This week's ongoing Bible study will be part 2 of Acts chapter 15

The Conclusion of the Council at Jerusalem

[Acts chapter 15, verses 13-22]

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Last week as we left off at verse 12, a council had been convened at Jerusalem among the leadership of the early Church to discuss whether Jewish customs should be mandatory for non-Jewish believers, all of whom were united in their faith in Christ. Paul and Barnabas had first encountered this erroneous teaching on their first missionary journey together, and they had brought this to the attention of the apostles in Jerusalem. Peter, having heard all sides in this discussion, makes an eloquent statement against the whole idea of forcing Gentiles to undergo circumcision and to celebrate the Jewish Holy Days. He quotes extensively from the Old Testament – the only Bible in existence at that time – to make his arguments known. Then, Peter bears witness to what Saul and Barnabas have told him about the success of their journey, capturing the imaginations and inspiring the souls of everyone there.

This week, we'll take up where we left off as Peter concludes his speech before the group, starting at verse 13. “13) When they finished, James spoke up. “Brothers,” he said, “listen to me. 14) Simon has described to us how God first intervened to choose a people for his name from the Gentiles. 15) The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written: 16) “‘After this I will return and rebuild David’s fallen tent. Its ruins I will rebuild, and I will restore it, 17) that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who bear my name, says the Lord, who does these things — 18) things known from long ago.”

In the above passage, Simon was Peter's given name, as you recall from our studies of Luke's gospel earlier in this series. Like everyone else, James was also struck by the salvation of the Gentiles, which had previously been outside the scope of his experience just like the other apostles. Keep in mind that it was the apostle Luke who was writing this – the only non-Jew out of the original Twelve. James then quotes from Amos 9: 11-12 in verses 16-18. Although he was a Gentile, Luke made it his business to make sure he was well versed on the Torah, the Jewish Bible, to broaden his understanding of the faith of his Jewish co-workers of the Gospel, not to mention that of his Lord and Savior. “After this I will return and rebuild David’s fallen tent. Its ruins I will rebuild, and I will restore it....” Here we find the prophet Amos writing about the restoration of the Temple at Jerusalem, and of the coming of the Jewish Messiah, who was Christ himself.

“....that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who bear my name, says the Lord, who does these things — things known from long ago.” This is the exact point at which Amos prophesied of the unity of Jew and Gentile under one Cross, a prophesy that had seen its fulfillment at the Day of Pentecost. And so first Peter, and now James has added his thoughts on this topic, which brings us to the second half of this week's study, beginning at verse 19. “19) 'It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. 20) Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. 21) For the law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.' 22) Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to choose some of their own men and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas (called Barsabbas) and Silas, men who were leaders among the believers.” (Acts 15, verses 19-22)

Turning the Gentiles away from their new faith by imposing Jewish practices upon them is counterproductive, James argued, and so it was pointless to continue doing so. The early Church was shooting itself in the foot by turning away Gentiles and attempting to make Christianity a religion for Jews only, James stated, unless the Gentiles did certain things pertaining to the Old Law. I'm sure he quoted from Christ's teachings – which we know today as Matt. 5: 17 – pertaining to the fact that Jesus had already fulfilled that Law. Peter had previously answered the original question in much the same way in verse 11 of last week's study.

“....we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood.” Instead of turning Gentiles away, James admonished his Jewish brethren, we must open up persistent communications with them. We should 'write to them', which in today's world would be a blitz of phone calls and emails telling as many people about Jesus as possible. You know, like I try to do with this blog? Not to mention my website....

The part about food that was sacrificed to idols is something seldom seen in the Western world today, although there are those who make a bigger deal about the turkey they baked for the holidays than about the church service that Thanksgiving or Christmas Sunday. The reason that blood and strangled animals were mentioned by James was because they are forbidden in the Old Law. Moreover, the consumption of blood and the meat of strangled animals has to do with Luciferianism and the Occult. As for abstaining from sexual immorality, that is something that humanity still struggles with, and all the more so for true believers. But those who succeed in avoiding sexually immoral behavior do so because they rely on the Holy Spirit that dwells within them, rather than solely on their own abilities and human willpower.

“For the law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.” This strikes me as being a bit of a rough translation. What James was actually trying to say was that if any follower of Christ wanted to learn Jewish laws and customs, let them attend a synagogue on their own. But as for their faith in Jesus, in order to continue to maintain it, all true believers should attend church as it was in the first century A.D. As they did, James was telling them, they should all practice their faith as it was meant to be practiced, not what some 3^rd party said they should do.

“Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to choose some of their own men and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas (called Barsabbas) and Silas, men who were leaders among the believers.” This was the way the Church grew back then. In this case Paul, Barnabas and the others – to whom the Jewish question was originally asked – were going back to Antioch to bring the answer to this question back with them, along with Silas and Judas Barsabbas.

We don't realize how easy and convenient our lives have become until we view life in the first century. News traveled at a snail's pace back then. Even our modern “snail mail” seems fast compared to back then. At least today's postal workers have those little white vans. All communication traveled on foot and was delivered by word of mouth back then, and so the four servants of the Lord set out from Jerusalem on foot headed north, bringing the news back to Antioch, where this whole journey from the last couple of chapters began. They carried with them a letter explaining everything I have written about this topic of Jew vs. Gentile. This included the best news of all, which is that all are equal under the New Law of Christ, including Jews and Gentiles and everyone else. Next week when we return, we'll delve into the contents of that letter, as well as what happened during the return trip. See you then, OK?

This week's ongoing Bible study will be part 2 of Acts chapter 7

St. Steven Continues With His Response to the Court

Acts chapter 7, verses 20-38

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Last week when we concluded part 1 of Acts chapter 7, St. Steven had been asked for a response to the charges that had been leveled against him by the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council. Namely, that Steven was guilty of blasphemy and inciting unrest and sowing discontent among the people, charges that were patently false. The real underlying issue was that the teachings of the apostles and the early church they founded were being perceived as being authentic, and rightly so. On the other hand, the temple leadership of that time were a bunch of hypocritical snobs who enriched themselves from the temple offerings of the people. People could readily see the difference between the two. They could easily tell the real from the phony, and the Pharisees and Sadducee's were deeply offended to no end because of it. So now let's continue Steven's ongoing testimony from last week beginning at verse 20.

