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Prophe-Zine Issue 081
PropheZine #81
July 15, 1999
Bob Lally Publisher
Mimi Nila Senior Editor
Rick Woodcock Asst. Editor
Abraham George Asst. Editor
Lori Eldridge Asst. Editor
Bob Ippolito Asst. Editor
ARTICLES
Norbert Lieth.......The Current Political Scene In The Light Of The Word Of God
John L. Terry, III........... Pressing Through the Throng
Chad Rudolph.........DISPENSATIONAL DAWNING
The Second Great Divine Reformation
COMMENTARIES
Bryan Hupperts...........Two Rivers of Blood on America
Berit Kjos............Star Wars Joins United Religions at the Presidio
BIBLE STUDY
Mark Eastman, M.D...............................Email from a Skeptic:Why Does God Allow Evil?
POEMS AND STORIES
Mark Carpenter.....................Going Home
****************************************************************
Hi Everyone!
Welcome to issue #81. It is amazing to me how quickly time flies by. I got involved in PropheZine around issue #12 - 3 years ago. We have grown from 150 web visits per month to 75,000. 500 subscribers to 5,000!
Speaking of time, we never know when "our time" is up, so to speak. A friend of mine just died of lung cancer. Left 9 children behind. Please pray for the family. He was an incredibly, humble, Godly man and it just makes me realize how vulnerable we really are.
Tell everyone about what the Lord has done for us. Let them know that he is returning soon. We really do not have much time.
Bob Lally
PropheZine
|==========================================
|
| The Current Political Scene In The Light Of The Word Of God
| by Norbert Lieth
|
This theme is printed realizing that "our knowledge is in part." Keep in mind our knowledge is only "in part" when analyzing the political situation of our time in the light of the Word of God.
The necessity of the prophetic Word in our time I recently read an article written by an older brother who was called home. In my opinion, this article helps to explain our theme:
Learn to think and pray globally This title is obscure at first glance, but it is correct. We need to follow this advice. It means nothing less than our learning to see beyond our limited vision. We must recognize the fact that present events extend in a surprising way over the whole world, and world-wide decisions are maturing. Individual nations are not becoming completely insignificant; however, they are losing their influence. It is not decisive what is happening in Germany, Korea, or Yugoslavia-but what moves the world-what are they deciding?
Thinking globally means recognizing the great connections on our planet, and with watchful eyes expecting the coming events while reading our newspapers and consciously praying over political events. Above all, we need to realize that we belong to the Church of Jesus Christ. We must continue to grow in her so that when the Earth becomes ripe for the new and last judgment, we are saved, and we may expect our coming Lord.
The words of our Lord in Matthew 16:3 admonish, "Can ye not discern the signs of the times?" -"Nimm Dir Einen Augenblick Zeit." H.B.
This is also what Peter meant when he wrote, "We have also a more sure word of prophecy... as they were moved by the Holy Ghost" (2nd Peter 1:19-21). The "word of prophecy" is like the light of a burning lamp. The "dark place" is the world into which the light of the word of prophecy shines. The "day" that is dawning refers to the present age of the Church of Jesus Christ, and points to the day of the Lord, the day of judgment, the wrath of God, and the day of the return of Jesus Christ in power and great glory. "The night is far spent, the day is at hand" (Romans 13:12). The "day star" that will rise in our hearts is a picture of the coming of Jesus for His Church, the Rapture.
Jesus will appear for His Church as the "day star" or "morning star" (Revelation 2:28 and 22:16), but for Israel and the world He will come as the "Sun of righteousness" (Malachi 4:2).
This passage in the second epistle of Peter means that the Lord has given us the prophetic Word so that we have a light in the darkness of our world, to illuminate the dark place of our age and so that we know how to consider everything in the ultimate light of His intentions. We are not called to give speculative explanations but, as we have just seen, to explain God's ultimate intentions for this world, and to proclaim them in this dark age.
The prophets of that time spoke when inspired by the Holy Spirit. Where are the children of God today who do not let themselves be carried along by the tide of the world, but let themselves be moved by the Holy Spirit to bring people to the returning Lord?
The Church of Jesus Christ is like an ocean liner with many passengers on deck who are discussing diverse good, edifying and necessary topics. Hardly anyone notices the direction the ship is sailing, what course it takes and the fact that it is nearing the great port. The passengers are all concerned with themselves, in their little groups. Only a few stand on the deck, however, and call, "Land in sight!" This should be the main theme on the ship that calls itself the Church today.
What will happen at the end of the days?
The prophet Daniel was a man "on deck" who had a wonderful, far-reaching vision. He thought, prayed and spoke on a global scale, through the grace of God and inspired by the Holy Spirit.
Daniel had a vision and saw the coming Kingdom of God. He saw the diverse "dark" ages in the bright light of the prophetic Word of God. When Daniel stood before the Babylonian world ruler, Nebuchadnezzar, to tell him about his dream and to interpret it, he said, "Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said..." (Daniel 2:27 onward).
Two things become clear here:
1.What will take place at the end of the days is not determined by the "great men" of this world; they cannot foretell it. Even Nostradamus, whose prophecies are increasingly discussed in the media, could not do this.
2.What will take place at the end of the days is determined by God in Heaven alone. His plan will be fulfilled. The political events on earth are being guided in such a way so that ultimately His Word will be fulfilled. Everything in the history and politics of the world is moving toward the one great goal: the coming Kingdom of Jesus Christ on Earth, which will fill the whole world (Daniel 2:35 and 44-45).
How will the political empires develop up to the end?
A last "Roman world empire" will rule the greater part of the world. This world empire will be ruled primarily on one hand by a European head (called the "beast") and on the other by the so-called Antichrist, who will probably be a Jew (Daniel 11:37-38). Behind them, however, is the "dragon," Satan (compare Revelation 13:4 and 11, 19:20 and 20:1-2).
The contours of this last Roman world empire are becoming ever clearer today. We see this from the political events in Europe, the Middle East conflict, and the present Balkan war.
The political world empires up to the end were revealed to the prophet Daniel by God in detail.
1. Nebuchadnezzar's dream The Babylonian world ruler, Nebuchadnezzar, had a dream in the second year of his rule which so troubled him that he awoke (Daniel 2:1). He had forgotten what he had dreamed during the night, so he called all his magicians, astrologers, and sorcerers to tell him his dream and have them interpret it (verse 2), but nobody was capable of doing that (verse 10). Therefore, Nebuchadnezzar wanted to kill all the wise men of Babylon (verse 12). When Daniel heard of this, he prayed with his three friends (verses 17-18) and God revealed the dream and its interpretation to him (verse 19). Daniel went to the king and said to him, "Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image...and filled the whole earth" (verses 31-35). Then Daniel gave the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, the interpretation and began, "Thou art this head of gold"
(verse 38).
In other words, the interpretation of the dream was:
the head of gold: Babylon
the breast and arms of silver: Medo-Persia (verse 39a)
the belly and thighs of brass: Greece
(verse 39b)
the legs of iron which end in the feet made of iron and clay:
Rome (verses 31-35 and 40-43). The Roman empire was later divided into an eastern and western part (the two legs).
It is interesting to note that the war in Yugoslavia is taking place where the border between the eastern and western Roman empires once was. Does this mean that today the clay and the iron want to unite again?
The clay could indeed represent the weaker eastern European countries, and the iron the stronger western European countries and the U.S.A. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, East and West have attempted to join together, which ultimately will be impossible (verses 42-43).
The image in Daniel 2 ends with the 10 toes on the feet described separately (verses 41-42). That means the world empires have reached their final stage and are coming to an end; the world empires and world history are coming to an end.
Nebuchadnezzar's dream clearly shows God's intervention! This takes place when, without any human help, a stone comes from above and crushes the feet of the image, thereby destroying it.
The stone itself becomes a great mountain which fills the world (verses 34-35). This event points to the return of Jesus at the end of the last world empire to set up His rule (verses 44-45).
He Himself is this stone (1st Peter 2:6-8, Isaiah 28:16 and Genesis 49:24).
Since Rome has never collapsed as described in Daniel 2 during history (through to the return of Jesus), I agree with many other expositors who believe that the Roman empire will rise again.
Revelation 17:8-13 also hints at this when it says of this last and terrible empire, "...that was, and is not, and yet is."
2. Daniel's vision of the four beasts Daniel also had a dream pointing to the same things as Nebuchadnezzar's image. He saw in a vision four great beasts arise out of the sea, "The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings" (Daniel 7:4). The second beast was "...like to a bear" (verse 5). Of the third beast we read, "...another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads..." (verse 6). And of the last beast Daniel writes, "Behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns" (verse 7).
The interpretation is as follows:
The lion with eagle's wings: Babylon.
The bear: Medo-Persia, which was weaker than the Babylonian empire.
The leopard with four wings and four heads: Greece.
Alexander the Great conquered the then-known world with unprecedented speed (four wings). As this ruler had no son of his own, the Greek empire passed on to four generals (four heads) after his death.
The terrible, unusually strong beast with 10 horns:
Rome. Just as Nebuchadnezzar's image ended with 10 toes, the portrayal of the beasts here ends with 10 horns.
3. We find this picture again in the Revelation of Jesus Christ In the last book of the Bible, we read that in the end times, shortly before the return of Jesus to set up His kingdom, a beast suddenly arises out of the sea which has 10 horns, "And I...saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having...ten horns" (Revelation 13:1).
As we read on in chapter 17, we find this beast with the ten horns again, together with an explanation of the meaning, "And the ten horns which he sawest are ten kings..." (Revelation 17:12).
These ten political rulers will give their power to the "beast" at the end of the days in opposition to Christ; however, they will be overcome by Him (Revelation 17:7-14).
Throughout all the prophetic statements in the Bible, the number ten always points to the end stage; in this case, it points to the newly revived Roman empire.
