Edition 72.  March 8th 2011

In this edition:

●I will shake all things

●What Israel thinks of the Middle East upheavals.

 ______________________________________________

What Israel thinks of the Middle East turmoil:

The current upheavals in the nations surrounding Israel represent a new paradigm shift. The speed with which the turmoil has spread is quite amazing. But what of the nation caught right in the middle?...What is Israel thinking?

Israelis are increasingly becoming worried about what this is all leading to. Some rabbis are talking of the forerunners to the great war of Gog and Magog. One rabbi said that this all shows that "our Messiah is soon to appear."

Israeli Jews are increasingly searching Google (in Hebrew) for their Messiah. Some 50,000 searches a month have been recorded and it's increasing all the time.

The 'stage' is being set. The 'furniture' is being re-organised and the 'actors' are waiting in the wings. What we are witnessing is the preparation for the greatest drama of all time which will begin to take centre stage soon.

The events in the Middle East and North Africa of late are unstoppable. It's like a genie being let out of the bottle. You can't put it back in. It's like there is a giant invisible puppeteer silently pulling the strings. People want to bring down their zombie dictators and rightly so, but what will follow is the problem.

The Arab / Islamic nations in conflict, may well  present a new united face of opposition to Israel. The Muslim Brotherhood are no peace-loving harmless bunch as they're believed to be by many in the West. You will see their true colours emerge soon!

The changes sweeping the Arab world may appear to be pro-west, but this is a thin veneer. You can be sure that the barrel of a Kalashnikov held by Al Qaeda or others will come into play.

I will shake all things: Nations, Israel and the church

This is a very positive edition, but you'll have to read it all to get the full picture.

Luke 12:49 "I came to send fire on the earth and how I wish it was already kindled." These are the words of our Messiah!

Luke 21:25 "There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the seas and the waves roaring; mens hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming upon the earth, for the powers of heaven will be shaken."

Revelation 6:4 "Another horse, fiery red, went out and it was granted to the one who sat on it, to take peace from the earth..." God will remove peace from this earth! When He does this no one will find peace!

Isaiah 13:13 Therefore I will shake the heavens and the earth will move out of her place, in the wrath of the Lord of hosts and in the day of His fierce anger."

Nahum 1:2 "God is jealous and the Lord avenges; The Lord avenges and is furious. He will take vengeance on His adversaries, He reserves His wrath for His enemies."

Some like Rick Warren are casting down the Word of God and are pushing for global peace, while our Lord is promising global wrath. "For when they say peace and safety; then sudden destruction comes upon them as a woman in labour."- 1Thessalonians 5:3

Huge destruction is coming. The worst will be in the second half of the soon coming tribulation period, but we will see many forerunners or "birth pangs."

It's all about pride, arrogance and the rejection of God's word. The rejection of God's word always leads to its own problems and to ultimate failure. God is not some angry Man spewing judgement everywhere. He has a plan for the world. He knows best. His judgment is on His enemies and on those who follow Satan's plans of rebellion to Him.

For those who believe in our Lord, His ways and His word, there is no judgement except for reward. For those who humble themselves before our Lord there are oceans of peace now and in the future, even as all things get shaken.

Joel 3:16 "The Lord also will roar from Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem; the heavens and earth will shake; but the Lord will be a shelter for His people."

In Him is peace and joy that surpasses understanding.

Hebrews 12:26 "His voice has promised saying, yet once more I shake not only the earth but also heaven. This "yet once more" indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain." God will shake everything that can be shaken, so that which cannot be shaken will be strengthened and endure.

It's important to understand that only that which is of the kingdom of God is unshakeable.

God will shake the proud nations, the proud churches, the pride of Israel. God will shake all self assurance, arrogance and the pride of all people.

When what you put your trust in starts shaking violently, you automatically look for something stable to hold onto. This will be a time of incredible revival as people turn to the safety of the kingdom of God.

Arrogance against God's plans for Israel and the Jew:

One of the big reasons for the coming judgement is because of the world's collective actions against Israel, led by Satan himself.

