THE INTERESTING
INFORMATION CHRISTIAN MINISTRY
CONFIRMING
BIBLICAL TRUTH
August 14, 2019
SECTION 1 – INTERESTTING
INFORMATION WEEKLY ARTILCLES
SECTION 2 – SUMMARIES/BOOK
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INTERESTING INFORMATION 8/14/2019
The following material is provided for
information purposes only. Any
conclusions or opinions formed should be based on the principles as outlined in
Acts 17:11. The material is intended for
use as a witnessing tool and to keep you informed so you will not be unaware
(Luke 21:34) of what is happening according to Scripture.
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URL - HARDEN NOT YOUR
HEART
https://www.christianpost.com/voice/harden-not-your-heart.html
CHRISTIAN
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THOUGHT
FOR THE WEEK:
– “Just as Ruth
gleaned the fields of Boaz, we too, must glean all of God’s Word for our daily
bread, giving thanks for all He has provided; knowing that God’s Word alone
will sustain our every need” – Anonymous
INTERESTING ARTICLES
·
Every life on Earth has
an expiration date
·
New Philistine DNA
study affirms Israel is Jewish Land
·
Planned Parenthood
lives up to its bloodthirsty and racist reputation
·
Why fewer millennials
support LGBT lifestyle each year
·
The Mystery of Octopus
intelligence
·
ACCOUNTABLE TO GOD
·
‘S
INTERESTING ARTICLES
EVERY
LIFE ON EARTH HAS AN EXPIRATION DATE (excerpt)
The
Christian Post – Aug. 4, 2019 -- It is important to note that our life in this
world is but a vapor – here today and gone tomorrow (James 4:13-14). In fact,
God has already determined the places we should live and the number of our days
(Acts 17:26-28; Job 14:5; Psalm 139:16b). Our earthly “expiration date” may be
early in life, late in life or somewhere in between. No one knows the day or
the hour.
It
is true that King Hezekiah begged the Lord to extend his life. In response, God
gave him 15 more years. But those years were not good ones for Hezekiah or the
nation of Judah (2 Kings 20:6; Isaiah 38:5). During the extra 15 years, a son
named Manasseh was born, who turned out to be one of the wickedest kings in the
history of Israel. His evil deeds included idolatry, human sacrifices and the
pursuit of demonic powers. If Hezekiah hadn’t lived those additional 15 years,
none of that would have happened.
Jesus
told a parable to a large crowd one day about a man who was obsessed with
trying store up treasure on earth…….God
said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you’ (Luke 12:20a, NASB)
No
Man Knows the Day or the Hour
The
good news is that we still have time to repent and turn to the Lord for both
salvation and sanctification. But we must be sober and alert, for we do not
know the time of the Lord’s return, or of our death (Mark 13:32-37). Let us no
longer live as the Gentiles (-i.e., those who do not know God) do (Ephesians
4:17-24).
If you are a believer and have fallen, return to Him, confess
your sins and be cleansed (1 John 1:9). Such a response softens the heart.
Those who have
trusted Jesus Christ can have confidence that Christ has satisfied our account,
that He has satisfied God’s wrath against our sin, that
He has provided us with His own righteousness. Yet we must also know that He
has done this not so we can remain in our sin, but that we can “put on the new
self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness”
(Ephesians 4:24).
No
one knows the day or the hour when Jesus will return – a time when the hearts
of everyone who have rejected Him will be permanently hardened. That is why the
Scriptures say….
How shall we
escape if we ignore such a great salvation? “This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord,
was confirmed to us by those who heard Him. God also testified to it by signs,
wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to His
will”.(Hebrews
2:3-4)
As God’s fellow
workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. For He says, ‘In the
time of My favor I heard you, and in the day of
salvation I helped you.’ I tell you, now is the time
of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation. (2 Corinthians 6:1-2)
God
Has Set Eternity in our Hearts
We
don‘t even know our own hearts (Jeremiah 17:9-10), which makes any delay in
giving ourselves into His hands a precarious matter indeed (Luke 8:15; 12:20a;
12:34).
The
Bible says that God has set eternity in our hearts (Ecclesiastes 3:11). We know
that He exists (Romans 1:18-20), and so we are without excuse if we ignore so
great a salvation (Hebrews 2:1-3).
Jesus
is worth it! He is not asking for sinless perfection. He is asking us to value
His sacrifice for our sins – to value it so much that we soften our hearts
toward Him and allow Him to truly be the Lord of our lives (Ephesians 4:1;
Philippians 1:27a; Colossians 1:10; Hebrews 3:1-3; 7-15). You have everything
to gain or everything to lose. Do it today!
NEW PHILISTINE DNA STUDY AFFIRMS THAT
ISRAEL IS JEWISH LAND
Christian
Headline News – July 8, 2019 -- New DNA research indicating the biblical
Philistines originated from Europe bolsters the case that the land of Israel
belongs to the Jewish people, says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu.
Scientists
studied the DNA of skeletons from a 3,000-year-old Philistine cemetery and
published their findings last week in the journal Science Advances. The study showed the DNA was related to the gene pool of southern
Europe.
The
Philistine cemetery was uncovered in 2016 in Ashkelon, in southern Israel. Ten
of 108 skeletons had sufficient DNA to be used.
Netanyahu
made his case on Twitter.
“A
new study of DNA recovered from an ancient Philistine site in the Israeli city
of Ashkelon confirms what we know from the Bible -- that the origin of the
Philistines is in southern Europe,” Netanyahu wrote.
Netanyahu
then referenced Amos 9:7 and Jeremiah 47:4, which say the Philistines came from Caphtor
– modern-day Crete, the Greek island in southern Europe.
“The
Bible mentions a place called Caphtor, which is
probably modern-day Crete,” Netanyahu wrote. “There’s no connection between the
ancient Philistines & the modern Palestinians, whose ancestors came from
the Arabian Peninsula to the Land of Israel thousands of years later.”
Netanyahu concluded, “The Palestinians’ connection to the Land
of Israel is nothing compared to the 4,000-year connection that the Jewish
people have with the land.”
The
word “Palestinian” is thought to have derived from “Philistine,” although
modern-day Palestinians say they did not originate from that people group.
The Philistines often
warred with the biblical Hebrews. Goliath, who was defeated and killed by
David, was a Philistine.
“For
more than a century, we have debated the question of where the Philistines came
from,” archaeologist Eric Cline told National Geographic in an email. “Now we
have the answer: Southern Europe, and probably more specifically mainland
Greece, Crete, or Sardinia. This fits with what had seemed the most likely
answer previously, especially judging from [the archaeological remains], and so
this seems a logical finding.”
PLANNED PARENTHOOD LIVES UP TO ITS
BLOODTHIRSTY AND RACIST REPUTATION (Excerpt)
Charisma News
– Jul. 25, 2019 -- When an organization makes billions of dollars killing
babies in the womb, it is clearly a bloodthirsty organization. And when a
disproportionate number of those babies are black and Hispanic, it is clearly a
racist organization.
All this is
self-evident when it comes to Planned Parenthood, but recent events—the firing
of Planned Parenthood's president and a blatantly racist tweet—underscore just
how deeply Planned Parenthood is a bloodthirsty and racist organization.
First, there
was the unexpected firing of president Leana Wen.
Her primarily
failing, it appears, was that she did not have the cold-blooded killer instinct
necessary to make abortion the priority of Planned Parenthood.
Perhaps it was
her training as a medical doctor.
Perhaps it was
a trace of the image of God that still pervaded her humanity, as much as she
was still an abortion advocate.
Whatever the
underlying causes may be, the broad strokes are clear. As noted by Alexandra Desanctis on National Review, "The organization has
ousted its president, apparently for being insufficiently committed to
pro-abortion advocacy."
Indeed,
"Planned Parenthood has long sought to downplay its commitment to
abortion, calling itself a health-care organization and spreading the lie that
abortion is only 3 percent of its business, even as its clinics perform between
one-third and half of all abortions in the U.S. annually. The group's
leadership evidently believes this political moment demands more aggressive
advocacy.