“At that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child. For three months he was cared for in his father's house. When he was placed outside, Pharaoh's daughter took him and brought him up as her own son. Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action. When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his fellow Israelite's He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian. Moses thought his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not. The next day Moses came upon two Israelite's who were fighting. He tried to reconcile them by saying, 'Men, you are brothers. Why do you want to hurt each other?' But the man who was mistreating the other man pushed Moses aside, saying, 'Who made you ruler and judge over us? Do you want to kill me the way you killed that Egyptian yesterday?' When Moses heard this, he fled to Midian, where he settled as a foreigner and had two sons.'” (Acts 7, verses 20-29)

Those of you who read last week's posting (click here if you missed it) will recall the high priest asking Steven if the charges against him were true. Instead of a simple yes or no, Steven starts his reply by giving the court a quick history of the Jewish people, which is intertwined with Jewish religious beliefs, and to a lesser extent Jewish ideology. What he's actually doing is telling the court why he is innocent of the charges against him, while also telling them why they are wrong to have charged him in the first place! He uses the story of Moses an an example, although it is a highly condensed version so Steven could come to the point as quickly as possible. Although the court did not yet realize it, Steven was using the story of Moses to compare his being adopted by royalty with Steven's own salvation in Christ, which had brought him into the Family of God. Jesus was born of royalty – Godly royalty – while Moses was adopted by royalty (the house of Pharaoh). Moses and Jesus were both ultimately rejected by, and in Jesus' case was sacrificed by, those in power here on earth. But Steven isn't finished with this portion of his response to the court just yet. In fact, he's just getting started. So now let's move on to the 2^nd half of this week's study, taking up at verse 30.

“After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mt. Sinai. When he saw this, he was amazed at the sight. As he went over to look more closely, he heard the Lord's voice: 'I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look. Then the Lord said to him, 'Take off your sandals; the place where you are standing is holy ground. I have indeed seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free. Now come, I will send you back to Egypt.' This is the same Moses they had rejected with the words, 'Who made you ruler and judge?' He was sent to be their deliverer by God himself, through the angel who appeared to him in the bush. He led them out of Egypt and did wonders and miraculous signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea and for forty years in the desert. This is that Moses who told the Israelite's, 'God will send you a prophet like me from your own people.' He was in the assembly in the desert, with the angel who spoke to him on Mt. Sinai, and with our fathers; and he received living words to pass on to us.'” (Acts 7, verses 30-38)

So we can clearly see here that Steven is comparing Moses with Christ, but only insomuch as Moses was Christ's predecessor. Steven also made a point out of Moses' extreme reverence for God Almighty, even to the point of trembling with fear. It is entirely possible that the apostle Paul later referred to this when he wrote to the Philippians' church that they should “....work out your own salvation with fear and trembling....” (Phil. 2: 12). Then Steven relates to the court how “the God.... of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob” sent Moses back to Egypt to save his people Israel, just as he later sent his Son to save Israel as well as all humankind. Since this was the same Sanhedrin who had handed Christ over to Pilate, you can be sure these words were not being well received at all by the court.

In the same way as Pharaoh rejected Moses, Steven continued, so you all rejected Jesus as the One who was sent by that same Almighty God as the Savior of us all. “This is that Moses who told the Israelite's, 'God will send you a prophet like me from your own people.” Moses was referring to Christ, and he prophesied about Christ by making that statement so long ago. Moreover, Steven identified himself as being a latter-day prophet of that very same Jesus Christ, as well as one whop extols his teachings. Keep in mind, too, that Jesus had only been crucified and resurrected just some months before Steven's apprehension by the authorities of 1^st century Jerusalem.

But as I wrote above, Stephen, is still replying at length to the original question, which was, 'Are you guilty of these charges?' He has already compared Jesus, whom that very court had crucified, with Moses, whom they all revered. This must have generated a good amount of cognitive dissonance among the members of the Sanhedrin, and this was undoubtedly intentional on Steven's part. Moses, Steven continued, “....received living words to pass on to us.” Those “living words” Steven spoke of are what we now call the Old Testament, which was the Bible as it was known back then. So this was tantamount to using the same Scriptures taught by the “scribes and teachers of the Law”, as Jesus had called them (see Matthew 25, verses 13-36), against the very teachers who purported to be divine instructors. That would be something like calling a university professor an idiot, but Steven was careful not to provoke them out of a sense of self-preservation.

But, as we will see next week, Steven's brilliant defense of himself (there were no court-appointed lawyers in those days, and for long after too), and the diplomatic way in which he went about it – despite what Steven was accusing the court of – would not prevent him from becoming Christendom's first martyr. So, I'll see you all back next week for part 3 of Acts chapter 7, where Steven concludes his defense. To find out the verdict and how it came to be, we'll move on to part 3 of Acts chapter 7. Everybody take good care!

A prophecy about our modern times from a very long time ago

A Description of Our Modern World From 2,700 Years Ago

by Pastor Paul J. Bern

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For my first posting of this new year I'm feeling God nudging me – well okay, I mean encouraging me – to compose another warning about the tumultuous times that are rapidly approaching. I always get attacked on the Web for these kinds of postings. Some compare it to yelling “fire!” in a movie theater, and I've been called worse than that, but I don't care. This is the mission God has given me, this is what I am doing with my life, and I will let nothing stand in my way! I can't – it's critically important that I bring you all up to speed, spiritually speaking, about the events that are currently unfolding, and what the Bible has to say about it all.

What I'm going to write about today will be the first 9 verses out of the 4^th chapter of the Book of Hosea in the Old Testament (that's right between Daniel and Joel in the latter part of the O.T.). So let me quote the first 5 verses for everyone, and it reads as follows: “Hear the word of the Lord, you Israelites, because the Lord has a charge to bring against you who live in the land: There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land. There is only cursing, lying and murder, stealing and adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed. Because of this the land mourns, and all who live in it waste away; the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the fish of the sea are dying. But let no man bring a charge, let no man accuse another, for your people are like those who bring a charge against a priest. You stumble day and night, and the prophets stumble with you.”

The Book of Hosea was written in the Northern Kingdom of Israel in the eighth century BC, during the reign of Jeroboam II (786-746 BC). Hosea (הושֵעַ) prophesied during a dark and melancholic era of Israel's history, the period of the Northern Kingdom's decline and fall in the 8th century BCE. The apostasy of the people was rampant, having turned away from God in order to serve both the calves of Jeroboam and Baal, a Canaanite god. During Hosea's lifetime, the kings of the Northern Kingdom, their aristocratic supporters, and the priests had led the people away from the Law of God, as given in the Pentateuch. Forsaking the worship of God, they worshiped other gods, especially Baal, the Canaanite storm god, and Asherah, a Canaanite fertility god. Other sins followed, including homicide, perjury, theft, and sexual sin. Hosea declares that unless they repent of these sins, God will allow their nation to be destroyed, and the people will be taken into captivity by Assyria, the greatest nation of the time. The prophecy of Hosea centers around God's unending love towards a sinful Israel. In this text, God's agony is expressed over the betrayal of Israel.