Today what is forming?
In my opinion, there can be no doubt that the last Roman empire, which must arise again, is taking on contours in our day in the European Union and its connections with the U.S.A. We see this, for instance, in the power of NATO. Quite possibly the center of the last world empire will be on European ground. Slogans such as "We need more Europe!" are loudly proclaimed. In connection with the war in Yugoslavia, we hear in the media, "We need a new order in Europe-a new attitude towards Europe-and a new orientation towards Europe."
Indeed, Europe is becoming stronger from year to year. What she still lacks is "a man" at her head. When she has him and can give him the power (Revelation 17:13), Europe will then represent an unprecedented world power.
New laws being instituted to open borders and a common currency (Euro) are clear indications of a united Europe and cannot be overlooked. For this reason, Europe is becoming more and more conscious of her power.
Since the collapse of Soviet Communism, the voice of Europe is becoming louder and louder. She is striving for alternatives to the U.S.A. in almost all spheres: union, common currency, aircraft industry, missiles, armed forces, etc. Europe is still militarily behind America; however, this could change overnight.
Europe can no longer be overlooked; she is increasing in strength and influence. An even closer cooperation between the United States and Europe could result.
Europe is
becoming stronger in the four most important spheres:
1. The Europeans know that they have become a major power in the political sphere, in addition to the U.S.A.
Their voice can no longer be ignored, and they are extending it.
2. In the economic sphere, Europe has become the greatest economic power in the world, partly because of the Euro but also because of her population-the largest, most highly educated in the world.
3. In the military sphere, Europe has NATO behind her.
Most NATO countries are European nations.
4. Even in the religious sphere, the Europeans with Roman Catholicism behind her are an enormous religious power.
It is interesting to note that Europe is directly intervening more and more in the Middle East conflict, and is getting bolder and bolder towards the U.S.A.
Europe and the Balkan war The April edition of a Christian magazine called Topic said,
"...We can consider the Balkan conflict from a completely different perspective. For some time, it has been observed that a process is taking place which aims at undermining the United Nations. The West is establishing its own power organization which reserves the right for itself to act globally. From this point of view, March 24th, 1999 (when the Balkan war began-Ed.) could be one of the most significant turning points in history.
NATO, a defense alliance of 19 Western states, is becoming world-politically active outside of her territory. Yet was it really exclusively NATO which intervened in the Kosovo conflict?
In 1948, an interesting union was formed: the Western European Union (WEU). At that time France, England and the Benelux states decided to cooperate in the economic, social and cultural spheres, and also in common defense. Today Belgium, Germany, France, Greece, Great Britain, Italy, Luxembourg, Holland, Portugal and Spain belong to the WEU. The WEU always remained in the background publicly, was described as a paper tiger, yet this ten-state alliance has made a decisive contribution to bringing about a new Europe. Today, the WEU is the European branch of NATO. In May of last year, the WEU intended to work at her own cost and has she made herself sure of military services (for instance from the USA)?
At the same conference, Greece demanded a military action of the WEU in Kosovo... At the mention of a "ten-state alliance" every Bible reader pricks up his ears. The reason for this is, of course, that Biblical prophecy speaks of a ten-state formation at the end of this world age which will play a significant part. The Old Testament prophet Daniel describes this in detail in chapters 2, 7 and 8. Revelation chapter 17 also speaks of it. This group of ten states will be the nucleus of a last great world empire, at whose head the Antichrist will stand later....
Member states of the WEU once belonged to the territory of the Roman empire. The new Europe arose and is rising on the foundation of the WEU states alliance. The German news magazine Der Spiegel wrote in one of its first editions in 1999 a front-page article called "Old Continent in New Dimensions." The article was concerned with the return of Europe as a world power.
The American evangelical best-seller author, Dave Hunt, voiced his opinion in his book Global Peace and the Rise of the Antichrist that we may not limit the restoration of the Roman empire to Europe. It says in Revelation (chapter 13:7-8) that this empire will have power over "all kindreds, and tongues and nations." Hunt thinks that it is the European, Western civilization which will rule the world at the end of her history.
The fact is: The alliance between the U.S.A. and Europe is at the moment by far superior to the rest of the world. Daniel writes, "The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces" (Daniel 7:23).
With the founding of the state of Israel in 1948, biblical prophecy became highly topical. Here, God took up the thread with Israel again.
In 1948, the state of Israel arose from her submersion to a new form.
It is, therefore, not by chance that in the same year, 1948, the beginnings of the WEU took place which are looked on as the foundation of the new Europe. Just as there is an anti-trinity, so there also seems to be an anti-empire.
Parallel to the restoration of the state of Israel, the new Rome is also beginning to arise from her submersion. On the same level, the Holy Spirit is working from above to gather the Jews to their homeland Israel (Ezekiel 36-37), the spirit from below is beginning to work also through Europe. We see how the two poles of the end times collide with one another: divine working from above in the land of Israel to set up the kingdom of Jesus Christ on earth, and devilish working from below to hinder the kingdom of God through the restoration of the Roman world empire. Both began in 1948. Just as at the time of Jesus there was a Jewish state and a Roman empire, so the same thing is coming into being today. The following press report emphasizes this:
EU army in the year 2,000?
The WEU is to be integrated in the European Union
German Foreign Minister, Joschka Fischer, and Defense Minister, Rudolf Scharping, are urging the speedy organization of communal armed forces of the EU states for the settlement of crises and conflicts in Europe without the participation of the U.S.A.
At the beginning of the Minister's Conference of the Western European Union (WEU) in Bremen, Fischer said the conflict in Kosovo made it clear how urgent and inevitable this was for the Europe of the future. According to Scharping's words, concrete results are to be expected at the end of the year 2,000 concerning the organization of purely European military capacities.
It must be the aim of these to strengthen the common foreign and security politics in such a way that in future they can turn to credible means of crisis management and have the necessary decision structures to be able to employ these. According to Fischer, a basic resolution would be passed at the EU peak talks in Cologne, which was already contained in the Amsterdam treaty visualizing the integration of the WEU in the EU" --Zurich Oberlander, 11 May 1999
We ask ourselves cautiously, do we see the beginnings of the rising of the last ten-state formation of the anti-Christian empire out of submersion?
Europe and Israel Through the events in the Balkans, Israel seems to be on the outskirts of world politics, but what is really taking place in the hearts of the Jewish people where this armed conflict is concerned?
The Israelis have to watch a strong world power (the U.S.A. and Europe-"iron") not only fighting against the atrocities of Milosevich, but simultaneously for an Islamic state in Kosovo. The West is fighting for the first time for Muslims. When this power, Europe and the U.S.A., enters the fight for a Palestinian state (and this is apparently the case), who could say "no"? The sovereign right of the nations does not seem to play a part any more, only what serves a new-world order. This is what the U.S.A. and Europe are striving for. Through the war in Yugoslavia, Israel is being forced behind the scenes to go in a different direction at a time when a change of government occurred in Israel. Surely no other government would be better suited to accept a Palestinian state. No government other than under Ehud Barak, who sees himself as the spiritual heir of Yitzhak Rabin, would probably be capable of extending its hand to an anti-Christian peace. All these events are moving the world in the direction already sketched for us in the prophetic Word.
Barak's party, "One Israel," leans more to secularism than the previous government under Netanyahu. Even Barak's predecessor, Yitzhak Rabin, said in his time that the Bible is not Israel's map.
The Bible speaks of the fact that a part of the Jews will enter into a covenant with the Antichrist at the end of the days (Isaiah 28:14-15 and 1st Thessalonians 5:3). This will be a "peace treaty" with the newly-arisen Roman empire, probably on European ground (Daniel 9:26-27). The Oslo Treaty in 1993 was made on European ground, perhaps as a sort of foretaste of the last anti-Christian peace treaty. Fredy Winkler, our representative in Israel, writes:
One thing is clear. Although Israel condemns
the Serbs' deeds in Kosovo, the unanimous
actions of NATO have led Israel even more
into isolation. From a Biblical point of view,
we can see clearly how the last and fourth
empire which, according to prophecy, will
remain until the dawning of the
eternal kingdom of God, is coming together
and carrying out its first tests of strength, in order to
put fear into those who do not comply. For us it
means, however, the eternal kingdom of God is
drawing nearer. Let us be prepared and heed the
prophetic Word that will shine for us until the day
dawns.
-Natchrichten Aus Israel, June 1999
Jesus is coming!
Thank God that the last world empire is not the end, but the return of the Lord Jesus in all His glory. Our living hope is that He will come to set up His kingdom which will extend all over the world and bring true peace lasting forever. Daniel 2:44-45 says of this kingdom, "And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
"Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure." And Daniel 7:13-14 says, "I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed."
Our eyes should be turned to this bright light, yet we must not overlook the dark world-political events. That would be unrealistic. We see light best in darkness.
We do not know when Jesus Christ will return because we do not know how much time God will give this world. We do not know what events and changes will take place. What is news today can be outdated tomorrow. Many politicians will come and go.
Our World can suddenly find itself in the last hour before the glorious return of the true Messiah.
What we have tried to describe here will only take place in its entire fulfillment after the Rapture. Perhaps the ten-state formation will only then be definitely formed and only then give its power to the Roman head. At that point, the Antichrist will appear and the Great Tribulation break out all over this world. As we see ever-clearer today the outline of these events coming toward us, we must ask ourselves how near the return of Jesus for His Church must be? Christian Briem wrote the following in the foreword of a book titled The Rapture of the Believers:
The people of this world will observe nothing of these extraordinary events. Only one thing will be impossible for them to overlook: innumerable people who lived with them here on earth have suddenly disappeared. They did not die, no, but they cannot be found. The Holy Scriptures gives us the reason for this already now. These people have experienced what they often spoke of and awaited with expectancy-the Rapture.
