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Q. What’s the difference between prophecy and propaganda?
(This question is an
abbreviation of a much longer, multi-faceted question. The paraphrased question
was something like this: ‘How do we know that the prophecy you teach is
prophecy and not just propaganda to support your own style of teaching? You
take a Scripture and link it to a whole lot of other Scriptures and then claim
it’s speaking in support of the first. How do you know it is? Also, you seem to
be generating propaganda for the conservative side of politics. This has
nothing to do with the Bible!’)
Firstly you have to understand that
prophecy is not for private interpretation. This is what
Peter said: 2Peter 1:19 – 2:3 "And we have the word of the prophets made
more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it,
as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star
rises in your hearts. 20 Above all, you
must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own
interpretation. 21 For prophecy never had its origin
in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried
along by the Holy Spirit. 1 But there were also false
prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They
will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying
the Sovereign Lord who bought them – bringing swift destruction on
themselves. 2 Many will follow their shameful ways and will
bring the way of truth into disrepute. 3 In their
greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up.
Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has
not been sleeping."
So instead of people arguing
over their favourite interpretations of prophecy, they should be seeking the
Truth that the prophets have declared through God’s Holy Spirit. God didn’t
ever rely on the clever arguments of those who sought to interpret the
Scriptures to make them comply with their own fanciful doctrines. His prophets
were taught through the Holy Spirit – by Him! And the
starting point was the writings of Moses, the servant of God. And God warns to
remember this (Mal 4:4).
Secondly, Jesus spoke of the secrets of the
Thirdly, there is an established protocol
for understanding the Bible, and it’s summarized as a little here, a little
there, line upon line, precept upon precept (less accurately ‘do
and do’ in the NIV version of the Bible), but the point is clear that
God’s Word and His intentions are established by a little here and a little
there for those who truly desire to know the Truth. Isa 28:9-13
"Who is it He is trying to teach?
To whom is He explaining his message? To children weaned
from their milk, to those just taken from the breast? 10
For it is: Do and do, do and do, rule on rule, rule on rule;
a little here, a little there. 11 Very
well then, with foreign lips and strange tongues God will speak to this people,
12 to whom He said, "This is the resting place, let
the weary rest"; and, "This is the place of repose" –
but they would not listen. 13 So then,
the word of the LORD to them will become: Do and do, do and do, rule
on rule, rule on rule; a little here, a
little there – so that they will go and fall backward, be injured
and snared and captured." Those who lack the desire to
enter God’s Rest will be destroyed by the very principles they rejected! They
will fall backward, be injured and snared and
captured – and they will finish in captivity and slavery.
Generally today, those who
profess to be Christians are learning nothing about God’s message, and their
teachings are like that of babies just taken from the breast. The
Book of Hebrews confirms this: Heb 5:12 - 6:6
"In fact, though by this time you ought to be
teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all
over again. You need milk, not solid
food! 13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an
infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness.
14 But solid food is for the mature, who by
constant use have trained themselves TO DISTINGUISH GOOD FROM EVIL. 1
Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and
go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from
acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, 2 instruction about
baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal
judgment. 3 And God permitting, we will do so. 4 It is impossible
for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift,
who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness
of the word of God AND THE POWERS OF THE COMING AGE, 6
if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance,
because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again
and SUBJECTING HIM TO PUBLIC DISGRACE." In view of these
verses, you would think that Christians would be seeking the solid food
of the mature, and leaving aside the elementary teachings about
Christ which are constantly heard on street corners and in the
religious tracts handed out.
The ‘resting place’
is the Holy Land and the
Fourthly, Jesus testified of the Father,
and the Testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy (Rev 19:10). As evidence that prophecy comes from
the Father, we find that it was God the Father who handed to Jesus the Scroll
concerning the Book of Revelation (Rev 1:1).
All prophecy is about the coming
Would God entrust His
secrets to someone who doesn’t have His Holy Spirit? Perhaps some are not aware
of this, but God gives His Holy Spirit only to those who obey
Him! Acts 5:32 "We are witnesses of these things, and
so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him."
If people don’t believe the witness of the Apostles and the Holy Spirit, then
it’s no wonder that so many refuse to obey God and His Laws. Most Bible
students are aware that Jesus faithfully obeyed God even to giving up His life,
secure in the knowledge that God would raise Him from the dead after three days
and three nights. And further, He gave the example of Jonah the prophet being
in the belly of the great fish for this period. It hasn’t gone unnoticed that
through erroneous reasoning, people haven’t believed this sign of His Messiahship. They think He was only in the grave for a day
and a half. And this is an example of those, who through faulty reasoning, don’t understand the Scriptures. Through this
lack of knowledge and judgment, they imply that Jesus was a fake messiah. He
gave this clear sign, but no-one believes Him! Was Jesus the Passover Lamb or
not? If He was (and He certainly was!) then He was
sacrificed on the Day of Passover. And in 30AD this was a Wednesday. So it’s
incumbent upon all those would-be prophets to get some of the basics right
concerning their faith before they attempt to try to understand prophecy.
Most prophecy
today is pure propaganda! And there is very little difference
between the two. Bible prophecy, however, is
light-years away from the prophecy that masquerades as prophecy. Bible
prophecy is a counterweight to the nonsense spewing now from all
quarters including the popular but silly Da Vinci
code. Bible prophecy is not necessarily good news for anyone – but it does give
assured outcomes. Propaganda takes on many forms, but it is primarily either
secular or religious. Secular propaganda is just as insidious as religious
propaganda and it’s now rife in what has now become a very dangerous world.
