Edition 31. February 28th 2010

In this edition:

●The power of the cross

●The power of the human

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Godism or humanism

1Corinthian 2:2-4 "For I determined not to know anything among you except Christ and Christ crucified. I was with you in weakness in fear and trembling and my speech and preaching was not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and power...Your faith should not be in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God"

Two ways before us:

If you read the verse above again, you'll note that there are two life options being presented by Paul the apostle here.

The first is: I am a crucified person, laying aside my wisdom and human knowledge, which leads to Godly wisdom and power. The second is to have a lot of persuasive wisdom in line with human thinking. This way is devoid of God's power. It has an illegitimate power source.

Obviously this relates to everything in life and not just prophecy, but I want to point out how different the two are in relation to prophecy and why many misguided Christian leaders will actually be responsible for leading many to hell.

The big error is to ignore or avoid the application of the cross.

Yes salvation comes through believing in the crucified, risen, coming - again Messiah once and for all, but there is a continuing work of the cross after salvation. Paul says "I die daily" He says in another place "Its not I that lives but Christ who lives through me". He says "I must decrease and He must increase"

Jesus says "If you want to be My disciple you need to take up your cross daily and follow me".

So we see that there is a vital, daily, ongoing work of the cross that needs to be applied. The main area of this application needs to be into the mind or thinking realm.

There is so much "I think" in Christian circles and very little "this is what God says"

The world the flesh and the demonic:

The devil works in the lives of believers through an attachment to the world, the flesh nature and the demonic. Unfortunately we are all subject to this through birth into the family of Adam.

We need to apply the cross to get victory in these areas on a regular basis. If we don't they will grow in power and eventually defeat us. We need the ongoing work of the cross in our lives.

If not, you will be no different to the world. You will still be drawn to the ways of the world, the flesh and have demonic powers at work. Your thinking will be in line with all the good ideas of the world. Your wisdom will be the wisdom of the world. Your entertainment will be that of the world. You will be full of the bondages of the flesh and you will be empowered by the devil.

Matthew 10:38, 39 " He who doesn't take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me .He who finds his life will lose it and he who loses his life for My sake will find it."

John 5:35 "You can of your own selves do nothing" The self life has to be laid down and replaced with Gods ways.

The above two verse are key to success in this life. These verses use a play on the original words for life. "Lose your life" uses the word 'psuche' which is the word for soul life. The word psychology is derived from it. Then it says that if you lose this soul area of life you'll find life. Here the original word is 'zoe' which refers to eternal life of the spirit. So to find and grow in the God kind of life we need to lose or replace our human reasoning and the soul life with His way of thinking.

Galatians 2:20 "I've been crucified to the world and the world to me."

There is an exchange that takes place. As I (soulish) decrease, He increases!

The entire Christian life needs to be motivated through the energy of the Spirit rather than through the energy of the flesh.

The prophetic Word spells out the rise of humanism in these days. 2Timothy 3:1 "In the last days perilous times will come, for men will be lovers of themselves (or big mouth lovers of self opinion)"

The Humanist Manifesto declares "Man is finally becoming aware that he alone is responsible for the realisation of the world of his dreams, and that he has within himself the power for this achievement." This sounds great but its the way to hell.

Only true Biblical Christianity stands against the exaltation and glorification of self.

Self is a powerful deceptive, counterfeit authority and power.

If your church does not teach and preach the application of the cross on a regular basis run away from it fast.

If you think these things are not important how about this: Revelation 12:9 speaks of the "beast who deceives the whole world" This is in the tribulation period, not far from now.

The impact of cross-less Christianity on prophecy:

Today much of the institutionalised, organised corporate church is prophetically stone deaf! Satan has replaced the prophetic Word with his word. It comes in the form of a great successful long - term future, devoid of coming judgement on the world. Christian humanists have presented a complete mischaracterisation of the entire prophetic plan of God. They've taken out everything that they deem objectionable.

Satan's plan for mankind is deceptive, it comes dressed as good. It' essentially born in the mind of Satan and manifests in the human mind or un-crucified self-life.

Let me give an example. A few days ago I was in a restaurant waiting for my order. I well dressed man came in, stood around and then walked up to me. Out of the blue he started telling me about a number of very great things that were shortly going to happen in my life. Then he tried to give me his card and get me to come with him so that he could give me a full fortune telling reading. I said no thank you and he left.

That was the a Satanic attempt to get me into his world, tempted by good things.

This is exactly the way of humanism in prophecy. It gets rid of all judgement, and essentially says that everything is going to be good and alright. You don't need to repent or get right with God or go His exclusive way. You don't need to 'deny self', 'come out and be separate from the world'!

You can do it, yes you can, you can be successful says the devil and I agree, yes you can, but it's the way of futility if its through self effort.

The Bible clearly teaches through many prophecies that judgement is coming on a Christ-rejecting world. It's human good and its evil will all come under His judgement soon.

Amos 3:7 The Lord does nothing unless He reveals it to His servants the prophets first

John 15:15 "All things I have heard from the Father, I have made known to you."

Jeremiah 23:22 "If they had stood in My council, then they would have announced My words to My people, and would have turned them back from their evil ways and deeds."

The above three verses are deeply profound. God is not confused. His prophetic Word has been given. He has spelt it out. It's not His fault if many Christians water down His prophetic Word and apply all sorts of allegorical interpretation.

Its not God's fault if the divided church speaks with an unclear sound or voice. God has spoken!

1 Corinthian 14:8 "For if a trumpet makes an uncertain sound, who will prepare himself for battle?"

Mother Theresa

She believed that it was her duty to help dying people in her hospice. If they were Hindus, Muslims or Buddhists or anything else, her job was not to interfere with this, but to comfort them in their slide into a Christ-less eternity. Before she died she rejected her faith in a letter to the Pope saying that Christianity was too exclusive. Many people think she was great because of her works.

Jesus lays out what discipleship is. He says, "Go into all the world making disciples among all nations, teaching them to observe all things I have commanded you."

This way of truth is often very different from the world's ideas of things!

True Success the Bible way:

There is a very good way to know if you are on the road to Godly success or living essentially for self.

The Godly way may not be easy at first. It involves much re-adjustment and much forsaking and denial and pain that comes from the application of the cross. BUT it is the way of inner joy and inner peace. The Spirit of God will bear witness in your own spirit that you are on the right track.

Conclusion:

Proverbs 14: 12 "There is a way that seems right to man, but it's end is the way of death."

Tragically, I heard a friend say that he only really got to know God and His prophetic Word after he left his previous church!

The perilous times and dark days that are coming are a result of humanistic self-orientated believers leading the church into ever-increasing apostasy.

The ways of modern man and much of the modern church will lead you to great counterfeit success! It will lead you away from the ways of God and potentially to hell.