Jesus is coming again. There is ultimately only one real and valid gain, namely to have gained the Lord Jesus and to belong to Him today. There is only one real and ultimately inexcusable failure, namely to fail to give yourself to Jesus. The future, the kingdom and the power to this Jesus, the Son of the living God.
Who do you belong to? Do you belong to this world or to the kingdom of God? It says in Acts 17:30-31 and 34, "And the times of this ignorance God winked at... in that he hath raised him from the dead... howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed... and a woman named Damaris, and others with them."
Cleave to Him today to whom the future and all world-empires belong: Jesus Christ."
Midnight Call Magazine
P.O. Box 280008, Columbia, SC 29228 Telephone: (803) 755-0733 or 1-800-845-2420 Email: info@midnightcall.com
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|
| Pressing Through the Throng
| How Bad Do You Really Want a Touch From the Master ?
| by John L. Terry, III
| jterry@cswnet.com
|
Many Christians go through life missing out on God's best...because they've never really pressed through the circumstances of life to have a face-to-face encounter with the Creator of everything. They go through life saying simple prayers, reading the same Bible stories over and over, and doing the same old ritualistic things their parents have done, and their parents have done, and so forth. They've never really experienced God in a personal, intimate way.
Have you ever found yourself saying, "If God would only..."? What are you willing to do for God to "do" something in your life? Let's look at a familiar passage in Luke 8:40-56 to see what two individuals were willing to do to have a life changing encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Setting...
Capernaum, a seaside town which served as Jesus' ministry headquarters. It was from here that Jesus called Matthew (Levi), healed a paralytic man, explained his ministry to the Pharisees, and taught about the new wine. His fame had grown by this time, and His following was quite large. Public appearances often became a mob-frenzy as people flocked to be near this miracle worker and teacher. Hundreds of people swarmed Jesus and his band of followers, everyone trying to be close, even touch this man, if only for an instant as he passed by.
The excitement of the crowd builds as Jesus moves through the town. In the midst of the masses, Jesus sits down and begin to teach the people. Just then, a ruler of the synagogue, Jairus, approaches. To the amazement and shock of many who looked on, he falls on his knees and asks that Jesus come to his home and heal his daughter.
This in itself is unusual, as many of the religious of the day were either jealous or unsure who, or what, this Jesus really was.
He tells Jesus when he left his daughter's side she was dying, and probably is already dead. She was probably a victim of one of the many communicable diseases of the time, which took their toll among rich and poor alike. As the crowd listens with anticipation, Jesus quietly consents to go with Jairus.
As Jesus rose and he and his disciples began to make their way slowly toward their destination, from behind a woman began to press forward against the masses. With purpose, she pushed and pulled as the crowd flowed with this miracle worker, slowly making her way, inch by inch, toward Jesus. This woman, according to Jewish law, was committing an act worthy of severe punishment. Most scholars believe she was suffering from some form of irregular menstrual bleeding or was a hemophiliac. Whatever the case, it was illegal for her to be in public and death could be the sentence for her actions.
As she neared, she reached out and her fingertips brushed against one of the tassels which lined the hem of his outer garment as Jesus himself pressed against the crowd to go to the home of Jairus...and instantly her blood disorder was healed.
There are four tassels of twisted wool (kraspedon) attached to the four corners of the outer garment. We might refer to this today as a prayer shawl, and are referred to in Numbers 15:38-41 and Deuteronomy 22:12. They are also referred to as "wings". This fulfilled the OT prophecy that the Messiah would come "...with healing in his wings."
Jesus stops in his tracks and his piercing eyes begin to scan the crowd. He asks, "Who touched me?" above the roar of the crowd. The disciples looked around at the mob of people all wanting to touch the Master as he passed by. Peter and the disciples reply, "Master, hundreds of hands have reached in from all sides to touch you, this mob will barely let us pass, and you want to know who reached out and touched you?"
Those eyes of compassion looked deep into the soul of Peter and the disciples as he replied, "You don't understand...I felt healing power flow from my body. Someone reached beyond the physical to touch the spiritual, and they were healed!"
The disciples turn and they too begin to search the masses. Silence falls on the masses as they realize something of significance has happened. The crowd begins to murmur and look among themselves, puzzled by the events which have occurred. Eyes fall on this woman, recognizing eyes who know who she is and that she is not supposed to be in public. Fear now grips the woman's heart, as more and more eyes turn to stare at her.
The woman falls to her knees and tells Jesus who she was and why she had broken the Jewish law to touch his garment. She explains that she had spent all her income on remedies to heal her body, but nothing worked. Each day, she grew weaker and weaker. Then, she heard that the miracle worker was returning to her town and she purposed in her heart that this was her last hope...even if it cost her her life.
"I'll not make a scene, nor ask the Master for a special favor. I'll just touch the hem of his garment, his wing, and receive my healing. No one need ever know!" she thought.
Now she stands before the crowd of people, and Jesus has called her out of the crowd. Will he condemn her, will he stone her, what will his response be? As she looks up, their eyes meet and she sees in them compassion and love. He looks deep within her soul and reads her innermost thoughts in that single moment.
A smile crosses his lips as he takes her small hand in his own and stands her to her feet before the crowd. With one hand on her shoulder and the other in his own, he says to her, "It was your faith that healed you, go in peace." The woman returns the smile, hugs Jesus, and disappears into the stunned and silent crowd. Jairus watches in amazement, and faith builds in his heart.
Suddenly, a servant appears, informing Jairus that his daughter was dead. "Don't trouble the Master anymore, it won't do any good." Jairus turns to Jesus with a questioning look, to which Jesus replies, "Don't be afraid, don't doubt what you believe to be true...have faith and your daughter will live."
Holding that assurance in his heart, Jairus pushes forward with Jesus and soon they arrive at his home. Leaving the crowd outside, Jesus and a select group enter through the door. The mourners are there, paid professionals, who fulfill the Jewish custom of three full days and nights of mourning of the dead, followed by four days of lamentation...for a total of seven days of sorrow over the death of a family member. The wailing of their song tugs at the hope in his heart as they move into the home.
Jesus watches as Jarius' wife comes to his side, weeping at the loss of their child, and those eyes of compassion begin to burn with purpose. He turns to the mourners and says, "The girl is not dead, she is only asleep!" This statement brings about laughter and mocking ridicule.
He turns to look at the child, laid out on a bier, and the fire in his eyes burns even brighter. When he turns again to face the mourners, they too see the fire in his eyes as he orders them out of the house! Silence fills the room as the mourners file out and Jesus turns to face Jairus and his wife. As they look into the eyes of Jesus, they see an intensity and purpose they have never witnessed before...and Jairus gives his wife a smile as he grips her hand and holds her close. Anticipitation begins to build, and all eyes turn to the funeral bier.
Jesus turns to face the young child, and the calloused hands of the carpenter reach out to take her small hand in his own.
Softly, but with authority, Jesus speaks, "Young lady, wake up!"
As the onlookers stood by, this young girl's eyes flutter open and look into the face of a man who is smiling back at her, his eyes glistening with a glory and a love she has never known until now. She smiles and she sits up as a warmth flows from her head to her toes and back again. Jairus and his wife rush to her side and tears of joy flow as the family celebrates in the miracle they have just seen with their own eyes. Life from death...a family reunited.
With instructions to feed her and to keep the events of the day silent, Jesus withdrew into a quiet place with his disciples.
Let me ask you a question? Have you ever wanted something bad enough
you'd do anything to get what you wanted? It's a proven fact, if we want
something bad enough, we will make almost any sacrifice to get what we
want. My question is..."What do you want from the Lord...and how bad to you
want it?"
The woman wanted healing...and she was willing to press through a mob of people, risking death in the process, to get what she wanted...a personal encounter with the Healer. Jairus wanted healing for his daughter, and he persevered through seemingly hopeless circumstances to have a face-to-face encounter with the Lord.
In Luke 8, we see some parallels between the woman and Jairus. Each one came personally to Jesus, they did not have someone go in their place. Both Jairus and the woman overcame an adversity to get to Jesus, and each one came expecting to receive what they came for. Both were willing to persevere until they received their touch and each one had faith that Jesus would give them what they desired most
What do you want from Jesus? In your heart of hearts, what one thing do
you desire above all else?
YOU MUST BE WILLING TO DO WHAT JAIRUS AND THE WOMAN DID IN ORDER TO RECEIVE WHAT YOU WANT MOST FROM THE LORD
Matthew 6:33 "Seek first the kingdom and the righteousness of God and all that you have need of will be provided for you."
God is alive and well...and will meet us at the point of our need when we are willing to forsake everything else for a personal encounter with Him. If you will press through the throng, with faith in your heart, and seek His face with all of your being, He will give you that which you desire most! The woman said, "If I can have an encounter...even for an instant...I will be made whole." Overcoming adversity, she received her healing when she had only a passing moment with the Master.
Jairus had to choose between believing what he saw with his own eyes, or believing in the words of a carpenter's son. What was impossible with man became reality in Jairus' life, because he had an encounter with God and his faith and trust were in what he could not see.
All too often we give up on God prematurely. Jairus' encounter with Jesus did not result in the immediate healing of his daughter. He came seeking healing for his daughter, but I believe when he had a face-to-face encounter with the Creator of everything, his perspective and his life were forever changed.
We often seek the hand of God, desiring His blessings or His gifts. Yet how often are we willing to push beyond the routine to have that life-changing encounter with the God of Glory? What do we desire most, some thing...or the encounter with God himself?
When God came down on Mount Sinai, he told Moses to prepare the people to meet with Him. The next day, as the glory of God came down on the mountain, fire and smoke billowed from the sky and thunder and lightning shook the heavens. The people fell back in fear and refused to press into the presence of God. Only Moses climbed the mountain, and had the glory of God revealed to him in a personal, tangible way. Imagine walking with God for forty days and watching His finger write the 10 commandments on tablets of stone. Imagine being placed in a cleft in the rock and seeing the glory of God pass before your very eyes.
