Signs of Our Times January 2014 Edition

“A TIME OF TROUBLE SUCH AS NEVER WAS”
The vision given to the prophet Daniel (from whose writing the above quotation is taken) described the condition of the world in which we now live. The angel was describing a state of turmoil described variously as “The Last Days,” “The Time of the End,” “The latter days.” This short period of time will culminate in what is scripturally referred to as “The day of the LORD,” ”The great and terrible day of the LORD,” “A day of wrath” and other, less spe-cific, references. Unfortunately, it is not going to be pleasant for the vast majority of global humanity Those readers of SOT who have followed our reasoning in the previous editions will recognize that the passage quoted above from Daniel 12 follows immediately the prophecy of the battle between the king of the north and the king of the south (Iraq/Iran vs. Saudi Arabia and its allies). The “king of the north” ends his campaign in defeat at the hands of “Michael the great Prince” (Israel’s Messiah – Jesus Christ) in Israel, east of Jerusalem.
The place has been specified as the valley where King Jehoshaphat led the people of Judah out to confront the Arab horde which was attacking Jerusalem at that time. However, God had confounded the Arabic war machine and by the time the Jewish army had arrived on the scene, the Arabs had turned on each other so viciously that not one survived!
So it will be on “the day of the LORD.” Let us examine some of the prophecies:
Let us look at a few more “day of the LORD” prophecies.
From the pen of Zephaniah the prophet we see that this day of destruction receives a number of the above titles:
WARNINGS abound in both Old and New testaments about this “Day of Wrath!” Unfortunately many Orthodox churches have neglected this vital message – vital especially in our day when “the transgressors have come to the full.” [Daniel 8:23].
The Apostle John received the last message that our Lord Jesus gave – The Book of Revelation. John was given glimpses of the future – including “the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;” and he wrote this: “For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” [Revelation 6:17].
SIGNS OF OUR TIMES
Joel 3:9 [RSV] Proclaim this among the nations: Prepare war (“sanctify”) “make a holy war”, stir up the mighty men. Let all the men of war draw near, let them come up. 10 Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears; let the weak say, "I am a warrior." 11 Hasten and come, all you nations round about (Jerusalem), gather yourselves there. Bring down thy warriors, O LORD. 12 Let the nations bestir themselves, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat; for there I will sit to judge all the nations round about [i.e. ALL Israel’s Arab neighbours].
Joel 3:14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision. 15 Alas for the day! For the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come. Joel 2:31 the sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
Zephaniah 1:14 The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hastens greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. 15 That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloomi-ness, a day of clouds and thick darkness, … BUT NOTE THIS …. Zephaniah 2:3 Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD’S anger.
After Paul’s warnings in Romans chapter 1 of the diseases God will inflict on those who practice Sodomy and Lesbianism, Paul writes in verse 29 that all those men who are full of “all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, 30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 Without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:” AND WHO … “knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death… after their hardness and impenitent hearts” treasure up unto themselves wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; 6 Who will render to every man according to his deeds: 7 To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: 8 But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, 9 Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile……………..”
January 2014 Vol. 26 No. 1
DANIEL 12:1 And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince who stands for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book..”
IS this the message that Christians hear? We know that Jesus Christ saves us – but saves us from what?
Some imaginary devil who supposedly rules deep down in a fiery hell? Or that Jesus takes an imaginary immortal soul to bliss in heaven? None of this in the Bible. Instead it is the “devil” {literally “false accusers”} that ends in “the lake of fire” – which is a symbol of “the second death.” The final judgment on all sin and sinners. The Bible says: “The soul that sins shall die!”[Ezekiel 18:4 & 20], while on the contrary the Bible assures those who “turn to serve the living and true God; and - wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus,” that they will be “delivered us from the wrath to come.” [1 Thessalonians 1:9 & 10].
THE FAITHFUL BELIEVERS IN CHRIST are delivered from the wrath to come! This is the message of Scrip-ture! SOT always ends with the hope that our Lord Jesus will COME to save us, i.e. “to raise the dead in Christ,” and take with them “those who are alive and remain” to meet our returning Saviour so that we may “be ever with Him” – in the Kingdom of God on earth [1 Thess. 4:14-18]. Our aim is to help our readers as well as ourselves to be prepared for His Coming by understanding that “GOD rules in the Kingdom of men and gives it to whomsoever He will and sets up over it the basest of men.” [Daniel 4:17]. In other words that GOD IS IN CONTROL! The events SOT mentions are a slice of what is happening in this little globe called Earth. But God is not confined to Earth!
The Psalmist wrote in Psalm 8:3 “When I look at thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars which thou hast established; 4 what is man that thou art mindful of him, and the son of man that thou dost care for him?” BUT God is mindful of man and has given us His Son that we can have eter-nal life in His Kingdom when Jesus comes as “King of kings and Lord of lords” to cleanse the Earth of evil. When there will truly be “Glory to God in the highest; Peace on Earth and Good Will toward men.” SO …. HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Yes! We are seeing all these things. Dick Tracy and Buck Rogers (fictional characters of bygone years – remembered only by the very aged) have long since been surpassed in the realities of our time. The cruelty of man has no bounds. His inventions are all dangerous – often fatal - and the expression of his immoral thoughts more vividly displayed than Shakespeare or Dante could ever have imagined. “Transgressors are at the full”- or are they? The sum total of mankind’s immorality and ingenuity has resulted in the world we see around and within us today!
God has given mankind His Word, known in the English tongue as ‘The Bible.’ He has preserved it through centuries of opposition. It has cost the lives of many faithful men who succeeded in translating and publishing it. Today many millions of copies lay neglected, rejected or opposed in households all over the world – sadly – for it contains the ONLY way of escape from the calamities it foretells that are to envelope our planet in the near future.
Israel is the focal point of all prophecy. Israel is God’s witness that He is in control. Israel is back in their Land! SOT may comment on events which seem quite distant to the Land of Israel, but even remote occurrences may prove to be significant in their later development. Usually if SOT can see a connection to Bible prophecy. For example: (1) China has recently extended its territorial waters to take in the disputed islands just south of Okina-wa called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China. This has angered the governments of Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam, all of whom have a claim to these small islands. All these nations use the surrounding waters as fishing grounds. Japan has purchased them from their original owners, angering China. The situation is quite tense. While this seems very remote from Israel, in the prophecy concerning “the kings of the north and south” there is this statement concerning the “king of the north” (which SOT suggests is Iran): “But tidings from the east and the north shall alarm him, and he shall go forth with great fury to exterminate and utterly destroy many” [Daniel 11:44] causing this aggressor to move into Egypt and eventually, Israel where he is destroyed. We will watch if and how this develops.
(2) SOT often comments on the monetary crisis; the Vatican; or, the rise of Germany to European dominance for example. But SOT sees the rise of Germany as the “beast whose terrible wound was healed” foretold in Revela-tion 13 to dominate world finances. That the Vatican is the reality of the symbolic woman “Babylon the Great” [Revel. ch.17].
(3) Closer to Israel we see the “Arab Spring” as the fulfillment of the many prophecies which tell that the Arabs will continue to destroy themselves in conflicts against each other, as they have done many times in past Biblical his-tory when they attempted to overthrow Israel and thwart the promises God made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
So, much lies ahead. The crux of the matter is found in John 17:3 “And this is eternal life, that they know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.” “Even so, Come! Lord Jesus.”