THE INTERESTING
INFORMATION CHRISTIAN MINISTRY
CONFIRMING BIBLICAL
TRUTH
2/1/2023
SECTION 1 – INTERESTTING
INFORMATION WEEKLY ARTILCLES
SECTION 2 –
SUMMARIES/BOOK REVIEWS/SPECIAL ARTICLES/CHRISTIAN LINKS
Blue Letter Bible: http://www.blueletterbible.org/
INTERESTING
INFORMATION MINISTRY
2/1/2023
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’s
DE
Ezekiel 34:2 “Shepherd, feed the
flock”
You have value and
purpose in this life, not because of what you've done,
but because of who created you. God created you with Intention. You are god's
handiwork. You live and function best when you are living according to his ways
and bringing honor and glory to Him. Just as a clock is made to tell time, so
you have been crafted to display the goodness of god in all that you do.
(Devotion - Cottonwood Creek.org)
URL - FINAL THOUGHTS
ON HONORING YOUR PARENTS
https://www.wnd.com/2023/01/final-thoughts-honoring-parents/
https://www.christianpost.com/voices/revelation-7-whos-behind-the-weather-the-supernatural.html
CHRISTIAN
MUSIC VIDEO
DON’T MAKE ME COME DOWN THERE
Dolly
Parton
INTERESTING ARTICLES
SUMMARY
·
God’s
thoughts should be our thoughts Truth is revealed and knowable
·
Are
you too good to get to Heaven?
·
Is
serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer in Heaven?
·
From
Pearl Harbor to Calvary: A Japanese pilot’s radical journey to Salvation
·
AN
EXAMPLE OF SERVICE
·
INTERESTING
ARTICLES
GOD’S THOUGHTS SHOULD
BE OUR THOUGHTS: TRUTH IS REVEALED AND KNOWABLE
Isaiah55:8-9 is among
those verses that have taken on a life of their own in Christian circles
Christian Headline
News – Jan. 23, 2023 -- For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are
your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the
earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Christians often cite
these verses as meaning that God’s thoughts and ways are so transcendent and
inscrutable, we cannot know them. This is, we are told, a reason for comfort
for the Christian, especially when circumstances around us are confusing and
painful. Some even use these verses to defend a kind of Christian
anti-intellectualism. After all, if God is unknowable, why study theology at
all? When having a “child-like” faith is confused with a purely emotive faith,
there’s no sense in stewarding our minds to the knowledge and worship of God.
Unfortunately, this way of approaching God has further devolved into the idea
that if God is unknowable, we can’t really know His moral will when it comes
especially to certain behaviors and lifestyles.
Of course, it is true
that God is omniscient, and we are not. He not only knows vastly more than we
can imagine or comprehend, He is the source of all knowledge. Because there is
so much He has not revealed, there is no sense in which humans could ever know
God exhaustively. All of which is why my friend Greg Koukl often says that Christians should never read a Bible
verse. What he means is that Christians should never read only one verse by
itself.
In the context of the
verses before and after, Isaiah
55:8-9 does not suggest
that we cannot know God’s thoughts and ways. In fact, Isaiah is saying the
exact opposite. Two
verses earlier, Isaiah
says:
Seek the LORD while he
may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and
the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have
compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
Did you catch that?
The wicked man should “forsake his way, and the unrighteous
man his thoughts….” Why? So, they can think the higher thoughts
and adopt the higher ways of God. Far from an excuse for not
studying or seeking the mind of God, this passage is actually
an urgent call to make God’s thoughts and ways our thoughts and
ways. And if we fail to have His thoughts and ways, Isaiah clearly
states, He invites us to repent so we can have them.
What God has chosen to
not reveal is much, but the entire narrative of Scripture reveals a God
committed to making Himself known. Just because we cannot know Him exhaustively does
not mean we cannot know Him truthfully.
In fact, this is a
crucial foundation of a Christian worldview. Specifically, it’s
Christian epistemology, a 50-cent word that just means the
study of how we know. The answer is not complicated: We know because God has
not hidden Himself but has revealed Himself generously in His creation and in
Scripture.