Modern humanistic psychology has entered the church in a big way. It ignores the application of the cross. It dethrones prophecy and presents it as allegory if at all. The humanist way is the way of self love, self glorification, self motivation and ultimately paves the way to hell.

John 16:33..."In Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world"

2 Peter 1:4 "You have been given exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust."

Heaven or hell:

Old man, one day soon you'll have a new body that will not ever be bent over with heavy burdens. It will be a body that will never age and will live forever. But what an enormous burden you'll have forever if your new body is imprisoned in hell because you rejected the free gift of salvation offered by Yeshua / Jesus.

Young woman, I don't know what your burden is, but I do know the answer. Its the peace and joy of God that comes from knowing our wonderful forgiving Messiah. His ways are the ways of release from stress and bondage. His love will set you above the ways of the world and give you hope and victory.

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In closing this edition here is a painting by Marc Chagall showing the crucified Christ above a throng of people. The cross is the answer to all the arguments and opinions of man.

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

Edition 30. February 21st 2010

In this edition:

●Dark days are coming !

●Days of glorious light are coming

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Get right while there is light!

John 12 :35 "Yeshua / Jesus said to them, Yet for a little while the light is with you. Walk while you have the light so that darkness won't come upon you. Those who walk in the darkness don't know where they're going."

I have a very strong and growing sense that we are close to the start of many monumental events relating to the soon coming of our Messiah. We are unquestionable in the season.

As we move closer to these coming tragic and wonderful events we need to be prepared in heart and doctrine.

We are in an extremely evil and wicked generation. It is intensifying at an alarming rate.

Matthew 24:12 "Because of the increase of wickedness the love of many will grow cold." Can you see how dangerous these days are? Can you also see the direct relationship between wickedness and cold or lukewarm faith?

Interestingly there is a lot of typology in the story of Samson who was God's servant empowered with supernatural strength. Delilah came along and was more interested in power and money. She accepted a financial bribe to find out the secret of his strength. She betrayed him for money, just like Judas betrayed our Lord. This is just like much of the church today, which is more interested in money and power, but not the very heart of our Messiah. We all know how this story ended. The Delilah-church will fail

We need to be aware that we are in the days where much deception is around. Many have hearts after power, money and materialism. There is of course nothing wrong with these things in their proper place. We are entering days where there will be many "lying signs and wonders" amidst intensifying evil. "Perilous times" are upon us, but I can assure you you aint seen nothing yet!

Its all important to have our hearts right and our doctrine right in these days.

A startling insight not commonly believed.

To identify the nature of the dark days that are coming we need to identify the person who will become the antichrist.

The church has taught for many years that the antichrist will arise from the present day revived Roman empire. This is right but it's also wrong!

There is no doubt that the New World Government will be centred in Europe, but to be more accurate we need to go back and look at what the old Roman empire was. It most certainly isn't the present European Union. It includes Europe, but was originally much larger.

The ancient Roman empire included toady's nations of Europe, Turkey, North Africa, Syria, parts of Iran and Iraq.

Daniel foresaw the revised Roman empire in the form of a giant statue. The two legs represent the revised Roman empire, with the ten toes representing the nations that make up the ten world kingdoms still to come about. But the two legs represent the western and eastern sections of the revised Roman empire, not just one side.

The ancient Roman empire:

Okay, so where does the antichrist arise from? Here are keys.

Daniel 9:26 declares that the antichrist will arise from the people who would later destroy Jerusalem and the temple. These were the Romans. So we know that he will arise from a revised Roman empire.

Isaiah 10:21-24 "The remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob to the Mighty God...O My people who dwell in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrian. He shall strike you with a rod and lift up his staff against you, in the manner of Egypt."

Isaiah 10:5 "Woe to the Assyrian, the rod of My anger..."

Isaiah 14:24-25 "I will break the Assyrian in My land and upon My mountains..."

Micah 5:5 "When the Assyrian comes into our land and when he treads in our palaces...Thus He shall deliver us from the Assyrian."

Hosea 11: 6 Speaking of Israel "The Assyrian shall be his king because they refused to repent." This implies that Israel will fall for the antichrist at first.

There are numerous other scriptures especially in Isaiah that refer to this evil individual, the antichrist as the Assyrian.

Where is Assyria ?

Now we simply need to identify Assyria.

Ancient Assyria is a number of nations today. It is Syria, parts of Iran, Iraq and modern day Turkey.

The map below identifies ancient Assyria

Now have a look at the maps of Assyria and the old Roman empire. The Bible indicates that the antichrist has to arise out of the revised Roman empire and that he will be an Assyrian. This narrows the field down a lot. Again Turkey is the best candidate as it is the only one associated with Europe

Interestingly Turkey is currently in line to join Europe, but not the other Assyrian countries. There are other portions of scripture in Daniel that hint at the fact that the antichrist will arise from a nation north of Israel. Both Syria and Turkey are north of Israel. It seems that Turkey has the odds in its favour.

The point of this edition is not to identify the antichrist or the exact country from which he will arise, but to identify the nature of the dark days that are coming.

The Assyrian nations of today including Turkey are Islamic. And surprisingly more and more nations within Europe are becoming a home of many Muslims. If the antichrist arises from either Turkey or Syria he will most likely be a Muslim.

Today Europe is at the crossroads people are now talking about the potential break-up of Europe, due to the plunging euro which has been caused by the spiralling sovereign debt issues of many member nations. Europe is in great trouble right now and could be in for a big shake up. It's all very interesting from a prophetic point of view!

The revised Roman empire may well become an Islamic empire soon or at least have a Muslim majority.

Islam's antichrist is our Christ!

If the antichrist will be a Muslim, lets ask the question...what does Islam believe about the antichrist? Yes they do believe in an antichrist. But here is the amazing thing. Islam believes that an "impostor Messiah" will arise in Israel who will be Jewish and will be followed by the Jews! That's the true Messiah!

Shia and Sunni Muslims believe that their soon coming Mahdi will be the Islamic saviour and will come to this earth for seven years, bringing the whole world to Islam. He, working with the Muslim Jesus will rid the world of error, all opposition to Islam and all evil religions who oppose them...according to them.

Interestingly Ahmadinejad of Iran, who's mother is a decedent of Mohammad believes that his primary duty is to prepare the world for the coming of Mahdi. He believes that his task is to get rid of Israel first. Only then will the world be ready for mass conversion to Islam. Has he got a surprise coming!

The darkness that's coming:

I've said all of the above to get to this point: Islam is going to arise. it will become a major world force to contend with. Nominal Muslims are not the issue. In fact they are actually enemies of radical Islam. It is this extreme side of Islam that is so dangerous. We only need to cast our minds back to 9/11 to see how tolerant and loving they are!