“Hear the word of the Lord, you Israelites, because the Lord has a charge to bring against you who live in the land: There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land.” There are two schools of thought regarding this first verse. The first are the traditionalists, who believe that the warnings are only for the Jewish nation (“you Israelites”). The second school of thought, of which I am a part, extrapolates this first verse, and by extension the entire Old Testament, as being applicable to both Jew and Gentile alike, since the apostle Paul wrote that “salvation is first for the Jew, and then for the Gentile”. So even though this is from a relatively obscure book of the Old Testament, it is still just as applicable today as it was in the 8^th century BCE when this was written.

“ There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God...”. Isn't that our very situation today? We lack faithfulness towards God and other people to whom we owe faithfulness, such as our families, our bosses and co-workers. So many of us are living only for ourselves, oblivious to their surroundings and those they are supposed to interact with, and ultimately oblivious to God. And, to put it bluntly, there are too many who refuse to acknowledge God. Many of these people (but not all!) are set in their ways to the point that I have stopped talking to them. All I can do is warn them. But those who go on being atheists or agnostics, I will not stand in your way any longer, so please continue as you are. Or those individuals who worship Satan, well, you're on the wrong track in life, but God can and will bring you back if you are both willing. That's all I care to say about that for now.

“There is only cursing, lying and murder, stealing and adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.” Watch a Hollywood action movie and this is exactly what you see. There's lots of cursing and killing, adultery and bloodshed, lying and stealing. Sadly, this is a reflection of American society in the early 21^st century. The lyrics in much of popular music breaks all bounds. “Because of this the land mourns, and all who live in it waste away; the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the fish of the sea are dying.” What does this look like to you? I'll tell you all what this is, it's the mysterious animal, fish and bird deaths that are occurring globally for seemingly no reason. Dead fish washing up on beaches by the tens of thousands, birds dropping out of the air literally out of the blue, and vanishing species like the polar bear, the honey bee, the elephant and many more – all these are the hallmarks of our generation, a generation where humankind's rampant pollution of our environment is literally poisoning the earth to death. It's all our fault!

The Bible says clearly in Genesis chapter 1, verse 28, “God blessed them and said to them, 'Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground'.” So it clearly states right here that God put us in charge of the earth, to properly conserve its resources and preserve all the life contained in the earth, and to manage it in a clean and orderly fashion. Well, we've trashed it instead! Even now as I write this, there is a sea of plastic bobbing up and down in the middle of the Pacific ocean that is literally the size of Texas! Our ground water has been polluted, the oceans have been poisoned, and the air contaminated. We have done this to ourselves, and even where we haven't, this systemic poisoning has been done with our consent through our silence about the matter. It seems there have been too many people who are unwilling to stand up and fight the powers controlling our world. This too has to come to an end. Stand up and fight for your right to quality of life, because if you don't we will lose it forever!

“But let no man bring a charge, let no man accuse another.... You stumble day and night, and the prophets stumble with you.” This is why nothing is being done about the pollution of the earth and the trashing of our own environment. Those in charge in government aren't governing, and the leaders in the churches aren't leading. Everyone is wallowing in their own complacency – and sometimes outright laziness – as they cash their paychecks every week or month or whatever while doing only the bare minimum of work required. The leaders we have selected are no better than ourselves, and are often worse! It's all our own fault, we did this to ourselves – so let's not accuse one another, for we are all just as guilty – meaning we have all got some repenting to do. And now let me conclude this week's message, starting at verse 6:

“So I will destroy your mother – my people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I have rejected you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I will also ignore your children. The more the priests increased, the more they sinned against me; they exchanged their Glory for something disgraceful. They feed on the sins of my people and relish their wickedness. And it will be: Like people, like priests. I will punish both of them for their ways and repay them for their deeds.” (Hosea 4, verses 6-9)

I will destroy your mother? Is God going to kill all our moms because we've all been bad? “Your mother” refers to 'mother earth', our planet! The prophet Hosea was warning us that if we persist in destroying the earth, God may decide to lend us a helping hand, so to speak. That 'helping hand's' name is World War Three, and that is what God is going to send us if we don't straighten up and mend our ways. “My people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge”. Ignorance and complacency are not blissful, they are what happens when we choose to disconnect ourselves from the world around us and the people in it. Ignorance and complacency are the negative results of not wanting to know, or of not caring enough to want to help initiate change for the better. Ignorance and complacency are the status quo.

“Because you have rejected knowledge, I have rejected you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I will also ignore your children.” Rejected knowledge? Just look at all the mumbo-jumbo that passes for school textbook curriculum these days! Look at all the runaway kids and the ones who get kidnapped and sold to sex traffickers. What about the ones addicted to video games, online porn, drugs and alcohol? The list goes on and on, and it's up to us to straighten this mess out. It's about a reboot of our leadership from the bottom up, starting with the parents in the home. “They feed on the sins of my people and relish their wickedness. And it will be: Like people, like priests. I will punish both of them for their ways and repay them for their deeds.” If America does not repent of her sins against God, of her adulteries, thefts, murders and other crimes against one another, God is going to destroy this land the same way he destroyed ancient Israel during the time of Hosea the prophet – by military conquest! So repent, all you people who are living sinfully as I have just described, or America will soon be no more. The land will still be here, I think, but the country will be gone forever. What a sad day that will be! We're running out of time, people. Let's all band together and begin doing wonderful and laudable things with our lives. Who knows? Maybe we can change God's mind if we try hard enough. Until next time.

This week's Bible study will be the rest of Galatians chapter four

We Are All Born Into Freedom

[Galatians chapter 4, verses 21-31]

Continuing today with the book of Galatians, we're going to finish chapter four as we sort through this Biblical book of the early church at Galatia, which would be in modern-day Turkey. Taking up where we left off last week, let's continue starting at verse 21 as the apostle Paul continues to express his concern for the congregation there because of false teachings that were contrary to what Paul had taught them in person and in the Spirit. He begins by comparing false doctrines with slavery.

“Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. His son by the slave woman was born in an ordinary way; but his son by a free woman was born as the result of a promise. These things may be taken figuratively, for the woman represents two covenants. One covenant is from Mt Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar. Now Hagar stands for Mt. Sinai in Arabia and corresponds with the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother. For it is written, 'Be glad, oh barren woman, who bears no children; break forth and cry aloud, you who have no labor pains; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband'.” (Gal. 4, verses 21-27, NIV)

As we noted in an earlier study, Paul is once again writing about early Christian converts who were formerly Jews who practiced adhering to the Law of Moses while also professing belief in Christ as the promised Messiah. They clung to both practices even though they were no longer required to do so, since the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ was the fulfillment of the Old Law, and this is why Paul was so upset with them. And so he goes on by comparing the origins of the Jews and Gentiles. Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation, had his son Isaac with his wife Sarah when he was 100 years old. Prior to this (in Genesis chapter 16) Abraham had a son with one of his slaves, whose name was Hagar. He agreed with his wife, since they had been unable to conceive and they had become elderly without any offspring, and so at age 86 Hagar bore Abraham a son, Ishmael. The way that Isaac had come into the world was by a promise of God made to Abram (who soon became Abraham) in Genesis chapter 15 when He said, “But Abram said, 'Oh sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?' And Abram said, 'You have given me no children, so a servant in my household will be my heir.' Then the Word of the Lord came to him: 'This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir.' He took him outside and said, 'Look up at the heavens and count the stars – if indeed you can count them.' Then he said to him, 'So shall your offspring be.' Abram believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness.” (Gen. 15, verses 2-6, NIV)

 

There are therefore two sets of descendants from Abraham; that of Hagar, who bore him Ishmael and that of Sarah, who bore him Isaac 14 years later. The descendants of Isaac became the inhabitants of Jerusalem during the times of King David and his son, King Solomon, from whom Christ was a direct descendant. That is what Paul was referring to when he wrote those words the way he did. “Slavery” refers to those who do not believe in Christ as the Son of God, but those who are free represent those who have put their complete faith and trust in Jesus and the Savior of the world. Those who refuse to believe in Christ are in slavery to sin, often without realizing it. This is something all of us can remain ever mindful of, and the way we can do this is to follow the writings of the apostle Paul when he wrote that we are to “continue to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling before the Lord”. This does not mean we should be scared to death of God – quite the contrary, in fact. It does mean that as we live our lives for Christ and place our complete faith in Him, we should be ever mindful of the awesome power and unimaginable glory that God personifies. To say the least, it is completely beyond man's understanding or comprehension. It is “the peace of Christ which surpasses all human understanding”, as Paul wrote in the book of Philippians, a book that we'll be getting to later on. For now, let's conclude today's study beginning at verse 28.

“Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. At that time the son born in the ordinary way persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same way now. But what does the Scripture say? 'Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman's son.' (Genesis 21:10 – PB) Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman.” (Gal. 4, verses 29-31, NIV)

Paul hits a very important point right here when he compares Isaac, Abraham's first-born, to Christ, the second Adam and God's first-born. Also notice, the son of Abraham and the Son of God were both borne by “the power of the Spirit” since both were of a supernatural conception. That is the exact parallel Paul is using when he compares the two, and it is striking to me that the validity of his argument remains unchanged up until today. Since we are all descendants of Isaac, and since the descendants of Ishmael became the modern-day Arab nations, we are not borne into slavery but into freedom, a freedom whose only precondition be an uncompromising and full-fledged belief in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, the Lamb who takes away our sins. But when we are born again “of the water and the Spirit”, as Jesus taught Nicodemus in John chapter 3, the Holy Spirit then inhabits the hearts and minds of those who truly believe.

Interestingly enough, the descendants of Hagar the slave woman became the nations of Islam, and the descendants of Isaac became the modern day Israelis, as well as all Jewish people in other nations such as the US and Europe. But there is still more to this than merely tracing family trees. As you will recall from one of my previous studies, the difference between the Gospel of Christ and the Old Law is that the Old Law was for the Jewish nation as God's chosen people according to the promise He made to Abram that I already quoted. The new law, or New Testament as we now call it, extended the salvation of Christ to both Jews and Gentiles, which became the modern Christian church denominations we have today (personally I do not count myself among any denomination other than the followers of Christ, but that's another topic altogether). Salvation through Jesus Christ, which is essential for everlasting life even when our human bodies wear out, is now unconditionally available to everyone, or as Luke wrote in the book of Acts, “even all whom the Lord our God will call”. This is the best news of all, but there are two things we have to do first. The first is to believe in Jesus and accept Him into your heart as your personal God and Savior, because Jesus is not only the Son of God, but he is also the way, the truth, and the life. No one, Jesus said, can come to – or even approach – our heavenly Father unless they come to his Son first. Jesus then intercedes to the Father on our behalf. But there is one more thing we must do, and that is to obey His commandments. This means we are to love God with all our hearts and minds, with all our souls and all the strength we can muster. Degrees of human strength are unimportant here, but a willingness to serve plus a thankful and grateful heart are the most necessary ingredients. The last commandment we must obey – not counting the original ten commandments which are understood here – is to love our neighbor as ourselves. Not compared to ourselves, but instead as well as we treat our own selves, which is always as best we can. So it should be with others also. Being a steadfast student is very important here when it comes to following Christ. If we follow Christ's two greatest commands, that's how we know we are operating within God's will.

Russia, the US, and the Middle East in Biblical prophecy

Russia's Move Into Syria Fulfills Bible Prophecy

by Rev. Paul J. Bern

I have been following the news intently throughout the Middle East as usual, but the Russian incursion into Syria that has been ongoing for 12 straight days has really piqued my interest. The CIA's completely inept attempt to arm and train “moderate” (whatever that's supposed to mean) Syrian rebels, for the purpose of overthrowing the Assad regime of Syria, has emboldened Vladimir Putin's Russia to make a move while he has the chance. This has become a victory in brinkmanship handed directly to Vladimir Putin on a silver platter by Barack Obama in what has turned out to be the biggest American foreign policy goof-up since the Libyan disaster of Benghazi on September 11 (there's that date again!) 2012. So, Russia has been building a military base in northwestern Syria right under the noses of nearby Turkey and Lebanon on the west, while forging an alliance with Iran and Iraq on the east. Putin is obviously after the oil, and all at the expense of the US. In my view, American foreign policy in the Middle East is in shambles as of this writing, with no relief in sight until possibly as late as January 2017. And that, ladies and gentlemen, may be too late for America. Still, this all falls in line with End Times Biblical prophecy as it is chronicled in the Old Testament books of the prophets Jeremiah and Daniel, as you all will see shortly.