"And Wen
wasn't up to the task."
More
bluntly, cultural commentator Bill Muehlenberg put it
like this: "What they are saying is this: 'You are not blood-thirsty
enough! You are not meeting your quotas! More babies MUST DIE!' That is the
mindset of PP. They are after blood—and money. That is their core business.
That is why they exist."
When it comes to Planned Parenthood's racism, there is a
spirited debate concerning the connection between Margaret Sanger, Planned
Parenthood's founder, and eugenics. Sanger's conservative critics are sure that
she wanted to reduce the number of black Americans (among other races and
ethnicities), if not exterminate them entirely. Her defenders deny this
passionately, also claiming that her interest in eugenics was not racial.
Yet even the left-leaning Time magazine admitted in 2016 that Sanger
did "make some deeply disturbing statements in support of eugenics, the
now-discredited movement to improve the overall health and fitness of humankind
through selective breeding." She did, and very publicly. In a 1921
article, she wrote that "the most urgent problem today is how to limit and
discourage the over-fertility of the mentally and physically defective." (Time
also cited her defenders who claimed that she "uniformly repudiated the
racist exploitation of eugenics principles.")
And the very left-leaning Snopes.com, in an article devoted to debunking a
quote attributed to Sanger, uncovered this, hardly flattering quote from a 1923
New York Times article. She wrote: "Birth Control
is not contraception indiscriminately and thoughtlessly practiced. It means the
release and cultivation of the better racial elements in our society, and the
gradual suppression, elimination and eventual extirpation of defective
stocks—those human weeds which threaten the blooming of the finest flowers of
American civilization."
WHY FEWER MILLENNIALS SUPPORT LGBT
LIFESTYLE EACH YEAR
Charisma News
– Aug. 8, 2019 -- The American Family Association (AFA, afa.net) says there is good news in the battle
to protect biblical values on human sexuality, as progress is being made in the
hearts and minds of millennials.
According to a
new Harris Poll, AFA and The Christian Post report, Americans aged 18-34 are
becoming less and less enamored with the LGBT lifestyle each year.
"I
believe the reason this is happening is simple: Millennials have been inundated
with the gay agenda their entire lives," said AFA President Tim Wildmon in an Action Alert to AFA's more than 1 million
friends and supporters. "And 75% of them have at least one friend who is a
homosexual, which means they may have personally witnessed the pathologies that
come with homosexuality. It looks like the more they know about the homosexual
lifestyle, the less they like what they see. It also looks as if the scales
might finally be tipping in a pro-family direction on homosexuality. This
should be very encouraging news to all of us involved in the culture war. We
must continue to pray, love, persuade and act until our entire American culture
returns to a biblical view of sexuality."
Wildmon
added that, according to the survey, in 2016, 63% of Millennials considered
themselves "allies" of the LGBT movement. But that number fell to 53%
in 2017 and plunged to 45% last year. Today, 36% of Millennials are not
comfortable when they learn a family member is homosexual—up from 29% a year
ago—perhaps because they are observing the abnormalities associated with
homosexuality up close. Additionally, a startling 42% of Millennial
males are uncomfortable learning that their child has had a lesson on LGBT
history at school or has a homosexual teacher, up from 27% just two years ago.
The
pro-homosexual CEO of Harris Poll stated: "These numbers are very alarming."
AFA's Vice
President of Operations Walker Wildmon added that the
survey results show that young Americans should not be written off as
"lost" to the culture war.
"This
study is actually refreshing for a change, and it's showing that really the homosexual
agenda and the sexual deviancy advocates have overplayed their hand," he
said. "They've been pushing this sexual deviancy so much that your average
person, even though not religious or Christian, is getting tired of it—tired of
being told that homosexuals and transgender individuals have special rights
beyond what the Constitution provides."
OneNewsNow, the news division of AFA, recently reported
that Oregon has become the fifth state to require that pro-LGBT lessons be
taught in schools. Meanwhile, parents in California have taken a stand against
similar lessons being taught in their state by keeping their children home in
protest. For example, a second-grade lesson informs students that NASA
astronaut Sally Ride was a lesbian.
"We need
to take this and use it as a winnable war moment, proving that the propaganda
from the liberals eventually has its stopping point," Walker Wildmon added. "We have to continue as Christians and
conservatives to promote sexual normalcy and traditional marriage as the
building block of society."
THE MYSTERY OF OCTOPUS INTELLIGENCE
Psalm 92:5-6 “O Lord, how great are thy
works! and thy thoughts are very deep. A brutish man knoweth not; neither doth a fool understand this.”
Creation
Moments - Researchers in the 1950s and ’60s established that the octopus is
quite intelligent and can learn different visual patterns. Octopi have very
large brains with large areas reserved for storing information. New research
has shown that they are even more intelligent than earlier studies revealed.
These findings run counter to evolutionary theory, which says that intelligence
evolves in social species to help them deal with social relationships. The
octopus is not a social animal and operates alone.
Unlike other
animals, octopi use a variety of strategies to solve the same problem. They can
use their eight powerful arms to open clams, or they can drill through the
shell and inject a fast-acting poison. In the laboratory, octopi kept in
isolation were given a floating plastic bottle. The bored octopuses quickly
devised a variety of games to play with the bottle – a sure sign of
intelligence.
The Creator
gave the octopus the ability to learn a lot so it could cope with its unusual
way of life. Octopi begin life as tiny plankton that drift
with the ocean currents. When they finally settle to the bottom, they may find
themselves in any of the many habitats provided by the ocean and face any
variety of predators and food sources. Thus, their Creator designed them with
the ability to learn how to adapt to a large variety of habitats and
situations.
ACCOUNTABLE TO GOD
Are you living
as if what you do today will affect you in eternity? After “walking the aisle”
and “saying the prayer,” some Christians consider that moment of salvation the
beginning and end of the matter. They assume, Since
my eternal destination is secure, I can simply relax and wait for heaven.
However, that
is not what today’s parable teaches. Yes, heaven is secure for those who have
truly repented and believe in Christ’s substitutionary death for their sins.
But the way we live matters. When Jesus returns, we’ll have to give an account
of what we have done with whatever He has entrusted to us.
In my youth I
was told that one day, as I stood before Christ, my life would be replayed on a
big screen for everyone to see all my sins. That really scared me—but now I
know it’s completely unbiblical. For those who belong to Christ, the
“certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us” has been nailed to the
cross, and all our transgressions are forgiven (Col. 2:13-14). They will never again be dredged up,
because God will remember them no more (Heb. 10:17).
What’s at
stake is not salvation but rewards. And it won’t be a judgment of comparison
with others. As in the parable, God entrusts each of us with talents according
to our individual abilities. Everything we have is a gift from Him—time,
treasure, skills, spiritual gifts, work, relationships, and His Word. Are you
investing these in a way that will result in commendation from Christ when you
stand before Him?
In Touch
Ministry
PRIOR ISSUE
INTERESTING INFORMATION 8/7/2019
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URL - NETFLIX SAYS 'WE'RE HERE, WE'RE
QUEER'
https://www.charismanews.com/opinion/in-the-line-of-fire/77345-netflix-says-we-re-here-we-re-queer
CHRISTIAN
MUSIC VIDEO
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK: – “He
who loses money, has lost much; he who loses a friend, has lost more; he who
loses faith, has lost everything.” - Apples of Gold- Julian Café, Julian, Ca.
(Prov. 25:11)
INTERESTING ARTICLES
·
Why aren’t Pastors
preaching on End-Times prophecy?
·
The lover of money
·
Archaeology, the
Philistines, and the old Testament-DNA clues
·
Are there really verses
in the Bible that support abortion?
·
The remarkable
Hummingbird
·
THE TOUCH THAT
TRANSFORMS
·
‘S
INTERESTING ARTICLES
WHY AREN'T PASTORS PREACHING ON END-TIMES
PROPHECY? (Excerpt)
Charisma
News – Jul. 19, 2019 -- Predictive prophecy concerning the last days seems to
be a purposefully-neglected facet of ministry, for some pastors and Bible
teachers. Instead of embracing and teaching the "whole counsel of
God" (Acts 20:27b), many modern expositors seem to strategically avoid
end-times eschatology, all together.