By seeking and
studying what God has revealed, we can make God’s thoughts our thoughts. We
have, Paul wrote, the mind of Christ. We can know His design for human beings
and for marriage and family, the purpose of government, the rightful end and
object of worship, the significance of art and music and the place of science,
and especially what has gone wrong with our world and what He’s
doing to set it right. The ultimate goal is not to
know things about God or even about His mighty acts in
history. It is to know Him, and as
Jesus put it,
to love Him, with all our heart, soul, and mind.
ARE
YOU TOO GOOD TO GET TO HEAVEN?
The Christian Post – Jan. 25, 2023 -- Man naturally assumes that
eternal life is awarded to those who do plenty of good works during their life
on Earth. If you asked 100 people how someone gains entrance into Heaven, you
would see what I mean. The common assumption is that getting into Heaven is
merit-based.
Scripture comes along and blows that misguided theory out of the
water. After all, “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no
one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have
together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one” (Romans 3:10-12).
In the Lord’s eyes, all have sinned and broken God’s
commandments. “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just
one point is guilty of breaking all of it” (James 2:10). This is why God sent his only Son to pay for our sins on the
cross. It was the only way we could be reconciled to our Father in Heaven.
Believers are declared righteous in God’s sight on account of Christ. “If
righteousness could be gained through the Law, Christ died for nothing” (Galatians 2:21).
You may ask, “What if a person sincerely tries to live a good
life, but does not believe in Jesus as Savior?” Many people assume that
sincerity is enough. The Chinese philosopher Mencius said, “Sincerity is the
way to Heaven.” But is it? The Bible reveals that multitudes of people are
sincerely wrong about God, human righteousness, Heaven, Hell, and the path to
Paradise. “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to
death” (Proverbs 14:12).
The purpose of Christ’s crucifixion was not to change God’s mind
about Heaven but to provide forgiveness for sinners so that we could in fact actually enter Heaven. The blood of Jesus shed on the cross
has the power to wash away your sins. This spiritual cleansing occurs the
moment you rely upon the sacrifice of Christ for your salvation. Trusting in
good works to save your soul is futile. After all, performing 10,000 good works
does not wash away a single sin.
God definitely wants his children to do
good works, but you will first need to place your faith in Christ alone. Those
who rely upon their own righteous acts for salvation remain lost in their sins.
The only way to be justified before God is through faith in Christ alone.
The Apostle Paul had plenty of experience trying to work his way
into Heaven. After his conversion, however, Paul's entire perspective changed.
He wrote, “We know that a man is not justified by observing the Law, but by
faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we
may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the Law, because by
observing the Law no one will be justified” (Galatians 2:15-16).
You realize what this means, don’t you? A person can actually be “too good” to make it into Heaven. Those
who seek to earn eternal life by their own righteousness commit a fatal error.
The Greek Stoic philosopher Epictetus said, “All religions
must be tolerated … for every man must get to Heaven in his own way.” Now
compare this philosopher’s proud declaration to the words of the Messiah, who
said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father
except through me” (John 14:6).
One of the thieves being crucified along with Jesus said to the
Lord, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus answered
him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:42-43).
Advanced SettingsEternal life in Heaven is a free
gift. You can’t earn it, can’t buy it, you can
only receive it; It’s a gift. Eternal life is free. Do you believe it? One of
the final verses of the Bible states: “Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and
whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life” (Revelation 22:17).
Once
you realize how far your sins have separated you from God, you
become thirsty for God’s grace. Will you come to Jesus today and
receive the free gift of salvation? Those who repent
and receive this free gift instantly become inheritors
of eternal life in Heaven.
Sound
too good to be true? Oswald Chambers wrote, “The reason it is so easy to
obtain salvation is because it cost God so much.”
Humble
yourself before God and admit that you have sinned against him unless of
course, you are too good to get into Heaven. If you are striving to save your
soul through your own efforts, then I feel very sorry for you. Until you stop
trying to save yourself, you will fail to enter into a
relationship with the Messiah.