As I delved into the following Bible verses, it struck me that this all began three days after the 4^th Blood Moon of September 28^th. Starting on that same day, hurricane Joaquin began drenching America's east coast with up to two feet of rain. Putin's military victory in Syria combined with the effects of Hurricane Joaquin add up to a double-whammy for the US exactly three days after that 4^th Blood Moon. The number three, as many of you know, is the Biblical number of perfection, sometimes called the number of completion. So I do not believe that the occurrence of those two events exactly three days after the 4^th Blood Moon was coincidental. But first, a little background, specifically about the Great Babylon mentioned by the prophets Jeremiah and Daniel. Many of you will recall that I posted an in-depth piece about the Great Babylon back in the Spring of this year that used Ezekiel chapter seven as a frame of reference (you may view that posting by clicking here). In this post, plus another prophetic one from a couple of months before that, I used Revelation chapter 18 and Ezekiel chapter 7 to prove conclusively that the Biblical Great Babylon of the end times is none other than the United States. But in this post I will show you some places where modern-day Russia can be found in Scripture, with the first example coming from Jeremiah chapter 50, verses 41-42: “Look! An army is coming from the North; a great nation and many kings are being stirred up from the ends of the earth. They are armed with bows and spears; they are cruel and without mercy. They sound like the roaring sea as they ride on their horses; they come like men in battle formation to attack you, oh Daughter of Babylon.” 

 

Again in the following chapter Jeremiah wrote in verses 45-48, “'Come out of her, my people! Run for your lives! Run from the fierce anger of the Lord. Do not lose heart or be afraid when rumors are heard in the land; one rumor comes this year, the other the next, rumors of violence in the land and of ruler against ruler. For the time will surely come when I will punish the idols of Babylon; her whole land will be disgraced and her slain will all lie fallen within her. Then heaven and earth and all that is within them will shout over Babylon, for out of the north destroyers will attack her', declares the Lord.” In this passage, the name 'Babylon' has a double meaning. The original Babylonian empire of King Nebuchadnezzar was overthrown by a night time military assault by the Medes and the Persians in 539 BC. The new Babylonian Empire, as it is called in the Bible in Revelation chapter 18 and Ezekiel chapter 7 (among others) is the United States as I have previously demonstrated. So who, then, is the 'Daughter of Babylon' from Jeremiah chapter 50 verse 42? That would be none other than Israel, whose chief ally is the US, of course.

There are also comparable passages in the Book of Daniel that describe what Daniel called the 'kings of the north' and 'kings of the south'. With the 'kings of the north' (Russia and Iran) coming down and attacking Israel as described herein, we can conclude with substantial certainty that the 'king of the south' can be none other than the US, Israel's staunchest ally. This also means that at some point in the fairly near future, Russia will attack Israel, and America will come to Israel's aid while emerging victorious, as it is written: “Then the king of the south will march out in a rage and fight against the king of the north, who will raise a large army, but it will be defeated. When the army is carried off, the king of the south will be filled with pride and will slaughter many thousands, yet he will not remain triumphant. For the king of the north will muster another army, larger than the first; and after several years, he will advance with a huge army fully equipped.” (Daniel 11, verses 11-13, NIV) In verse 11, we have what closely resembles the Cold War. In the very next verse, the narrative moves along to what appears to be the Iraq wars, where America attacked from the south. As you can see, it is debatable as to whether Russia has any significant involvement at this juncture, excluding being mentioned in verse 11. But in the following verse is a prophecy that has yet to be fulfilled, and that is the resurgence of Russia as a world power, a process that is already well underway, as I stated at the beginning of this posting.

“Then the king of the south will march out in a rage and fight against the king of the north, who will raise a large army, but it will be defeated.” Russia, having lost the Cold War, will fall back and regroup into a far better force than ever before. This prophecy is at the latter stages of being fulfilled as I write this, with ample evidence to be found in Syria – a topic the American media is carefully downplaying. Gee, I wonder who told them to do that? The US military, perhaps? Or did that order come straight from the White House? The prophet Jeremiah goes on to explain in the following verse: “When the army is carried off, the king of the south will be filled with pride and will slaughter many thousands, yet he will not remain triumphant.” How many Americans died during 9/11, roughly 3,000 altogether? How many Iraqi civilians got killed during Gulf War #1? It was roughly 100,000, a number that was not fully disclosed by the Pentagon until many months later. And, how many more Iraqi civilians died in the second armed US invasion of Iraq in 2003, and in the subsequent years of US occupation afterward? Wasn't that figure also in the six figure range? Of course it was. Who does the American media and the combined US military think they are kidding? One thing is for sure – based on the second half of the above prophecy, America's military victories will soon come to an end. I'm sorry, I realize this will be too much to take for some readers, and I may well be accused by some as a prophet of doom and gloom or worse. But I didn't write the Bible. I'm only the messenger, and the message from this passage of Scripture is simply that the age of the American Empire is coming to an end. In fact, Russia will ultimately mount a calculated counterattack, as it is prophesied in the next verse after that: “For the king of the north will muster another army, larger than the first; and after several years, he will advance with a huge army fully equipped.”

This is further chronicled down in verses 25-30, and I quote: “With a large army he will stir up his strength and courage against the king of the south. The king of the south will wage war with a large and very powerful army, but he will not be able to stand because of the plots against him. Those who eat from the king's provisions will try to destroy him; his army will be swept away, and many will fall in battle. The two kings, with their hearts bent on evil, will sit at the same table and lie to each other, but to no avail, because an end will still come at the appointed time. The king of the north will return to his own country with great wealth, but his heart will be set against the holy covenant. He will take action against it and then return to his own country. At the appointed time, he will invade the south again, but this time the outcome will be different than what it was before. Ships of the western coast lands will oppose him, and he will lose heart. Then he will turn back and vent his fury against the holy covenant. He will return and show favor to those who forsake the holy covenant.”

“The king of the south will wage war with a large and very powerful army, but he will not be able to stand because of the plots against him. Those who eat from the king's provisions will try to destroy him; his army will be swept away, and many will fall in battle.” As you can clearly see, the 'king of the south' is the US president at the time all this prophecy is being fulfilled. Whether this is Barack Obama or another US president, presumably the winner of the 2016 election, remains to be seen. That sitting US president, whoever he or she is, will be swept away by political intrigue at the very least, and more likely by massive civil unrest that will result in America's downfall. That, combined with the series of natural disasters spoken of by Jesus Christ in Matthew chapter 24 and Luke chapter 21, among others, will ultimately spell the end of the United States as we have known it. It will end with the defeat of the US military, which can only be accomplished by a preemptive nuclear strike as of this writing. (This spells bad news for big city dwellers like myself. The end of life for myself and others like me will be instant vaporization in an atomic blast. My only consolation will be that I will probably not feel any pain.) But then in the following verse, the two “kings” will make a peace treaty that will be long on form and short on substance. “The two kings, with their hearts bent on evil, will sit at the same table and lie to each other, but to no avail, because an end will still come at the appointed time.” I can only surmise that 'because an end will still come', this could mean to either or both opponents in this conflict that has yet to be fought.