If
congregations do not get regular biblical instruction and inspiration about the
last days and our Lord's Second Coming, we and they are in danger of deception
by the devil (Rev. 12:9), his demons (1 Tim. 4:1-2), or—eventually—his end-time
agents, the Beast (the Antichrist, Man of Sin, Son of Destruction; 2 Thess.
2:3, 7-12; Rev. 13) and the false prophet (Rev. 16:13, 19:20).
As
shepherds of the flock of God, whom the Holy Spirit has made accountable
overseers, end-times study and teaching are critical (Acts 20:27-31). Pastors
are admonished to faithfully "give attention to reading, exhortation, and
doctrine" (1 Tim. 4:13). Avoiding the "hard to understand" parts
(2 Pet. 3:15-16) is not an acceptable strategy for these end times.
Consider
Paul's charge to the young pastor Timothy, regarding the last days:
I
charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the
living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word, be ready
in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with all patience and
teaching. For the time will come when people will not endure sound doctrine,
but they will gather to themselves teachers in accordance with their own
desires, having itching ears, and they will turn their ears away from the truth
and turn to myths (2 Tim. 4:1-4).
Eschatology
is not meant to encourage idle speculation or controversy. Rather, it is meant
to encourage us to witness for Christ and serve Him faithfully, as we watch,
wait and do business in the present until He returns in the future. Matthew 24:46, 25:13; 2 Peter 3:12.
Jesus
carefully taught His disciples about future prophetic events and promises. So
did His apostles Paul, Peter, James and John, along with Gospel writers
Matthew, Mark and Luke.
If
modern pastoral expositors are to faithfully follow their examples—rather than
avoid them—they must study, understand and proclaim the eschatological events,
which are yet to come
Israel365 – Nov. 12, 2018 -- The word hevel
(הבל), ‘futile,’ appears many times
throughout Ecclesiastes as a description of the pursuit of various physical
pleasures. Although the word is translated as ‘futile,’ it literally means
‘vapor’. Vapor has the power to distort what a person sees. For example, the
hot air rising from desert sands creates the mirage of an oasis. This verse
observes that amassing wealth is “hevel.”
More than just futile, the pursuit of wealth is similar to vapor, since it has
the power to distort a person’s reality and values. The book of Ecclesiastes
warns not to pursue wealth, because one who does so will never be satisfied.
ARCHAEOLOGY, THE PHILISTINES, AND THE
OLD TESTAMENT: CLUES WRITTEN IN HEBREW AND ON DNA
Between 1997
and 2016, researchers at an excavation near Ashkelon in Israel examined the
remains of more than one hundred humans, remains that dated from the 12th to
6th centuries before Christ. The researchers hoped to find human DNA in order
to answer an old question: Who were the Philistines? Where did they come from?
As it turns
out, the Philistines were exactly who the Bible says they were, and they came
from where the Bible says they did.
Amos 9 speaks
of God bringing up the Philistines from Caphtor, just
as he brought Israel out of Egypt. Deuteronomy 2 tells us that “the Caphtorim, who came from Caphtor,
destroyed [the original Canaanite inhabitants] and settled in their place.”
This brings us
to the obvious question: “Where was Caphtor?” We just
don’t know for sure, but the Bible does provide an interesting clue. Jeremiah
called the Philistines “the remnant of the coastland of Caphtor.”
The Hebrew word translated “coastland” can also mean “island.”
For this and
other reasons, many archaeologists have concluded that biblical Caphtor was Crete. In fact, some modern Bible translations
even render “Caphtor” as “Crete.” We can’t be
completely certain that it is, but the Bible does tell us three additional
things about the Philistines. First, they weren’t native to Iron Age Canaan.
Second, they displaced the original inhabitants of the region. And, third, they
came via the sea, that is, the Mediterranean.
Which
brings me back to the excavation in Ashkelon. After analyzing DNA from the site,
Michal Feldman, an archaeogeneticist at the Max
Planck Institute, and Daniel Master, the head of the expedition, revealed the
results. Master announced, “Our study has shown for the first time that the
Philistines immigrated to this region in the 12th century (BC).”
And from where
did they immigrate? According to Feldman, “This [DNA] ancestral component is
derived from Europe, or to be more specific, from southern Europe, so the
ancestors of the Philistines must have traveled across the Mediterranean and
arrived in Ashkelon sometime between the end of the Bronze age
and the beginning of the Iron age.”
Over time, the
“ancestral component” became diluted as the Philistines mixed with the local
Canaanite population.
All of this is
pretty much in accordance with the Biblical narrative. The Philistines were
ancient Israel’s principal antagonist during the period of the Judges, which
coincides with the time frame Feldman and Master mention, as well as the early
Monarchy. As the biblical narrative continues, they become less distinct from
their Canaanite neighbors and basically drop out of the picture, except as an
historical reference, as in Jeremiah.
Whenever the
latest archaeological evidence confirms parts of the Biblical narrative, we are
told that this does not prove the Bible is “true.” I suspect what critics are
trying to say, for example in this case, is that confirming the biblical
narrative’s account of the origin of the Philistines doesn’t necessarily mean
the rest of the Bible is true.
Of course, it
doesn’t. But the Bible is on quite a streak here, isn’t it? And, each finding
further distinguishes the Biblical narrative from other religious or even
ancient historical texts. The Biblical writers weren’t creating myths or
recounting legends. They were relating history.
Like all
history, the events it describes are interpreted within Israel’s larger story,
but the events are clearly not created out of thin air to suit their agenda.
These were events either witnessed or received from reliable sources.
Which
is why we must say that Biblical faith is a historical faith. Many other faiths are “ways of life” or
“paths to enlightenment” or something like that. The Bible is different. It
tells the story of God’s dealing with His people as it unfolded in human
history. Its details are grounded in real events, not in some mythological
“once upon a time.”
And, along the
way, we learn of other actors. You know, like the Philistines.
ARE THERE REALLY VERSES IN THE BIBLE
THAT SUPPORT ABORTION?
The Christian
Post – June 13, 2019 -- Many of us know the biblical case against abortion. But
are there other verses that bring a different perspective on abortion?
On the
pro-life side, we note that Rebekah was told that two nations were in her womb,
pointing to the personhood and potential of her unborn children (Genesis
25:21-23; see also Jeremiah 1:4-5).
Similarly,
John the Baptizer leapt in his mother’s womb when Miriam (Mary) arrived, with
the baby Jesus in her womb (Luke 1:39-43; see also 1:15, where John would be
filled with the Spirit even from his mother’s womb).
And verses
like Psalm 139:13-16 speak of how the Lord carefully knit us together while we
were still in the womb.
But are there
other verses that might point in another direction?
There are two
main passages that often come up for discussion in this context, Exodus
21:22-25 and Numbers 5:11-31. But upon close examination, neither of them
supports a pro-abortion position in the least.
Let’s look
first at the passage in Exodus. In the ESV it reads (with the key Hebrew
phrase in italics), “When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, so
that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall
surely be fined, as the woman's husband shall impose on him, and he shall pay
as the judges determine. But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for
life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for
burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.”
In contrast,
the NRSV translates, “When people who are fighting injure a pregnant woman so
that there is a miscarriage, and yet no further harm follows, the one
responsible shall be fined what the woman’s husband demands, paying as much as
the judges determine. If any harm follows, then you shall give life for life,
eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn,
wound for wound, stripe for stripe.”
The question,
then, is simple: Does the Torah consider the unborn baby to be a human life, in
which case any harm done to the baby will be repaid in kind (as in eye for eye,
etc.)? Or does the Torah consider the unborn baby to be more like a possession
(say, like a cow or a lamb), in which case a miscarriage is not equivalent to
murder?
How does life
after loss become the new normal? And if you or your family
are not in the path of a catastrophe now, what can you do now to prepare
yourself...