Secularism and religion by
their very nature have traditionally been opposing ideologies, especially in
Western society. Freedom of religion is not only tolerated but enshrined in law
in the
Then suddenly this
harmonious relationship was shattered when another religion began to gain
ascendancy all other the world and began to infiltrate Christian nations. Not
content to practice their religion in harmony – they sought to destroy the
opposition in a bloodbath that would continue until every ‘infidel’, that is,
every Christian and Jew was dead. The warning bells should have rung across the
length and breadth of Christian nations to eradicate this curse, but instead
they chose to placate.
Immediately after
September 11 the rights of this evil religion of Islam were defended, and while
it was well known that their stated objectives were to kill ‘infidels’, they
were deemed to be ‘a peaceful religion’. Thousands of subsequent
terrorist acts by these satanic creatures have failed to reverse the tide of
official support for them in Christian nations. Initially, it was just a few
phantom terrorists who would have to be hunted down and killed, and then
harmony would prevail. It seemed that all nations, and especially a ‘peaceful’
religion like Islam, would support such actions. The West was soon to learn
that whole nations of Muslims were hostile and actually shared the terrorist’s
views. Terrorist pictures were enshrined as public icons, and a successful
suicide bombing was rewarded with cash payments to their family.
Foolishly it was thought
that the tolerance of the West would yield dividends as Islam observed this
tolerance and realized the error of their ways. The West believed that
persuasive talks and heaps of money thrown at them would yield the desired
result. Gratitude could be expected as vast hordes of these creatures were
liberated and blessed with the abundance that democracy offered. It was
expected that in just a short span of time that democracy would prevail, and
the killing would stop as the benefits of Western ideals were recognized. The
clincher would be the global market, where all nations could share the West’s
prosperity. Then everyone could live in harmony without the desire to kill the
opposition and peace would prevail. And that was the theory. In practice it has
proven to be a failed concept and that has become more evident every day since
September 11.
If it were merely
prosperity through secularism that was desired, then perhaps the theories might
have worked. But when this is combined with the fanaticism of a murderous
religion that is sponsored by the arch-rebel of the universe, then there can be
no peace while they continue to live. And this is the thrust of God’s Great
Plan to bring peace to the world. Any Bible student would know how God dealt
with rebel nations from Bible history, and especially those nations that were
trampling down His Holy Land. God’s resolve has not changed!
Islam is fanatically
fixated to the service of Satan the devil who was a liar
and a murderer from the beginning. Muslims practiced these
very characteristics, and this makes them children of the devil.
Jesus had this to say in relation to all those who teach against the Word of
God: John 8:43-44 "Why is my language not clear to you? Because
you are unable to hear what I say. 44 You belong to
your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's
desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding
to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native
language, for he is a liar and the father of lies."
Some may argue that Jesus was speaking to the Scribes and Pharisees, which is
only partially true. But like the fanatical and treacherous Muslims today,
these Jewish leaders were deceitful and self-righteous liars, and as it turned
out, were also murderers. You’ll notice that it was the religious elite of that
day and not the common people, and it was the common people that adopted
Christianity against the counsel of the Scribes and Pharisees. These fanatical
and hypocritical liars were actually possessed by demons to carry out the
devil’s work. Jesus’ accusations against them in
Matt 23 actually prove that He was addressing the demons
when He accused them of killing righteous Abel: Matt 23:35-36 "And
so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been
shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of
Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered
between the temple and the altar. 36 I tell you the truth, all this will come upon this generation."
This generation existed long before the Jews were born,
and they are guilty of the murder of righteous Abel, the son of Adam. So those
whom Jesus addressed were not human, and the Scribes and
Pharisees had merely become their greedy, conniving protégés, and these were
suspicious of everyone who didn’t express admiration for them.
There is certainly a
lesson to be learned from Jesus’ words – a lesson that is applicable today.
Those who engage in showy extravaganzas in the name of Christianity are lying deceivers whose only objective is to deceive
and exploit. Find any place in the Bible where Jesus
engaged in this type of blatant showmanship – He never did! In fact, He taught
the people to not be like the Scribes and Pharisees, who
were expecting the Messiah to appear and make them the religious elite that
they so craved. The Apostles and all His followers faithfully adhered to this
instruction, and never emulated the Scribes and Pharisees in any way. This is
hardly the model chosen by the religious elite in the hallways of Christendom
today.
Satan has chosen a different
way. There is none of the ceremonial nonsense practiced by Christianity, which,
although it provides emotional overtones among Christians to make them feel
good, it has nothing to do with the teachings of Jesus. Satan has chosen a
grassroots fanaticism that appeals to the masses of Muslims who believe they
are martyrs for God as long as they plot to kill ‘infidels’. Muslims dress the
same to promote the idea of equality and singleness of purpose. And while they
have powerful leaders who masquerade as one of the common people, they are the
protégés of Satan himself and they motivate his troops. Satan has chosen an
age-old strategy: to identify a common enemy.
Historically, this has always been the Jews, because Jews traditionally have
been at the forefront of obedience to God’s Law, and traditionally have most
resembled God’s people. In complete contrast, Christianity has not. Mainstream
Christianity has practiced lawlessness, and adopted the attitude that God can
take it or leave it. They’ll decide for themselves how they will worship God
with no compromises.
Satan is different. He
plans to enforce law, but not God’s law! His choice is Sha’ria
law that prescribes death to ‘infidels’, and of course, ‘infidels’ are
Christians and Jews. It’s hardly surprising that Satan would adopt this
strategy. He is well aware that Christians refuse to obey
God’s Law and is sneeringly triumphant that his brood obeys his law. Who then,
has the most dedicated followers – God or himself? Why, it’s himself – he
claims. How many of God’s followers would be prepared
to give their lives in God’s honour as Jesus did? Well, Satan claims, he has
hundreds of millions of them whom he’s been grooming for centuries, and daily
they prove their dedication to him. Satan makes the point that his troops don’t
retreat in the face of the enemy, but fight to the death out of dedication to
him. His troops have made significant gains against the West, and now he has
the West in a siege mentality where they spend billions of dollars to prevent terrorist
attacks.