“The king of the north will return to his own country with great wealth, but his heart will be set against the holy covenant. He will take action against it and then return to his own country.” When the 'king of the north', likely Vladimir Putin, returns home from those future peace negotiations, the phrase 'with great wealth' could very well mean oil and gas deposits as opposed to cash, gold or silver. “But his heart will be set against the holy covenant”, which is symbolic for Israel. Russia will take some kind of action, either military or economic, against Israel as a condition for returning “to his own country”. It will be part of the peace treaty between Russia and the US, when they “sit at the same table and lie to each other”. “At the appointed time, he will invade the south again, but this time the outcome will be different than what it was before. Ships of the western coast lands will oppose him, and he will lose heart. Then he will turn back and vent his fury against the holy covenant. He will return and show favor to those who forsake the holy covenant.” So, the end of the matter as far as this particular set of prophecies are concerned is that Russia will attack Israel a second time (see the Gog-Magog war of Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39), but the Western nations (whether the US as we now know it will be included or not remains to be seen) will counterattack and drive Russia and her allies (Iran, Syria and possibly Iraq) back to their home countries. So, now it is easy to see that there won't be a single war in the Mideast, but there will actually be three wars that will occur within just a couple of years combined. It is reasonable to assume the antichrist will be in power when at least the latter two events occur that I have written about. That's why Jeremiah wrote at the end of the passage of scripture I quoted from, “He will return and show favor to those who forsake the holy covenant.” The 'kings of the north', Russia, Syria and Iran will make a peace treaty with the antichrist and against Israel. Anything that goes too far beyond this is outside the scope of this article.

So, this is the majority of Biblical prophecies for what is modern-day Russia, excluding the Gog-Magog war of Ezekiel 38 and 39. As I wrote above, this is also a topic that really should be taught separately, otherwise the Biblical account becomes too convoluted, and potentially confusing to newer believers and those who haven't been taught much about Biblical prophecy (much to the discredit of their own pastors). So this will be the most comfortable place to close this week's message. I cannot overemphasize that we are all commanded to “watch and pray”. Let's all make ourselves busy doing exactly that. Nobody knows what day or hour Christ will return for his Bride. Let us all continue to prepare ourselves accordingly.

Those who follow Jesus get adopted as God's kids

Why Believers In Jesus Get Adopted As Relatives

by Rev. Paul J. Bern

The book of Ruth is one of the happiest stories in the entire Bible, except for the four gospels, of course. It has tremendous parallels with the salvation of Christ and his love for his Bride, the church. It also illustrates that those who are born again in the Lord of the water and the Spirit (see John's gospel chapter 3) literally become the relatives of Christ. We believers become married into – 'adopted' also applies here – the family of God. To begin with, Elimelech and his wife, Naomi, had two sons, and they were from Bethlehem, the birthplace of Christ Jesus. Elimelech died during a famine, leaving Naomi a widow. So she, along with her two sons, Mahlon and Killion, went to the land of Moab. This is where the borders of modern-day Jordan, Egypt and Israel come together near the eastern shore of the Dead Sea, but it was then a part of the Kingdom of Judah (see 1^st and 2^nd Kings in the Old Testament). Mahlon and Killian each had wives, Ruth and Orpah. According to the book of Ruth, after about ten years both Mahlon and Killian also died, leaving Naomi, Ruth and Orpah as widows who quickly fell on hard times. In spite of Naomi’s insistence that Ruth and Orpah return to their homeland to the north, Ruth maintains her allegiance to Naomi and travels back to Judah with her. Ruth was therefore considered to be, according to Ruth 1:4, a “Moabite” woman, a non-Jew, who had married into a Jewish household. Ruth’s faithfulness to Naomi, a Jewish woman, can be compared to the Gentile nations’ faithfulness to Christ by their worship of their Jewish leader and Savior. 

 

This is described in Ruth 1:15-16; “‘Look’, said Naomi, ‘your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her’. But Ruth replied, ‘Don’t urge me to leave you or turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God’”. This can be compared to Jeremiah 24:7, “They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart”, and Acts 15:14, “…God at first showed His concern by taking from the Gentiles a people for Himself”. 2 Cor. 6:16-18 also comments on this topic. “...For we are the temple of the Living God. As God has said, 'I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people. Therefore come out from them and be separate', says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters', says the Lord Almighty.”

So, Orpah returns to her homeland, but Ruth stays with Naomi. Next, Ruth and Naomi meet Boaz, who allows the starving women to follow after his workers who are harvesting his fields so they can pick up all the leftovers. Ruth and Naomi find favor with Boaz in Ruth 2, 10-12; “At this she bowed down with her face to the ground. She exclaimed, ‘Why have I found such favor in your eyes that you notice me - a foreigner?’ Boaz replied, ‘I have been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband – how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.’ “Boaz speaking of Ruth leaving her mom, dad, and homeland reminds me of Jesus in Mark 3, 32-34. “A crowd was sitting around Him, and they told Him, ‘Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.’ “Who are my mother and my brothers?”, He asked. Then He looked at those seated in a circle around Him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers!”

What Boaz did for Ruth, and Christ did for the people, was prophesied in Deuteronomy 10:18 and 24:17-18, taking up the cause of “the fatherless, the widow, and the alien”. Then, in Ruth 2:14, the Bible says, “At mealtime Boaz said to her, ‘Come over here. Have some bread and dip it in the wine vinegar’”. Here we see a Jew offering a gentile some bread dipped in vinegar. Contrast this to Matthew 27:48, where a gentile Roman soldier gives Christ Jesus, our Jewish Lord and Savior, a sponge dipped in vinegar to drink as He is hanging on the cross at Golgotha. What a terrible payback! Later, in Ruth 2:19-20, Boaz’s true identity is revealed; “…Then Ruth told her mother-in-law about the one at whose place she had been working. ‘The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz’, she said. ‘The Lord bless him!’, Naomi said to her daughter-in-law. ‘He has not stopped showing his kindness to the living and the dead…that man is our close relative; he is one of our kinsman-redeemers’”. Then, in chapter 3, Ruth goes to sleep at Boaz’s feet in verses 7-9. When Boaz discovers her during the night, he demands to know who she is. Verses 9-13 read as follows: “' Who are you'?, he asked. 'I am your servant Ruth', she said. 'Spread the corner of your garment over me, since you are a kinsman-redeemer'. ‘The Lord bless you, my daughter’, he replied. ‘This kindness is greater than that which you showed me earlier. You have not run after the younger men, whether rich or poor. And now, my daughter, don’t be afraid. I will do for you all you ask. All my fellow townsman know that you are a woman of noble character. Although it is true that I am near of kin, there is a kinsman-redeemer nearer than I. Stay here for the night, and in the morning if he wants to redeem, good. Let him redeem. But if he is not willing, as surely as the Lord lives I will do it. Lie here until morning’.”