There is
serious debate among Hebrew scholars concerning this, and while I personally
lean strongly towards the translation found in the ESV (compare the NET’s “and
her child is born prematurely”), we can’t be absolutely dogmatic.
But either
way, how can this verse, even as translated in the NRSV, be used to support
abortion? Even following the NRSV (and other, similar translations), a crime
has been committed and the guilty party will be fined. So, if we applied the
concept to our society today, abortion would be punishable by the law, all the more so if it was done intentionally. (Again, the
case described in Exodus 21 speaks of a pregnant woman being struck
accidentally while two men are fighting.)
Also, since we
have other verses in the Bible, cited at the beginning of this article,
pointing to the personhood of the child in the womb, we can make an excellent
case for the rendering found in the ESV and NET (and many other translations).
As for the
passage in Numbers, it speaks of a ceremony which takes place when a husband
suspects that his wife has committed adultery. In that case, she is forced to
take a public oath and drink a unique concoction, with the priest saying, “‘the
LORD make you a curse and an oath among your people, when the LORD makes your
thigh fall away and your body swell. May this water that brings the curse pass
into your bowels and make your womb swell and your thigh fall away.’ And the
woman shall say, ‘Amen, Amen.’” (Num 5:21-22, ESV)
Here, we are
told by some defenders of abortion, it is God Himself who performs the abortion
with the drink that the wife ingests, causing this pregnant woman to lose her
child. How, then, can we argue that God is pro-life?
As ludicrous
as this argument sounds, it is often raised, so let’s take a moment to rebut
it.
First, God is
the righteous Judge, and if He deems it right to take a life, that is His
prerogative (see Deuteronomy 32:39; note also the narrative in 2 Samuel 11-12,
where David commits adultery and the baby that is born dies as a result of
judgment).
Second, and
more germane to the text here, the passage says absolutely nothing about the
woman being pregnant, nor does it speak of her miscarrying. Nothing in the
Hebrew text points in that direction at all.
Third, even if
the drink allegedly caused miscarriages (which, again, the text does not
reference or speak of at all), if the woman had not committed adultery, it
would have no effect on her. This would mean that the drink was not some kind
of abortifacient.
Case closed.
But let’s not
end here. Having responded to the misuse of these verses, let’s remind
ourselves of this beautiful passage from Luke’s Gospel, describing Mary’s
pregnancy:
“In those days
Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and
she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth
heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was
filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are
you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted
to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound
of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy’” (Luke
1:39-44, ESV)
Those unborn
babies are tiny little human beings in our Father’s sight. We stand with Him
when we stand for them.
REMARKABLE HUMMINGBIRDS
Matthew 10:31 “Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.”
Creation
Moments Jul. 31, 2019 -- One of the delights of living in the Pacific Northwest
of the United States is being able to watch the hummingbirds. As soon as we saw
these remarkable little birds for ourselves, my wife and I knew we had to attract
them to our yard. So we invested in feeders and kept them topped up with sugar
solution through the summer months. Two species seemed to predominate in our
garden – the orange-bellied Rufous and the beautiful, iridescent green Anna’s
hummingbird.
Of course,
nothing previously seen on the TV screen could prepare me for the delight of
watching the little creatures fly backwards as they finished feeding. They
rarely landed, so we had no view of their wings, which move so fast that they
are just a blur.
Normally,
when a bird’s wings upstroke, this is simply to get the wings back in position
for another down stroke. Hummingbirds are different. Both strokes have power.
The amazing way in which hummingbirds beat their wings uses a huge amount of
energy for such a tiny bird. In fact, it has been estimated that hummingbirds
need an energy input, which, if scaled up to human dimensions, would be the
equivalent of us eating 1,300 hamburgers a day! So much energy would be
produced that we would actually catch fire!
It
should be obvious that the mechanisms required to cope
with such energy changes could not have evolved by chance. The little
hummingbird is a wonderful example of God’s design
THE TOUCH THAT TRANSFORMS
Seven times in
the book of Matthew, Jesus encountered people with sickness or infirmities and
healed them with a touch. Although He had the power to simply speak a word or
command illness to leave, He often chose a more hands-on approach. In the case
of the leper in today’s passage, Jesus’ personal touch must have been something
the man rarely experienced, since he was considered untouchable. In fact, that
may be why Jesus chose this avenue of healing.
The need for a
touch from a fellow human being has not disappeared in the 2,000 years since
Jesus walked the earth. Yet in a world dominated by social media and
technology, we are now more isolated than ever before. Physical contact is
being replaced with “likes” on Facebook. And when we do think of touch, it’s
often associated with scandal, impropriety, or immorality. How did this
wonderful word become so maligned?
As Christians,
we have the opportunity to “touch” people in a variety of ways, including by
our words—for example, the proclamation of salvation through Jesus Christ can
transform a person’s life and eternal destiny. However, ministry is also
accomplished with our hands through service, compassion, and the encouragement
of a hug or loving pat on the shoulder.
Our heart,
mouth, and hands must be cooperating in order to fully minister in Jesus’ name.
And whether alone or gathered with others, we have the privilege of touching
lives through prayer. Jesus touched people both physically and spiritually, and
as His followers, we must do likewise. Look for opportunities in which God
might use you for His glory.
In Touch
Ministry
SECTION II - SPECIAL ARTICLES/ BOOK
REVIEWS
IN THIS
SECTION:
· WHAT HAPPENS
AFTER WE DIE? (WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS)
· WHAT’S IN A
NAME?
· "BOB
PIERCE - THIS ONE THING I DO" - A
BOOKREVIEW/SUMMARY
· "THE
HIDDEN CODES OF THE BIBLE" - A BOOK REVIEW/SUMMARY
· "SIGNS
OF THE TIME” - A BOOK REVIEW/SUMMARY
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
WHAT HAPPENS AFTER WE DIE?
By D.E. Davis
For Christians, we are told in Scripture in 2Cr 5:8 that to be
absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. For those who turn away
from God, we are told that they are eternally separated from God and go to a
place called Hell. Rev 14:11 says that
the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and
ever.
The question that everyone ponders is: What really happens after we
die? Do we just lay dormant until the Lord takes us to be with him or until
judgement is handed out at the Great White Throne as called out in Rev. 20:11?
Are we conscience? Do we feel, touch, think, recognize loved ones, know what is happening around us? All questions that we have
ask ourselves, no doubt, at some time in our life.
My own personal review of the Scriptures has led me to believe that
after we die, even though our body may be dead and buried, our Spirit is alive
and fully conscience. Chuck Missler likens this state
of conscienceness to the software that runs the
Computer; once the hardware goes, the software remains intact and available for
further applications.
There are two illustrations in the Bible that makes it clear as to
what happens after death, when we're in the spirit.
The first one is illustrated in the Luke account of Lazarus and the
rich man in Chapter 16. After death, Lazarus, a man of God, is escorted into
Abraham’s Bosom, a holding compartment in Hell for the Believers prior to the
Cross. The non-believing rich man was "buried" and went into a
separate compartment in Hell (Hades), apart from Abraham’s Bosom, where he was
in Torment according to Scripture. Both were in a Spirit state; yet by the
account, they could see each other and speak to each other.
The second account is in Revelation, where John is taken (in the
Spirit) to Heaven to see those things that shall come to pass prior to the
return of Jesus Christ to the Earth, or Second Coming (not the Rapture).
I had to conclude from the study, based on the following Scripture,
that all of the senses we have here on earth will be with us throughout
eternity, even unto death.
·
THE
ABILITY TO LOOK/SEE - Luke 16:23;Rev. 1:12;4:1,4; 5:1,2; 6:1,2,8,9; 7:1,2; 8:2;
9:1,17; 10:1,5; 13:1,2,3;14:1,6; 15:1,2; 16:13; 17:3,6; 18:1; 19:11,17,19;
20:1,4,11,12; 21:1,2,22; 22:8
·
THE
ABILITY TO HEAR - Rev. 1:10; 4:1; 5:11; 6:1,3,5,6,7; 7:4; 9:13,16; 10:4,8;
12:10; 14:2,13; 16:1,5,7; 18:4; 19:1,6; 21: 3; 22:8
·
THE
ABILITY TO BEHOLD ( to obtain knowledge of: understand: perceive) - Rev.