Satan knows he has the
numerical advantage. He knows that if each of his brood were to kill ten
‘infidels’ with a suicide bomb, he could wipe out the West and still have a
formidable army of followers left. The Israelis have largely thwarted this by
profiling suspicious Muslims and killing them. As many as ten attacks a day are
thwarted, though this number has diminished because of the strategy of building
a wall to keep them out. And how Satan’s agents howled and raged over this! Why
should any nation object to another nation building a border wall on their own land? Well, the Whitehouse did, because they
thought it would disadvantage the Muslim hordes that surround the
The Israelis built their
wall to keep out murderous suicide bombers who were bent on killing innocent
men, women and children. The
Okay, so we can concede
that
But let’s be realistic!
So now
Daniel desired to know the
outcome of all this: Dan 10:12 "Then he continued, "Do not be afraid, Daniel.
Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding
and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard,
and I have come in response to them." Then the archangel Gabriel
responded to him: Dan 10:20 "So he said, "Do you know why I have come to
you? Soon I will return to fight against the prince of Persia,
and when I go, the prince of Greece will come; 21 but
first I will tell you what is written in the Book of Truth. (No one supports me
against them except Michael, your prince." After a lengthy
explanation, Daniel enquired again of the timing of it all: Dan 12:8-10 "I
heard, but I did not understand. So I asked, "My lord, what will the
outcome of all this be?" He replied, "Go
your way, Daniel, because the words are closed up and sealed until the
time of the end. 10 Many will be purified, made spotless and
refined, but the wicked will continue to be wicked. None of the wicked
will understand, but those who are wise will understand."
Although there was an earlier fulfillment of some
of these prophecies, all these prophecies are reserved and sealed
for the time of the end, and only the wise will understand
them. Those described as the wicked will not! So
there’s a challenge for you – are you wise or wicked?
How can we be sure of what
is meant by the time of the end? Gabriel explains: Dan 12:13 "As for
you, go your way till the end. You will rest, and
then at the end of the days you will rise to receive your allotted
inheritance." Daniel was to sleep in the grave until he
arises in the resurrection. The resurrection was
explained to him earlier: Dan 12:1 "At that time Michael, the great prince who protects
your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not
happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time
your people – everyone whose name is found written in the book –
will be delivered. 2 Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the
earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others
to shame and everlasting contempt. 3 Those who are wise will shine like
the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness,
like the stars for ever and ever. 4 But you, Daniel, close up
and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end. Many will
go here and there to increase knowledge." The wise
are those who understand the words of these prophecies and the wicked
are those who don’t. God has a condition that He places on His children: they
must believe Him! Unbelievers will have their place in the lake
of fire, and will suffer this shame in everlasting contempt by all believers.
So those who spend all
their time in sanctimoniously quoting elementary verses to make them feel good
and to impress others, will find out something about themselves. They’ll find
out that they are wicked, and will have no place with the wise
who have believed God. And didn’t Jesus confirm this? Matt 7:19-23 "Every
tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
"Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of
heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not
prophesy in your Name, and in your
name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will
tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away
from me, you evildoers!’" Christianity today don’t want to do the will of the Father, but
they do love to ‘prophesy’ in God’s Name, even though they don’t
know what they are talking about. In fact, so diminutive is their knowledge
that their prophecies are usually confined to prophesying that their followers
are going to heaven when they die. Daniel is still dead and awaiting the
resurrection, but their followers who have died are
already there – according to their diminutive reasoning. Is it prophecy or
propaganda? Let the reader decide!
Going back again to
something else Gabriel said to Daniel in Dan 12:1
"There will be a time of distress such
as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then",
we find that Jesus referred to this Himself, a one-time horrific sequence of
events that would occur at the time of the end: Matt 24:21-22 "For
then there will be great distress, unequaled from the
beginning of the world until now – and never to be equaled
again. 22 If those days had not been cut short, no one would
survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be
shortened." The elect of course are the 12
Tribes of
These martyrs for God must
face the full fury of Satan himself: Rev 12:16-17
"But the earth helped the woman by opening its
mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. 17
Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and
went off to make war against the rest of her offspring – those who
obey God’s Commandments and hold to the Testimony of Jesus."
And the Testimony of Jesus is… Well, it’s the Spirit of Prophecy
– a special addition to the downpayment of God’s Holy
Spirit. Rev 19:10 "At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me,
"Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers
who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the
testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." So the
importance of prophecy couldn’t be clearer. What is more, it’s found in the
Book of Revelation – the very words of God the Father who gave it to Jesus to
show His servants what must soon take place (Rev 1:1).
It remained unfulfilled at the time John received it, and obviously, it remains
unfulfilled at this time of writing. It culminates with Jesus’ return in glory.
Though you may realize that Jesus will return before this, just as the angel
told His disciples when He departed to the Glory from the
And how did Jesus go into
heaven? Alone, and this is the way He will return. He will
appear to His servants the prophets first of all, and when they proclaim to the
Jewish people, ‘Here is your God’ (Isa 40:9),
He will be riding on a colt as He did once before as He entered
But there is a problem!
