Interesting Times ?….Actually it is the End Times

This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.  For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,  Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.( 2 Timothy 3:1-5)

There is a Chinese ‘blessing’, the kind you confer upon an adversary, in which you wish him or her ,”May you live in interesting times”. We certainly do, don’t we?   Fortunately we don’t have to rely on Chinese proverbs, for we have a guide to our times that is eternal, and gives us a profound template for understanding them.

We know that these are the “Latter days” spoken of by the apostles of Jesus and the Hebrew prophets. All of the themes of the Old and New Testament are being replayed in little and big ways, so that those who have “ears to hear” may be as the Sons of Isaachar,  “… which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do…”(I Chronicles 12:32).

The Book of Esther all over again

Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel, in meetings with President Obama, affirmed Israel’s right and willingness to use any means to defend  itself, against her enemies. Netanyahu is particularly sounding the alarm about the recently nuclear weaponized Persian, (Iran) which has been openly threatening to annihilate Israel.

Obama, had been cautioning Israel against “war talk” and “bluster”in the days leading up to the meeting, but Netanyahu stood firm, resolving that Israel reserves the right to defend herself against all enemies.

The interesting aspect of this is that the meeting took place within days of the Jewish feast of Purim,(March 8-11,2012). Purim commemorates the successful self -defense of the Hebrew people in the land of their captivity, in ancient Persia (Iran). The nation had been threatened by Haman, an ambitious anti-semitic politician who deceived the Gentile King into authorizing an empire wide pogrom.

But the Lord had spared the nation through the intervention of the King’s wife, Esther, a Jewess. Netanyahu presented Obama with a scroll of the book of Esther.

Purim has been prominently confirmed in other events of recent history; for the first persian Gulf war ended on February 28, 1991, the feast of Purim. In the build up to the second Gulf war, President Bush gave Saddam Hussein a two-day ultimatum, on March 17,2003, or else Iraq would face invasion. That year Purim was on March 17-19 !

The Golden Calf and the great Apostasy

We read of Israel in the Old Testament and marvel at the Spiritual harlotry, the backsliding, the accommodation with false religion, the sexually perverse religious rites, the total defection from God. But we must remember Paul’s warning,

Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.(I Corinthians 10:11-12)

The modern church in many ways is where Israel was at its worst point!  Consider this example;

An Anglican church in Auckland New Zealand installed a statue near its  sanctuary, of a fallen Angel,  “Gadreel”.  A figure from the apocryphal book of Enoch, the vicar commissioned it for “lent”as a way to assure the fallen away to come back;

The statue of Gadreel, one of the fallen angels in Enoch lore who reputedly led Eve astray in the Garden of Eden, was installed in the church’s Peace Chapel next to the main altar on Friday, and will remain there for the period of Lent.  Vicar Glynn Cardy said the statue was to show that “even the devil would be welcomed in God’s Kingdom”.  “It’s to show that no matter how distant you are, or even if you’ve fallen to your deepest depth – like Gadreel – you are still welcome to be in our midst,” he said.

Fallen Angels to Land Lightly At City Church

This abomination is the direct fruit of decades of the “Love Gospel” with its misguided humanism, and it’s omission of the great doctrines of the horror of sin, the fall, the Holiness and Righteousness of God. What does the new style church preach? “Unconditional love”, a God who has no indignation, an all-inclusive deity who strikes no fear or awe and is unworthy of worship.

The same rotten theology is infiltrating the evangelical world now. Witness the popularity of Rob Bell’s book, “Love Wins” which is a denial of the certainty of Divine punishment. We are also seeing the rise of a movement called “Chrislam”, a blasphemous syncretism between ‘christianity” and Islam. Homosexuality is also being accommodated by  some.

EXODUS all over again…

In the Wider World we are seeing the ominous spectre of themes from the Exodus playing out. Remember that the book of Revelation, is full of Exodus Imagery. The Plagues come upon the whole world, the AntiChrist is the last Pharoah, and the people of God make their Exodus out of this world.

Consider this horrifying story from Scotland, in which state licensed hospital midwives lost a courtroom battle to defend their right to exempt themselves from having to assist in abortions…”

Two senior midwives from Glasgow have lost their battle not to assist in abortions following a court ruling.  In a judgment handed down today from the Court of Session in Edinburgh, Lady Smith ruled that the midwives must accept the decision of their hospital management to oversee other midwives who are performing abortions on the labour ward.

The midwives in the case, Miss Mary Doogan and Mrs Connie Wood, argued that they had never been required to supervise abortion procedures in the past, and that the hospital was asking them to be morally, medically and legally responsible for abortions. Although they said that this conflicted with their profound objection to abortions, Lady Smith said that the midwives involved were not protected by the conscience clause of the Abortion Act…

Scottish Midwives Lose Legal Battle

This comes right out of Exodus 1,

And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah: And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live.  But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive. And the king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said unto them, Why have ye done this thing, and have saved the men children alive? And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them. Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty. And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them houses. And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive.(Exodus 1:16-22)

The USA has its own version of Pharoah,  with Obama also seeking to force Christians to participate in abortion and infanticide. It is as though the “principalities and powers” are doubling down on their efforts to involve all of us in these deep sins of our time.

Satan knows his time is short, and he knows the time itself is shortening, we are hurtling toward the final judgment at break neck speed, and most are oblivious. It is time to get right with God, on his terms. Confess and forsake your life of sin, and neglect of God and your soul. He forgives those who come with a broken heart!

The Prophet Isaiah cries out to us, “Seek ye the Lord while He can be found, call upon Him while He is near!” and Joel told us, that dark as the day is ,”Whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved”!