Are we willing to lay aside our schedules, our busy routines, and our own selfish desires and "press through" to encounter God? An old chorus we sing says, "Turn your eyes on Jesus, look full into His wonderful face. And the things of this world will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace."
If we are truly willing to follow Jesus' command in Matthew 6:33 and seek an encounter with God, then we can be assured He will meet us at the point of our need. To do that, we must desire to come personally to Jesus, overcome whatever adversity stands in our way to get to Jesus, expect to receive what we came for, and be willing to persevere until we receive your touch, and have faith that Jesus will give you what you desire most.
When we have a face-to-face encounter with God, our desires are replaced with His desires...and we are forever changed as we experience His glory and grace.
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|
| DISPENSATIONAL DAWNING
| The Second Great Divine Reformation
| by Chad Rudolph
|
Astray Until The Reformation
While the New Testament was still being written, the church was already off course, into legalism and other false teachings. Many of the church fathers of the first couple of centuries were heading in the direction of Catholicism, which was fully developed by the fifth century. Hence the majority of institutionalized "Christendom" was apostate until the first reformation which focused primarily on salvation by grace through faith alone. Catholic traditions still permeate most of Protestantism: Including syncretism of pagan worship practices and the lie that the church replaces Israel. The reformation gave us back our Bible and salvation, but it didn't go far enough.
The Second Reformation
In the mid 1800's a new reformation began in North America and Europe. A reformation which focused on the literal interpretation of prophecy specifically and the Bible in general. This resulted in a dispensational understanding of the scriptures. Literal Dispensational interpretation was popularized by great Bible teachers such as
John Darby (1800-1882), C. H. Mackintosh (1820-1896), Dwight Moody (1837-1899), James Gray (about 1900), Ethelbert Bullinger (1837-1913), Robert Anderson (1841-1918), A. R. Habershon (1861-1918), Cyrus Scofield (1843-1921), Clarence Larkin (early 1900's), William Newell (early 1900's), Arno Gaebelein (1861-1945), H. A. Ironside (died 1951), Lewis Chafer (1871-1952), Harry Bultema (1884-1952), John O'Hair (1877-1958), Alva Mclain (mid 1900's), Charles Ryrie (recent), J. Vernon McGee (recent), John Walvoord (recent), Dave Hunt (recent), Hal Lindsey (recent), Cornelius Stam (recent), Charles Baker (recent)
and many others. I highly endorse all these authors keeping in mind that all writings must be scrutinized in the light of the Word. The Holy Spirit used these Bible teachers of the second reformation to open many diligent people's eyes to the truth of the scriptures.
Revived Truth
The two great reformations of the last 600 years were not introductions to new truth, but popular revivals of the truth based on the literal interpretations of the Bible. This is the proper way to understand the Bible. For if the Bible is of "private interpretation," then any interpretation is right and the whole thing is meaningless including the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Remember that whenever Jesus or the apostles quoted prophecy, they always interpreted it literally. Literal interpretation of the Bible leads to enlightenment.
From the fourth century to the first reformation, the saints have been in virtual darkness due to the Catholic sect hiding the word of God from the common man through physically withholding and allegorical misinterpretation of it. The first reformation could only deal with the most basic truth, the gospel and salvation. It was a reformation based on the literal interpretation of salvation passages, especially those found in the Pauline epistles. The second reformation went much further by opening our understanding of prophecy, law and grace. It was based on the literal interpretation of prophecy, especially those found in the books of Daniel, Ezekiel, Thessalonians and Revelation. Dispensationalism went beyond "justification by faith" to "sanctification through identification," "literal prophetic interpretation" and the "law/grace distinction".
Bad Timing?
Some christians seek to negate dispensationalism's validity by questioning the timing of it's historical popularization. These same people don't however question the legitimacy of salvation by grace due to it's popularization in the first reformation. God's timing is perfect for this new revival of dispensational (Eph. 3, Rom. 11) and prophetic truth in the last two hundred years. In fact, He has sovereignly orchestrated that it be made clear in the end times.
"And he said to me, " Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand. "Revelation 22:10
"But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase." Daniel 12:4
"And he said, " Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. "Daniel 12:9
"But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day (of the Lord) should overtake you as a thief. " 1 Thessalonians 5:4
"knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation." 2 Peter 3:3-4
Perhaps Sir Isaac Newton based the following statement on the previous verses.
"About the Time of the End, a body of men will be raised up who will turn their attention to the Prophecies, and insist upon their literal interpretation, in the midst of much clamor and opposition" (Alva McClain.
Daniel's Prophecy of the 70 Weeks. p 2).
Approximately one third of the Bible is prophecy. Since God places so much emphasis on this, we should too. We should emphasize the literal, contextual verse by verse interpretation of the whole bible while comparing related scripture passages. Thank God for believers who promote a dispensational understanding of the Holy Bible at "such a time as this!"
Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good. -1 Thessalonians 5:20-21
For more information on dispensationalism's place in Biblical interpretation and church history, I recommend the following resources.
Books
A Dispensational Theology - Charles F. Baker Chronological and Background Charts of Church history - Robert Walton Dictionary of Premillennial Theology - Mal Couch (editor) Things That Differ - Cornelius R. Stam http://www.bereanbiblesociety.org/literatu.html Things to Come - J. Dwight Pentecost
Links & Free Newsletters
This condensed version of the full article was made for the PropheZine newsletter. The full version with links to related resources may be found at BibleLight Christian Resources (see link below).
About the Author
Chad Rudolph lives in Oregon with his wife and three children. As founder and editor of BibleLight Ministries, he holds degrees in Biblical studies, management and communication. Most of his adult life has been spent in volunteer ministry and in working in the health and education fields. His commission resides in 2 Corinthians 5:14-21.
MARANATHA!!! (1 Cor. 16:22, Aramaic: "Our Lord, come")
BibleLight Ministries: http://homepages.infoseek.com/~biblelight/index.html BibleLight Bulletin (subscribe/unsubscribe): <biblelightbulletin@email.com>
Posted 12/98. Updated 7/99. Copyright  1998 Chad Rudolph. All rights reserved. BibleLight is the trademark of Chad Rudolph. This article may be freely distributed with out charge in it's unaltered entirety for personal use. Publication by any means is prohibited with out the author's written permission. NKJV (c) 1982 Thomas Nelson Pub.
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|
| Second Coming Confusion
| Contrasting the Rapture & the 2nd Coming
| by Chad Rudolph
|
Introduction
Confused about Christ's Coming? There are many Second Coming Bible passages which are frequently mistaken for the Rapture. Some times they are even taught as if they were one and the same. Even more confusion exists regarding when the Rapture occurs in relation to the Tribulation. But the student of the Scriptures would do well to pay close attention to the contrasting traits and purposes of each event.
"True wisdom is not manifested in trying to see resemblance's in things which differ, but in discerning the real difference among those which resemble one another." - Unknown (see: Rom. 2:18; Php. 1:10)
This article is a study aid designed to be read in conjunction with the mentioned Bible references. These are the basic questions which will be answered by this article.
-What is the Rapture, Tribulation and Second Coming?
-Where do we find these concepts in the Bible?
-What is the purpose of the Tribulation?
-How do these three prophetic events relate to each other?
-What resources are available for further study?
The Rapture
Is "rapture" in the Bible? Yes! The Latin derivative "rapture" is a synonym for the English "catch up" (2 Cor. 12:4; 1 Thes. 4:17). Both terms are translated from the original New Testament Greek verb "harpazo." All three terms are found in the Bible (which corresponds to their respective languages).
1 Thessalonians 4:17-18 "Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words."
The Rapture will conclude this grace dispensation (Eph. 3:2) and precede the future 7 year Tribulation (2 Thes. 2). Although there was at least one Old Testament allusion/type/foreshadowing (Enoch raptured a period of 7 since Adam and a period of 7/one generation before the flood/judgement:
Gen. 5:24; Mt. 24: 34; Heb. 11:5; Jude 1:14), the Rapture is only specifically referred to in the Pauline epistles. Why? Because the rapture was part of the secret mystery revealed through Paul for believers in the dispensation of grace (1 Cor. 15). The next prophesied event which concerns us is the Rapture. Christ's secret coming is imminent (1 Cor. 1:7; 16:22;
Php. 3:20; 4:5; 1 Thes. 1:10; Tit. 2:13). We are not told to look for Antichrist or the "abomination of desolation", but for Christ's Rapture.
The pretribulational approach is the only interpretation which takes the Bible literally and brings us His promised comfort.
"About the Time of the End, a body of men will be raised up who will turn their attention to the Prophecies, and insist upon their literal interpretation, in the midst of much clamor and opposition" - Sir Isaac Newton (McClain, Alva. Daniel's Prophecy of the 70 Weeks. Pg. 2)
Rapture Bible Verses
Rom. 8: 19-25; 1 Cor. 1:7-8; 15:51-53; 16:22; 2 Cor. 12:4?; Gal. 5:5; Php.
3:20-21; 4:5; Col. 3:4; 1 Thes. 1:10; 2:1, 3, 19; 3:13; 4:13-18; 5:9, 23; 2 Thes. 2:1, 3, 7; 1 Tim. 3:14-15?; 6:14; 2 Tim. 4:18; Titus 2:11-13; (NOT Rev. 3:10; 4:1!)
Purpose of the Tribulation
All believers are promised general tribulation (suffering) in this life (Rom. 5:3; 2 Cor. 12:10; Php. 1:29; 1 Thes. 3:3; 1 Pet. 1:7; 2:19; 4:12).
However, believers in this dispensation are promised deliverance (Rom.