Presently, there is a mighty force holding back these marauding forces and they
are restrained from carrying out their assigned role of destruction against
Christians and Jews. And who is this mighty power which is holding them back? Everyone
knows its
And believe it or not, the
Apostle Paul also knew from his understanding of the Scriptures that Ephraim
would become a mighty force in the latter days. He knew that Ephraim, as the
son of a prince and a prophet Joseph, would arise to prominence in the last
days, though he never attempted to expand on detail – simply because he could
not envisage it at that time. But he drew on his knowledge of Daniel and the
prophets to speak of it: 2Thess 2:1-12 "Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and
our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers, 2 not to become easily
unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to
have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come. 3
Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until
the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed,
the man doomed to destruction. 4 He will oppose and will
exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that
he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God.
Don't you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? 6
And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed
at the proper time. 7 For the secret power of
lawlessness is already at work; but the one (Ephraim) who now holds it back will continue to do so till
he is taken out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one
will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow
with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor
of his coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one will be in
accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit
miracles, signs and wonders, 10 and in every sort of
evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused
to love the truth and so be saved. 11 For this
reason God sends them a POWERFUL DELUSION so that they will believe the lie
12 and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the
truth but have delighted in wickedness." So we see that the
reference in Zech 9:8-10 to Ephraim
having their ‘chariots’ taken away, and the Israelis, their ‘war-horses’.
And the power of the mighty ‘battle-bow will be broken’ so that
the Islamic world will no longer feel restrained.
It goes without saying
that this man of lawlessness will in fact be a powerful spirit ruler – one of
Satan’s rulers of the heavenly realm. He will come in the guise of a man, but
the man will be a mere puppet in the manipulating hands of this evil creature.
As Paul explains in Eph 6:10 "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in
his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor
of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.
12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but
against the rulers, against the authorities, against
the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of
evil in the heavenly realms." If only the Churches of God
would believe these words written by the Apostle Paul, they would have been
further along in their understanding. Perhaps then they wouldn’t have succumbed
to the seducing spirits that inspired their foolish ‘prophecies’. All those who
refused to love the Truth will be sent strong delusion by
God to believe the ultimate lie. And they will only have themselves to
blame.
Even today, the Churches
of God remain deluded over their fanciful prophecies that have mostly all
failed. There’s a crazy Irishman, who styles his church as the Philadelphia
Church of God, and who thinks he’s the successor of Herbert W. Armstrong. Even
today, with everything that is happening in the world, he still holds to Armstrong’s
failed prophecies. He still believes that the poor ol’
Tribe of Simeon (the Germans), who have been a model of decorum since the last
world war are going to rise up as the prophesied Beast and kill all Christians
and Jews. Simeon is probably the most noble defender
of the Israelis out of all the nations of
Such conduct brings to
mind a passage in the Book of Zechariah: Zech 13:1-6
"On that day a fountain will be opened to the
House of David and the inhabitants of
Leaving aside the wicked
sinfulness of the false prophets and returning to the subject of the title, we
find that lies and propaganda mark the signs of our times. Cunning, crafty
manipulation is rife throughout Western society. Not only do these nations want
to mask the truth of the identity of their enemy with ideas of converting them
to freedom and democracy, they refuse to recognize them for what they are and
what they plan. And what is more, they are prepared for furious rebuttal if
anyone should present an opposing view. Political correctness and the pathetic
theories of multiculturalism has blinded the West to
reality.
Multiculturalism has been
deemed desirable and progressive, even though on every continent on earth it
has shown to be divisive. It has never worked in the
entire history of human existence, and it’s no more working now that at any
time in the past. Perhaps it could work in an ideal world, but idealism means
different things to different people. One’s ideals don’t necessarily correspond
to that of others. Whatever culture or ‘culturalism’
is supposed to mean, it’s clear that opposing cultures never exist harmoniously
except for brief periods of time. Sooner or later one or the other attempts to
gain the ascendancy! This is the nature of the beast, so to speak.
As in the days of the
Crusades a thousand years ago, a cultural war developed between Christianity
and Islam. And caught in the middle now as then is Judaism. But standing off as
an observer is Zionism! Zionism also means different things to different
people. To Islam, Zionism is a Jewish plot to take over the world. In this,
they are almost right. What they don’t know is that Zionism will succeed,
whereas they will fail – but not before Islam has wreaked havoc on an
unsuspecting world. Anyone with any savvy at all knows what Islam’s objectives
are. They openly state that their goals are to destroy the Western world – and
destroy Christianity and Judaism. They not only want to destroy these faiths, they
want to destroy all who practice them. This much is clear from all that
they have openly stated! But political correctness forbids anyone to believe
it. The mind-numbing ignorance of political leaders has led them to believe
that democracy will save the day.
Remember all the
propaganda that emerged after September 11? The West attempted to defend the
honour of Islam with such stupid statements as ‘Islam is a peaceful
religion’. It was the Islamic religion that motivated the terror, and
it continues to be only Islam that commits these thousands of subsequent
atrocities. But it’s the propaganda of multiculturalism that nurtures the
mindless defense of the sadism and evil of Islam, and
the hope that Islamic terrorists can be reeducated
according the values of Western Christianity. But in this, the West and Islam
are worlds apart. The West has done little to learn from the experience of
history, and to rectify this deficiency, a good starting place would be the
history of the Crusades a thousand years ago, and to familiarize itself with
the enemy that existed then. Contrary to the Islamic propaganda movie ‘Kingdom
of Heaven’ recently released by
Today the West can no
longer afford to rely on failed mainstream Christian dogma. The world is at war
and the forces of evil are building everywhere. True Christianity can no longer
afford to be complacent. But can true Christians rise to the occasion and
identify the enemy before it’s too late? Some of them have saturated themselves
with so much of the falsity of false prophecy, that they are currently blind to
reality. The days are gone when they could continue to indulge in picky issues
and arguments about the rightness of their particular doctrine. Then it was
hardly a life and death issue, but today it is! For the Western nations there
will be no last minute rescue – or as some like to frame
it: salvation.