5:6,11; 6:5,8,12; 7:9; 8:13; 13:11
·
THE
ABILITY TO REASON - Luke 16:30
·
THE
ABILITY TO CRY (even though there will be no more crying in Heaven) - Rev.
5:4,5; Luke 16:24
·
THE
ABILITY TO SPEAK - Rev. 5:13; 10:9; 21:6,15; Luke 16:24, 29,30,31
·
THE
ABILITY TO FEEL/TOUCH - Luke 16:23, 24,25
·
THE
ABILITY TO REMEMBER - Luke 16:25
·
THE
ABILITY TO WONDER - Rev. 17:6
·
THE
ABILITY TO WRITE - Rev. 1:11; 10:4; 19:9
·
THE
ABILITY TO QUESTION - Rev. 7:13
·
THE
ABILITY TO TAKE (THE BOOK/ROD) - Rev. 10:8,9,10
·
THE
ABILITY TO FALL (ON KNEES) - Rev. 19:10; 22:8
·
THE
ABILITY TO STAND - Rev. 13:1
·
THE
ABILITY TO WORSHIP - Rev. 19:10; 22:8
·
THE
ABILITY TO PERFORM TASKS - Rev. 11:1
God has promised in 1 Thess 4:16 and 1
Cor. 15:52,53 that one day, we shall be reunited with Him in body and will be
transformed and conformed to Him - in the twinkling of an eye. We are also told
in Scripture that we shall see Him face to face- see the Lamb that was slain
for you and me. We know by His Word, that we will Praise Him, Worship Him and
Rule with Him.
One thing in the study that I found extremely fascinating was the
difference in treatment between Lazarus and the non-believing rich man.
Scripture says that Lazarus was escorted to Heaven by an Angel, but there is no
indication in Scripture about how the rich man arrived at Hell. Could it be that
God had a specific purpose why He chose not to tell us in Scripture?
Finally, knowing that others may have varying interpretations of
these Scriptures, I strongly urge you to review the Scriptures yourselves to
determine what you find as the truth according to God’s Word.
WHAT’S IN
A NAME?
For those who
wish you had some other name because you don't like the name you were given,
you had better think twice. It is most
likely that the name your parents picked out for you was not their choice but
God's choice. Let’ s
face it, the word of the Lord is true.
That's why in Eph. 1:4, God proclaimed that He had chosen us from before
the very beginning of the world.
If you follow
the Genealogy of Adam in Genesis, Chapter 5 (*) you will receive an insight
into what importance God put in names - It's an exciting message:
Genealogy Meaning
Adam Man
Seth Appointed
Enosh Mortal
Kenan Sorrow
Mahalalel The
blessed God
Jared Shall
come down
Enoch Teaching
Methuselah His
Death shall bring
Lamech The Despairing
Noah Rest,
Comfort
Now let us look
at God’s Plan for Redemption:
"Man (is)
appointed mortal sorrow; (but) the Blessed God shall come down teaching (that)
His death shall bring (the) despairing rest."
Let us now look
at the Genealogy of Abraham (*):
Genealogy Meaning
Abraham Predestination
Isaac Called
Jacob Justified
Joseph Glorified
(*) Source:
Chuck Missler’s Briefing package: “A Walk Thru the
Bible”
WELL YOU SAY!
BUT THAT WAS ALL OLD TESTAMENT AND WOULDN'T BE APPLICABLE FOR TODAY - WOULD IT?
Well, let us see.................. As a Christian, did God not choose you by name at the same time he chose Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph - before the very foundation of the world? If God had a purpose for their name, would you expect anything less for your name since He chose you at the same time?
As a Christian,
You ought to thank God daily that you, by your given name, was written in the
Lamb's book of life before the very foundation of the world and that you will
be a partaker in all the promises of Rev
21:27.
Within the last
couple of years, researchers have found many startling discoveries through the
use of super computers, specifically, hidden codes that God supernaturally
placed within the Hebrew text of the Bible.
Over 2000 years ago, the names of historical and current leader’s names
were placed in the Bible. Such names as Adolph Hitler, Eichmann, Arafat, Peres,
Rabin, Rabin's murderer Amir, Ben-Zion Netanyahu, Saddan
Hussein, George Bush, Schwarzkoph, Peter Arnet (CNN), Timithy McVeigh,
Bill Clinton.
Do you think
that God would limit His calling out to just those who had a highly visible
historical impact on this world? There
is no doubt that He had a purpose in doing this, if nothing else, just to get
your attention that He is the Creator; that He alone knows the beginning from
the end.
It is my firm
belief that as we advance further with our computer technology and peel back
the layers of the Hebrew text of the scriptures, we will make many more
startling and exciting discoveries. One
being that God has written each and every one of our names in His Word.
HERE IS WHAT GOD
SAID: Isaiah 66:22 "For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will
make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so
shall your seed and your name remain."
BOOK REVIEW by D. E. Davis (September 1997)
BOB
PIERCE -"THIS ONE THING I DO"
By Franklin Graham with Jeanette Lockerbie
It is amazing the worlds that open up to an individual, once the
Power of the Holy Spirit comes upon him. Just three years ago, where once I was
blind to Missions, to all the inspired men and women God has called to service
and the multitude of people all over the world who have been saved,
new worlds are ever opening to me to see how awesome the power of God is in our
Christian lives.
Such was the power and strength of faith Bob Pierce had in our Lord
and Savior, Jesus Christ. It is
difficult for me to even attempt to assess where God has put Bob along
with other past great men of the faith, but from what I read about his life
with Christ, he certainly had his eyes focused on Jesus! I personally feel inadequate and humbled to
even put in words, my thoughts about this man.
Bob was a man Blessed by God. I feel sad that I never had an opportunity to
know him, but look forward to meeting him one day in heaven.
If ever there was a verse of scripture that represented Bob Pierce,
it had to be the title of this book as taken from Philippians 3:13,14
".......this one thing I do,....I press toward the mark for the prize of
the high calling of God in Jesus Christ."
Bob was raised in Los Angeles and at the age of 12, gave his life
to Christ and was baptized in the Nazarene Church. "God simply called me
to give my heart to Jesus, and I followed Him." He died in 1978 of leukemia but lived his
life for Christ in between in between those dates as if Christ was coming
tomorrow and he still had to witness to the whole world before dawn broke. Throughout his career, he dedicated his life
mainly to Missions and over the years was responsible for founding such World
re-noun programs as "World Vision", an organization dedicated to
meeting the emergency needs in crisis areas such as Korea after the Korean war. During that time
of need, he established
a Korean Orphanage, serving over 30 thousand Korean war
orphans. Bob was also responsible for
starting the World re-noun Korean Orphan's Choir. As an outgrowth of "World Vision"
he founded "World Medical Mission" which covered all emergency
medical needs in countries all over the world which had no medical
facilities. He was also founder of
"Samaritan's Purse" and organization dedicated to funding World
emergency need, no matter where they were.
These organizations are still meeting the needs of those in crisis
today.
If his work through these organizations was not enough, he became a
United Nations War Correspondent during World War II; was Co-founder for
"Youth for Christ"; and became a Motion Picture producer/Radio
program host, author and a lecturer, but first and last, he always considered
himself an evangelist! Even though Bob knew that he was "extraordinarily
gifted by God, he was never impressed with himself - he considered himself just
an earthly vessel, available at all times for the exclusive use of the
Lord".
In his own words, he had "many flaws, failings but had
abundant faith in God who lives and cares about people."
If I had to pick four areas of the Christian life that I feel truly
represented Bob Pierce, they would be 1) Unwavering Faith, 2) Compassion for
others, 3) Obedience to God and 4) Commitment to accomplish the Will of God in
his life.