There is no doubt that the antichrist will hate Jews and Christians just as radical Muslims do.

There is no indication in the scriptures that the antichrist will oppose the Arab people and their religion. In fact there are many indications that he will unify many religions except the true Biblical Messianic Christianity. This will be his object of hatred.

There is no doubt that savage tactics will be used by the devil himself working through the antichrist. There is no doubt that great conflict is coming soon. It will have the characteristics of all the Islamic hatred we have seen in recent times and then some!

Obviously this all takes place in the tribulation period, but we will see forerunners to it.

Psalm 83:4,5 "Come let us cut them off from being a nation, that the name of Israel be remembered no more. For they have consulted together with one consent. They form a confederacy against you. The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites (Arabs)...Assyria has joined with them."

The above verses show very clearly that the Muslim heart is against Israel. The "confederacy" could well be the UN, EU and others.

There is no doubt that the events of 9/11 are coming again and worse. Just have a look at this terrible prophecy in the book of Revelation:

Revelation 20:4 "...And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the Word of God, who had not worshipped the beast, or his image and had not received his mark... and they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years."

There is only one religious group that I know of that beheads people now. Tragically, many more perhaps masses more are coming.

The above verse speaks of those who have been martyred by beheading in the tribulation period.

This is a strong indication that the spiritual darkness that's coming will centre around Islam's hatred for believers who get saved in the tribulation period.

The light that's coming:

I have mentioned this before, but it bears repeating, simply because it is so exciting. Many Arabs in many countries are getting saved and many more will.

Isaiah 19: 25 "The Lord will strike Egypt and heal it, they will return to the Lord and He will be entreated by them and heal them...in that day Israel will be one of three with Egypt and Assyria even a blessing in the midst of the land whom the Lord will bless saying Blessed is Egypt My people and Assyria the work of My hands and Israel My inheritance."

Most of this dramatic verse will be fulfilled in the tribulation, but we are now seeing the start of it.

Walid Shoebat is a Palestinian born in Bethlehem of a family of terrorist 'freedom' fighters. He was jailed in Israel for his activities. One day he started to question things and started to study the Bible. It wasn't long before this freedom fighter was truly free! He's now driven by a deep passion to heal his one soul and bring the truth about Israel to other Palestinians and the world. he has now written a few books and is a regular speaker on his own amazing story around the world.

I love his quote..."The occupation is in the minds of Children who are taught hatred."

Here is his website:

www.shoebat.com

The two links below will take you to some very interesting information on the growing wave of salvation coming to many Arabs now. Let me add, that for many of them it is at great personal expense!

www.iranaliveministries.org

www.joelstrumpet.com

The light is coming amidst the growing darkness. Its still early days for the darkness to intensify, but its worth remembering that light put out darkness. In fact the light shines brighter in the darkness!

Summary:

Europe is in the throws of change and possible re-alignment. It will become a lot more Muslim-centric. Turkey is on the verge of entering Europe.

The antichrist will most probably be a Muslim form Turkey. Islam will continue to arise on the wings of cruel domination.

The wickedness of Islamic extremism will bring deep spiritual darkness, death and destruction on an enormous scale. In the midst of it many Arabs will be saved, most only towards the end of the tribulation period.

Conclusion:

The times that lie ahead of so exciting. Perhaps they are more so for me personally because I'm a journalist, ex-newspaperman and war correspondent. These things excite me, but when its all part of  the giant dramatic Biblical prophetic picture, with our Messiah and King of Kings at the helm, then its all so much more so.

Read that verse again at the top in Mathew 24. Increasing wickedness (including Islam) will cause the love of many to grow cold. Dark days are coming, but God's grace and mercy is being out poured for all who would want to come to the light.

1 Thessalonians 4:5-6 "But you brethren are not in darkness so as this day should overtake you as a thief You are sons of light and sons of the day, we are not of the night nor darkness. Therefore let us not sleep as others do, but let us watch."

Psalm 119:130 "The entrance of Your words gives light."

Heaven or hell:

Old man praying at the Western Wall, you're looking in the right direction, but who are you looking for? Your Jewish Messiah has come and gone already. Do you remember that sign the Romans nailed to the cross? It said "Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews" They were right about that! Yes, old man, He is your King. He's also King of the Muslim girl next to you, even though she may not know it yet, just like you!. He's my King too. In fact He is King of the universe and every little atom in it. But, old man, you need to respond to His love now before he comes back again in the clouds just as He left!

Young Muslim girl, I wish those were tears of regret and repentance before our mighty Lord and great God, Yeshua Ha-Mashiach (Jesus the Messiah) His name is not Allah! There are very many of your Muslim brothers and sisters getting saved now. Will you be one of them? I hope so. Do you know that when most Muslims get truly saved they get truly set free from bondage and as their love for Messiah intensifies so does their love for Israel! Heaven or hell is set before you, please make the right choice.

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In closing this edition here is woodcut art work by Gustave Dore from the Paradiso series. (Thanks to the Adelaide University Library.)

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

Edition 28. February 6th 2010

In this edition:

●Startling prophecies still to be fulfilled!

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The prophet Isaiah by Raphael 1511

Prophecies about to be fulfilled.

This edition should be seen in light of the previous one dealing with fulfilled Bible prophecy. The bottom line is that prophecy was fulfilled in a literal and exact manner in the past, which means that this pattern will continue into the future. We are now on the doorstep of many earth shattering prophecies coming to pass. Unfulfilled prophecy must be seen in light of fulfilled prophecy.

2 Timothy 3:16 "All scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete." "All" includes prophecy!

Isaiah 66: 2 "On this one shall I look; on him who is poor and of a contrite spirit and who trembles at My word."

Prophecy points the way ahead:

The world is racing at great speed to it's terrible destiny, while true believers in Messiah are racing ahead to their glorious destiny. The prophetic calendar shows that there is very little time left. Dear reader, please be aware that knowing about prophecy can't save you. It must all lead you to knowing our Messiah more deeply and intimately.

The King and the Kingdom of God:

The Kingdom of God is not the church! "Ahg, how can you speak such rubbish", I hear some very reverends saying! No the Kingdom of God is not the church. It includes the true church, but it is much larger and bigger than the church. The Kingdom of God is everything that does and will fall under His Kingship. This includes true Gentile believers, Messianic Jews, all of heaven, the future (true) new world order, and the universe including all of its currently unknown-to-us aspects. We need to see with prophetic eyes beyond our little worlds.

The sceptics nightmare.