For the next generation
there will be limited rescue after God’s anger is assuaged
and He looks favourably once more upon them. In the meantime, salvation
is by the Jews and for the Jews, and the
Christianity is too
‘righteous’ and too ‘holy’ to condone war – especially against God’s enemies.
They think that their future is tied to befriending God’s enemies and cannot
see that this is considered to be treason in God’s eyes. Now they must learn
the hard way why Islam is the enemy of God. Right now they are positioning
themselves for the lesson of their lives – literally!
But they don’t believe it!
Surely God can see how righteous they are! Why would He permit such a thing?
Read Bible history and you’ll find out! And just a few words of warning…! To
the righteous, the truth of Bible prophecy is as sweet as honey in the mouth,
but to those disbelieving and cynical it will be bitterness in their belly.
Almighty God has forewarned of this and even now this is coming true: Isa 8:19 "When men tell you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire
of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living? 20
To the Law and to the Testimony! If they do not speak
according to this word, they have no light of dawn. 21
Distressed and hungry, they will roam through the land; when they are famished, they will become enraged and, looking upward,
will curse their king and their God. 22 Then
they will look toward the earth and see only distress and darkness and fearful
gloom, and they will be thrust into utter darkness."
There have been many who thought they were ‘spiritual giants’ and knew
everything about the Bible, but all they really understood was their own selective
doctrine. On hearing the truth and seeing prophecy unfolding as revealed by God
through His servants, they became enraged and began to curse God – and they
became atheists. And many of them did it publicly on newsgroups, and have
actively engaged in enticing others to their hatred of God. What they lack is
the vision to see is the horrific death they will face – which is the meaning
of ‘thrust into utter darkness’ and which means death. To those
who once honoured God through The Law and the Testimony and
received God’s Holy Spirit and then turned away, they have yet another trial to
face because God is not finished with them yet. At a later date, they will be
brought up in a resurrection to face the second death – in a lake of fire.
These evil, detestable
creatures should have paid attention to God’s Word and believed it while they
had the chance, and a good starting point would have been V13 "The
LORD Almighty is the One you are to regard as holy, He is the one
you are to fear, He is the one you are to dread, and He will
be a sanctuary; but for both Houses of Israel He will be a
stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall. And for the
people of Jerusalem He will be a trap and a snare."
The fear of God
is the beginning of wisdom. This is the lesson such people should have learned
and believed. Ps 111:10 "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom;
all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal
praise." It’s so humorous to see foolish people debating against
the meaning of verses from the Bible, and trying to put their own spin on them
to comply with their own doctrine. It’s a bit like watching a clown act. But in
reality its more like bear-baiting, because they are
provoking the Almighty God, and He is the One that human beings should fear and
dread. Heb 10:26 "If
we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the Knowledge of the
Truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but
only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the
enemies of God. 28 Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of
two or three witnesses. 29 How much more severely
do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God
under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the Blood of the Covenant
that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30
For we know him who said, "It is mine to avenge; I
will repay," and again, "The Lord will judge his
people." 31 It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands
of the living God." Notice the fate of those who turned
away after receiving the knowledge of the Truth! It’s the raging
fire for them, and they will join all the enemies of God.
What sickos these people are!
There’s no way back for
those who turned away – there is no further sacrifice for them. They should
have feared God while they had the chance! But what about those
from mainstream Christianity who never obeyed the Law
and the Testimony and have never acknowledged the Knowledge of
the Truth? Well, contrary to all their illusions, they never received
God’s Holy Spirit – the Spirit of Grace! God only gives His Holy
Spirit to those who obey Him: Rom
2:12 "All who sin apart from the
Law will also perish apart from the Law, and all who
sin under the Law will be judged by the Law. 13 For it is not those
who hear the Law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who
obey the Law who will be declared righteous."
Acts 5:29 "Peter
and the other apostles replied: "We must obey God rather than men!
30 The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead – whom you had
killed by hanging him on a tree. 31 God exalted him to his own right
hand as Prince and Savior that he might give
repentance and forgiveness of sins to
Rev 12:17 "Then
the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest
of her offspring – those who obey God's Commandments and hold
to the Testimony of Jesus."
It’s beyond belief that
anyone should believe that they could have favour with God if they don’t obey
His Law or Commandments. What possible interest would God have in
anyone who refused to obey Him? Does anyone imagine that God wants His Kingdom
filled with the disobedient and lawless? As you will have noticed in Rev 12:17, it’s the dragon that is
hostile to those who obey God’s Commandments and hold to the Testimony of
Jesus. As all Bible students should know, the Testimony of Jesus
is the Spirit of Prophecy (Rev 19:10).
We are living in perilous
times because we are the generation on whom the end of the age
has come. And as unconscionable as it is to some, everything that is written in
the Scriptures that Christ used, and all the examples thereof,
are for us on whom the fulfillment (or end) of
the age has come (1Cor 10:11).
Jesus frequently spoke of the end of the age (Matt 10:22, 13:39, 49, 24:3, 6, 13, 14). And the
reason for this is because this is when everything that is written will
culminate to fulfillment – and they will be
terrible days: 2Tim 3:1 "But mark this: There will be terrible times
in the last days." The Apostle Paul also wrote this
prediction: 1Tim 4:1 "The Spirit clearly says that in later times
some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits
and things taught by demons. 2 Such teachings come through hypocritical
liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron."
And how we’re now seeing the fulfillment of
this!