Simply
let go and let God. Trust Jesus as your Savior, as you reject the idea that you
can be good enough to work your way into Heaven.
Only
then will you be able to understand and appreciate these words which the
Apostle Paul wrote to Christians in Ephesus: “For it is by grace you have
been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God
— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:8-10).
You
see, Christians do good works not in order to be saved, but
because we have already been saved through faith in Christ
alone. Do you see it now? If so, will you believe it now?
Man’s
righteous acts cannot wash away any of his sins, period. Faith in Christ alone
is the only way to be saved, redeemed, justified, born again, and forgiven. And
salvation occurs on the front end of your relationship with Christ.
IS
SERIAL KILLER JEFFREY DAHMER IN HEAVEN?
Charisma News – Nov. 18, 2022 -- Is it possible that behind the
pearly gates of heaven there are murderers, pedophiles and cannibals walking
along the streets of gold? We are taught in the book of Romans, "That if
you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God
raised him from the dead, you will be saved" (Rom. 10:9).
"I have come to believe that the Lord
Jesus Christ is the true creator of the heavens and the earth. I have accepted
Him as my Lord and Savior and I believe that I as well as everyone else will be
accountable to Him." These are the words of convicted serial killer
Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer, also known as the Milwaukee Monster. There has been a
resurgence of interest in the heinous crimes committed by Dahmer after the
Netflix series was released in September 2022. Since its release, 'Monster: The
Jeffrey Dahmer Story,' has streamed over 850 million viewing hours.
The crimes Jeffrey Dahmer committed will always
be remembered for their repulsive and grotesque nature. Between the years 1978
and 1991, Dahmer killed, dismembered and cannibalized
16 men in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and one in his family home in Ohio.
In 1995, Charisma Media reported this
disturbing story and interviewed Dahmer's spiritual adviser, Pastor Roy
Ratcliff.
"I grew to deeply appreciate and respect
Jeff, mostly because of his thirst for truth and his hunger for what was right
and what was wrong," Ratcliff said. He baptized the prolific serial killer
in the prison and met with him weekly until Dahmer was murdered by a
fellow inmate in November 1994. Ratcliff eulogized Dahmer at his funeral
service, stating, "Jeff confessed to me his great remorse for his crimes.
He wished he could do something for the families of his victims to make it
right, but there was nothing he could do. He turned to God because there was no
one else to turn to, but he showed great courage in his daring to ask the
question, 'Is heaven for me too?' I think many people are resentful of him for
asking that question. But he dared to ask, and he dared to believe the
answer," Ratcliff recalls.
While the judicial system sentenced Dahmer to
16 consecutive life sentences for his egregious crimes, God's grace guaranteed
him eternal salvation. In his book 'Total
Forgiveness,'
author R.T. Kendall states, "Grace is undeserved favor. Mercy is not
getting what we do deserve, grace is getting what we don't deserve." As
believers, we know that no sin is beyond the reach of God's grace, and where
sin increases grace increases all the more. We must
remember, it is not about the severity of the sin, it is about the atoning
sacrifice of Christ.
The shed blood of the sinless Lamb of God is able to cover everyone who believes in Him and there is
no limit to the size or graveness of sins covered. As Kendall says, "We
must let God be God and the blood of Christ do what it in fact did; remove our
guilt and satisfy God's sense of justice."
With Dahmer's sadistic appetite for gruesome
murder, many people feel that it is unfair for him to be in a better place and
for Netflix to capitalize on their recent productions. Ratcliff contended
"It's unfair for anyone to go to heaven because heaven is not for good
people. Heaven is for people who have turned to God." Although the pain
remains for the families of the victims, we know that "all things work
together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to
his purpose" (Rom. 8:28). 'Total Forgiveness' explains, "Whether your
enemy is temporary or a 'life sentence,' never forget that God is at the bottom
of it all."
The families of the victims may not ever
forgive Dahmer for his abhorrent actions, but Ratcliff explains, "Jeff
wasn't seeking forgiveness from people, he was seeking forgiveness from
God."