5:9?; 1 Thes. 1:9-10; 5:9; 2 Thes. 2:3, 7) "from the wrath to come" (the 7 year Tribulation).
1 Thessalonians 1:10 "...and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come."
To know whether we will participate in any part of the Tribulation, we need to know God's purpose for Daniel's 70th week of years. Who is the Tribulation for? "Jacob's (father of Israel) trouble" is stated only to be for Israel (Jer. 30:7; Dan. 9:20-25) and unbelievers (1 Thes. 1:8; 2:12), not us. We will be taken away before antichrist is revealed (2 Thes. 2:7).
The reasons for the Tribulation are for God to exercise His wrath on the Christ rejecting world and to prepare the remnant of Israel (including Gentile proselytes) for it's promised King (my Lord Jesus Christ) and earthly kingdom (Deut. 4:29-30; Jer. 30:3-11; Zech. 12:10).
Tribulation Scripture References
Dan. 8:24-27; 12:1-2; Mt. 13:30-50; 24:15-31; 1 Thes. 1:9-10; 5:4-9; 2 Thes. 2:1-11; Rev. 4-18; 6:16-17; Jer. 30:7; Dan. 9:20-25; 1 Thes. 1:8;
2:12; Deut. 4:29-30; Jer. 30:3-11; Zech. 12:10
The Second Coming
Remember that all the Bible is for us (Rom. 15:4; 1 Cor. 10:6; 2 Tim.
3:16), but only the apostle Paul's letters are 100% applicable to us (Acts 9:15; 22:21; 26:17; Rom. 2:16; 11:13; 16:25; Gal. 2:8-9; Eph. 3:1, 8; Col.
1:27; 1 Tim. 2:7, 2 Tim. 1:11; 2:8) in the dispensation of grace. All references to Christ's coming in the Jewish (non-Pauline) letters are referring to the Second Coming of Christ at the end of the future 7-year tribulation. There are also a few references to Christ's coming in judgment in the Thessalonian letters.
Zechariah 14:3-4a "Then the LORD will go forth And fight against those nations, As He fights in the day of battle. And in that day [end of the Tribulation] His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, Which faces Jerusalem on the east."
There were also many Old Testament allusions (foreshadows, types, examples) to the Second Advent of the Lord Jesus Christ.
-Noah (remnant of Israel) was saved through the flood (global judgment).
-Lot (believing remnant) flees (to the hills) the destruction of Sodom (spiritual Jerusalem).
-Parables of Jesus often have a first and Second Coming divided by a king in exile aspect .
-Moses (foreshadow of the Prophet to come, Jesus), David and Joseph had a first (lowly) and second (kingly) coming divided by a period of exile (dispensation of grace, Eph. 3, Rom. 11).
-The plagues and the exodus foreshadow in microcosm the world wide tribulation and deliverance of the remnant of Israel from Armageddon.
Second Coming cross-references
Deut. 30:3; 32:41-42; Dan. 2:44-45, 7:9-14; 12:1-3; Ez. 43:2-7; Zech.
12:10; 14:1-15; 41:1-3 Mt. 13:14; 23:39; 24: 15-44, 48-51; 25:13, 31;
26:64; Mk. 13:14-27; 14:62; Lk. 12:36-48; 17:24; 21:25-28; Jn. 14:1-3; Acts 1:9-11; 3:19-21; 15:14-17; 1 Thes. 5:3; 2 Thes. 1:6-10; 2:2, 8; Heb. 9:28;
James 5:7-9; 1 Pet. 1:7, 13; 4:12-13; 5:4; 2 Pet. 3:1-14; 1 Jn. 2:28-3:2;
Jude 14-15; Rev. 1:7-8; 19:11-20:6; 22:7, 12, 20; Rev. 1:10; 2:25; 3:10;
4:1; 19:11-21; 22:20
Differences
The Second Coming (Revelation 19, Zechariah 14, Matthew 24, Daniel 7) is not the Rapture (1&2 Thessalonians, 1 Corinthians 15). The Rapture takes place before the 7 year Tribulation (wrath of God/Lamb, the day of the Lord, Jacob's trouble, Daniel's 70th week, the great day of His wrath, etc.). It is a secret coming in the air (not on the ground) for (not with) the believers of all nations. Jesus never touches the ground and the world does not see him. The resurrection of the rapture takes place during (not after) Christ's partial decent.
The Second Coming is 180 degrees different. It occurs at the end of the 7-year Tribulation. The resurrection of tribulation saints takes place after (Rev. 19-20) Christ's complete decent of the Second Advent. The unbelievers are taken away (Mt. 13) as the Lord returns to the earth to save Israel (Rom. 11, Rev. 19). It is not a secret, for it is seen by the whole world (Mt. 24:30). Although there are a few similarities (clouds, Jesus, believers, coming) between the Rapture (secret, air, church, pre-trib., deliverance) and the Second Coming (public, ground, Israel, post-trib., vengeance), let us discern the differences. For this purpose, I highly recommend the resources below.
Conclusion
When reading writings on prophecy, it will serve you well to keep in mind that direct rapture passages only occur in the Pauline books of the Bible (Rom. - Phm.). All references to the coming of Christ in the non-Pauline books are referring to His second coming/advent to save Israel. Just as Moses was the primary revelator to Israel "under the law" program, so Paul is our apostle in "the dispensation of the grace of God" (Rom. 6:14; 11:13;
2 Cor. 5:16; Gal. 2:8; 5:18; Eph. 3:2; 2 Tim. 3:8-10). Therefore it only makes sense that our apostle and not the 12 apostles of the law/kingdom program would receive and convey our "blessed hope" (the rapture/resurrection, Tit. 2:13). Hence we are "looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ"
(Titus 2:13)!
If you liked this article, please forward it to your friends and encourage them to subscribe to the "BibleLight Bulletin."
Recommended Books
-Dictionary of Premillennial Theology - Mal Couch -Planet Earth: The Final Chapter - Hal Lindsey -The Bible and Future Events - Leon J. Wood -The Study of the Types - Ada R. Habershon -The Triumph of His Grace: Preparing Ourselves for the Rapture - Paul M.
Sadler -The Truth About The Rapture - Thomas Ice, Timothy Demy -Things That Differ: The Fundamentals of Dispensationalism - Cornelius R.
Stam
Links & Free Newsletters
This condensed version of the full article was made for the PropheZine newsletter. The full version with links to related resources may be found on the BibleLight website (see link below).
About the Author
Chad Rudolph lives in Oregon with his wife and three children. As founder and editor of BibleLight Ministries, he holds degrees in Biblical studies, management and communication. Most of his adult life has been spent in volunteer ministry and in working in the health and education fields. His commission resides in 2 Corinthians 5:14-21.
MARANATHA!!! (1 Cor. 16:22, Aramaic: "Our Lord, come")
BibleLight Ministries <http://homepages.infoseek.com/~biblelight/index.html
Posted 3/99. Updated 6/99. Copyright 1999 Chad Rudolph. All rights reserved. BibleLight is the trademark of Chad Rudolph. This article may be freely distributed with out charge in it's unaltered entirety for personal use. Publication by any means is prohibited with out the author's written permission <biblelightbulletin@email.com. NKJV Copyright 1982 Thomas Nelson Pub.
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Prophezine Commentaries
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Two Rivers of Blood on America
By Bryan Hupperts
I saw a river of blood forming in pools in judgment on the White House lawn, on the tarmac, and on the steps of the Supreme Court. This river of blood is the slain blood of the innocent, of the unborn. Even as God judged the gods of Egypt with blood, so he will judge America with blood. This river of blood will sweep over this nation until we confess our sin of sacrificing our unborn on the altar of materialism and convenience, and we confess that we have murdered the innocent.
The cries of the blood of the slain innocent have reached the ears of God. The very ground is cursed because mothers and fathers have slain their unborn children. And the fruitful land will produce crops of thistles and thorns because of the curse of innocent blood is on this land. They scorned Life Himself and so shall reap death. As they caused the womb to be barren, so shall their fields be barren.
I saw another river of blood, the blood of Christ, rising up as a river that is beginning to break out of her banks and flood to overflow. Many who hold to a form of religion shall try to dam, dam, and dam again to stop the flow of this river of blood. They shall be swept away. Many, many, many will cry out to God repulsed by their sin, and the sins of this nation, and the blood of Jesus will flood over their souls and they shall find forgiveness, and cleansing, and wholeness under the cleansing fount of
Calvary. Those that the enemy tried to "dam" by denying them the blood of Christ shall find healing and rest for their souls.
As it was in Egypt, so shall it be in America. For some, the blood sacrificed to demon gods meant the angel of death will call. For others who take the blood of Christ, the blood shall mean LIFE! Chooses this day America for your God has roused Himself to deliver His people - and to smite His enemies.
Which river of blood shall overflow you? That of the slain Lamb of God which takes away sin, or that of the slain innocent? Shall you be baptized in a river of blood that leads unto Life, or in a river of blood that leads unto death? Choose this day whom you will serve!
As the gods of Egypt fell before the Lord, so shall the gods of America fall. And great shall be the deliverance of His people!
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Star Wars Joins United Religions at the Presidio
by Berit Kjos - andy-berit@crossroad.to
<www.crossroad.to>
San Francisco's spectacular army base was built to defend America. It has become an open door to forces that would destroy our freedom, sovereignty, and values.
The "Force" is with George Lucas.
Literally. Trouncing his competitors, the master of movie magic has won the coveted right to build his Star Wars empire on 23 acres of the Presidio, the former army base overlooking the Golden Gate bridge. Lucasfilm and Lucas Learning Ltd. will share this prize piece of San Francisco real estate with the Gorbachev Foundation, the Thoreau Center for Sustainability, FEMA, the United Religions Initiative (URI), the United Nations Resource Center, and a host of other environmental, spiritual, educational, and governmental organizations.1 Together they share a common crusade: to build a unified, earth-friendly global civilization based on "new"
universal beliefs and values.