Lying deceivers abound
today at all levels; both secular and religious. And all of them are motivated
by greed and power. Those in political power are obsessed with placating the
people with promises of peace and safety, while ignoring the dangers that are
building all over the world. Preventing terror is now their number one goal. But
the way to peace they do not know! Rom
3:13-18 "Their throats are open
graves; their tongues practice deceit. The poison of vipers is on their lips. Their
mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin
and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know.
There is no fear of God before their eyes."
The Apostle Paul was quoting
from the Scriptures Christ used concerning not knowing the way of
peace: Isa 59:7-10 "Their
feet rush into sin; they are swift to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts
are evil thoughts; ruin and destruction mark their ways. The
way of peace they do not know; there is no justice in their paths.
They have turned them into crooked roads; no one who walks in them will know
peace. So justice is far from us, and righteousness does not
reach us. We look for light, but all is darkness; for
brightness, but we walk in deep shadows. Like the blind we grope
along the wall, feeling our way like men without eyes. At
midday we stumble as if it were twilight; among the strong, we are like
the dead."
Why don’t the leaders of
the Western nations understand the way to peace? God gives the reason: Justice
is far from them! They know the reason why they’ve adopted the siege
mentality of trying to prevent terrorist attacks. They know that the enemy is
all of Islam and all of Satan’s protégé nations of old – the murderous Gentiles!
They know what justice cries out for, and it doesn’t involve ‘winning the
hearts and minds’ of God’s enemies! When did God ever send in the ‘Armies
of the Living God’ anciently with the instructions to win the
hearts and minds of His enemies? The specific instruction to the House of
Israel was to go in and fight and to wipe out the enemy, so that neither root
nor branch of them would survive. At times, God even ordered the killing of all
their animals. So perhaps the reader can begin to understand God’s Way, and
begin to understand how different it is today from the way of descendants of
the House of Israel. The whole House of Israel is acting in a treasonous
manner, and in so doing, they will never again know peace until they are
utterly destroyed.
For the first time in
6,000 years Satan knows it. He now knows that the Day of Reckoning is near, and
the mightiest nation on earth is about to fall. Satan senses that it’s near.
He’s busy alerting his troops and emboldening them. And the bolder they become,
the weaker the West becomes.
The solution was all so
simple for preventing this from happening, but it was unacceptable to the
mindless reasoning of those who don’t know the way to peace. Wars should never
be fought with the purpose of preventing collateral damage. Collateral damage
is a part of war, and it’s also a part of justice. Any nation that provokes a
war should be prepared for the consequences of huge civilian losses. And
because this impediment to the proper conduct of war exists in the West, the
enemy has used it to advantage. In the Israeli-Lebanese war, the Lebanese
bemoaned they had suffered so many civilian casualties. And who were these
civilians? They were Hezbollah, and they were dressed in civilian clothes! They
lived as civilians with their families but they were still terrorists. It was
justice that their families also got whacked because they were using them as
human shields to protect themselves. They got what they deserved!
Perhaps the reader is a
little sensitive to this kind of talk. But believe me; you will see the horror
of the mistakes the West has made – right before your eyes! Now you are blind
to reality, but then you will see! But don’t blame God! He has warned His
people, the whole 12 Tribes of Israel, but they thought they knew best.
They thought they knew the way to peace, but they are not even in the ballpark.
Satan is rallying his
troops, and these number 90% of all humanity, and his generals – the rulers of
the heavenly realms – are busily preparing them. The Bible is very specific
about which nations will provide the first line of attack. It’s his ancient
hordes of old – those who surround the
Naturally enough, God has
provided a buffer force to combat these hordes – but for one purpose only. And
that is to clear the Holy Land and prepare the
There are many other
groups that will earn God’s displeasure, and they can expect no mercy either. It
really is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God!
Right now, a millstone around their necks is their only option: Matt 18:6 "But if
anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would
be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be
drowned in the depths of the sea." You may not know it, but
God is a God of vengeance: Heb 10:30 "For we know Him who said, "It is mine to
avenge; I will repay," and again, "The Lord will judge his
people." 31 It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands
of the living God." It’s no small thing that people don’t
fear the Almighty God and realize that He is serious about establishing
righteousness forever – based on His Law and His Way of doing things.
So the satanic forces and
alive and well, but one thing is certain, their days are numbered as far as
living in the
So who is it that prepares
the way (or in this case the highway) for our God? And who
secures the City of
So what is to be expected
of the Sons of Jerusalem? The prophet Zechariah makes it very plain: Zech 12:4-9 "On
that day I will strike every horse with panic and its rider
with madness," declares the LORD. "I will keep a watchful eye
over the House of Judah, but I will blind all the horses of the
nations. 5 Then the leaders of
Everyone knows that
this has not yet been fulfilled! But soon it will. And when it does, you will know that the
Christians have
traditionally considered the story of John the Baptist to be an interesting
anecdote, but one which bears no resemblance to the ‘salvation’ they
expect. You may be surprised to know that the term ‘salvation’ was clarified at
John’s birth, and that ‘salvation’ was assigned to be carried out and executed
by John the Baptist. Under the inspiration of God’s Holy Spirit, John’s father
Zechariah (who was both a priest and a prophet) clarified its meaning. Luke 1:67-79 "The
neighbors were all filled with awe, and throughout
the hill country of
‘Guide our feet in
the path of peace’ – this is what we were speaking of earlier. If you
don’t know that all men are grass and fit only to be burned up like
a flaming torch among sheaves, then you don’t know the way to
peace. You’ll notice that Zechariah under the inspiration of God’s Holy
Spirit detailed what his son would be. John was everything his father said he
would be, but like Jesus, his life was cut short and he never fulfilled all
that was written and spoken of him. But that Spirit lives in yet another priest
and prophet who is appointed to prepare the way for the Mighty Christ (Mal 3:1), but also to fulfill
all that was prophesied of John. And that priest and prophet
is called Prophet Levi (or in Hebrew Nevi Levi) in Mal 2:4-8. And he was named and taught by
God – though he didn’t know it as he bumped along through most of his life. But
God molded and shaped him to be what He wanted him to
be. Then at the appointed time, he was given a double-portion of God’s Holy
Spirit so that he could understand the Scriptures. It was miraculous, and the
Scriptures became crystal clear as to their meaning and purpose.