This beautiful building, below, in Jerusalem is called the Shrine of the Book. It houses the 900-odd Dead Sea Scrolls. Many sceptics say that Bible prophecy may have been manipulated and the Bible itself has changed much since its original. Some of the Dead Sea Scrolls contain writings of many descriptions, but a number of them are accurate transcripts from the ancient Biblical texts. The Great Isaiah Scroll contains the entire book of Isaiah word for word. This copy predates the Christian era by a long way. It is identical in every word to Isaiah of our day. These scrolls show that not one single word has changed. It proves beyond doubt that Bible is authentic and can be trusted.

The image below with "Things to come" overlaid on it, is the actual Great Isaiah Scroll now kept in the Shrine of the Book.

There are many modern translations of the scriptures that are terribly flawed in many foundational areas. I will do an edition on this soon. Be warned ahead of time. The coming New International Version (NIV) to be released soon, will be the worst in history! It is nothing but blasphemy through and through. After looking at what's coming, it angers me so greatly!

Unfulfilled prophecies:

I will deal with unfulfilled prophecies relating to the soon coming millennium reign of our King in an upcoming edition.

Some unfilled, well known prophecies include the many relating to the signs of the end of this age or era. ●The great war of Gog and Magog in Ezekiel 38 & 39 (also called the Third World War by some) ●The destruction of Damascus ●The Rapture of the true church. ●The completion of the revised Roman Empire or one world government. ●The arise of the antichrist. ●The arising of a monetary control system. ●Many relating to the judgements of God on this world during the tribulation period.

The Great Isaiah Scroll.

Startling prophecies that will come to pass soon:

What I want to do now is reveal to you some little known, but startling and profound unfulfilled prophecies, soon to be fulfilled. Unless you are a keen student of God's word, you would not be aware of most of these.

I have intentionally chosen many prophecies that are unfamiliar to the casual Christian or Jew. These all have far reaching implications for the world and believers at large. These are only a small handful of many hundreds. They are extremely exciting and of monumental importance. They are earth shattering and fly in the face of modern theology and socio-political world views.

The coming temple in Jerusalem:

Zechariah 1:16 "I am returning to Jerusalem with mercy, My house shall be built in it says the Lord" 2 Thes 2:4 Speaks of the man of sin (antichrist) setting himself up in "the temple of God" in Jerusalem. Other verses indicating the rebuilding of the temple include: Amos 9: 11, 12  Acts 15:16 Isaiah 2:1-3 and Revelation 11:1,2

A message to Germany, and all others who came against Israel and will in the future:

Isaiah :60 14, 15 " The sons of those who afflicted you, (Israel) shall come bowing to you and all those that despised you shall fall prostrate at the sole of your feet and they shall call you 'The City of the Lord'...You have been forsaken and hated, I will make you an eternal excellence, a joy of many generations."

Micah 7:9 "I (Israel) will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against Him until He pleads my case..He will bring me forth to the light and I will see His righteousness. Then she who is my enemy will see, and shame will cover her who said to me, "Where is the Lord your God?"

Isaiah 49: 16,17 "See I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands, your walls are continually before Me. Your destroyers and those who laid you waste shall go away from you."

Isaiah 54: 17 "No weapon formed against you (Israel) shall prosper and every tongue which rises against you in judgement, you shall condemn."

Coming worldwide respect of the Jews:

Zechariah 8:13 "It shall come to pass that just as you were a curse among the nations O house of Judah and house of Israel, so I will save you and you shall be a blessing . Verse 23 "In those days ten men of every nation shall grasp the sleeve of a Jewish man, saying "let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you."

Isaiah 14:1 "For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob and will still chose Israel and settle them in their own land. The strangers (Gentiles) will be joined with them and they will cling to the house of Jacob."

Isaiah 60: 1-12 "Arise shine for your light has come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you (Israel)...His glory will be seen upon you. The Gentiles shall come to your light...The wealth of the Gentiles shall come to you...For the nation and kingdom which will not serve you shall perish."

Isaiah 49:1-8 "Listen O coastlands to Me and take heed, you peoples from afar...You are My servant O Israel in whom I will be glorified...I will give you as a light to the Gentiles...I will preserve you and give you as a covenant to the people to restore the earth."

Isaiah 49: 19 "For your waste places and the land of your destruction will now be too small for the inhabitants. Verse 22-26 "Behold I will lift My hand in an oath to the nations and set up My standard for the peoples...Kings shall be your foster fathers and their queens your nursing mothers; They shall bow down to you with their faces to the earth and lick up the dust of your feet...All flesh shall know that I the Lord am your Saviour Israel, and your redeemer the Mighty One of Jacob."

Isaiah 61:7 "Instead of your shame (Israel) you shall have double honour and instead of confusion, they shall rejoice in their portion. Therefore in their land they shall have double. Everlasting joy shall be theirs."

Isaiah 66:10-12 "Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad with her, all you who love her; Rejoice for joy with her all you who mourn for her...Behold I will extend peace to her like a river and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream."

Hosea 2: 14-19 "I will allure her (Israel) and bring her into the wilderness...she shall sing there and it will be in that day says the Lord that you will call me 'My Husband and no longer call me My Master. I will betroth you to Me forever."

Hosea 14:4-6 "I will heal their backslidings, I will love them freely, for My anger has turned away from him. I will be like the dew to Israel, His branches shall spread. His beauty will be like an olive tree."

Isaiah 54: 7 "For a brief moment I have forsaken you, but with great mercies I will gather you

Psalm 102:13 "For the time to favour Zion has come."

Coming judgement on the Palestinians and their supporters: (The Biblical people of Ammon, Edom, Moab, Gaza and the Philistines, in prophetic terms would be Arab Palestinians. See edition 16 for more on this)

Zephaniah 2: 8,9 "Moab and Ammon (Arabs) have made arrogant threats against the borders of My people, therefore says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, surely Moab shall become like Sodom and the people of Ammon like Gomorrah."

Ezekiel 36 :2 -27 "Because the enemy has said of you (Israel), 'Aha the ancient heights have become our possession ...therefore thus says the Lord God, surely I have spoken in My burning jealousy against the rest of the nations and against all Edom, who have given My land to themselves as a possession with joy and spiteful minds." verse 25 " Then I will sprinkle clean water on you and you shall be clean...I will give you a new heart and will put a new spirit within you. I will put My Spirit within you,"

Amos 1:6,7 "For the transgressions of Gaza, because they took captive the whole captivity to deliver it to Edom, I will send fire on Gaza...and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish." Verse 13 "That they might enlarge their territory."

Zechariah 9:5,6 "Gaza shall be very sorrowful...and I will cut off the pride of the Philistines."

Ezekiel 28 :25 "When I have gathered the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and I am hallowed in them in the sight of the Gentiles...I will execute judgement on all those around them who despise them."

Jeremiah 30:16,17 "Therefore all those who devour you (Israel) shall be devoured...I will heal your wounds, because they called you an outcast saying: This is Zion, no one seeks her."