Do you know why Pharaoh and the Egyptians came against the children of Israel as Moses led them to freedom? It was because God had said "Let My people go." Today the situation is the same. This is now the second Exodus! God is saying that His people will return to their land and to spiritual salvation. God says in His word that He will bring the Jews back into their land in blindness and then the veil of spiritual blindness will be lifted.

Modern day Pharaoh's in many guises will again pursue the Jews just like before.

Ezekiel 35:5 "Because you (Arabs) have had an ancient hatred, and shed the blood of the children of Israel, by the power of the sword at the time of their calamity, when their iniquity came to an end, therefore as I live says the Lord God, I will prepare you for blood and blood shall pursue you."

Ezekiel 28:25-26 "When I have gathered the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and am hallowed in them in the sight of the Gentiles, then they will dwell in their own land which I gave to My servant Jacob. And they will dwell safely there, build houses and plant vineyards; yes they will dwell securely, when I execute judgment on those around them who despise them. Then they shall know that I am the Lord their God."

Micah 4:11-13  "Now also many nations have gathered against you, who say, "Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion." But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord, nor do they understand His counsel; For He will gather them like sheaves for the threshing floor. Arise and thresh O daughter of Zion; For I will make your horn iron, and I will make your hooves bronze; You shall beat in pieces many peoples."

Isaiah 42:14-16 "I have held My peace a long time, I have been still and restrained Myself. Now I will cry like a woman in labour, I will pant and gasp at once, I will lay waste the mountains and the hills and dry up all their vegetation; I will make the rivers coastlands. I will bring the blind by a way they do not know, I will lead them in paths they may not have known. I will make darkness light before them. These things I will do for them and not forsake them."

Haggai 2:7 "I will shake all nations and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations and I will fill this temple with glory says the Lord of hosts (armies). "

Psalm 125:2-3 "As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds His people from this time forth and forever. For the sceptre of wickedness shall not rest on the land allotted to the righteous."

The above verses speak very strong words of warning against those who in their pride reject God's plans for Israel and in fact stand in His way.

But Israel will also come under God's judgement for her rejection of Messiah and God's plan. He chose them for a purpose, which will come about. Unfortunately, as with the nations their pride has got in the way and blinded them in the interim.

The pride of Israel:

Ezekiel 5:5-9 "This is Jerusalem I have set her in the midst of the nations. She has rebelled against My judgements by doing wickedness more than nations, and against My statutes, more than all the countries around her, for they have refused My judgements and they have not walked in My statutes. Therefore, thus says the Lord, because you have multiplied your disobedience, more than the nations around you...Indeed I even I am against you and will execute judgements in your midst, in the sight of the nations around you. I will do among you what I have never done and the like of which I will never do again, because of all your abominations."

This is staggering verse of scripture. This is the reason why the Third World War will soon break out starting in the Middle East and involving Israel. God will allow her to come under severe judgement. Israel will soon be involved in a terrible war, but God will cause the Jew to turn to Him in this shaking.

God will not allow Israel to be destroyed and will bring her to victory, but only after some serious damage has been done and His plans have been achieved.

The above verse is shocking. The verse below is as shocking, but on the positive side!

Micah 7:8-9 "Do not rejoice over me, my enemy; When I fall I will arise; When I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me. I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against Him, until He pleads my case and executes judgement for me; He will bring me forth to light and I will see His righteousness."

The pride of people and the nations:

Jeremiah 50:32 "The most proud shall stumble and fall...I will kindle a fire in his cities and it will devour all around him."

Isaiah 2:12,19 "For the day of the Lord of hosts shall come upon everything proud and lofty, upon everything lifted up and it shall be brought low." "They shall go into the holes of the rocks and into caves from the terror of the Lord and the glory of His majesty, when He arises to shake the earth mightily."

Isaiah 13:9 "Behold the Lord comes, cruel with both wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate and He will destroy the sinners from it."

Isaiah 29:14 "I will again do a marvellous work among this people; for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden."

These verses above are frightening indeed for the unbeliever and the proud and arrogant. I've said a thousand times, that pride always blinds you and here we have clearly spelt out...right out of the mouth of God!

There is a very easy way to get rid of all of this ugly, heavy stuff. Just cast down the Bible. Throw it out and reject it. That way you can carry on blindly serving the god of this world. You can carry on having fun, fun and more fun, even 'good' Christian fun. It will bring the judgement of God upon you. It will make your eternal position worse.