Boaz calling Ruth “a woman of noble character” and offering to lead her, a Gentile, to a Jewish kinsman-redeemer is without a doubt comparable to Paul leading the Gentiles to Christ, their Jewish savior, as he said while preaching in Antioch to the Jews in Acts 18:26, “Brothers, children of Abraham, and you God-fearing Gentiles, it is to us that this message of salvation has been sent”. But this is exclaimed more directly by Paul in Acts 18:4-6. “Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks. When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. But when the Jews opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, 'Your blood be on your own heads! I am clear of my responsibility. From now on I will go to the Gentiles'”. The word 'Greeks' is a synonym for Gentiles in this passage. Paul also wrote of Gentiles seeking Jewish redeemers both in Gal. 4:4-7 (“but when the time has fully come, God sent His son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. Because you are sons, God sent the spirit of His son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father’. So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has also made you an heir”), and in Ephesians 1:7 (“In Him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace”).

Finally, in Ruth chapter 4, we have our happy ending! Boaz marries Ruth! In the same manner as Christ takes pride in His bride, the church, Boaz announces his pride in Ruth in chapter 4, verses 9 and 10; “Then Boaz announced to the elders and all the people, ‘Today you are witnesses that I have bought from Naomi all the property of Elimelech, Kilion, and Mahlon. I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite, Mahlon’s widow, as my wife, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property, so that his name will not disappear from among his family or from the town records. Today you are witnesses’”. In the same way, once we were without redemption, unbelieving and steeped in sin. Our names would disappear with our deaths just like all the ones before. But Christ Jesus, our Lord and Savior, has redeemed us by claiming us as his own through his death and resurrection. The parallels between Boaz, a Jew, claiming Ruth, a Gentile, as part of his family and Christ claiming the Gentile nations as a part of his Bride, are unmistakable. Peter wrote on this subject in 1st Peter 2:9: “But you are a chosen people, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light”. Revelation 21:3 also speaks of this, “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God’”.

Christ Jesus is truly our kinsman-redeemer. Ruth had faith enough to call Boaz her kinsman-redeemer, and she was rewarded by becoming part of his family. By claiming Christ as our kinsman-redeemer by our own faith, we affirm that we are a part of the family of God. The apostle Paul wrote about this in Romans 8:15-17, “For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of son-ship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father’. The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs – heirs with God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory.” I sure am glad that we can claim Jesus as our kinsman-redeemer. I am elated at God's mercy, that He has called everyone who is a true believer his sons and daughters. It is truly wonderful and astonishing that we, the Bride of Christ, can truthfully claim to be the adopted relatives of Jesus Christ. So for all those unfortunate people – and I was one myself – who come from broken-up homes for whatever reason, and particularly for those who started out in life as orphans or stuck in foster-care like I was, all of you now has a new family you can truly call your own – the family of God.

If you want to know what real truth looks like, I dare you to read this

A Warning From God (Ezekiel chapter 7)

by Rev. Paul J. Bern

For this week's commentary I have an urgent message to any and all persons who read this. It's been quite a while since I have prophesied like what I am about to do, but that's because I never do this unless I'm sure it's coming straight from the Lord. The last time I did something prophetic like this was nearly a year ago when I posted a warning to the greater Christian church in America about being too hypocritical, materialistic and too eager to march off to war. This time it's about the country itself. America is in very serious trouble to the point that its very existence is being threatened. This entire country is in danger of going out the same way the old Roman Empire did: one nasty little piece at a time. But instead of being militarily invaded like the Roman Empire was, America's impending destruction will come from within rather than from without. This is very serious stuff, so you will want to take your time and read this closely. Also, you will see that this prediction is coming straight from the Bible, followed by my interpretation of the Word of the Lord. This message is not merely my opinion. For this message from God, we will need to go to the book of Ezekiel chapter seven in the Old Testament. I will begin at verse 5:

“This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Disaster! An unheard of disaster is coming! The end has come! The end has come! It has roused itself against you. It has come! Doom has come upon you – you who dwell in the land. The time has come, the day is near; there is panic, not joy, upon the mountains. I am about to pour out my wrath upon you and spend my anger against you; I will judge you according to your conduct and repay you for all your detestable practices. I will not look upon you with pity or spare you; I will repay you in accordance with your conduct and the detestable practices among you. Then you will know that it is I the Lord who strikes the blow. The day is here! It has come! Doom has burst forth, the rod has budded, arrogance has blossomed! Violence has grown into a rod to punish wickedness; none of the people will be left, none of that crowd – no wealth, nothing of value. The time has come, the day has arrived. Let not the buyer rejoice nor the seller grieve, for wrath is upon the whole crowd. The seller will not recover the land that he has sold as long as both of them live, for the vision concerning the whole crowd will not be reversed. Because of their sins, not one of them will preserve his life. Though they may blow the trumpet and get everything ready, no one will go into battle, for my wrath is upon the whole crowd.” (Ezekiel 7, verses 5-14, NIV)

What does this look like to you? It reminds me of the book of Revelation chapter eighteen that I delivered a message on earlier this year, back in the Spring. Revelation 18 talks about the Great Babylon of the Last Days as foretold by the prophet and apostle John, the half-brother of Jesus Christ. Babylon the Great of Revelation 18, as I have previously proven by way of the Scriptures, is the United States. So we can safely conclude based on verses 5 to 7 that a great natural disaster of some kind or another is coming, probably sooner rather than later. Then the Prophet wrote, “...there is panic, not joy, upon the mountains. I am about to pour out my wrath upon you and spend my anger against you; I will judge you according to your conduct and repay you for all your detestable practices.” What was Ezekiel writing about here? Remember, Ezekiel lived hundreds of years before the birth of Christ. Was he writing about the fall of Jerusalem to the Roman Empire in 70AD? Although this is entirely possible, it is far more likely – based on the wording of the text – that Ezekiel was seeing into the distant future, the 20^th and early 21^st centuries. God will repay America for what she has done. Until recently, the United States was the world's number one polluter. China now has that dubious distinction. Our country has trashed the planet over the years, waged wars without Congressional approval as required by law, and has murdered millions. Yes, America's armed forces have disposed of its enemies, such as terrorists of all kinds both abroad and here at home. But in the process US assets have killed many hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians throughout the Middle East, in the Balkans before that, in Vietnam, and during WW2.