Isaiah 26:15 "You have increased the nation (Israel) O Lord, You are glorified; You have expanded all the borders of the land

The prophet Malachi

Coming judgements on the people of the world:

Isaiah 24:1-23 "The Lord distorts the surface of the earth". The earth is defiled under its inhabitants, because they have transgressed the laws and broken the everlasting covenant...therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned and few are left...The earth is violently  broken and split open and is shaken exceedingly...The Lord will punish the high host of exalted ones."

Jeremiah 51:20 "You are My battle-axe (Israel) and weapons of war. For with you I will break the nations in pieces, with you I will destroy kingdoms".

Jeremiah 30:11 "For I am with you says the Lord, to save you; though I make a full end of all the nations where I have scattered you, yet I will not make a complete end of you.

Summary

The above verses fit in perfectly with all the more familiar prophecies, but these bring in details that are generally not well known. These are the exact opposite of what is taught in much of the church today and the exact opposite of the view of the world.

These prophecies also reveal that the Palestinians will be destroyed for trying to steal God's inheritance given to Israel. Most traditional churches are in the same situation.

The above verses collectively reveal that God has a spectacular, incredible, amazing, wonderful plan for Messianic Jews, true gentile believers and the land of Israel. These prophecies reveal that all who come against God's plans for Israel will ultimately be destroyed.

Many perhaps most of these prophecies will see their fulfilment in the tribulation period, but some do relate to the period in the run-up to the tribulation, which is where we are now.

Isn't it interesting that Hitler's final solution was to wipe out the Jews. The traditional, lukewarm church also has the same solution in a presently more humane form called the replacement theology. (See edition 26) But God has a final solution that replaces all these works of the devil with Himself ultimately Glorified in the Jews! How about that for a turn of events!!

Conclusion:

What a great God we have. One who knows the end from the beginning and declares it to us before time. Unless you are a giant fool you can do nothing but be humbled before this great God.

There is no other religion that has within its evil confines anything prophetic, never mind such a carefully laid out plan that has come to pass and is and will, just as the prophets declared! I said this in the last edition; I say it again: You are gambling against immeasurable odds if you reject prophecy!

As with the flavour of the entire Prophetic Scroll, these prophecies show the importance of balance from Gods point of view and the desperate need to break from traditional views.

Much of the church has grabbed the Jewish fruit and rejected the Jewish roots. Today the church has taken all the promises to the Jews for themselves and replaced, rejected and condemned Israel. It has despised Zionism. It has a blind spot towards Messianic Jews. The truth is the exact shocking opposite as revealed in these prophecies! You can't be lukewarm to these issues and you can't be neutral.

Revelation 3: 16 "Because you are lukewarm (the Laodicea church) I will spew you out of My mouth.

Dear reader please understand this: If you bless Israel and give her the dues God gives her, you will be blessed. If you join much of the church in coming against Israel you are cursed of God and on a crowded road leading to a disastrous conclusion.

●Prophecy reveals that believing Jews and Gentiles have their destiny entwined. The restoration of Israel has already started and a new Messianic Community of Jew and Gentile as One new man is underway now.

Please be aware that we are entering incredible times. There will be mass confusion amongst many and unfortunately many believers will betray one another over these issues. Mathew 24:10 "Many will be offended and betray one another in that day...and the love of many will grow cold." We are entering times where it is critical to have your hearts right before our Lord and to be right in doctrine. False doctrine or error is no small issue, it always leads to wrong actions.

Isaiah 50:5 "He awakens my ear to hear as the learned, the Lord has opened my ear."

Ezekiel 3: 6, 27 "Receive into your heart all My words that I speak to you...When I speak to you I will open your mouth and you shall say, Thus says the Lord."

The above prophecies all come from the word of our Lord, can you hear Him speaking to you? If so, you need to speak His Words to as many as He leads you to.

Heaven or hell:

It's really all about what and how you see things isn't it? Who do you look to for your life's food? Do you look to the world and its evil gods. Are you a worshipper of the great Satanic god Hollywood? Do you let the ways of the world fill your heart and soul. Do you see things the way the great majority of the world does? If so, I'd hate to be in your shoes when our Messiah looks into your eyes on judgement day!

Your eyes are a window into your soul and God can see clearly right into your heart! He sees and knows every detail about you. As He looks in through your eyes, He knows if you've made right with Him. Are you His own child destined for heaven? If you are, your eyes will see Him face to face with confidence. You'll enter a world where you'll see so many things too wonderful to describe...forever. If not your eyes will see Satan up close and personal as you move in with him.

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In closing here is wonderful painting by Marc Chagall titled "Solitude" It shows the prophet clinging to the Torah scroll. I think it actually represents hope and promise. One thing I love about Chagall's work is that it shows, like all of us artists, that he was touch mad!! Who in their right mind would put a smiling cow playing a violin behind the prophet? I love it!! (By the way his paintings today sell in the $6 million region.)

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

Edition 29. February 15th 2010

In this edition:

●The greatest reunion ever

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A remarkable reunion in Messiah

Before we get into this edition let me just say what it's not about. This is not the British / Israelite doctrine or any similar doctrine claiming that any national group is now the ten lost tribes of Israel. Those are all doctrines of deception based on nationalism and national pride.

What's it all about?

The ten lost tribes of Israel will be "found" again and return, but with a dramatic inclusion. The Bible says it will be so.

Let's do a bit of history firstly. There were 13 tribes of Israel at first, but it is the twelve that we are concerned about here. These were divided into the southern and northern kingdoms. The northern and southern kingdoms were often at odds with each other. The southern kingdom was called the house of Judah and was made up of the tribes of Benjamin and Judah, while the northern kingdom was known as the house of Israel or Joseph /Ephraim and was made up of ten tribes. The ten tribes become scattered and "lost" after exile and never returned to the land. In some 2900 odd years the lost tribes have really become truly lost and assimilated into the nations where they found a home.

What a home coming!

Ezekiel 37:16-17, 22 "Take a stick for yourself and write upon it: 'For Judah and for the children of Israel, his companions.' Then take another stick and write on it: 'For Joseph the stick of Ephraim and for all the house of Israel, his companions.' Then join them one to another for yourself into one stick and they will become one in your hand." Verse 21 "Thus says the Lord, surely I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, wherever they have gone and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land and I will make them one nation in the land."

Now the detective work starts. We need to identify who is who in this spectacular prophecy of reunion.

The first stick is called Judah, the children of Israel. This we can safely identify as the two tribes that were not scattered. The second stick is interesting and more difficult to identify. It is called Joseph and Ephraim.

Ephraim was one of the sons of Joseph through a Gentile Egyptian woman. So Ephraim is essentially Gentile with an Israelite father.

