Most nations that exist today are not mentioned in the Bible by the names by which we know them now, but the ancestors of modern nations are mentioned, and we can identify prophecies about modern nations by knowing who their ancestors are in the Bible.
The United States and British nations are primarily descended from Joseph, the son of Jacob, the ancestor of the Israelites. Bible prophecies have predicted our rise to prosperity and power in the last two centuries, but those prophecies also predict that we will soon go through a series of disasters as punishment from God for our sins, which will include disease, famine, and defeat in war. We will be attacked and defeated by enemy nations, and about 90% or more of our people will die before it is over.
Details and proof are in my website
The United States and the World in Bible Prophecy
at
http://www.united-states-in-prophecy.org
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Sunday, April 4, 2010
The Origin of Easter
Today many members of traditional Christian churches will be observing Easter. Easter is intended by those who keep it to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Millions have decorated Easter eggs, and many parents have hidden those eggs for their children to find. Easter eggs are part of the customs of Easter, as is the symbol of the Easter Bunny.
Why eggs and rabbits?
Eggs and rabbits are fertility symbols in some pagan religions. They have nothing to do with Jesus Christ or Christianity. If you study the origins of Easter, you find that it did not start with Jesus Christ and the twelve apostles. It was not a part of the traditions of the original first century Church. The original Church observed Passover, the Days of Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, the Day of Trumpets, Atonement, the Feast of Tabernacles, and the Last Great Day, all festivals and holy days commanded by God (Leviticus 23:1-44), not Easter or Christmas. Easter, Christmas, and similar days came later, after the majority of those who called themselves Christian had left the original faith. The true Church, which has always been small (Luke 12:32, Matthew 7:13-14), never kept Chrismas or Easter. They obeyed God's instructions not to borrow customs from pagan religions or use those customs to worship God (Deuteronomy 12:32).
But as the majority of those claiming to be Christian moved more and more distant from the original doctrines and customs of the true Church after about 90 A.D., they began to adopt the symbols and practices of the pagan religions and cultures that were popular in the world at that time. They reasoned that it would be easier to get new members into the church if pagans were allowed to keep their pagan customs. So the church adapted pagan customs into their church by using them to celebrate events in the life of Christ or the church, thus Christmas and Easter. They kept the customs, but changed the meaning, contrary to God's command in Deuteronomy 12:29-32.
And just as the majority church disobeyed God in the matter of using pagan customs to worship God, they changed the doctrines of the church more and more, until the mainstream church had little in common with the original Christianity of the first century.
Today, the truth of God, His doctrines, and His commands are preserved, not in the teachings and the traditions of the large, mainstream, traditional churches, but in the Bible. That is why, if you read the Bible and believe what it says at face value, you will find many things that don't make sense if you try to fit them into the traditional teachings of mainstream Christianity. The Bible doesn't fit with traditional church doctrine because traditional church doctrine does not come from the Bible, or from God, or from Christ, or from the original first-century Church. You can prove that yourself if you are willing to examine these matters with an open mind and believe what God says in the Bible.
I explain why the keeping of traditional religious days like Christmas and Easter is wrong in my website. Here is a link:
http://www.truegospelandezekielwarning.org/chapter2.htm#a11
Here is a link to a section that explains the New Testament meaning of the annual Holy Days of God:
http://www.truegospelandezekielwarning.org/chapter2.htm#a03
Here is a link to chapter three which shows proof in the Bible that the seventh-day Sabbath and the annual holy days and festivals given by God in the Old Testament should kept by the Church today:
http://www.truegospelandezekielwarning.org/chapter3.htm
Why eggs and rabbits?
Eggs and rabbits are fertility symbols in some pagan religions. They have nothing to do with Jesus Christ or Christianity. If you study the origins of Easter, you find that it did not start with Jesus Christ and the twelve apostles. It was not a part of the traditions of the original first century Church. The original Church observed Passover, the Days of Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, the Day of Trumpets, Atonement, the Feast of Tabernacles, and the Last Great Day, all festivals and holy days commanded by God (Leviticus 23:1-44), not Easter or Christmas. Easter, Christmas, and similar days came later, after the majority of those who called themselves Christian had left the original faith. The true Church, which has always been small (Luke 12:32, Matthew 7:13-14), never kept Chrismas or Easter. They obeyed God's instructions not to borrow customs from pagan religions or use those customs to worship God (Deuteronomy 12:32).