While Christianity clashes, the "Force" fits well. Some might even compare the Presidio's elite guardians of the planet with the heroic Jedi of the Star Wars galaxy. In Lucasfilm's popular children's book, I Am a Jedi, Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) tells us in his own words, "The Jedi are a very special group of beings.
For many thousands of years, we have worked to promote peace and justice in the universe."2
Noble words! The last part could be spoken by any UN or UR visionary. The Star Wars ideal could well be the Presidio vision on a cosmic scale.
The spiritual part fits as well. "We draw our strength from a mysterious power called the Force," continues the Jedi Knight.
This Force is a "form of energy that connects all living things.
We Jedi learn to be sensitive to the Force. It is a source of great strength."
George Lucas will surely add strength to the entire Presidio project. His universal power source provides a perfect model for the new global spirituality needed as a foundation for the planetary oneness. His Digital Arts Center with its out-of-this-world technology can make mind-changing fantasies seem more real than reality. His proposal for commercial development of the land will help make the Presidio self-sufficient.3 And his Lucas Learning Ltd. will communicate his politicy correct message through schools, video games, and computers everywhere.
THE PRESIDIO VISION. The Presidio Alliance plans to turn the old army base into "a global center for sustainability." It's goals include "forums for dialogue" and "education programs and workshops on sustainability." If you wonder what that last word means, it's not simply "to meet the needs of the present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs." To insiders, it means the 3 E's: Environment, Economy, and Equity: using the environmental crisis as the excuse needed to persuade the masses to conform to the new global values and the redistribution of resources (new economy) in order to establish social equality.
(See Local Agenda 21).
The Thoreau Center, an Alliance member, calls for a "global center dedicated to addressing the world's most critical environmental, social, and cultural challenges."4 Located near the Lucasfilm site, its well-chosen tenants include the United Religions, the Rudolf Steiner (founder of Waldorf Schools5) Foundation, The International Bill of Rights Project, and the United Nations Resource Center.
A publicity brochure from the UN Resource Center describes the 1994 transfer of the Presidio from the US Army to the National Park Service. Matching the global vision, this change linked its "military past with a future of promise and protection - one that recognizes that defense no longer must be based solely on political and military strength, but on stewardship of the world's human and physical resources through global cooperation."
Actually, the Presidio had been linked to the UN since 1988, when it became part of UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Program. Almost a decade later, Brian O'Neill, director of the Association for the Central California Biosphere Reserve, shared his vision for the former army base:
"I think the Thoreau Center for Sustainability represents the kind of tenancy that the Park Service will seek. Another example
is the Gorbachev Foundation, which brings elder statesmen from around the world every year to debate and raise new ideas outside the government structure that could help solve some global issues."6
A GLOBAL SPIRITUALITY. Mikhail Gorbachev, who received the keys to his bay-side headquarters from a three-star general in 1993, tells his disciples that an all-inclusive spirituality must lay the foundation for the new global ethic. It doesn't matter which religion is used to model this universal spirituality as long as it is broad enough to embrace all the world's religious traditions and flexible enough to be adapted to the global agenda.
"We should... help in the development of a global consciousness... to change the world for the better,"7 announced the former head of the Soviet Union at his 1996 State of the World Forum. With help from the mainstream media, which announced the demise of Communist threats years ago, Gorbachev has successfully redefined Communism and disarmed the West.
His new emphasis on spirituality helps. Since the founding of the Gorbachev Foundation USA, he has used idealized forms of Baha'i, Buddhist, Native American, Cabalistic, and Hindu models for this envisioned world religion. Yet, most of his spiritual "wise men"
and women have taught a Western adaptation of Buddhism - not unlike the New Age spirituality publicized two decades ago from the boggy planet Dagobah. That's where Yoda centered his mind, raised his arms, and mystically lifted Luke Skywater's space ship out of the swamp.
Today's lessons in Star Wars mysticism shows how to manipulate the Force. In the children's book, Jedi Apprentice: The Dark Rival, published by Scholastic which distributes the Star Wars series to schools across the country, Qui-Gon allows the Force to "direct him, take him over." The story tells of his battle against Zanatos, his former apprentice who had been drawn to the dark side by greed and anger. To help win the battle, his new apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi tries to "use the white light of the Force. His mind had been too clouded by anger. . . He drew on the living Force to guide him." Later, "they concentrated, drawing the Force to bear on the door."8
At the moment, the stress of Obi-Wan's anger blocked the Force.
But when a Jedi mind is cleared, the power works well. For "a Jedi can move objects with the Force," according to Qui-Gon.9 Their winning strategy sounds just like the timeless formula for magic taught by Starhawk, founder of the Covenant of the Goddess. In The Spiral Dance, the Wiccan leader explains that the purpose of magical training is -"to open up the starlight consciousness . . to make contact with the Divine within. The beginner must develop four basic abilities: relaxation, concentration, visualization, and projection. Relaxation is important because any form of tension blocks energy."10 Mental projection, the last of the four disciplines, is an extension of visualization. After seeing and concentrating on the image(s), the budding magician uses mental determination to connect with the energy source and "move" the visualized images according to his or her will.
Anakin, the young Darth Vader, shows how to use this formula. In a Lucas Book for children titled Anakin's Fate, the boy was getting ready for a pod race. At the starting line, he "shut out all the sights and sounds around him. He stared at the red signal light. . . . . [He] reached out with his mind. He touched the circuits inside the light. He could feel the electrical forces flowing inside it. Then Anakin felt a surge of power."11 It seems so good. Few children want to resist the thrill of manipulating this power with their imagination. Few adults dare question the dream of peace and oneness in the world. That's why the vision inspires idealists who seek peace as well as globalists who seek power.
MARKETING THE NEW CONSCIOUSNESS.
As our education leaders have stated repeatedly, the primary goal is change - cultural as well as personal change.12 Collective change happens when crowds of people see the same images, hear the same ads, feel the same feelings, "experience" the same crises, and store the same memories.
Entertainment serves the process well. Stirring the emotions, it distracts the mind from factual thinking. When teaching through entertainment soars into the realm of high-tech myth-making, almost any vision can be sold to "a critical mass"13 of the world's population. Many change agents count on it. That's why they have been pushing partnerships between school, community, church, and media leaders throughout the nineties. Every person of every age in every place must be involved in the "Lifelong Learning" program outlined by UNESCO back in the seventies.
To involve all persons in the process, they need a variety of creative strategies. Each Presidio group must do its part. Gorbachev speaks to the spiritual, political, and economic elites around the world. The environmental groups work with the United Nations as well as with local communities to implement the Agenda 21 plan for changing lifestyles.14 And the United Religions Initiative brings the world's religions together in a "global dialogue."
The URI also works informally with UNESCO, which published Our Creative Diversity, the report of the World Commission on Culture and Development. Speaking at a follow-up conference with the same title, Hans Kung, President of the Foundation for a Global Ethic, summarized the goal:
"We appeal to all the inhabitants of this planet. Earth cannot be changed for the better unless the consciousness of individuals is changed.
"We pledge to work for such transformation in individual and collective consciousness, for the awakening of our spiritual powers through reflection, meditation, prayer, or positive thinking, for a conversion of the heart. . . . "15 George Lucas is their man. The Star Wars epics familiarized America with his universal power source in the seventies. But the hype surrounding the release of his Episode 1 captivates a far greater mass of humanity. Few bother to examine the source of the Force. Apparently, today's audience has little resistance to the subtle suggestions that make ordinary reality, factual science, and Biblical truth seem boring, intolerant, "separative" and obsolete.
FROM FACT TO FEELING. Take the emphasis on feelings and imagination rather than facts and logic. This shift is vital to the process of global citizens for the 21st Century village.16 If you saw Episode 1, you may remember how Qui-Gon (Liam Neeson) encouraged young Anakin Skywalker before the pod race:
"Concentrate on the moment. Feel, don't think. May the Force be with you."
Keep in mind, in a setting that encourages mental relaxation, most viewers will simply receive such bad advice without mental evaluation. Advertisers know that well. That's why they spend billions to market their products through mind-less suggestions that stir desire, not logic.
Neale Donald Walsch, a URI participant who wrote the top-selling series, Conversations With God, echoes Qui-Gon's message. In one of his dialogues, a spirit guide that calls itself "God" tells Walsch, "Listen to your feelings. Follow your feelings. Honor your feelings. . . . If you want to live a life where you never follow your feelings, but where every feeling is filtered though the machinery of your Mind, go right ahead. . . . But don't look for joy in such machinations."17
Walsch believed the enticing messenger. It "whispered in my ear, "he explains. "I was taking dictation."18 Among the strange "truths" dictated with the presumed authority of the true God was a lesson in Star Wars theology. You might even call it "death education":
"Like Obi-Wan Kenobi, you will experience no damage, even when someone is 'killing' you. This is the level of mastery that has been reached by the members of the societies I am now describing . . . They would simply exit their body and leave it for you, if you felt the need to hurt it so much."19 Perhaps you didn't notice a similar lesson in the movie series. But you couldn't miss it in another children's book, Episode 1, Journal, also published by Scholastic. At the end of his reflections, little Anakin explains Qui-Gon's death. Watching his hero disappear in the flames of the funeral pyre (like those we Andy and I watched at the shore of the "holy" river Ganges on a visit to India many years ago), the boy hears Obi-Wan say, "He is one with the Force, Anakin. You must let go."
All these popular books contribute to UNESCO's program for "Lifelong Learning" in global ideology. Walsch recognized his part by the end of his second book of channeled information. His "Divine purpose" was "to raise that collective consciousness." The dictated words, he said, "were aimed through me at the entire world."20 He may be right.