While many believe that Dahmer's salvation was
not sincere or deserved, only the Lord knows the true condition of Dahmer's
heart. Ratcliff states "I think he is in the hands of God; I think he has
embraced God and God has embraced him back." Romans 5:20 teaches us,
"Where sin abounded, grace abounded much more." This grace is
available for all sinners who call upon the name of the Lord. Kendall's 'Total
Forgiveness'
captured the nature of grace best, "Grace isn't grace if we have to be
good enough for it to apply to us."
FROM
PEARL HARBOR TO CALVARY: A JAPANESE PILOT'S RADICAL JOURNEY TO SALVATION
Captain Mitsuo
Fuchida was "disgusted
by the idea of war trials." He believed that everyone should know that "war was
war and that cruel acts occurred on both sides," and the idea of
testifying as to the events of Dec. 1941 angered him greatly.
Little did the man who led the attack on Pearl
Harbor know one day he would accept Jesus Christ as his savior, and that
testimonies from an American prisoner of war would inspire him greatly.
The attack on Pearl Harbor, a complete shock
to an unsuspecting United States, killed 2,403 people—68 of whom were
civilians. The attack destroyed 19 Navy ships, eight of which were battleships.
The attack motivated the US to enter the war,
turning the tides of history.
Fuchida led the first wave of 183 attack
aircraft on Pearl Harbor. His plane was hit 21 times by anti-aircraft fire, but
it did not crash. The success of his mission granted him an audience with
Emperor Showa.
It was after the war, however, that Fuchida
was summoned by American Gen. Douglas MacArthur in Tokyo. He also met with his
former flight engineer, Kazuo Kanegasaki, who told
him that, as a prisoner of war, he was treated well.
Kanegasaki told Fuchida of the story of Peggy Covell,
who cared for Japanese prisoners and whose parents were captured by Japanese
soldiers. Before the soldiers beheaded them, her parents asked for and were
granted 30 minutes to pray for their executioners.
When Fuchida heard the story, he was
dumbfounded. He couldn't understand why they would
pray to a god who "could not save them from the sword. Why would the
Covell parents pray for their enemies who would shortly behead them?"
Kanegasaki could not answer the question. Fuchida couldn't reconcile Peggy's forgiveness or "a higher
obligation to love someone, especially an enemy."
He would soon discover why.
Summoned again to testify, he met an American
soldier named Jacob DeShazer, who handed him a
pamphlet titled, "I Was a Prisoner in Japan," which recounted the
story of DeShazer, who was one of General Doolittle's
Raiders whose B-25 planes bombed Japan in 1942 and he was held captive for 40
months, included 34 months in solitary confinement.
DeShazer was beaten and malnourished and watched as
three of his crew were executed by firing squad. During his captivity, however,
he asked his guards for a copy of the Bible, which he was allowed to have for
only three weeks. He read the Bible in the POW camp, and he accepted the
message of salvation through Jesus Christ, which transformed his life.
He learned Japanese and learned to treat his
captors with respect. The guards responded positively, which DeShazer says probably saved his life, and he resolved
someday to bring the gospel to Japan, which he eventually did, establishing a
church in Nagoya, a city which had been bombed 10 years earlier.
The stories of Covell and DeShazer
intrigued Fuchida so much that he wanted to know more about this
"Christian God." In 1949, Fuchida purchased a Bible in the same city
where he had received the pamphlet from DeShazer.
As he read the gospels, the Lord pierced
Fuchida's heart and helped him to understand why Covell and DeShazer
could show forgiveness to those who had hurt them. It was Jesus' crucifixion
and his words in the Gospel of Luke, "Father, forgive them, for they know
not what they are doing," that penetrated Fuchida's soul.
"That's
when I met Jesus," Fuchida said. "Looking back, I can see now that the
Lord had laid His hand upon me so that I might serve Him."
And, on April 14, 1950, Fuchida accepted Jesus
as his savior. The following month, he sought DeShazer
out and said to him, "I have desired to meet you, Mr. DeShazer.
My name is Mitsuo Fuchida." DeShazer
soon recognized the name, and the former enemies embraced as brothers in
Christ.