Josephs father, Jacob had his name was changed by God to Israel. In Genesis 48 Joseph brings his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh to be blessed by Jacob (Israel) This is a lengthy passage, but what is of major importance is the fact that the blessing went to Ephraim the younger son first rather than to Manasseh, who was the eldest and should have received the full blessing first. Joseph pointed this out to his father and here is what he said:

Genesis 48: 19 "And his father refused (to change the blessing) and said "I know it my son, I know it: he (Manasseh) shall also become a great people, but his younger brother (Ephraim) shall be greater than he and his seed shall become a multitude of nations." The original Hebrew word used here for 'nations' is the word 'gowy' which means foreign nation or Gentiles. In other words, it's not the nation of Israel! But now we must understand that these Gentile nations are rooted in both Joseph an Israelite and his Egyptian wife, so these Gentile nations are connected to Israel through their father Joseph. In some respects Joseph is also a type of Messiah.

So these Gentile nations are connected to Israel in Messiah as we'll see just now.

Ephraim then, is the modern day Gentile nations into which the ten tribes were assimilated. The prophecy above of Ezekiel 37 doesn't limit the Gentile nations it actually expands them in the term "the companions" of Joseph and Ephraim.

The ten northern tribes of Israel, referred to here as Joseph and Ephraim were scattered abroad. They moved north of Israel into the Gentile nations. They eventually spread into many nations including some in Europe, Russia, Ireland the UK, and much later, the commonwealth countries including the US.

Over time the tribes became assimilated into these Gentile nations.

This is the identity of the 2 sticks:

"Joseph" would be a reference to Jews (Israelites) who are scattered around the world. The house of Ephraim and his companions" is no doubt a reference to Gentile believers in Messiah.

Many Jews have found a home within the Gentile nations and many of these will soon recognise their Messiah. So as the two sticks come together in one they will include the Jews of Israel (Judah) who get saved, the Jews of the world (Joseph) who get saved and the Gentiles of the world (Ephraim) who get saved.

All come together as one in Messiah.

While Israel has been scattered among the Gentile nations, she has found a sanctuary, especially in the UK and US, but has also come under the evil influences of Gentile paganism and evil practices.

Hosea 8:8-14 " Israel is swallowed up now they are among the Gentiles, like a vessel in which there is no pleasure...Because Ephraim has made many alters for sin...Israel has forgotten his Maker."

Amos 9:9 Speaks of the fact that God will scatter and sift Israel among the nations, "yet not one smallest grain will fall to the ground." God knows exactly where His sheep are. In His sight none are lost!

Jeremiah 31:10 "He that scattered Israel will gather him."

Ezekiel 11:16 Although I have cast them far off among the heathen and scattered them among many countries...I will gather you from among the peoples...and I will give you one heart and put a new spirit within you."

Zechariah 10:6 "I will save the house of Joseph, I will bring them back and have mercy upon them. They shall be as though I had not cast them off...Those of Ephraim will be a mighty man."

Yes, in 1948 Israel became a nation again and many wonderful prophecies were fulfilled but this isn't the reunion spoken of here. Israel's nationhood is not her spiritual rebirth. The prophecy that we are concerned about here relates to Israel's spiritual rebirth. The reunification or joining of the two sticks is talking about both houses of Israel ultimately coming to the Lord as one. This full spiritual re-gathering still lies ahead.

The dramatic twist in all of this lies in the final make up of the whole house of Israel.

According to our "two sticks" prophecy above, both houses of Israel will be reunited in the land and in the Lord, but a huge, huge group of many millions of Gentiles from around the world will also be part of this grand reunion and in fact become part of the whole house of Israel.

Amazing New Testament insights.

Shockingly, very few Christians know a single thing about this. Most, including pastors read over these verses of scripture with their church-doctrine glasses on and are blind to what the scriptures clearly and obviously teach. Unfortunately many Christians have been deceived and taught a lot of hogwash by their blind guides and are generally too lazy to check things out for themselves.

The entire message of the restoration and unification of the two houses of Israel is outlined in the New Testament.

James 1:1 "James a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. To the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad." This clearly indicates that the book of James is addressed to the tribes who are scattered abroad.

Matthew 10:5,6 "Do not go the way of the Gentiles...but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." These words from our Messiah are what we call the great commission. Notice who the primary recipients are supposed to be!

John 11:52 "Not for that nation only but also that He would gather in one the children of God who were scattered abroad."

John 10: 6 "Other sheep I have which are not of this fold, them also I must bring and they will hear my voice and there will be one flock and one shepherd."

Romans 9:23 " That He might make known the riches of His glory...not of the Jews only but also of the Gentiles."

Romans 1:16 "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes to the Jew first and also to the Greek (Gentile)"

Can you see what the above verses are saying? The whole of this edition which comes largely from the Old Testament is found right here in the New Testament as well. I wonder why the church ignores this.

As I said in the last edition, the church has grabbed the Jewish fruit and rejected the Jewish root. In fact many churches are coming against Israel in many ways, by not supporting her. She needs to be supported even in her temporary blindness.

Types and shadows:

There are many examples in the scriptures which parallel the joining of the two sticks.

The story of the prodigal son is one, the reunion of Joseph, sent into Egypt with his brothers is another.

The incredible story of the wild and natural olive tree branches in Romans 11 is an exact parallel.

Romans 9 :25-28 "I will call them My people who were not My people...though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of sea, the remnant will be saved"

Summary

Both houses of Israel will be reunited. The lost tribes will be found, saved and will bring with them untold millions of Gentiles believers all into one grand glorious union.

Israel is not complete yet, it will be shortly and with the grand reunion will come untold millions of Gentiles, all united as one in Messiah.

Many gentile Christians want no part with Israel, while there are Jews who want no part with the church. Both are wrong.

All of His sheep will be saved including the "lost sheep of the house of Israel"

God is now doing His final work. It is to reunite all believers, Jew and Gentile as one. The Bible calls these "All Israel"

It's important to understand who "all Israel" is. It's not all Jews nor all Gentiles, it is a remnant within Israel and many Gentiles who ultimately make up "all Israel".

Conclusion:

The Bible plots this drama from start to its a glorious finish. At the end of the day, God's final purpose comes to pass His way, just as it is laid out in the scriptures. God's chosen people become one in Him. believing Jew and Gentile will be united under Messiah.

The church is largely alienated from Israel while Israel is alienated from their Messiah. The church is partially blind to its roots in Israel even as Israel is largely blind to her Messiah in the church. The church has failed by abandoning Israel and Israel has failed to recognising Yeshua Hamashiach (Jesus the Messiah). Neither situation is going to last!! Victory is just around the corner!!