EDUCATING THE MASSES. Global education leader, Dr. Shirley McCune, affirms the need to trade fact for feeling. "We are no longer teaching facts to children," she announced as keynote speaker at the 1989 Governors Conference on Education led by former Governor Bill Clinton.
Its no coincident that Dr. McCune directed the Mid-Continent Regional Educational Laboratory (McREL), based in Denver, which helped lay the foundation for the massacre in Littleton. Under her guidance, it pioneered the development of psycho-social curricula for changing a child's values, including death eduation. In a report on the Littleton massacre, education author Dr. Samuel Blumenfeld tells us that McREL had "received a $12.9 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to help implement Outcome-Based Education (OBE) in Colorado." Some of the money was used to start a program called Direction 2000, which published a newsletter by the same title. According to Dr. Blumenfeld, its June 1, 1990, included this summary of Outcome-Based Education and Mastery Learning by Littleton High principal Tim Westerberg:
"Littleton High School is proposing a system of schooling which will be driven by a new set of 'outcome-based' graduation requirements, will provide a Program Advisor to work with each student during his or her stay at LHS, and will award diplomas to students who have demonstrated mastery of the 'outcome-based' graduation requirements through portfolios and exhibitions before a graduation committee. Balanced assessment and attention to each student's intellectual, social, physical, ethical, artistic, and emotional development are central to the project." (WND, 5-17-99) Few realized then that Dr. McCune was being tutored by her spirit guides. As co-author of a strange book called, The Light Shall Set You Free, she quotes her demonic mentor Kuthumi, who introduces himself as a "World Teacher" and "the spokesperson for enlightenment and education for the Galactic Command." Sounds a bit like the world of Star Wars, doesn't it?
Kuthumi describes a "transformation process" and the return of "Creator of Light. . . the source of power for which each soul has yearned since the beginning of time." Those yearning souls, of course, do not include you or I. He is referring to the more highly evolved souls. As for the rest of us, there's trouble ahead: "The Earth will be cleansed in the next decade, for the purification must be complete."21 Such strange occult language from cultural leaders challenges our Western minds. It's so irrational! Yet, in the light of the Bible, it begins to make sense. "The whole world is under the sway of the evil one," we are told in 1 John 5:19. So it's not surprising that Dr. McCune, Mr. Walsch, Mikhail Gorbachev, and George Lucas all promote the same dark forces masquerading as benevolent light. "For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light." (2 Corinthians 11:14) We can expect an explosion of this kind of occultism, for the network of humans subject to such deception is growing fast. In his "Acknowledgements," Walsch lists some well known cultural leaders including Shirley MacLaine, Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Hugh Downs, and Gene Roddenberry.
He offers a special thanks to Dr. Robert Mueller (sic) "whose work on behalf of world peace has blessed us all, and inspired this planet with new hope and a spectacular vision for over half a century."22 Muller (corrected spelling), the Under-Secretary General of the United Nations for over thirty years, envisioned a United Religions long before Episcopal Bishop Swing toured the world to promote it.23 His World Core Curriculum, based on the teachings of spirit guide Djwhal Khul, helped prepare schools around the world to teach global citizenship and occult spirituality.24 National sovereignty and the facts needed for independent thinking were abandoned as obsolete and boring.
Back in 1993, President Clinton's Council on Sustainable Development25 met at the Presidio with dozens of representatives from federal departments and agencies, environmental groups, universities, and globalist leaders. Their joint report, "Education for Sustainability," is a model for sustainable education. Its six themes have become familiar buzzwords in state education standards from coast to coast. Few realize that all the familiar words have been redefined to fit the global vision for human resource management:26
1.Interdisciplinary approaches
2. Lifelong Learning27
3. Systems thinking 28
4. Partnerships 29
5. Multicultural perspectives
6. Empowerment
FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT.
George Lucas and other Presidio leaders demonstrate the power of partnerships (Point 4). Together, they play an important part in the planned "Lifelong Learning" for the masses. And the promise of "empowerment" has become an alluring carrot, useful for luring participants into the consensus process and gaining public consent for controversial programs.30 The Star Wars books and games would have been opposed some years ago. But today's spellbound audiences have been desensitized to occult messages. They have seen with their own eyes that humans can accomplish anything through faith in the "God of forces."31 They had caught the vision of space conquests, helpful aliens, connection with higher beings, and a universal force ready to serve evil as well as the good as long as its apprentices learn the right formulas and yogic disciplines. But they have believed a lie.
Our challenge today is first of all, to know the facts and truths that will keep our minds grounded in reality. Remember, today's most popular images are more likely to teach fantasy than reality. Technology made a paradigm leap with the Lucasfilm contributions to digital imagery. Seeing is not believing!
Long ago, the prophet Jeremiah warned a pseudo-prophet who professed to be God's messenger:
"The Lord has not sent you, but you make this people trust in a lie. . . . You have taught rebellion against the Lord." (Jeremiah 28:15-16) Like Presidio's visionary leaders, the false prophet had promised peace and freedom in spite of the evils that had corrupted the nation. That made him popular. Jeremiah brought a more troubling message: God would judge the nation for its wickedness. Shortly thereafter, Jeremiah's message was fulfilled.
Today, we can choose to come under the protection of the King of kings, or stand vulnerable against a host of dark forces that would blind us to the Truth. Failing to make a choice usually means sliding toward the latter. But God's faithful leader, Joshua, knew what He wanted. He told the people, "Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." (Joshua 24:15)
http://www.crossroad.to/text/articles/starwar6-99.html
Endnotes:
1. More Presidio-based groups: Earth Island Institute, FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) Western Region, Center for Energy, Environment Development, Ecological Literacy Project, Energy Foundation, Institute for Sustainable Development, Ashuka, Association for Progressive Communities, Consultant Group on Biodiversity, Institute for Global Communication, Presidio World College, 3 Circles Center for Multicultural and Environmental Education, The Wilderness Society, etc. Others are practical organizations for managing Presidio's community of residents.
2. Lucasfilm Ltd. (Qui-Gon Jinn), I am A Jedi (Random House Star Wars Storybook, 1999), no page numbers.
3. By AD 2013, the estimated $37 million annual Presidio budget must be covered by the park's income.
4. http://www.thoreau.org/TCS_home.html
5. Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925), shared Robert Muller's occult roots in Theosophy, but broke away to start his own cult, Anthroposophy, which he described as "knowledge produced by the higher self in man. The Waldorf schools offer holistic education and have long used the strategies now implemented through Goals 2000: whole language instead of phonics, stories and "literature"
instead of factual history, and a strong emphasis on myth, imagination, guided imagery, art, creativity, movement (eurythmy), and spiritual oneness with nature
6. Alex Barnum, "Keeper of the Golden Gate," San Francisco Chronicle, 25 May 1997.
7. See "The State of the World According to Gorbachev".
8. Jude Watson, Star Wars, Jedi Apprentice: The Dark Rival (New York: Scholastic Inc., 1999), p. 103, 107-108.
9. Lucasfilm Ltd. (Qui-Gon Jinn), I Am a Jedi (Random House Star Wars Storybook, 1999).
10. Starhawk, The Spiral Dance (New York: Harper & Row, 1979), p.62.
11.Marc Cerasini, Anakin's Fate (Random House, 1999), p. 36.
12. See "The UN Plan for Your Mental Health."
13. A definition and illustration will be added to the Glossary by late July, 1999.
14. See "Local Agenda 21."
15. http://kvc.minbuza.nl/kvcframe.html?/themas.html
16. See "Mind Control."
17. Neale Donald Walsch, Conversations with God, Book 2 (Charlottesville, VA: Hampton Roads Publishing Company, Inc., 1997), 14-15.
18. Neale Walsch, like Della Reese who plays the angel Tess in "Touched by an Angel", embraces the occult "New Thought" philosophy.
19. Neale Donald Walsch, Conversations with God, Book 3 (Charlottesville, VA:: Hampton Roads Publishing Company, Inc., 1997), p. 282. On page 281, this god states: "The writers of what you call 'science fiction' are often leading you to greater truth."
20. Neale Donald Walsch, Conversations with God, Book 2, p. 256. 21. Shirley McCune and Norma Milanovich, The Light Shall Set You Free (Albuquerque: Athena Publishing, 1996), p. xiii.
22. The accurate spelling of Muller. To understand his worldwide influence over the last four decades, read chapter 2 in Brave New Schools.
23. See "From the United Nations to the United Religions."
24. Read Chapter 2 in Brave New Schools.
25. The PCSD is one of over 150 other national Councils on Sustainable Development, all following the guidelines of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development. To see the context for this meeting, read Local Agenda 21.
26. If these sound unfamiliar to you, check the glossary at www.crossroad.to after July 15.
27. See "Zero Tolerance for Non-Compliance."
28. See "World Heritage 'Protection?'"
29. See Chapter 7 in Brave New Schools.
30. See glossary after July 30.
31. Daniel 11:38, KJV.
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Bible Study
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Email from a Skeptic: Why Does God Allow Evil?
by Mark Eastman, M.D.
In my experience, it is the most commonly asked question by honest skeptics: "If God is real, if God is personal, if God loves us, why does God allow evil?" A proper understanding of this issue not only provides great insight into the nature of God, it ties together a comprehensive understanding to some of life's ultimate questions: the answers to my origin, meaning, morality and destiny!
Email from A Skeptic
The question of evil was brought into clearer focus in an email I recently received from a skeptic:
The Christian worldview is an impractical, even phony, view of the Cosmos because it embraces a God who is either incapable of stopping evil and suffering, and he is therefore not omnipotent, or is unwilling to do so and therefore a devil!