“I will repay you in accordance with your conduct and the detestable practices among you. Then you will know that it is I the Lord who strikes the blow. The day is here! It has come! Doom has burst forth...” What detestable practices could the Prophet have been writing about? Religious Americans vigorously protest against abortion, but they have no problem sending your sons, daughters, nieces, nephews and grandchildren off to war, sometimes to be maimed, killed, or traumatized for life. The more affluent ones don't send their own sons and daughters off to fight their wars, they send yours. My, aren't they efficient! America may be a majority Christian nation (about 70%), but the US is also the birthplace of the “prosperity gospel”, which says that in order to receive, you must first give. Of course, that's not what the Bible says at all! “If you have a need”, Oral Roberts used to say, “you must plant a seed.” What the Bible actually says is that we are to “seek first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these other things will be given unto you as well”. These are the very words of Christ. They are unquestionably pure truth to every genuine believer. It's not about money, it's about the voluntary giving of ourselves towards others while expecting nothing in return. Tell that to a 'prosperity gospel' believer and they might even cuss you out, I don't know.

“... none of the people will be left, none of that crowd – no wealth, nothing of value. The time has come, the day has arrived. Let not the buyer rejoice nor the seller grieve, for wrath is upon the whole crowd.” This is clearly referring to some kind of economic disaster. If you have investments of one kind or another, better get your money out of Wall Street before Labor Day. What happens after that is anybody's guess. But everything will lose its value, such as stocks, bonds, futures, money market and/or mutual funds, commodities, gold, silver and real estate. It will be, as Ezekiel wrote in verse 5, a complete disaster. “Because of their sins, not one of them will preserve his life. Though they may blow the trumpet and get everything ready, no one will go into battle, for my wrath is upon the whole crowd.” 'Because of their sins, not one of them will preserve his life' seems to be an apparent reference to a heavy loss of life, presumably American lives. I don't know how this is going to happen, but if it's in the Bible, it's got to be true. “No one will go into battle” is a probable reference to some kind of military activity, or possibly the lack thereof. Since a military invasion of the US mainland is unlikely, mainly due to a powerful military, plus armed citizens as well as superior technology, any military activity that Ezekiel was writing about would have to be something from within, such as mass civil unrest or even a civil war. No one knows for sure, but everybody had better start praying about this right away. And now, let's move on to the last part of this revealing chapter, starting at verse 15.

“Outside is the sword, inside are plague and famine; those in the country will die by the sword, and those in the city will be devoured by famine and plague. All who survive and escape will be in the mountains, moaning like doves of the valleys, each because of his sins. Every hand will go limp, and every hand will become as weak as water. They will put on sackcloth and be clothed with terror. Their faces will be covered with shame and their heads will be shaved. They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will be an unclean thing. Their silver and gold will not be able to save them from the day of the Lord's wrath. They will not satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs with it, for it has made them stumble into sin. They were proud of their beautiful jewelry and used it to make their detestable idols and vile images. Therefore I will turn these into an unclean thing for them. I will hand it all over as plunder to foreigners and as loot to the wicked of the earth, and they will defile it. I will turn my face away from them, and they will desecrate my treasured place; robbers will come in and desecrate it. Prepare chains, because the land is full of bloodshed and the city is full of violence. I will bring the most wicked of their nations to take possession of their houses; I will put an end to the pride of the mighty, and their sanctuaries will be desecrated. When terror comes, they will seek peace, but there will be none. Calamity upon calamity will come, and rumor upon rumor. They will try to get a vision from the prophet; the teaching of the law by the priest will be lost, as will the counsel of the elders. The king will mourn, the prince will be clothed with despair and the hands of the people of the land will tremble. I will deal with them according to their own conduct, and by their own standards I will judge them. Then they will know that I am the Lord.” (Ezekiel 7, verses 15-27, NIV)

“ ...those in the country will die by the sword, and those in the city will be devoured by famine and plague. All who survive and escape will be in the mountains, moaning like doves....” Here we have another prediction of mass casualties like Ezekiel wrote about in verse 13. Obviously this is going to get ugly. Plus, if the only survivors will be those in higher elevations, there is sure to be fights and shootings over food, gasoline, attempted robberies and other clashes for what may be minimal resources. “They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will be an unclean thing. Their silver and gold will not be able to save them from the day of the Lord's wrath. They will not satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs with it, for it has made them stumble into sin.” This isn't just a stock market crash like in 1929, or a financial crisis like in September of 2008, this reads like something far worse. It predicts the collapse of everything, even real estate, gold and silver – a complete financial implosion. So, what we actually have here is a prediction of the collapse of the entire capitalist economic system and all the world's debt-based economies. The “debt bubble” created by “the wonder of compound interest”, as it was called when I was just a school-boy, will most assuredly explode, and at the worst possible moment. “They were proud of their beautiful jewelry and used it to make their detestable idols and vile images. Therefore I will turn these into an unclean thing for them. I will hand it all over as plunder to foreigners and as loot to the wicked of the earth...” So long, profits! Goodbye, capitalism! Everything that has been hoarded by the top 1% of America's wealthy will be plundered by anyone who will be bold enough to grab and carry off all they can. Gated neighborhoods will be overrun by enraged mobs of desperately hungry people who haven't eaten in days or even weeks. Pandemonium will rule and reign on earth while God sits on His throne and rules in heaven.

“I will bring the most wicked of their nations to take possession of their houses; I will put an end to the pride of the mighty, and their sanctuaries will be desecrated. When terror comes, they will seek peace, but there will be none. Calamity upon calamity will come, and rumor upon rumor.” America's biggest debt balance by far is owed to Communist China. As you all must know by now, the interest on America's debt is accruing faster than it is physically possible to pay down the principal. It's only a matter of time before China decides to pull the plug. This will most likely occur by the end of 2016, and maybe even sooner, when the US dollar ceases to be the world's reserve currency. It will most likely be replaced by the Chinese yuan, their equivalent of the dollar. What happens after that only God knows, but don't be surprised to see Chinese troops on America's western shores sometime in the not-too-distant future. I'm also seeing a clear indication of some kind of terrorist attack ('when terror comes, they will seek peace, but there will be none'). “....by their own standards I will judge them. Then they will know that I am the Lord.” When it's all said and done, everybody will know who is in charge. In the meantime, stock up on non-perishable food and lots of fresh water. Canned good of all types, rice, pasta and dried beans are the least expensive. If you have kids at home, be sure and get plenty of powdered milk and eggs. When it comes to water, buy the 1-gallon jugs at the big-box and grocery stores, they're the cheapest. Come this fall, you're very likely going to need all of it.