From the Beginning, Bob knew his calling was for Missions to the
Asian Countries. His first mission led
him through Hawaii to Hong Kong and eventually to China. Getting to China was his first big test of
faith - he had no money, even for the first leg to Hawaii. Bob held the opinion that God knows ones
needs already and if He has called you to a task, He will provide and enable
you - just move out! He did just that and went to the L.A. airport that day
without any money in his pocket. His
faith paid off as God provided the funding for each leg of his trip just at the
moment he needed it. This was the norm rather than the
exception throughout his career as an evangelist. What ever
it was, where ever it was, if God called, Bob would act no matter what the
circumstance......he knew that God would always provide.....and He did!
Bob had a compassion for the spiritually and physically suffering
of the world. "He was the friend of
the little people, the forgotten, the hurting, the maimed, the unheard and the
unsung". Bob's theme was "Let
my heart be broken with the things that break the heart of God". It was
Bob's personal belief that "wherever you find men and women who really
love Jesus Christ, you find the compassion of Christ spilling out of them to
meet human need." Over the years World Vision, Samaritan's Purse and other
organizations like them; one in particular, Mission Aviation Fellowship Pilots
(MAF), who flew Missionaries around the world in crisis situations, helped so
many helpless and needy men, women and children. They knew first hand the
healing power of God.
Bob dared it all to be obedient to the Lord's call. Once he had in focus the mission that God
wanted him to accomplish, he followed in Faith to bring the unsaved to
Christ. It was his opinion that " If you are an ambassador, act like one!"- no matter where you are. Bob would bring to memory how other
great men of Faith were obedient even in the face of death. During World War II, a young South Korean
Pastor, Mr. Im was mistaken for a North Korean
Communist and imprisoned. During his
internment, he would go around camp singing "Jesus Loves Me" and
other Christian songs. He not only
uplifted and inspired other fellow Christian prisoners to come together, he brought many more to Christ. Together he and another prisoner, Chaplain Voelkel, established a Bible Study where over 6,000
prisoners finished a six month Bible Study.
Six Hundred (600) of those finishing the Bible Study became pastors and came back to Korea
to preach the Gospel. In another
instance, he related how a Korean school teacher was put to death in front of
his students because of his faith and obedience to the Lord.
To be an ambassador for the Lord "is one of the greatest
things that could ever have happened to anyone - to let God put a fish hook
into you so deep that there is no way of ever getting off the hook."
"Bob did one thing all
of his life, and that was to lead people to the foot of the Cross where they
would put their faith in a risen Lord Jesus Christ. He lived every minute completely amazed that
God could use him. No matter how much he
was able to do in how many places, it was never enough." This was the kind of commitment Bob made to
Jesus; "to commit yourself, give yourself away to God irrevocably, forever. Say to Him, go ahead and burn me up. Spend
me. Eat me up. Use me for you
Glory." And that's exactly what he did.
Being a man of God was not always easy for Bob and he paid a high
price. In one measure or another he had
to forsake his wife, his family, his Mother and Father, his brothers and
sisters and other worldly possessions to follow Jesus. He not only lost his health, he lost his
Daughter, Sharon, to death.
Committing your life to Christ in a Godless society is never easy;
many times you feel like you may be the only one putting your life, your self image, your social acceptance on the line. As Bob came to realize, ". Someone has to go and pay that humiliating
price of literally letting your ego be stomped on- not just pushed in and
suppressed, but laid out there for people to stomp on. We need to do this by the grace of God with
love and patience: sow the seed on rocky soil, nurture it, and maybe never be
applauded."
Committing your life to Christ really comes down to this; What really matters
to you in Life?
On his death bed in the City of Hope, Bob left us this one message
- "I don't care what you have attempted. What you have succeeded at, or
what has been your work in Christ's name while you are here on earth - only one
thing matters when you have reached the last step before you go to stand before
Christ:
- Did you tell men and women who Jesus is?
- Did you bring them to some comprehension of His redeeming love?
- Did you make it plain to them that He alone can pay their way to
heaven throughout His atoning death on the cross?"
Such was the life of a man of God, Bob Pierce.
HIDDEN CODES OF THE BIBLE
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ACT 17:11 - Exhorts you to daily review the scriptures
to see if what is being said is true
References: Grant
R. Jeffrey - "The Signature of God"- RECOMMENDED READING
Other reading: "The Hebrew Factor" by Yacov
Rambsel
Prepared
by D. E. Davis
Daniel 12: 4 - "But thou, O Daniel, shut
up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to
and fro, and knowledge shall be increased."
Here is undeniable proof, the third in the
series, that every word, every letter and every punctuation in Bible text was
put their by the inspiration of God. It gives new meaning to the words
"increase knowledge". It's
just one of the many signs, and without a doubt, the most exciting revelation
that God said he would reveal to man in the "end time". As you will see, God has put his signature
throughout the Bible, has revealed History before it ever happened, all through
hidden codes that were supernaturally placed into text which was written over
2,000 years ago; which could only be found with today's computer technological
advances. The codes are found in what
scholars call "Equidistant Letter Sequences" or ESL. That is, each sequential letter in an encoded
word or phrase was found the same distance apart numerically; The exact interval designed by God.
Actually, the discovery of hidden codes in
scripture dates back to before WWI and it was not until 1988 that the use of computers were able to detect a significant amount of
coding in scripture. Since then, the
research that Grant Jeffrey and others have done has just exploded and new
discoveries are happening every day.
Here is a summary of what has been found and
outlined in Grant's book, referenced above.
It is my understanding that he is in the process of writing another book
to tell what he has found subsequent to "The Signature of God".
Luke 21:15 - " For I will give you a
mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay
(refute) nor resist."
Proverbs 25:2 - "It is the glory of God
to conceal a thing: but the honor of kings is to search out a matter."
What follows is what most of the human race
would find hard to believe. It
unfathomable to think that the Hebrew Bible, containing 304,805 Hebrew letters,
written by 40 individuals could contain hidden messages that if one letter was
taken out of the text, one word was removed, the hidden message could not be
revealed......yet the message has been sustained for over 2,000 years and has
been revealed to man just as Jesus said it would be. Jesus has actually placed His name and other
messages about Himself into text which proves he is the creator of all; King of
Kings and Lord of Lords.
GOD'S
SIGNATURE
God has personally signed scriptures
throughout the Old and New Testaments in various ways. For example in the Old Testament, he has
encoded his name, Jesus, in the following scripture:
God has also encoded unbelievable detail
about many of the things we read about and which touch our lives daily. For example, he outlines:
PLACES
AND THINGS
·
Gen. 2: 4-10 - The key word "Eden" was
spelled out sixteen (16) times in the span of 379 Hebrew letters. The letters were all equidistant from each
other.
·Gen. 2
- In this chapter which deals with the garden of Eden, scientists found
encoded in the Hebrew text, Twenty-five (25) names of trees that were in the
Garden
of Eden.
·
Gen. 1:1 - Starting with the first appearance of the
Hebrew letter "Tav", the word
"Torah" was found every 50th letter.
·
Ex. 1: 1 - Again, starting with the first appearance of
the letter "Tav" and counting every 50th
letter, the word "Torah" was spelled. Num./Deut.
- In the book of Numbers the word "Torah" was found spelled backwards
every 50th letter. In the book of
Deuteronomy, "Torah" was found again spelled backwards, but this time
every forty-ninth (49) letter.
NAMES
AND EVENTS
·
Holocaust
·
Deut. 10: 17-22 - Beginning with the second to last
appearance of the Hebrew letter "bet" in this passage, they found
every Thirteenth (13) letter, the phrase "b'yam marah Auschwitz" which means "in the bitter sea
of Auschwitz." Also encoded in
this passage were the names of the other Nazi Concentration camp, "Belsen".
·
Deut. 33:21 - Beginning with the letter (resh) that appeared in the Hebrew word "Yisreal," and counting every twenty-second (22) letter
from the left to right they found the phrase "re'tzach
alm" discribing the
Holocaust, which when translated, means "a people cry murder, slaughter."