The skeptic's point is well taken because the Bible states that one of God's attributes is love. "He who does not love does not know God, for God is love." (I
John 4:8) In the book of Romans, Paul the Apostle stated that the invisible attributes of God "are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead."1 However, what the skeptic is saying, in effect, is this: "If your God is love, I see no evidence of that attribute in creation. All the death, disease, pain and suffering seems to be out of place if this God of yours is love. Surely an all-powerful God could, and a loving God would, eliminate all evil. Since evil exists, then no such God exists."
To answer this objection we need to examine some principles of logic, the nature of God, the nature of man, the nature of love and the nature of evil.
Evil and Moral Law
When someone states that they do not believe in God because a good God would not allow evil, they make a fatal error in logic. First, the recognition of evil is the recognition that certain actions are "right" and certain actions are "wrong." But how do we determine what actions are morally right and morally wrong? We discern this on the basis of a moral law: a universal sense that certain states of affairs are right and others are wrong. Even most atheists will admit that certain actions are universally wrong and, conversely, universally right.
For example, no one could seriously argue with the statement that it is better to love a child than to torture it. The point is that there is an innate, universal sense of right and wrong within all of us. What is the basis of this moral sense? Some would argue that it is based on cultural customs or traditions. But can this be so?
The famous atheist Bertrand Russell once debated a Christian who asked him if he believed in right and wrong. Russell replied "of course." Then he asked him how he determined what is right and wrong. Russell replied that he determined right and wrong on the basis of his feelings. His opponent replied, "Well, in some cultures they feel it is okay to eat you, and in others they don't. Which do you prefer." The point is that social customs, attitudes, traditions or feelings cannot determine a universal sense of right and wrong.
A universal sense of moral right and wrong can only come from a source outside of ourselves: a transcendent source, a moral Lawgiver. So the recognition of moral law is by default the recognition of a moral Lawgiver. To argue that the existence of evil proves that there is no God is equivalent to stating that the existence of moral law proves that there is no Lawgiver! It's like declaring that the Chrysler automobile that I drive proves without a doubt that there is no Chrysler Motor Company!
Atheists often present the problem of evil to theists as if it is a fatal argument for the existence of God. Nothing could be further from the truth. In reality, it is an absolutely unsolvable problem for the atheist. How does the atheist explain evil-the sense of moral right and wrong-in the absence of a moral Lawgiver? They can't! If there is no moral Lawgiver, then there is no way to explain the sense of moral wrong and moral right we all possess. C.S. Lewis said that evil is God's megaphone to a non-believing world. Evil speaks of moral law. Moral law demands a moral Lawgiver, and it is He that we call God!
Evil Often Begets Good
A second principle of logic we need to consider is the fact that an apparently evil state of affairs will often bring about an even better state of affairs. The problem is that we often do not recognize this fact until we have the advantage of hindsight. In my own field of medicine I see this on a daily basis: the process of childbirth, surgical intervention, and many medical therapies often present physical pain (an evil state of affairs according to non-theists), and yet they bring about an even better state of affairs: improved health. Physical pain is often highly beneficial as well. When a child touches a hot stove, the nervous system sends a neurological signal to the brain which is perceived as pain (a form of evil). Yet without that sense of pain, an even worse state of affairs would arise: the destruction of the limb.
The skeptic might object that while this provides a partial answer to the problem of evil, it does not address some of the most disturbing forms of evil:
war, murder, rape, incest and the senseless death of the innocent.
God, Freedom, and Evil
The problem of human evil is rooted in the nature of God and the nature of love and the nature of mankind. I argued in last month's Personal UPDATE that God is a personal being because an impersonal force is an insufficient agent to create personal beings.2 What is the greatest passion of personal beings? I would argue that, above all else, personal beings desire personal relationships with other personal beings. So it makes sense that God, as a personal being, would desire to create us in such a way that He could have a meaningful, personal, and loving relationship with us.
But this has a severe price.
Let us consider the nature of love and its consequences. I cannot experience love from you unless you have the capacity to do otherwise. If you have the capacity to not love me, and you choose instead to love me, then that choice has validity. It has meaning. You cannot have a love relationship with a computer. It is pre-programmed to serve you. Love requires choice: unencumbered choice. And that's where the problem lies.
When God created mankind, He too had a choice. If He created us as beings that were pre-programmed to follow and serve Him, there could be no love. But, if He created us with the capacity of choice, the capacity to love and serve Him, and the capacity not to do so, then there is the possibility of relationship: the possibility of real love. As a personal being with the capability of creating us in the first place, it makes sense that He would want to create us as personal beings with the capability of choice (free will) and, thus, the capability of love.
But where there is choice and the capability of love, there is also the capability to choose wrong and to do great evil.
But the skeptic says, "why did God do this when he knew in advance that the result of free will would be so disastrous? Did this God of love not care that war, murder, rape and so much senseless violence would be the result of his choice to give us free will?" A real life illustration will help us to understand.
The Love of a Mother
During my 15 years as a physician I have seen an enormous amount of physical suffering. During that time I have had five children in my practice die by disease and injury. All of these children came from Christian families. Several months after the death of one of these children, the child's mother was in my office and was very distraught over her loss. She asked me, "Why did God allow this? I love God. Why did this happen?"
What could I say in this situation? Rather than providing an answer I asked her this question. "You have three children. One of them has died. If you could go back to the time before you had any children, with the knowledge that one of them would die this horrible death, would you have children again?"
After a long pause, with many tears in her eyes and a broken heart she said, "Oh yes. Oh yes. yes I would. Because, you see, the love and the joy and the happiness I have received from my children far outweighs the pain, suffering and misery I experienced from the loss of that one child. Oh yes. Oh yes. I would have children again."
In this tragic story we see an incredible insight as to why God allows evil to exist. As discussed earlier, a loving God can allow an evil state of affairs to exist if, in allowing it to occur, it brings about an even better state of affairs. For this woman, the loss of her child was an unequalled and tragic evil. But, with the advantage of hindsight, she said she would do it all again because the love she received as a result of being a mother outweighed the evil state of affairs in the death of her child.
In the hypothetical scenario I presented to this woman, with the advantage of hindsight (foreknowledge in this case) she was in a position comparable to God's before He created humankind. Because He is outside time and knows all things, He knew that there would be tremendous pain and suffering as a result of His decision to create a people with the capacity of choice and, consequently, the capacity to sin (moral evil).
But God, like this mother, knew that the love He and his human creatures would experience would outweigh the pain and suffering that would result from His decision to create us as He did. But the consequences of God's decision were not unforeseen. They were foreknown!
The Incredible Answer
The skeptic that emailed me stated, in effect, that if an all-powerful God did not eliminate evil, then He was a devil! The implication is that the removal of all evil would permit a better, more loving world. A truly loving God, the skeptics assert, would have desired and created such a world because it is clearly superior to the one we have. Any God that did not follow this logic was not a God of love, but an evil tyrant.
As we have seen, this logic crumbles under its own weight. The existence of evil is the "side effect" of creating a world with love. But as we have seen, there are compelling arguments that a world possessing both evil and love is superior to a world where neither is possible. For God to eliminate evil, He would have to eliminate our capacity of choice and thus our capacity to do both evil and good. And such a world is inferior to the one we have: one where love is possible, despite its inherent evil. What kind of God would do this? Only one kind. A God of love.
Why does a God of love allow evil? Because He is a God of LOVE
So Great a Salvation
So, how practical is Christianity? The Bible presents an infinite Creator with the very attributes we would expect when we examine the things that are made. And God, as a personal Being, in order that He might have a love relationship with us, gave us the capacity of choice. In order that we might have a practical revelation of His love, His wisdom, His power, His glory, He became one of us in the person of the Messiah, Jesus Christ.
In order that we might not suffer the penalty of our evil choices (sin), He, like a loving father, paid the penalty for our sins. He allowed his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to be murdered on a Roman cross (arguably the most evil act in the history of the universe, if He is indeed God's Son). But this act of great evil gave rise to an even better state of affairs, and the greatest act of love in the universe: paying the penalty for the wrong choices we make, which were the result of the way He created us in the first place! In the cross of Christ He has provided a full pardon from the consequences of the evil in our lives. Consequently, we cannot look to God and declare that He is unfair. Far from being a devil, in this examination of the problem of evil, God becomes the hero of the plot and the solution to the problem of evil. And it all hinges on LOVE. Indeed, God is love.3 What must we do to receive this pardon?
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
John 3:16
If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
Romans 10:9
Notes:
1. Romans 1:18-20.
2. Personal UPDATE, May 1999.
3. For those that would like an in-depth treatment of the problem of evil and a God of love, I highly recommend Alvin Plantinga's book, God, Freedom and Evil.
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Poems...etc.
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Going Home
And now the day has come, to spread my wings and fly,
Climbing, ever higher, the clouds are falling by.
Looking down I see them, shrinking ants against the ground.
For all their work and toil, what answers have they found?
Do they understand the peace I feel, as I rise to meet the Lord?
Or, do they seek an answer to how much can they afford?
I know just what they're thinking, 'cause once I was down there -
Living life like they do, chasing wind and catching air.
But now my life has ended, the years have all flown by,
I see what I am leaving - why did I fear to die?
I loved Him then, I love Him now, the Lord I climb to see -
No longer must I just have faith - with Jesus I will be!
Though I've left them all behind me, and love is all I feel,
I wish somehow to tell them - Wake up you fools! He's real!
But I had my chance - it's over now; I'll have to wait and see,
If God will send another to reach the souls assigned to me.
Climbing, ever higher, something distant all looks new.
I see a man, He's coming, leaving footprints in the dew.
Closer now, I see the Lord, as He reaches out His hand.
Right now, this very moment, at last I understand!
This is all the love of God, expressed in human form,
The power and the might of Him, who calms the raging storm.
He's reaching out to take my hand, I'll touch Him soon it seems.
Then suddenly I wake up! Lord, I love and hate those dreams!
Mark A. Carpenter
Mcarpenter@3m.net