Fuchida would spend the remainder of his life
as a world-traveling evangelist. He even became good friends with the Rev.
Billy Graham.
AN EXAMPLE OF SERVICE
When Jesus came to
earth as the Jewish Messiah, He wasn’t what His nation
expected. They were looking for a powerful king who’d
liberate them from the Romans. While He could have banished the Roman presence
from the region, that was not the mission His Father gave Him. Rather, “the Son
of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a
ransom for many” (Matt.
20:28).
Jesus left the glories
of heaven and humbled Himself to take on the status of a bondservant—which was
at the time a permanent, unpaid slave and the ultimate demonstration of
servitude. The Son of God came into the world, willing to do whatever His
Father commanded. And that included dying on a cross for undeserving sinners
like you and me.
A servant isn’t independent or self-centered but is instead focused on
doing whatever his or her master says. That’s our
calling as we follow in Christ’s footsteps of selfless service. Are you willing
to accept this humble position? The culture may think you’re
weak and foolish, but by serving others without grumbling, you prove yourself
to be a child of God and a powerful light in a dark world.
In Touch Ministry
PRIOR ISSUE
INTERESTING
INFORMATION MINISTRY
1/25/2023
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS -
HONORING YOUR FATHER AND YOUR MOTHER
(You will be
amazed how Scripture throughout the books of the Bible brings God’s
Commandments into focus)
https://youtu.be/mYOngt5kRHM?list=PLmI6y1h4ekf60kIu-TxE3ShPfJgTiUwB2
VIDEO – JESUS IS THE SPOKEN WORD
Watching
this will bless you!
CHRISTIAN
MUSIC VIDEO
WELCOME HOLY SPIRIT
nikkyttlyricsworship
THOUGHT FOR
THE WEEK – “What Jesus accomplished for us,
the Spirit works out in us” – Our Daily Bread
INTERESTING ARTICLES
SUMMARY
·
Justification
by the Holy Spirit
·
Israel’s
Negev Desert: Past, Present and the world-changing future
·
UNACEPTABLE!
Biden doesn’t want Jews to pray on Temple Mount
·
Pope
Francis warned Christ followers not to convince someone to become a Christian
·
Adam
gave names to all the animals
·
THE
JUDGMENT OF BELIEVERS
INTERESTING
ARTICLES
JUSTIFICATION
BY THE HOLY SPIRIT
Charisma News – Jan. 20, 2023 -- The theology
that we prefer concerning justification or righteousness by faith, or by works,
remains purely academic, and will not justify us, without ultimately being
justified by the Holy Spirit. The heart is where justification resides. The
human mind alone cannot receive it. This is true even if the knowledge is
entirely from the Bible, "for the letter killeth,
but the spirit giveth life"[1]. The words 'justification' and 'righteousness' are
interchangeable. They are both translated from the same Greek word.
The teaching begins in the Old Testament:
"Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the
covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand
to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although
I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: But this shall be the covenant that
I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will
put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be
their God, and they shall be my people."[
"A new heart also will I give you, and a
new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of
your flesh, and I will give you a new heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit
within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my
judgments, and do them."
Paul explains what this means when he says:
"Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men:
Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered
by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in
tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart. And such trust have we
through Christ toward God; Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think
anything as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; Who also hath made us
able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for
the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. But
if the ministration of death, written and engraven in
stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his
countenance; which glory was to be done away: How shall not the ministration of
the spirit be rather glorious? For if the ministration of condemnation be
glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory."
God's law is in the inward part of our heart
when His Spirit is within us and we are led by the Spirit.[5] We become living epistles when the Spirit of Christ is
within us. We are not able to be living epistles without Him. Anyone can quote
Scripture; but not everyone is a living book.
We are not able to live righteous lives
without the Spirit because as long as we remain slaves
to sin, we are not righteous before God. The Spirit frees us from slavery to
sin by its fruit that is produced in us.
The new covenant is of the Spirit who brings
us life and righteousness. The old covenant of the letter could not do this.
Only grace that flows into us through the Spirit can free us from the slavery
of sin. The Bible is essential because it instructs us on how to arrive at
righteousness; but ultimately we have to draw close to
God in order for it to happen.