The ministry of John the
Baptist was very similar. Both were commissioned to provide the Knowledge of
Salvation – which means ‘to rescue us from
the hand of our enemies’. And further, to provide this salvation
or rescue ‘through the forgiveness of
their sins’. Only those who are truly repentant of their
shabby ways of treating God like a fool will enter the
And just one other thing
to combat the fuzzy logic of so many holier-than-thou Christians who think ‘The Rising Sun’ represents paganism,
noticed what is written in the Messenger’s Book: Mal
4:1-4 "Surely the day is coming; it
will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble,
and that day that is coming will set them on fire," says the
LORD Almighty. "Not a root or a branch will be left to them.
2 But for you who revere my name, the Sun of Righteousness
will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like
calves released from the stall. 3 Then you will trample down
the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet
on the day when I do these things," says the LORD Almighty."
Surely ‘the sun represents paganism’ freaks know that the Christ
is to replace the Lightbringer –
Satan the devil – and take over all the kingdoms of the world, which were
formerly Satan’s kingdoms? Why didn’t they understand what Peter said
concerning the new Dawn – the emerging light from the sun? 2Pet 1:19-21 "And
we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will
do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a
dark place, until the day dawns and the Morning Star rises in
your hearts. 20 Above all, you must understand that no
prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. 21
For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from
God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit." We
won’t even go into what is written about those who conjure up their own
prophecies! But read it for yourself.
So the New Dawn is very
significant, and consider the following few Scriptures as a mini study that
should require no explanations: Isa 58:8 "Then
your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will
quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and
the Glory of the LORD will be your rear guard."
Isa 8:20 "To The
Law and to the Testimony! If they do not speak according to this
word, they have no light of dawn."
Isa 60:3 "Nations will come to your
light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn."
Isa 62:1 "For Zion's sake I will
not keep silent, for Jerusalem's sake I will not remain quiet, till
her righteousness shines out like the dawn, HER SALVATION LIKE A
BLAZING TORCH."
Matt 4:16 "The
people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those
living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned."
I hope you grasped that
anyone who doesn’t live by The Law and the Testimony have no
light of dawn!
Going back now to the
subject of being rescued from the hands of the enemy, the
ministry of Jerusalem, that is, her sons who are also called Zion Ministry, are the advance guard of the ‘Armies of the
Living God’. Whereas once the 12 Tribes of Israel were called the ‘Armies
of the Living God’ in antiquity, by God’s servant David, now they have
been fired as incompetent because they’ve failed to nail God’s enemies with overwhelming
and disproportionate force. In other words, they’ve become
weaklings and are unworthy of the title of ‘Armies of the
Living God’. They don’t consider it an HONOUR to
slaughter God’s enemies who surround the
Interestingly enough, the
Israelis have just been accused of using disproportionate force
in the Israeli-Lebanese war. The UN, the French, Italians,
As for
So much of what one reads
of Christian religious articles is pure propaganda. It’s hard to believe that
preachers and ministers of religion, who profess to be Bible savvy, could write
so much nonsense. Yet it’s even harder to believe that people would believe it
– don’t they read their Bibles? It’s now 1980 years since Jesus built His
Church, and it only took about 100 years after that most significant event
before errors began to creep into the teachings of the scattered Churches.
Today the doctrine of mainstream Christianity is pure dribble and meaningless
nonsense that ignores the weighty issues of Bible teachings. Sure they realize
that Jesus was crucified and raised from the death through a selfless act of obedience
to God, and they even realize that this was done for a noble purpose. But
Christianity deludes itself in understanding what that noble purpose was. They
all realize the stark realism of the prophecies of the Book of Revelation which
cannot be reconciled to the pathetic doctrine taught by them. The whole Book of
Revelation is addressed to the Christian Church, in fact seven of them in
particular. These are seven Churches that will come to prominence in the final
days – and in a specific place.
So why do mainstream
churches ignore Bible prophecy? The main reason is that they don’t understand
it, and there are very good reasons for this. They don’t believe God’s Word!
Their Bible prophecy is what they invent themselves and which cannot be proven
from the Bible.
Jesus was as innocent as a
lamb going to the slaughter. He had done nothing to warrant the extreme
accusations against Him by the rulers of the heavenly realm
(spoken of by Paul in Eph 6:10-12). But
these spirit rulers knew who He was and were determined to kill Him. Satan and
his rulers hate the very concept of Christianity, and they hate the very One who inspired it.
Today, Christianity has no
idea what God means when He speaks of His enemies (ICor 15:24-25). And you’ll note that this is the very
purpose of the Mighty Christ – to make His enemies ashes under His feet.
The reason the Christ came was to destroy the devil’s work (1John 3:8). And only those people, who are truly
His people, share His view. To those who are Bible savvy, it shouldn’t take
long to work out which people are trying to overrun the Holy Land and to
eradicate
How many Christians today
would be willing to go as sheep to the slaughter – just as
Jesus did? Would they be prepared to go to their deaths as martyrs? Probably
99% of Christians would not! And martyrdom is what these Scriptures mean!
Rom 8:35 "Who
shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship
or persecution or famine or nakedness
or danger or sword? 36 As it is
written: "For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered."