But as the majority of those claiming to be Christian moved more and more distant from the original doctrines and customs of the true Church after about 90 A.D., they began to adopt the symbols and practices of the pagan religions and cultures that were popular in the world at that time. They reasoned that it would be easier to get new members into the church if pagans were allowed to keep their pagan customs. So the church adapted pagan customs into their church by using them to celebrate events in the life of Christ or the church, thus Christmas and Easter. They kept the customs, but changed the meaning, contrary to God's command in Deuteronomy 12:29-32.
And just as the majority church disobeyed God in the matter of using pagan customs to worship God, they changed the doctrines of the church more and more, until the mainstream church had little in common with the original Christianity of the first century.
Today, the truth of God, His doctrines, and His commands are preserved, not in the teachings and the traditions of the large, mainstream, traditional churches, but in the Bible. That is why, if you read the Bible and believe what it says at face value, you will find many things that don't make sense if you try to fit them into the traditional teachings of mainstream Christianity. The Bible doesn't fit with traditional church doctrine because traditional church doctrine does not come from the Bible, or from God, or from Christ, or from the original first-century Church. You can prove that yourself if you are willing to examine these matters with an open mind and believe what God says in the Bible.
I explain why the keeping of traditional religious days like Christmas and Easter is wrong in my website. Here is a link:
http://www.truegospelandezekielwarning.org/chapter2.htm#a11
Here is a link to a section that explains the New Testament meaning of the annual Holy Days of God:
http://www.truegospelandezekielwarning.org/chapter2.htm#a03
Here is a link to chapter three which shows proof in the Bible that the seventh-day Sabbath and the annual holy days and festivals given by God in the Old Testament should kept by the Church today:
http://www.truegospelandezekielwarning.org/chapter3.htm
Sunday, January 3, 2010
2010: What to expect based on Bible prophecy
Although Bible prophecy does not predict events for the year 2010 in particular, it does predict the general course of events over the next decade or two, and it does contain prophecies that pertain specifically to the United States and several other nations.
Bible prophecy predicts rough times for the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand in about the next 10 or 15 years.
In 2010, I expect a continuing weakening of the United States economy and military. Even if the economy seems to partially recover, it will continue to weaken below the surface. We are being set up for a catastrophic collapse. As budget and trade deficits continue and grow, the dollar will continue to weaken and the danger of hyper-inflation will increase.
If Israel attacks Iran to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, Iran is likely to attack oil facilities in the entire Persian Gulf region as well as oil shipping in the gulf with its missiles, as a general retaliation against the West. If that happens, the supply of oil will be disrupted, and gas prices in the United States will rise dramatically. Inflation and a weakening of the dollar may also cause increases in gas prices.
I also expect Republican gains in the mid-term elections in the United States Senate and House of Representatives, gains that may give them a majority in one or both houses.
As I point out in my article The United States and the World in Bible Prophecy, events are setting us up for a disaster of unprecedented proportions. That disaster will not occur in 2010, but will most likely occur during the lifetimes of most of you reading this. You can read that article in my website at http://www.united-states-in-prophecy.org.
Bible prophecy predicts rough times for the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand in about the next 10 or 15 years.
In 2010, I expect a continuing weakening of the United States economy and military. Even if the economy seems to partially recover, it will continue to weaken below the surface. We are being set up for a catastrophic collapse. As budget and trade deficits continue and grow, the dollar will continue to weaken and the danger of hyper-inflation will increase.
If Israel attacks Iran to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, Iran is likely to attack oil facilities in the entire Persian Gulf region as well as oil shipping in the gulf with its missiles, as a general retaliation against the West. If that happens, the supply of oil will be disrupted, and gas prices in the United States will rise dramatically. Inflation and a weakening of the dollar may also cause increases in gas prices.
I also expect Republican gains in the mid-term elections in the United States Senate and House of Representatives, gains that may give them a majority in one or both houses.
As I point out in my article The United States and the World in Bible Prophecy, events are setting us up for a disaster of unprecedented proportions. That disaster will not occur in 2010, but will most likely occur during the lifetimes of most of you reading this. You can read that article in my website at http://www.united-states-in-prophecy.org.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Prophecy Messages - What Is Missing?