There is safety in humility and surrender before our great God Lord and King.

The pride of the church:

"The gates of hell will not prevail against the church" says the Bible. But the very same Bible points out that not all of those who claim to be "the church" are the church. There is one section of the church that will be forever safe. It is the church that trusts supremely in our Lord and His word. The gates of hell will not prevail against this church.

Only the church of Philadelphia in the book of Revelation chapter three is completely commended with not one word of condemnation. This is the church that is told: "He opens the door and no one shuts." This church is assessed by God and told that it "keeps My word." This church is commended for having "little strength" (That would be self -orientated strength) This church has the "Key of David" which is referred to in Isaiah 22 as the "key that opens the door to Jerusalem" meaning that this church has a Messianic flavour.

Most of the other churches assessed by God in Revelation chapters two and three are in trouble in one way or another. They are not safe. One church is promised that it will "spewed out" of God's mouth. Another is promised by God "I will kill your children (offspring of the church) with death". Another is told that it will be cast into "great tribulation."

A great deal of the professing church of the this era will be swept away in judgement. They will fall for the devil's end time counterfeit plans. The Bible declares: "The love of many will grow cold". We are in the time period that is just starting to see the "great apostasy" of the church.

Cain and Able were brothers. They were a type of the true and false church. Cain's religion produced the first murderer and is a type of the church that has and will kill the true saints. Abel's religion, produced the first martyr.

The answer:

In all of this there is tremendous safety, peace and security...but it's only for those who humble themselves into God's plans and will. All pride and rebellion to God will come tumbling down. The answer is to simply give up resisting God. Give up following the ways of the world and its god.

Pride and self assurance are the most dangerous qualities anyone can possess!

James 4:6 "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble."

The battle for the spirits and souls of people is intensifying. The battle against God's will is intensifying.

The story of David and Goliath is full of symbolism. David is a type of Israel and of Christ, while Goliath is a type of the world and of antichrist. Goliath had was six cubits high, had six pieces of armour, and his sword was six weights of silver. This identifies him with the number of Satan which is 666. This also identifies him with the world system of whom Satan is it's god. Goliath was large and from a large army. He had the odds stacked in his favour. David was small in comparison, but with God at his side, he defeated the much larger enemy.

Within the story of John the Baptist we see another type. He was God's prophet of things to come. He had his head taken off. It did no damage to Gods plans.

Summary

The world and its god, Satan will run headlong into the God of glory soon. This collision will cause the greatest shaking the world has ever seen. It will be a real event, but will also take place in the spirits and souls of all people.

The days are dangerous now, but they will become a lot worse soon.

John 9:4 "I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is still day; the night is coming when no one can work."

The greatest part of this shaking and the reasons for it relate to God's plans for the Jew, Israel and Jerusalem. This is all part of the way God will bring peace to the world, but it will all explode first, due to the playing out of the great spiritual conflict.

God has a plan and so does the devil and his world. Guess which one will persevere and prevail?

Psalm 105: 8-11 "He has remembered His covenant forever, the word which He commanded for a thousand generations, the covenant He made with Abraham  and His oath to Isaac, and conformed it to Jacob for a statute, to Israel for an everlasting covenant, saying to you I will give the land of Canaan as the allotment of your inheritance.

Genesis 13:15 "For all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever."

Psalm 129: 5-8 "All who hate Zion will be put to shame."

Heaven or hell:

Pride is a prison of your own making. It will never set you free. It feeds off itself. "Be careful that the light that is in you is not really darkness" says the Bible. God always resists the proud. It cause blindness and deception. The end of all pride is hell.

Humility is the characteristic of those destined for heaven. Not only is the destiny heaven, but humility sets one truly free now. Of course humility needs to be combined with truth, but humility gives sight. With a humble heart truth is easy to find and walk in.

______________________________________________

Here is a painting by Mikhail Turovsky. He was born in 1933 and is well known for his images of suffering during the Second World War. Here is one of them. we are now close to the Third World War.

Kind regards and many blessings...Shalom and grow in grace!