·
Adolph Hitler
·
Deut. 10: 17-22 - The word "Hitler" spelled
out in Hebrew was found every twenty-second (22) letter.
·
Deut. 33:16 - Beginning with the first appearance of the
Hebrew letter "mem" and every two hundred and forty-sixth (246)
letter from left to right you find that the coded letters spelled out the
phrase, "Melek Natzim,"
which translates as the "king of the Nazis."
·
Eichmann
·
Deut. 32:52 - Beginning with the appearance of the first
letter (aleph) and counting from left to right every six hundred and seventy
(670) letters, the name "Aik'man" is
spelled, which is the Hebrew form of the name "Eichmann."
·
Egyptian President Anwar Sadat
·
"Sadat occurred together with the name of the
leader of the Moslem Brotherhood
assassinating team that killed him.......it contained the year of his
assassination, 1981, and the words
"president," "gunfire," "shot'" and
'Murder".
·
Desert Storm
·
Beginning in Gen. 1:7 and continuing through the rest of
Genesis, Grant Jeffrey indicated at the Prophesy Conference in Irvine,Ca. on 27 Sept. 1996 that
they had recently found information in hidden code in scripture relating to
Desert Storm. I believe more details
will be available in Grant's next book.
·
The French Revolution
·
Gen. 39,41 - "Another
passage in the Book of Genesis revealed a cluster of encoded words that deals
with the French Revolution. The
following words are clustered ogether" "Mapecha HaSarfatit" which
spells "the French Revolution" in Hebrew, "Louis," the name
of the French king, and the word "Beit (house of Bourbon,") his royal
dynasty. In the same cluster were the
following words: "Hamarseilles" (the name of the French anthem) and the
word "Bastillia" (the infamous French
prison for political prisoners........"
OTHER
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
·
Word pairs - "In their initial experiment,
.......the scientists arbitrarily chose three hundred (300) Hebrew
word-pairs that were logically related in meaning, such as hammer and anvil, or
tree and leaf, or man and woman." ".....the researchers were astonished
to find that every single word-pair had been located in Genesis in close
proximity to each other."
·
King David's Ancestors
·
Gen. 28 - " Every one of the five Hebrew names of
these ancestor of King
David (Pharez, Zerah,
Boaz, Obed, Jesse) were found encoded at forty-nine (49) letter intervals,
hidden within the text of Genesis 38".
·
Famous Jewish Rabbi - "The Jewish people celebrate the
memory of their famous sages by commemorating their date of death. Incredibly, the computer program found every
single one of the sixty-six names of these famous rabbis embedded in the text
of Genesis paired at significantly close proximity with their actual date of
birth or their date of death."
IS
THE HEBREW BIBLE UNIQUE TO GOD' S INSPIRED EMBEDDED CODES?
Grant points out that "The researchers
attempted to reproduce these results by running the computer program on other
religious Hebrew texts outside the Bible, including the Samaritan Pentateuch.
.......the researchers could not detect word pairs in the Samaritan Pentateuch
or any other Hebrew text outside the Bible.
In fact, an exhaustive analysis reveals that no other Hebrew text
outside the Old testament contains these mysterious
codes, not even the Hebrew apocryphal books written during the four hundred
years before the birth of Christ"
A
WORD OF CAUTION
"No one can search the Torah using these
codes to foretell future events. The
reason is that it is impossible to extract the encoded information unless you
already know what the future facts are."
"The prophet Isaiah warned against false prophets and declared that
only God can Prophesy
future events accurately
(Isa. 46: 9,10).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Computer tapes are now available so
that anyone with a computer can personally verify the existence of these codes
beneath the text of the Scriptures.
As Christians, we can stand firm in the word and shout for joy. God has given us "the words and the wisdom that none of our adversaries will be able to refute or contradict", no matter how much they try!
PRAISE
THE LORD!
SIGNS OF THE TIME
References: Grant
R. Jeffrey - "The Signature of God"- RECOMMENDED READING
Prepared by D. E. Davis
June 10, 1997
Prelude
How do we know that Jesus is the one true God when there
are so many religions, cultures and cults that claim that they serve the one
true god? How about Buddha, Allah?
Scripture says that God alone knows the beginning from the
end. The way that God establishes His
authority is through Biblical Prophesy. There are over 500 prophesies that were
prophesied over 2,000 years ago that have all come to pass. There are still some Old Testament that have
yet have to be fulfilled (Daniel Ezekiel), but there has never been an event
prophesied that has not come to pass in it’s time.
100% accuracy tells us that the God of the Bible is the only true God. No one else in the history of the world,
living or dead, can make this claim.
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In Matthew 24:3, just before Jesus' ascension
into heaven, the disciples of Jesus ask Him what would be the sign of His
second coming. Over the centuries various
groups have attempted to guess when Christ would return to the earth to claim
His inheritance as promised throughout scripture. As we know, no one has been right yet!. God clearly states
in Matthew 24:36 that no man, not even the angels, know the day or the time
when Christ will return. Only God the Father knows.
This summary is
clearly not another attempt to forecast this event. This summary does, however, attempt to
provide an awareness of what is happening around you so that you will not be
caught unaware. (Ref. Luke 21:34 and Matthew. 24:42).
ACT
17:11- Exhorts you to daily review the scriptures to see if what is being said
is true.
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----------------------THE
SIGNS OF THE TIME-------------------
Grant Jeffrey has done a wonderful job of
providing critical information about events that are happening in this
generation that all Christians need to know;
Events that were prophesied over 2,500 years ago. Approximately 90% of the material contained
herein was extracted and summarized from Grant's book. I highly recommend reading this book as it
contains so much more that you will want to know.
THE
REBIRTH OF ISRAEL
The rebirth of Israel was prophesied in
several scriptures throughout the Bible.
Isaiah 66: 8 predicted that Israel would be born again in
"one" day. Ezekiel 4:3-6 and Levitcus
26:18 foretold the exact number of days that it would take Israel to
re-establish themselves as a nation in the last days. ( The
exact calculation can be found in Grant Jeffrey's book referenced above). On
May 14, 1948, the Jews proclaimed their independence of the reborn state of
Israel.....The exact day that was predicted over twenty-five (25) centuries
ago.......No other ancient nation ever ceased to exist for a period of
centuries and then returned to take its place on the stage of world
history."
PRESENT
ARAB-ISRAELI CONFLICT
In Psalms 83:2-8, God inspired King David to
predict that upon Israel's rebirth as a nation it would be immediately surrounded
by their enemies. The modern names of
those nations named in scripture include Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and
Syria....the nations that have now joined the Palestinians in their attempt to
destroy Israel.
In Gen. 12: 3, God has promised to punish those
nations that come against Israel.
"I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee; and in thee shall all families of the earth
be blessed."
RESTORATION
OF THE HEBREW LANGUAGE
When Israel was captured by Nebuchadnezzar in
approx. 562 B.C., Israel was no longer allowed to speak the Hebrew language,
but had to learn the language of the Chaldeans.
The Lord predicted, however, through Zephaniah 3:9, that he would
restore a pure language to Israel so that they may "serve him with one consent".
It was in the early part of this Century that the Hebrew language was
revived from the dead language. Today,
Hebrew is a living language to over 5 million Israelis.
THE
FERTILITY OF ISRAEL
In Isaiah 27:6; 35:7 and Joel 2:23, the Lord
prophesied through these prophets that the deserted, unproductive, barren land
of Israel would once again become productive in the last days and that Israel
would experience tremendous increases of rain.
Ever since Israel has returned to the land, they have flourished in the
land and now supply over 90 percent of the citrus fruit consumed in
Europe. Rainfall has increased by more
than "10 percent every decade for the last century and Israel has planted
in excess of two hundred (200) million trees and transformed the complete
environment of the Promised Land."
According to the United Nations, Israel is now "the most
agriculturally efficient land on earth."