There are not two chosen people, there is one single royal priesthood a Holy nation in the Kingdom of Messiah.

When Gentiles are saved by the Jewish Messiah of Israel, Yeshua Hamashiach, He brings them into His one eternal covenant. When Gentiles get saved they are no longer Gentiles, neither are they Jews. They are one new Kingdom person. Likewise when Jews are saved, they are no longer Jews but part of the great undivided Kingdom of God.

God does not have two covenant people. Yes He has made covenants with Israel, the Jews and the land of Israel itself. Yes He has worked in different ways with the church in this era of Grace. These are all temporary situations along the road to one glorious united Kingdom of God.

The end of the age, which is coming soon, will see Jew and Gentile believer wonderfully glorified together as one. The blood of Messiah will restore and end all bad-blood between brothers. The blood of Messiah is the unifying agent of God.

Hosea 11:10 "They shall walk after the Lord, He will roar like a lion. When He roars, then His sons shall come trembling from the west."

Hosea 14: 4-8 "I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely, for My anger has turned away from him. I will be like dew to Israel...Ephraim will say, 'What have I to do with idols anymore."

Heaven or hell:

Young Jew, you need to break from legalism before the sun sets on your life. You have the ten commandments strapped to your forehead, that's the wrong place! You need the love of God in your mind and heart. You do not get saved by obeying or displaying an outward law. Of course I know that love for our Messiah will create in you a desire to obey Him, but salvation is a free gift of the grace of God. This must come first and its exclusive, it only comes through Yeshua Hamashiach (Jesus the Messiah) Works and traditions do not make you right with God. Yes there is a place for them but after the Spirit of God has moved into your heart.

Old lady, one day you will stand up straight again. You will get a new body that will be forever young and you will live forever in your new body, how about that! But what an eternal tragedy if you, in your new body move into hell. Then you will wish you had your old body back again! We are all going to get a new incorruptible body, whether we like it or not, but whose neighbourhood we're going to hang out in forever is dependent upon what we do with the free gift of salvation offered now.

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In closing this edition here is a rendition of our Jewish Messiah, Jesus by Rembrandt.

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

Edition 27. January 31st  2010

In this edition:

●Fulfilled Bible prophecy speaks volumes!

●Don't gamble against immeasurable odds!

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The voice of God in prophetic fulfilment.

Prophecy speaks. It speaks about things that are to come from the standpoint of the prophet. But once these things have come and gone, fulfilled prophecy continues to speak, but it now speaks a new thing, which you dare not underestimate.

Bible prophecy has a 100% fulfilment record. Not one has missed! Can you see what fulfilled Bible prophecy is saying? It's saying reject it at your own peril! It's saying if you reject it you're gambling against immeasurable odds!

You may think that rejecting or sidelining Bible prophecy is very stupid, and you would be quite right, but there are untold millions who do just this.

I would like now to discuss the issue of fulfilled Bible prophecy as proof of the veracity of the Bible itself. But first a word of warning. You can see that 2+2=4. but if your heart is not right, no amount of proof will make any difference. To be right with God we need to have a soft and broken heart before our Lord and His word, then these things all truly add up in a remarkable way.

Its no use giving intellectual accent to prophecy, or the Bible in general and still being a hard hearted sinner destined for hell. The Bible declares that even the demons believe and shudder at their future!

God Himself is the ultimate prophet. The Bible says that He knows the end from the beginning!

 Amos 3:7 "The Lord does nothing unless He reveals His secrets to His servants the prophets."

The fulfilment pattern:

There is a very clear pattern of prophecy fulfilment in the Old Testament. Every single one that saw it's fulfilment in the Old Testament was fulfilled accurately and literally in time and space. Yes of course there are many allegorical lessons that we can learn from these, but we can never say that there fulfilments was not literal.

Every single prophecy of the Old Testament that had fulfilment in the New Testament, was again fulfilled in exactly the same manner. They were all fulfilled literally with not one single miss. Some were very detailed as we will see.

Now we come to the New Testament prophecies. Again every one that saw it's fulfilment in New Testament times was fulfilled exactly, literally without exception. Every one that has been fulfilled in our day has followed the exact same pattern.

Now we come to the remaining unfulfilled prophecies of both the Old and New Testaments. Obviously, logically, they will be fulfilled in the same pattern, which is literally with no exceptions.

The odds of all prophecies being fulfilled exactly and literally is immeasurable. It is the one thing that separates the Bible far above all other religious books. Only God can see the future exactly and predict it, without fail.

The big thing that this is all saying is this: If there is a completely sure visible pattern of past fulfilment of prophecy then you can be absolutely sure that the remaining unfulfilled prophecies will continue to be fulfilled in exactly the same pattern.

Prophecy speaks accurately. It opens many doors into a glorious future.

Fulfilled Bible prophecy is the atheists nightmare!

There are so so many poor, blind believers out there with no idea or no interest in prophecy, its quite amazing. In fact they are really a product of their bind leaders!

Many so called prophets have come and gone with many failed prophecies. Nostradamus for example is hero - worshipped by many, but many of his prophecies never came to pass. Equally as many are so vague and general, that anyone can make almost anything fit them. Yes he did have many that did come true. It's worth bearing in mind that most of his prophecies were simply taken from the Bible to start with and regurgitated in a different form.

Today there are many who call themselves prophets but are themselves in great need of prophetic understanding. You can't lead others with so-called prophetic utterances if you don't understand the grand prophetic picture of the Bible.

There are no prophets that are like those in the inspired Word of God!

2 Peter 1:16-19 Speaks of three disciples who saw the risen Lord with their eyes and heard Him with their ears and then it says that there is something even more sure than seeing and hearing. verse 19 "We have the prophetic word made more sure, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts."

This is an amazing portion of scripture. It says that prophecy is more sure than seeing or hearing. The morning star is the planet Venus and shines in the darkest part of the night signally that the day is about to dawn. When you recognise and realise the importance and significance of prophecy, that star has arisen in your own heart and it means that you now have spiritual eyes to see and understand.

Can you see how important these things are?

Fulfilled prophecies of the Old Testament:

●Isaiah 7:14 "The virgin will conceive and bear a Son and shall call His name Immanuel"

●Micah 5:1 "But you Bethlehem, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come the One who is to be ruler of Israel, whose goings forth have been from everlasting to everlasting."

●Zechariah 9:9 "Behold your King is coming to you. He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt the foal of a donkey"

●Isaiah 9:6 "Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulders. His name will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God."

●Isaiah 50:6 "I gave My back to those who struck Me, and My cheeks to those who plucked out My beard, I did not hide my face from the shame of spitting."

●Isaiah 53:7 "He opened not His mouth. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter."

●Isaiah 53:5 "He was wounded for our transgressions."

