#ourCOG 17 June 2024
The Number 1 Signal
Most of those within the Christian community who have for years seriously studied Bible prophecy have given the number one signal to watch for as the nation Israel.
This has been especially true since the Jewish people – hated, hunted, and murdered throughout millennia and finally killed by the millions in the Nazi holocaust – came back into the Promised Land following World War II in 1948.
Many among the Reform denominations joined the Catholic Church in writing off the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as having any further rights to the promises God made. Obviously, in this collective view, God had given up on them. Their rejection and crucifixion of His Son had, in the minds of these religionists, negated any rights as a nation called Israel.
When the Jews became miraculously a nation again in the area surrounding Jerusalem, the chosen people suddenly took on tremendous prophetic importance in the eyes of those who looked diligently into eschatology –the study of end times things.
Although attacked on every side from the time they were reborn as a nation, Israel not only survived but grew and prospered as no other people of the Middle East. The land began to bloom like a garden –which was, in fact, a prediction from God’s Word about what would happen to the land of promise anytime the chosen people occupied it.
Major assaults against the Jewish state in 1956, 1967, and 1973 only proved God’s Word to be infallible. The nation won against all odds in those wars and sent their hate-filled enemies scurrying away in painful defeat.
But, just as God’s Word also prophesies, the assaults, although of somewhat lesser virulence, continued to thrust at Israel and continue today, as we have all witnessed very recently.
Israel remains at the center of nations in a conflict that the would-be world-governing peace purveyors fear will result in World War III and nuclear Armageddon. These minions, which I am convinced make up the human element within the Ephesians 6:12 wickedness in high places against which we struggle, no longer hide their satanically-fostered hatred for God’s chosen nation. They strive to turn the entirety of earth’s peoples against the Jewish State. The following illustrates the point.
GENEVA, June 3 (Reuters) – A group of United Nations experts called on Monday for all countries to recognize a Palestinian state to ensure peace in the Middle East.
The call came less than a week after Spain, Ireland, and Norway officially recognized a Palestinian state, prompting anger from Israel, which has found itself increasingly isolated after nearly eight months of the war in Gaza.
The experts, including the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in the Palestinian territories, said recognition of a Palestinian state was an important acknowledgment of the rights of the Palestinian people and their struggle toward freedom and independence…
Israel has repeatedly condemned moves to recognize a Palestinian state, saying they bolster Hamas, the militant Islamist group that led the deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel, which sparked the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip.
[Source: UN experts urge all countries to recognize Palestinian statehood, By Reuters, June 3, 2024]
Anger and threats similar to that in Germany in the 1930s are again being heard in Europe and around the world.
EJA Chairman Rabbi Menachem Margolin opened the meeting with a stark message. “We are in a fight for the continuation of Jewish life in Europe,” he said. “Jews wearing traditional clothing or displaying mezuzahs on their doors are facing relentless harassment. Jewish students are receiving threats on their lives and being excluded from university courses, while hate graffiti defaces Jewish homes, synagogues and cemeteries without any deterrent.”
[Source: Leading rabbi warns mass exodus of Jews from Europe to Israel may be imminent, Rapture Ready News, June 4, 2024]
The buildup is accelerating toward the time Jesus said would be a time of trouble such as never been. He placed God’s chosen people –Israel—at the center of that time of Tribulation.
Watch Israel, and the world’s increasingly hate-filled treatment of the Jewish people. This is the number 1 signal that shows definitively where we are on God’s Prophetic Timeline.
This means Jesus Christ is about to step out on the Clouds of Glory and call believers (the Church) to Himself.
You want to go to Christ when He says, “Come up here!” Planet Earth, following the Rapture, will descend into the time of horrors depicted in the Book of Revelation.
Here is how to avoid that most terrible time of human history.
“That if you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and will believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:9-10).
–Terry
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Jesus’ Soon Appearing Versus the Normalcy Bubble
In 1920, Warren G. Harding ran for president with the campaign slogan of “The return to normalcy.” Despite harsh criticism for his use of such an obscure word at the time, the idea of returning to “normalcy” swept him into the Oval Office.