THE
UNWALLED CITY
Ezekiel 38:11 speaks of the future invasion
of Gog and Magog (Russia) saying "And thou shalt say, I will go up to the
land of un-walled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell
safely, all of them dwelling without walls and having neither bars nor
gates". Grant explains that "even army bases and Israel's settlements
in the West Bank and Gaza have no walls today.........How could Ezekiel have
known twenty-five centuries ago that the development of modern weapons such as
bombs, airplanes and missiles, would have made walls and gates irrelevant for
defensive purposes in the last days. In
the ancient past even small villages as well as cities depended on walls for
defense against invading armies."
PLANS
FOR REBUILDING OF THE TEMPLE
Revelations 11:1, 2 foretells of Israel
rebuilding the Temple in the last days.
There is much controversy between the Israelis and the Muslim's because
the Dome of the Rock (Al-Aqsa Mosque) it is believed, sits on the very spot
where the Temple is suppose to be built. In recent years, however, aerial Infra-red
photography shows that this may not be the case. Ezekiel 44:14-18, tell about the sacred
vessels and linen robes that must be used in the Temple. "The Temple Institute in Jerusalem has
already prepared over 75 of the objects, vessels, and linen garments required
for future Temple service.......over 500 men from the tribe of Levi have
already been trained to fulfill the duties of Temple worship and
sacrifice."
Update:
Just recently in the Washington Post on May
28, 1997, it was reported that a 10 month old heifer named "Melody" is the
first red heifer to be born in Israel in over 2,000 years. "In ancient times, the ashes of a red
heifer were mixed with spring water to purify high priests before they entered
the Temple."
THE
REBUILDING OF BABYLON
We know that the old city of Babylon (now
called Iraq) will be built again in the end times because Isaiah 13:6, 19
foretells of its destruction. In Isaiah
34:8-10 it is prophesied that the rebuilt City of Babylon will burn for ever.
"As unlikely as it seems, the Iraqi
government of Saddam Hussein has spent over one billion dollars rebuilding the
ancient city of Babylon and intends that it will become the center of their
future renewed Babylonian Empire.
Interestingly, the whole city of Babylon was built over an underground
lake of asphalt and oil."
THE
ANOINTING OIL
The prophet Daniel prophesied in Dan. 9:24
that the when Jesus returns, that the most Holy of Holies will be anointed with
the anointing oil. "One of the five
ingredients, afars' mon, was
thought lost forever, when the Temple was destroyed in A.D. 70 and the only two
groves of afars'mon trees in existence were burned
to the ground. Incredibly, several years ago, archeologists
in Israel found a clay flask buried near the Dead Sea caves filled with the
ancient oil of anointing. Scientists
confirmed that the oil is two thousand years old and is composed of the precise
ingredients described in Exodus 30:25,26."
PESTILENCE/FAMINES/EARTHQUAKES
Matthew 24:7 prophesied that in the last days
"For nation shall rise against nation and Kingdom against Kingdom: and
there shall be famines, and pestilence, and earthquakes, in divers (various)
places." Grand Jeffrey writes
regarding these matters:
·
Pestilence - In 1991, the Central Intelligence Agency
produced a report which "concluded that up to 75% of the population of
Africa living in the area south of the Sahara Desert may become infected with
AIDS over the next 12 years. This will
mean the death by AIDS of over three hundred million people in Africa alone. In July 1991, the South African Medical
Journal reported that a staggering 47% of black male and female blood donors
tested positive for AIDS during 1989."
In Nov. 1996, the
Associated Press reported that "Sexually transmitted diseases are
diagnosed 12 million times a year in the United States - including a staggering
3 million cases among teen-agers".
·
Famine - The
United Nations today "claim that over thirty million in Africa are now at
risk of dying from the most devastating famine in this century. The UN estimates that one billion people are
in danger of starvation while another billion lack proper nutrition. North American food reserves (grain and corn)
are at the lowest level in sixty years."
·
Major killer earthquakes – “Major Killer earthquakes
(7.2 or greater on the Richter scale) occurred
only once per decade throughout history until our century. However, since A. D. 1900, the growth in
major earthquakes has been
relentless. From 1900 to
1949 it averaged three major quakes per decade.
From 1949 the increase became awesome with 9 killer quakes in the
1950's; 13 in the 1960's; 56 in the 1970's and an amazing 74 major quakes in
the 1980's. Finally, in the 1990's, at
the present rate, we will experience 125 major killer quakes in this
decade."
WORLD
WIDE COMMUNICATION
In Revelation 11:9,10,
it is prophesied that during the tribulation period, the antichrist will have
the two witnesses that God sent killed and their bodies will lay in the street
for three and a half days while the whole world watches.
Did not the whole world watch Desert Storm on
CNN television? With all the
technological advances in telecommunications, including the recent opening of
the World Wide Net to our computer industry, any event happening in any part of
the world can now be viewed while it is happening. The prophesy of the two witnesses could literally be fulfilled
today. This could not have happened just
10 or 15 years ago.
INCREASED
KNOWLEDGE AND TRAVEL
Daniel 12:4 prophesies how much knowledge and
travel will increase in the end time. "But thou, O Daniel, shut up the
words, and seal the Book, even to the time of the end: Many shall run to and fro and knowledge shall
be increased."
Today, it is estimated that "Human
knowledge is growing so quickly that it literally doubles every twenty-four
months." With the discovery
through the use of modern "Super" computers by Grant Jeffrey and
other researchers of the hidden codes that God supernaturally designed into the
original Hebrew text of the Torah describing not only the history of the world
in advance, but also verifying his Authority through His personal signature
throughout his scripture, we realize that God chose this generation to reveal
this unique aspect about himself.
It is also amazing that in this century, we
have gone from horses to cars, from cars to supersonic spacecraft; not only can
we now travel the world in a matter of hours, but in the case of the U.S. Space
Shuttle Discovery, we can now travel at speeds in excess of eighteen thousand
miles per hour.
REVIVAL
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE
Daniel 2:40-44 predicts that the old Roman
Empire will be revived in the end times into a ten Nation alliance. We currently see the foundation being laid
today through the European Economic Community. "In 1957, six (6) Countries
signed the Treaty of Rome laying the foundation for the future United States of
Europe.............Since then the Maastricht Treaty consolidated the fifteen
(15) Nations of the European Union into the worlds
first superstate." All it will take is the re-shuffling and/or
the consolidation of Nations to bring this prophesy to
a literal fulfillment.
ODDS
THAT THESE PROPHECIES WERE FULFILLED BY CHANCE IN THIS GENERATION
"In the Bible there are several types of
generations. One generation is defined
as the length of life of the average person - seventy or eighty years. However, a generation of governing is usually
defined as forty years,...........During the last two
thousand years since the days of Christ, there were fifty such forty-year
generations. Therefore, the odds are one
chance in fifty that any one of these specific prophecies happened by chance in
our generation rather than some other generation."
"The odds that more than one event
happening in our life time are:
"Another way of looking at this is that
the chance that the prophets of the Bible correctly guessed these prophecies is
also one in 97,500 trillion............in other words, it is simply impossible
that men alone could
have written the Bible
without the supernatural assistance and inspiration of God."
Matthew 24:32-35 - "Now learn a parable
of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth
forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: So likewise ye, when ye shall see
all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This
generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my
words shall not pass away."
Luke 21:28 - "And when these things
begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your
redemption draweth nigh."
ANTI-CHRIST
TO BE REVEALED
As of today, no one knows who the Anti-Christ
is, but we do know what God has told us about him:
Many people try to spiritualize or say the
events prophesied in the Bible are just symbolic. Any doubt about how God handles these
prophetic events should have been erased on May 14,1948. God is literally fulfilling scriptural
prophesy before our very eyes. Can we
expect anything less for those few remaining prophesies for which He has
promised the world; 1) the removal of the one who restrains the man of
lawlessness/Sin (the rapture of the Church), 2) His second coming to take
possession of His inheritance, 3) The millennial kingdom and 4) the new heaven and new earth.
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Ezekiel 33:6 - "But if the watchman see
the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the
sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his
iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand."
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