ISRAEL'S
NEGEV DESERT: PAST, PRESENT AND THE WORLD-CHANGING FUTURE (Excerpt)
Charisma News – Jan. 20, 2023 -- Ever since
the early Zionist settlers, Israel has made the desert flourish, and today it's a worldwide center of innovation.
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in
Beersheva develops technologies that can be used around the world, attracting
agricultural scientists across the globe.
And it all started with Abraham.
The Negev Desert takes up two-thirds of
Israel's landmass, but only 10% of its population lives there. Abraham lived in
Beersheva, which today is the largest city in the northern Negev, with a
population of more than 200,000 people. The Negev Desert is also the only part
of Israel where Moses walked.
He was not allowed into the Promised Land, but
the wandering of the Israelites in the desert brought them from the Sinai,
through the Negev, from where they sent out the 12 spies, and then were left to
wander for 40 years.
The book of Numbers tells the story of the
children of Israel going around the land of Edom and conquering the Amorites,
and how the king of Moab sent the prophet Balaam to curse them. These lands are
all in the modern-day state of Jordan, so the children of Israel must have gone
through the Negev at some point.
Eventually, after Moses' death, they entered
Israel by crossing the Jordan River at Gilgal.
This means that the Negev Desert has a
significant place in the history of the Jewish people.
This is where God showed His power and might,
and sent Manna from heaven, and it's possible this is the area where the
miracle of the copper snake occurred, which Jesus spoke about to Nicodemus in
John 3:14-15: "Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the
Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life
in him."
After Joshua's conquest, the northern Negev
was allotted to the tribes of Judah and Simeon. Later, Solomon extended
Israel's borders all the way to Eilat.
After the Babylonian exile and during the
Persian and Greek eras, the Negev was beyond the perimeters of the large
empires, being ruled instead by Nabatean tribes who controlled the Negev for
their caravan trade routes between Petra and the port of Gaza. Even during the
time of Jesus, the Negev was outside the Roman Empire—the Romans didn't conquer
the area until 106 A.D. Over 500 years later, Islam arrived.
Under the Ottoman Empire, the Negev Desert was
underdeveloped and neglected for centuries. The Turks had other, much bigger
deserts to worry about. Once conquered in 1917 by the ANZAC troops of Great
Britain, the Negev became part of the British Mandate of Palestine.
The Peel Commission in 1937 suggested dividing
the British Mandate into an Arab and a Jewish state, with the entire Negev to
be part of the Arab state. A similar proposal was put forward in 1946. In
October of the same year, the Jewish Agency built 11 settlements in the Negev
overnight, including a fully functioning water supply system. They hoped that
the next division plan would make the Negev part of the Jewish state—and they
were right.
The 1947 United Nations Partition Plan did,
indeed, include most of the Negev as part of the proposed Jewish state, as
there were new facts on the ground. In Israel's 1948-1949 War of Independence,
Israeli troops successfully reached all the way to Eilat, where they flew an
improvised Israeli ink flag. The iconic photo that captured the event resembles
the 1945 American photo when the U.S. flag was raised in Iwo Jima.
David Ben-Gurion was a driving force in
developing and settling the desert. It is no coincidence that the Beersheva
university is named after him. When he retired from politics, he moved to
Kibbutz Sde Boker, where he
was buried.
In his office, Ben-Gurion always had a sheet
of paper in front of him with biblical prophecies by Isaiah about making the
desert bloom, and a statue of Moses in front of him. For him, planting trees in
the desert was the essence of Zionism.
Israel is a small country and because the
Negev takes up two-thirds of it, we don't have the luxury of not using it,
unlike the Ottomans for whom the desert was an insignificant part of their vast
empire.
Ben-Gurion was a visionary, and already by the
'50s, he said things about the desert that could sound as if they were written
today; using the desert for solar energy; desalinating water from the Red Sea
and Mediterranean for example.