There is a lot of interest, and a lot of programming lately about end-time disasters and prophetic events, particularly about the year 2012. But there seems to be an important element missing from most of these messages.
These messages, TV programs, and movies are intended to entertain, not educate or inform. And they leave something out that is important.
There is indeed prophecy in the Bible about end-time disasters that will strike the world, and these disasters are coming during the lifetimes of most people alive today, in my opinion. But you cannot turn to the popular press and media to learn about these things.
What is missing?
What is missing is the fact that these disasters are coming as a punishment for the sins of man. There is a direct connection with our sins against the God of the Bible and the disasters that are coming. These disasters are corrective in nature, that is, they are designed to lead man to repentence.
To learn more about that, you have to turn to the Bible, not television, movies, and the popular press.
These messages, TV programs, and movies are intended to entertain, not educate or inform. And they leave something out that is important.
There is indeed prophecy in the Bible about end-time disasters that will strike the world, and these disasters are coming during the lifetimes of most people alive today, in my opinion. But you cannot turn to the popular press and media to learn about these things.
What is missing?
What is missing is the fact that these disasters are coming as a punishment for the sins of man. There is a direct connection with our sins against the God of the Bible and the disasters that are coming. These disasters are corrective in nature, that is, they are designed to lead man to repentence.
To learn more about that, you have to turn to the Bible, not television, movies, and the popular press.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
God wants to give every man and woman eternal life in His kingdom, a life filled with exciting and rewarding accomplishment in ruling this universe forever, a life filled with joy and happiness. But for that eternal life to be happy, we must cooperate with each other as a team and as a family and love each other and submit to God's rule forever. God will not have rebels in His kingdom who will cause trouble and misery for themselves and others for all eternity.
So before God will give any person eternal life, God must first train and test that person in His way of life, the way of give, of love, of outgoing concern for the good of others, and of believing, trusting, and obeying God. That way of life is defined by God’s spiritual law. And God has designed and implemented a plan for man's salvation that will give every person who has ever lived an opportunity to learn that way of life. But each of us must make his or her choice.
Those who choose to believe and obey God and follow His instructions will, after a physical life of training, practice, and testing in God's law and way of life, be given eternal life in God's kingdom. Those who reject that opportunity will pay the penalty of eternal death and will never be in that kingdom. That choice is yours and mine.
This physical life is the testing and training ground. We are near the end of the 6,000 year age of man, an age in which man is permitted to rule himself under Satan's influence. This is a time when God is allowing man to write a lesson in history of death, destruction, and suffering, which come as a result of sin. God will soon send Jesus Christ back to this earth to establish God's government over the earth and teach mankind obedience to God's law, which will result in peace and happiness all over the earth for 1,000 years. Mankind will be able to compare the history of the suffering in the 6,000 year age of man with the 1,000 year period under the rule of the kingdom of God, and mankind will be able to see that God's way is best.
The United States, Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand are all descended from Joseph, one of the sons of Jacob, and are part of Israel. In the millennium, God will establish Israel as the model nation to set the right example for the rest of the nations of the earth to follow, but in order for that to happen, we must repent of our sinful ways and turn to God and obedience to His commandments. To prepare us and bring us to repentance, God will punish our nations in the great tribulation just prior to the return of Christ. That punishment is just ahead, if we don't repent. But even if our nations do not repent, there is hope for the individual who repents that God may spare him from the worst of the punishment and protect him during the tribulation.
To repent we need to turn to the God of the Bible, learn to live by every word of God, believe what God says, and obey His commandments. We have to keep the weekly Sabbath from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset and learn to keep the annual holy days as God commands. We have to give up our idols, both the images some use as an aid to worship and our love of the pleasures of this life more than God. We have to put God first and strive to believe and obey all that He says in the Bible.
I saw in a Christian website a rhetorical question which asked in effect, "If you had to choose the most important verse in the Bible, could you choose anything else but John 3:16?" John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."
That is certainly an important verse, but it leaves out God's instructions concerning our responsibility to believe and obey Him. God gave mankind the Bible to teach us what we need to know and do. God expresses His love towards us, not just by the gift of the sacrifice of His Son, but by teaching us the way we should live that will bring every benefit that is good for us. God shows His love for us by commanding us to obey Him and by correcting and punishing us for our good when we do not obey Him.