As it is written, God makes this very clear: Ps 116:15 "Precious
in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints." A
saint, of course, is someone who has God’s Holy Spirit, and without God’s Holy
Spirit you are not His! Neither children nor heirs! What is more, God gives His
Holy Spirit only to those who obey Him! (Acts 5:32). It’s very
precious to God that His saints are prepared to die as true martyrs; that is,
they are prepared to be killed by God’s enemies in order to honour of God – just
as Jesus did!
We hear so much about
‘martyrs’ today. Among God’s enemies, a ‘martyr’ is anyone
who kills Christians and Jews. And the very antithesis of a ‘martyr’ is someone
who supports these satanic killers. These murderous swine believe that their
god requires them to kill God’s people
So what’s the difference
between prophecy and propaganda as far as Christianity is concerned? True
prophecy details the final outcome of Satan’s mad rage against the people of
God – the only people God ever chose of all the human families of the earth (Amos 3:1-2). And although only the Tribe of Judah
(the Jews) obey God today, the
other Tribes of Israel are still God’s nations. But for their disobedience, the
day of reckoning is coming; in fact, it’s here. Most people realize today that
the West is locked in a global battle against the forces of evil.
Collectively, they are expending hundreds of billions of dollars to counteract
this Islamic scourge. And even today, they can’t accept that this scourge is all
of Islam (mustn’t accuse ‘good’ Muslims – they believe!) So which are the good
Muslims in their view? The men, women and children who danced in the streets
and handed out cakes and sweets to celebrate 9/11? Or the ones who attend
mosques regularly where they are indoctrinated by hatred for Jews and Christians
– infidels, as they call them, and carry placards which read ‘death to
Americans and Israelis’?
How naïve the West becomes
when they succumb to Islamic propaganda! Identify one instance where any Muslim
leader of any Moslem nation has defended
It seems reasonable to
believe that what God made holy, and which is a sign to His people Israel,
would be honoured today for what God made it – a Holy Day, but
no! Any other day can be holy, including Friday or Sunday, but not
the Seventh!
It’s obvious that the
origins of this mad campaign were satanic when one considers the many other
pagan symbols that could have been removed. The removal of Buddha’s and other
pagan idols might have been a good start in a Christian nation, but no! This
satanic targeting only applies to Christians and Jews. Any religion, regardless
of how pagan it might be, has a right to practice without restriction in
Once a nation adopts the
siege mentality, then they have already lost the war. It’s commonly stated
today that the security agencies must prevent dozens of attempted terrorist
attacks to succeed, but the terrorists only have to succeed once.
The predictions of Bible prophecy
couldn’t be clearer today, because we are seeing it unfold right before out
eyes. The fault is not with God’s Word, but the slovenly way that people have
treated it, and the ongoing delusion that masquerades as doctrine and prophecy.
The Churches of God taught a brand of prophecy that was not only shallow and elementary, it was also foolishly conceived and fraught with
faulty interpretations. Most of it was not even based on the Bible, but based
on recent history and a gymnastic imagination. It’s the remnant of the
Then a great falling away occurred
and people left in droves – never to return. Some few chose to continue their
obedience to God in their own personal lives without the structure of a
regulating organization of the many offshoots of the Worldwide Church of God.
These people were wise enough to know that the fault was not
with God – but with men. Certain concepts taught by Jesus
came into focus, and one of these was the warning not to
adopt the ways of the Gentiles. The account is found in Matt 20:24-28 "When
the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers. 25
Jesus called them together and said, "You know that the rulers of
the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority
over them. 26 Not so with you.
Instead, whoever wants to become great among you
must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first
must be your slave – just as the Son of Man did not come to be served,
but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." But
Herbert Armstrong wanted to be like the Gentiles and lord it over everyone, and
he demanded honour and respect out of all proportion to normal standards. All
of which defied Jesus’ very specific instructions! Gentile Christianity milks
this for all its worth, but Jesus said, ‘Not so with you’. And of
course, ‘ordained’ ministers in the Church pulled the same stunt in defiance of
Jesus’ instructions. Those who were ‘ordained’ were usually those who hungered
for the approbation of men, and these naturally
gravitated to dictatorial behaviour – just like Gentiles!
If Jesus words were not
enough, then Jude was even more scathing in what he wrote: Jude 1:12 "These men
are blemishes at your love Feasts, eating with you without
the slightest qualm – shepherds who feed only
themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind;
autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted – twice dead. 13
They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for
whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever."
In view of this, one might have expected that these ‘ordained’ ones might have
been more circumspect over Jesus’ instructions concerning the ways of the
Gentiles and made some effort to curb their avarice. Instead, they been
proclaimed ‘twice dead’ and ‘for whom the blackest darkness
has been reserved forever’, but they certainly had no qualms
about their conduct. Yes, they may have been considered shepherds,
but they were worthless ones! There may have been some who
repented and turned from their wicked ways, but this is not evident in the
majority of them. Their craving for recognition still dominates their every
thought and action. And all because they succumbed to the teachings of the worthless
shepherd – Herbert Armstrong.
I know that some will
object and go on believing that their ministers were
different. Their Mr. Such-and-such was not like that at all. But was he like
Mr. Jesus? Or was only your minister deserving of a formal title, but Jesus
isn’t? At times there was a question of ‘Why am I calling this young guy
‘Mister’ when he’s supposed to be my brother in the Lord? Have we
all gone mad?’ The formal title was used so that no-one would fail to recognize
their authority or their right to lord it over others. Today, the Churches of
God and their various offshoots are merely shells of what they should be.
And just to put into perspective what Jude was saying, he was warning of the last days: Jude 1:17 "But, dear friends, remember what the Apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. 18 They said to you, "In the last times there will be scoffe