These visions are now being carried out. There
are a number of large solar fields in the desert and
more are being built. Desalination of sea water is already taking place,
enabling Israel to export water to neighboring Jordan. Israeli experts are
visiting Dubai to share their know-how. Ben-Gurion University students from
developing African nations are learning how to develop food and water security
in their homelands.
Some estimate that by the year 2050 roughly
700 million people will have been displaced because of scarce land resources
and desertification. Israel may have already provided a solution.
As of today, Israel is the only country in the
world where the inhospitable desert isn't growing but
shrinking. Large parts of the desert are blooming and Ben-Gurion's vision is
being fulfilled in front of our eyes.
'UNACCEPTABLE’: - BIDEN DOESN'T WANT JEWS
TO PRAY ON TEMPLE MOUNT
'The United States stands firmly for preservation of the
historic status quo'
WND
– Jan. 17, 2023 -- The Biden administration, which has worked hand-in-glove on
a wide range of funding projects for Palestinians in the Middle East, now says
it is adamantly opposed to allowing Jews to pray on Jerusalem's Temple Mount.
Muslims
have that right as of now. Jews do not.
The Washington
Free Beacon reports that a Biden State Department official insisted it
would be "unacceptable" for Jews to be allowed to pray there.
It's
because, the Biden official said, that would change the "historic status
quo" that only allows Muslims to pray there.
"The
stance is a blow to diplomatic relations between the United States and the
newly installed Israeli government and signals the Biden administration intends
to call out the Jewish state on issues other administrations might address
behind closed doors," the Free Beacon explained.
Biden's
spokesman said, "The United States stands firmly for preservation of the
historic status quo with respect to the holy sites in Jerusalem. Any unilateral
actions that depart from the historic status quo is unacceptable."
It's
not the first sign of a rift between Biden and Israel's government.
Biden
declined to immediately call Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to
congratulate him on his election win last year, and his administration launched
an investigation into the death of a Palestinian-American journalist even
though investigators said it was an accident.
And
Secretary of State Antony Blinken attended a conference held by J Street, which
is a leading anti-Israel organization.
"Should
it really be this difficult for the U.S. government to publicly affirm that
Jews have a right to visit the holiest site in their religion?" Richard
Goldberg, a former White House National Security Council official, told the
Free Beacon. "Is the policy of the State Department: Freedom of religion
for all except Jews?"
The
issue arose a few weeks ago when Israeli leader Itamar
Ben-Gvir visited the Temple Mount and said there should be a policy change that
would allow Jewish prayer.
In
recent years, only Muslims have been allowed prayer time there.
But
the visit by Ben-Gvir was seen as a signal that could change.
Sen.
Ted Cruz, R-Texas, of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, warned of Biden's
"pathological obsession with undermining Israel [and] is endangering the
national security of America and our allies."
POPE FRANCIS WARNED JESUS CHRIST FOLLOWERS NOT TO CONVINCE
SOMEONE TO BECOME A CHRISTIAN, INSISTING IT IS A “PAGAN” ACTIVITY
WND
– Jan. 20, 2023 -- “To evangelize is not to proselytize,” the Pope told crowds
gathered in the Vatican for his weekly general audience.
“To
proselytize is something pagan; it is neither religious nor evangelical,” the
Pope said.
“This
is not about proselytism, as I said, so that others become ‘one of us’ – no,
this is not Christian,” he reiterated.
“It
is about loving so that they might be happy children of God,” he added.
Proselytizing, according to the Cambridge Dictionary, means to try to persuade
someone to change their religious or political beliefs or way of living to your
own.”
Proselytism
differs from evangelization, the Pope said, which is the joyful
witness of one’s experience of Christ.
“You
know your contemporaries, you know that many are alone, that many do not know
Jesus,” Francis told young people gathered for a national Catholic youth
conference in 2019.
“Go,
go and bring the Lord, go and fill your environments, even the digital, but not
of convictions, not to convince, not to proselytize, but to witness to the
tenderness and mercy of Jesus,” the Pope added.
The
Pope then told a group of Christian high school students the following month
that they should respect people of other faiths, insisting, “we are not living
in the times of the crusades.”
