twin goals of demonstrating that the US would no longer try to dictate international outcomes, and of allying the US with Islamic fundamentalists…from his earliest days in office Obama insisted that, since radical Islam is the most popular movement in the Islamic world, radical Islam is good’.
History of the Muslim Brotherhood Penetration of US Government by Clare Lopez, formerly CIA operations officer and senior fellow at the Centre for Security Policy presents an exceptionally well-researched and informative paper > It is important to recognize the sophistication of the Brotherhood’s international strategy and how the takedown of U.S. national security defenses from within was critical to the current Middle East-North Africa (MENA) campaign to re-establish the Caliphate and enforce Islamic Law (shariah)….The careful insinuation of Muslim Brothers into positions from which they can exercise influence on U.S. policy began long before the attacks of 9/11, although their success has accelerated dramatically under the administration of President Barack Obama. The massive Muslim Brotherhood organizational network in the U.S., so patiently built up over the decades since that first Oval Office meeting in 1953, eventually gave it a prominence and (false) reputation of credibility that was unmatched by any other Islamic groups, moderate or otherwise. Using a combination of taqiyya (deceit, dissimulation) and intimidation, the Muslim Brotherhood succeeded not only in making itself the “go-to” authority on all things related to Islam, but in suppressing those who would speak truth about Islam—again, often by persuading the U.S.’s own senior officials to do the job for them: “by their hands”.
The US State Department’s Islamist Plan by Dr Mordechai Kebar, Israeli scholar of Arabic and Islam covers MB’s plans for Sinai and Egypt and reveals the grave concerns of Jordan’s king > King Abdullah openly calls them “wolves in sheep’s clothing” and “the Freemasons cult” (there is no worse expression in Arabic that the king could have used towards his citizens, MK.) because they do not want to reform the regime of the Hashemite monarchy; rather, they want to replace it and turn it into a puppet after taking over the parliament and changing the state into a “constitutional monarchy” with an Islamic constitution written by the Brotherhood, of course. The king describes his battle with the Brotherhood with the expression “the most important battle confronting us in the entire region”, even more than Iran. He also does not hide his contempt for the American diplomats and officials who promote the Muslim Brotherhood out of naivety, as if the regime of the Brotherhood is a type of Islamic democracy.
Muslim Brotherhood: We’ve Got ‘Goods on Obama’ by Dr Jerome Corsi > In an interview with the News Agency Anatolia in Turkey, Saad Al-Shater, the son of imprisoned Muslim Brotherhood leader Khairat Al-Shater, said his father “had in his hand” evidence that will put Obama in prison. In a thinly veiled threat, Saad Al-Shater said a US delegation was sent to Cairo by Obama to press for the release of the imprisoned Muslim Brotherhood leaders, including his father to prevent the release of explosive information. Arabic-speaking former PLO member Walid Shoebat has translated the report by the Turkish News Agency Anatolia as follows…
BREAKING NEWS – Corsi, “Egyptian government…intends to implicate Obama directly in series of financial transactions with the MB in Egypt” (video interview).
Are you athletic – unlike me! – and enjoy running and other track events? Perhaps you’ve run in a marathon? Do you have a school age child and support their sporting activities and events? All participants in any sport and of any age enjoy being cheered and encouraged by onlookers – especially when the finishing line’s coming up!
I was reminded of that by Paul Keith’s conversation with Rick Joyner, as well as with Bobby Conner in April. Did you watch those videos (here and here)? In my experience, Rick’s comment about the connection between what happened to him whilst writing a book and events in the Toronto Blessing is insightful.
All three men refer to Apostle Paul describing his faith in and work for Jesus Christ as being like running a race:
…since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Emphases mine)
What was the reason behind this description? The preceding part of the letter to the Hebrews is a detailed reminder of the hope and great faith of the heroes of the Old Testament.:
39 And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, 40 God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us. 1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by… (Hebrews 11:39-12:2 NKJV)
On camera, the three modern-day prophets discussed not only the scriptural meaning of the ‘cloud of witnesses’ but also alluded to some examples of their having been seen today. It is a fascinating part of their discussion that I’d urge you not to overlook, and maybe revisit.
I know some believers may struggle with this as it seems contrary to the OT prohibition against consulting mediums and witches (here). That is, there’s a presumption that any experience of the ancient witnesses is the same as necromancy; ie. contacting the dead. But not so!
The reason for the prohibition against witchcraft, sorcery and necromancy is to protect God’s people from contact with and affliction by evil spirits. Those activities attempt to manipulate not only people but also demonic spirits by summoning them from their realm into ours. Seeking contact with spirits and deceased persons is very costly for it comes with dangerous personal consequences.
We know that God is not God of the dead but of the living. Those who died in Him are still alive, although not in a fleshly body, as can be inferred from Jesus’ reference to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Matthew 22:31-33).
If someone accidentally happens to encounter one of the heavenly saints then it is certainly not mediumship or necromancy. It is a gracious event initiated by God in allowing such a contact. Would critics say Jesus’ meeting with Moses and Elijah was necromancy? (see Matthew 17) Surely not!
A personal encounter
Let me share what happened at our church mid-week meeting a few months ago.:
We were discussing Exodus and I popped upstairs to get my annotated Bible. The stairwell leads directly into the lounge and as I descended to the bottom steps I felt as though I’d walked into, or rather through, something – like when you’re not looking where you’re going and bump into someone, and then look at them in surprise. Our leader noticed my glancing with a startled frown at the wall and sensed someone’s presence.
I reported the brief, finer details of what I’d sensed to our minister, who advised this is happening more often, especially where folk worship and discuss the scriptures, as one of her family found in Mozambique. This makes eminent sense because the patriarchs were intimately involved with the Lord and must have known of His plans for the far off future when His Kingdom will come in fullness upon the earth.
In view of the increasing acceleration toward that time the ‘cloud of witnesses’ must be getting more and more excited – exactly like people cheering competitors toward the finish. Just like last year’s Olympics!
I pray this post gives another morsel to chew upon and digest, rather than spit out. And please take another bite…
Note: See White Dove Ministries’ webinar archive for more on the cloud of witnesses.
Symbols of the corporate church abound in scripture. We are alluded to as the bride of Christ, God’s vineyard, the body of Christ, and His temple built of lively stones. Whenever it comes to the individual believer, however, I’ve heard relatively little in the way of scriptural symbolism. In preparation for a conference this month, I stumbled onto a rich trove of delights in studying the 7-candle menorah. The following is a digest of my findings that may prove to stir something within you, too!
Thursday evening’s news referred to PM Cameron stressing that military action is a “Judgement call” – see 
Richard's Watch 