●Zechariah 12:10 "Then they will look upon Me the one whom they pierced." 13:6 " What are these wounds in your hands? Then He will answer and say, those with which I was wounded in the house of My friends."

●Daniel 9:26  "Messiah will be cut off, but not for Himself"

●Zechariah 11: 13 "He would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver". Psalm22 and 34:20 None of His bones would be broken

Isaiah 66:8 Israel to become a nation in a single day.

●Some other prophecies of the Old Testament, fulfilled in history: The exile of Israel. Preservation of their identity while in dispersion. The Hebrew language would be restored to Israel after being lost for 2000 years. Jerusalem would be restored to the Jews. Israel will prevail over its enemies. The ruins of Israel will be rebuilt. Israel will be a prosperous nation. The desert will bloom again. Israel's fruit will fill the world. The Jews would be restored to Israel, initially in spiritual blindness. Their return would be from the whole world. And many many more!

Fulfilled prophecies of the New Testament:

●Matthew 24:14 Before the end comes, the Gospel will preached in all the world.

●Matthew 24: 23-25 There will be false Messiahs before His return.

●Matthew 24:32 Israel will become a nation.

●Luke 21 23, 24 "Jerusalem will be trodden down by the Gentile, until the time of the Gentiles is fulfilled".

●Acts 2: 24-31 Jesus would be raised from the dead.

●Ephesians 2:8-10 He would ascend to God.

●1 Timothy 4: 1 Believers will depart from the faith.

And of course many hundreds more

The bottom line:

The big bottom line in fulfilled prophecy of both the Old and New Testaments is that they were all fulfilled exactly and literally.

This means that God can see the future. it means that His word is supernatural and trustworthy. It is His word. It means that if prophecy was fulfilled in this manner, you can bet your life on the fact that the remaining prophecies will be fulfilled in the same pattern.

I've presented just a few fulfilled prophecies above, there a thousands of others. It's important to realise that there are five times more prophecies of the second coming and related events, as with the first coming of our Lord. One fifth of the Bible is prophetic.

Unfulfilled prophecy:

There are a great many prophecies for today, which remain unfulfilled. Most of these are right on the doorstep. I'll deal with unfulfilled prophecies in a coming edition. It's important to understand what fulfilled prophecy is essentially saying first, because it lays the foundation.

The overall purpose of prophecy

God has given the church five ministry giftings to make it work properly and be complete. These are apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher. If one is missing the church is incomplete right at its foundation.

Because we as believers are in a spiritual environment, you can be very sure that if something as important as the prophetic is missing, the devil will oblige and fill the gap! He will fill that gap with human opinion and many other things. You see, prophecy is essentially a look into the mind of God, who Himself knows the future! Many churches today have nothing more than the mind of the leader.

With the knowledge of the prophetic missing from the church, it is blind and is in extreme danger, much more than it can imagine.

In fact the Bible predicts that the world will throw their weight, give their hearts minds and souls blindly to the antichrist and his sidekick the false prophet in days not far from now.

Prophecy gives us light in this dark world, it brings hope, peace, security and everything that the world can't give.

Arguments against prophecy:

●There are many who say it's all open to interpretation. Well, this is simply another way of casting down the importance of prophecy and the Bible itself. The Bible warns that in these days, just when prophecy is being fulfilled at an alarming rate, there would be people who would become last days scoffers and end time mockers, saying "where is the hope of His coming, all things will carry on as normal". Does this sound familiar? It's just the same as the scoffers in Noah's day! (2 Peter 3:3 and Jude 18)

●There are some who say that prophecy is simply a warning and if we heed the warning, the events will not come about. This is most certainly true with some portions of scripture. For example the Bible warns Gentile churches that if they come against or boast against what God is doing with the re-grafting of the Jews back into their own Olive Tree (Romans 11), they (the Gentiles) will be cut off, just as the Jews were cut off for their unbelief.

Thankfully there are many who have heeded the warning and will not be cut off. There are also many who won't heed the warning and will be cut off. (Please read the previous edition on replacement theology for much more on this.)

But the great majority of prophecies are not conditional. They are God's look into future events. They will happen exactly.

●Some believe that God is sitting in heaven pushing button, so to speak. He is making this or that happen. This is essentially Calvinism gone to pot. Because God knows the future it doesn't mean that He is making everything happen. Although we need to be aware that in the tribulation period, when His anger and fury is in play, there are many things then, that will be a direct result of His action.

●People make the big mistake of thinking that prophecy is all doom gloom and bad news. Let me put it another way; the correct way.

If you throw a criminal in jail, the environment in which he operated is now cleansed and a little bit better. Well, Bible prophecy, although it deals with many issues, is primarily centred around the cleansing of this world and the purifying of the universe! It's all about the coming glory of purity, holiness, righteousness, peace, calm and untold joy. But first of all, the trash has to be taken out!

God's prophetic word, is not bad news at all, its the best news ever! It's only bad news if you're in love with the world and it's ways.

Conclusion:

Prophecy is not given to us so that we can be fascinated. It's not given to us so that we can prove ourselves right and others wrong (that only increase your guilt) It's not even given to us so that we can know the future (although that is a secondary purpose). It's given to us so that we can know God and His ways more deeply and intimately and be ready for Him at His coming.

The big thing is to know God and be known by Him!

Fulfilled Bible prophecy is so powerful and incredible on many fronts. It's main central theme is the destruction of Satan's kingdom and the triumph of our God of glory and His kingdom. It's greater purpose is the purification of the universe and setting up of the glorious eternity of eternities.

1 John 3:3  "Everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure." The "hope in Him" that is being referred to here is the hope of His coming. If this subject is not taught, or you are ignorant of it, how can you be complete?

2 Timothy 4:8  "Finally there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness...but not only to me, but all who loved His appearing."

Heaven or hell:

The crowns of this world are useless, valueless, and meaningless compared to the crowns of glory which are laid up before us. These women may think they're important because of their crowns, but its what God thinks that counts. These crowns will fade, as will the reasons for which they were given. Let me tell all you ladies something: If you are saved, born again of the Spirit of God, your beauty will never fade. You will never grow old, wrinkled and full of stretch marks. In eternity your glory will shine forever. it will be incorruptible!

Eternal crowns of glory are all that matter. The crowns awarded by our Lord to his servants will never fade and never be able to be taken away. They are given for the acceptable works of righteousness done by His servants. Gold, silver and precious stones are also used to symbolise the eternal rewards given to believers who faithfully did His will and His work, His way. What a tragedy to stand before God and be stripped of every reward of man and be awarded no eternal crown.

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Luke 4:18-23 Jesus was handed the book of Isaiah, he found the place where it is written: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me"...He closed the book, gave it back and sat down. He then said "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."

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