When
one of the students asked how a Christian should treat people of other faiths,
the Pontiff said, “we are all the same, all children of God,” and that true
disciples of Jesus do not proselytize.
“A
Christian should never try to convince others of the truth of Christianity but
should simply give a testimony of consistency and wait for others to ask about
the faith,” he proposed.
“You
must be consistent with your faith,” he said.
“It
never occurred to me (and nor should it) to say to a boy or a girl: ‘You are
Jewish, you are Muslim: come, be converted!’ You be consistent with your faith,
and that consistency is what will make you mature. We are not living in the
times of the crusades,” the Pope continued.
“The
last thing I should do is to try to convince an unbeliever. Never,” he said.
“The
last thing I should do is speak. I should live my faith with consistency. And
it will be my witness that will awaken the curiosity of the other who may then
ask: ‘But why do you do this?’ And yes, then I can speak.”
“But
listen, the gospel is never, ever advanced through proselytism,” he continued.
“If
someone says he is a disciple of Jesus and comes to you with proselytism, he is
not a disciple of Jesus. Proselytism is not the way; the Church does not grow
by proselytism,” he emphasised.
The
Church grows by attraction, by witness, the Pontiff said.
“Soccer
teams can do proselytism, this can be done, political parties can do it, but
there should be no proselytism with the faith,” the Pope added.
“And
if someone asks me: ‘But why do you do this?’ Read, read, read the Gospel, this
is my faith. But without pressure.”
ADAM GAVE NAMES TO ALL THE ANIMALS
Genesis 2:19 “And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the
field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what
he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called
every living creature, that was the name thereof.”
Creation Moments – Nov. 23, 2021 -- It surely wasn’t
possible, I am often told, for Adam to have given names to all the millions of
species of animals that exist on earth in the space of one day. Obviously, they
tell me, this means that the Bible is wrong.
In fact, the activity was nowhere near as arduous as this
accusation suggests. The number of animals would be far less than the estimated
2 million species.
Adam did not have to go looking for these animals. God brought
them to him. God brought three classes of animals to Adam – livestock, birds of
the heavens, and beasts of the field. All of these are vertebrates, whereas 98%
of all species are invertebrates. Of the remaining 2% – or 40,000 species –
many have developed from others (note: developed, not evolved) by the process
of speciation. It is likely that the creatures were all descended from just a
couple of thousand baramins, or created kinds.
It would not be that
difficult for Adam to assign a name to each of the animals that paraded before
him, especially as he was created perfect, and unlikely to get tired. Suppose
he took five seconds to name an animal. He could have named 2,000 animals in 2ľ
hours. You might think such a task would be boring, but it was not onerous and
would easily fit with all the other activities occurring on that sixth day of
God’s creation, including God making the land animals and making Eve from Adam.
THE JUDGMENT OF
BELIEVERS
What do you feel when
you think about standing before the judgment seat of Christ—fear or dread? The
apostle John says that if we abide in Christ, then when the Lord appears, we
can have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame (1
John 2:28). The reason is that
we belong to Jesus, who went to on the cross to bear our sins and take the
penalty we deserved.
Our future judgment
has nothing to do with determining our eternal destiny; that has already been
settled. Instead, this judgment is Christ’s evaluation of our deeds—to evaluate
“whether [they are] good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10). The word bad refers
not to evil acts but to those that are of zero value. 1
Corinthians 3:10-15 likens Christ’s judgment to a fire that consumes every
worthless deed but leaves untouched those worthy of eternal reward. Although
our life may look impressive by worldly standards, God alone knows the heart’s
motives and which deeds are truly good (1
Corinthians 4:5).
Our actions don’t determine whether we spend eternity with God, but He
is gracious to consider them for the purpose of reward. Together, let’s seek to live for Him and His glory each day. And let
us also rest, knowing that His righteousness makes us worthy of heaven.
In Touch Ministry
THE GRACE THAT WE
STAND IN IS MORE THAN WE DESERVE
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."
THE
SIGNATURE OF GOD
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:
THE HISTORY OF THE
WORLD FROM ANCIENT TIMES UNTIL TODAY
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).
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"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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