His motto had great appeal to Americans in 1920, as they longed for normal lives after the turmoil of World War I and the deadly Spanish Flu pandemic.
Most people live in a “bubble of normalcy” where they feel secure because of exaggerated and unrealistic hopes of either a return to normalcy or of their current lifestyle continuing indefinitely into the future unhindered by the perils around them.
The Normalcy Bias
Because of America’s long history of peace and security, many of its citizens live with what’s called a “normalcy bias.” As a result, even many Christians label those of us who warn of the dangers inherent in a world speeding toward the Tribulation period as “conspiracy theorists.” “No one can really be that wicked or deceitful so as to cause such widespread suffering and death,” they tell us. Such is the errant worldview inside the bubble.
Unfortunately, many Bible-believing saints see the storm clouds forming on the horizon but fail to recognize that they signal the end of human history as we know it. In order to cope with the threats to their wellbeing, they often lapse back into a familiar rhythm of life, believing that life as they know it will continue indefinitely. It’s so easy to do!
Why Does It Matter?
I realize that the majority of my readers recognize the signs of the times and live well outside the normalcy bubble that negatively impacts those both inside and outside the church.
Even so, it’s vital that we don’t lose our focus on future things and resist the lure of the normalcy bias that continually competes for our allegiance.
First, a substantial number of our fellow believers suffer because of cancer, the loss of loved ones, financial woes, and a host of other afflictions. They, like us, need frequent reminders that this world is not their home, along with our confident assurance that a much better day is coming. We don’t know when Jesus will come for us, but the signs tell us that this glorious day for all the saints is imminent.
Secondly, a firm grasp of biblical prophecy enables us to look realistically at the chaotic and lawless world around us and share the “blessed hope” of Titus 2:11-14 with those outside of Christ. This biblical two-world perspective provides us with a solid foundation from which to give others a “reason for the hope” that we possess (1 Peter 3:15). We not only recognize what’s happening around us, but we also know the why behind what we see. This is the essence of a sound biblical worldview.
Third, the practice of eagerly watching for Jesus’ appearing has a purifying effect on us. Consider the words of 1 John 3:2-3:
“Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.”
Such an upward focus motivates us to live in a way that’s pleasing to Him.
Fourth, remaining grounded in biblical prophecy shields believers from the false teachings that abound in churches that claim to be Bible-believing.
Paul, claiming to write based on a word from the Lord, fixated the hope of the Thessalonian believers on meeting Jesus in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17). Those who say there’s no such thing as the Rapture attack the integrity of God’s Word.
We who long for Jesus’ imminent appearing confidently do so based on the description of an event that the Apostle Paul said came directly from the Lord, even though others believe we are crazy for anticipating an event that’s far, far out of the ordinary.
Jesus Is Coming Very Soon
Of course, there’s a certain comfort in our daily routines. The concept of the Rapture is an exceedingly supernatural event with no parallels in our experience or even in the history of humanity. Yes, Enoch was a prototype of it, but the Lord’s imminent appearing will result in the sudden disappearance of tens of millions and the empty graves of many more. And all these things will happen in an instant on a day just like this.
Eight years ago, I retired so I could write full-time about Bible prophecy, a topic of lifelong learning for me. Even so, it’s difficult at times to wrap my head around what’s coming in the near future as the signs scream with this message to all who are paying attention, “Jesus is coming very soon!”
The actors are in place, the stage is all set, and the curtain is about to rise on the Day of the Lord. The globalists are doing all they can to fully implement their deadly agenda, but they cannot do so until God allows it.
Everything is in place for the Rapture to happen, for the Day of the Lord to begin, and for the man of lawlessness to later make his covenant of death with Israel. The only unknown is when the Lord will call us home and then remove His restraining hand that’s now keeping the man of lawlessness from assuming control (2 Thessalonians 2:1-8).
We do not know the day or the hour. However, the Bible tells us it will happen suddenly and without warning. In addition, the signs tell us that it must happen soon and warn us not to get too comfortable in the normality of our daily lives.
-Jonathan
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