We must also remember that Christ had to die for us because God does not compromise with sin. The penalty for sin is death, and God requires that the penalty be paid. Christ had to die to pay that penalty for us, or we could not be saved. This certainly shows God's love for us, but it also shows the seriousness of sin.
The Bible teaches us not only that God loves us, but how we should respond to that love. God teaches us that we must learn to love God, and we express love towards God by our obedience to His commandments. God knows what is best for us, and He wants us to trust and believe Him with the kind of faith that leads to obedience.
The whole Bible is important, but if I had to pick one verse that is the most important verse and summarizes everything, I would chose the verse that starts out, "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:..." That verse is Ecclesiastes 12:13.
Here is the whole verse: "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man's all" (Ecclesiastes 12:13). And verse 14: "For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil."
So before God will give any person eternal life, God must first train and test that person in His way of life, the way of give, of love, of outgoing concern for the good of others, and of believing, trusting, and obeying God. That way of life is defined by God’s spiritual law. And God has designed and implemented a plan for man's salvation that will give every person who has ever lived an opportunity to learn that way of life. But each of us must make his or her choice.
Those who choose to believe and obey God and follow His instructions will, after a physical life of training, practice, and testing in God's law and way of life, be given eternal life in God's kingdom. Those who reject that opportunity will pay the penalty of eternal death and will never be in that kingdom. That choice is yours and mine.
This physical life is the testing and training ground. We are near the end of the 6,000 year age of man, an age in which man is permitted to rule himself under Satan's influence. This is a time when God is allowing man to write a lesson in history of death, destruction, and suffering, which come as a result of sin. God will soon send Jesus Christ back to this earth to establish God's government over the earth and teach mankind obedience to God's law, which will result in peace and happiness all over the earth for 1,000 years. Mankind will be able to compare the history of the suffering in the 6,000 year age of man with the 1,000 year period under the rule of the kingdom of God, and mankind will be able to see that God's way is best.
The United States, Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand are all descended from Joseph, one of the sons of Jacob, and are part of Israel. In the millennium, God will establish Israel as the model nation to set the right example for the rest of the nations of the earth to follow, but in order for that to happen, we must repent of our sinful ways and turn to God and obedience to His commandments. To prepare us and bring us to repentance, God will punish our nations in the great tribulation just prior to the return of Christ. That punishment is just ahead, if we don't repent. But even if our nations do not repent, there is hope for the individual who repents that God may spare him from the worst of the punishment and protect him during the tribulation.
To repent we need to turn to the God of the Bible, learn to live by every word of God, believe what God says, and obey His commandments. We have to keep the weekly Sabbath from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset and learn to keep the annual holy days as God commands. We have to give up our idols, both the images some use as an aid to worship and our love of the pleasures of this life more than God. We have to put God first and strive to believe and obey all that He says in the Bible.
I saw in a Christian website a rhetorical question which asked in effect, "If you had to choose the most important verse in the Bible, could you choose anything else but John 3:16?" John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."
That is certainly an important verse, but it leaves out God's instructions concerning our responsibility to believe and obey Him. God gave mankind the Bible to teach us what we need to know and do. God expresses His love towards us, not just by the gift of the sacrifice of His Son, but by teaching us the way we should live that will bring every benefit that is good for us. God shows His love for us by commanding us to obey Him and by correcting and punishing us for our good when we do not obey Him.
We must also remember that Christ had to die for us because God does not compromise with sin. The penalty for sin is death, and God requires that the penalty be paid. Christ had to die to pay that penalty for us, or we could not be saved. This certainly shows God's love for us, but it also shows the seriousness of sin.
The Bible teaches us not only that God loves us, but how we should respond to that love. God teaches us that we must learn to love God, and we express love towards God by our obedience to His commandments. God knows what is best for us, and He wants us to trust and believe Him with the kind of faith that leads to obedience.
The whole Bible is important, but if I had to pick one verse that is the most important verse and summarizes everything, I would chose the verse that starts out, "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:..." That verse is Ecclesiastes 12:13.
Here is the whole verse: "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man's all" (Ecclesiastes 12:13). And verse 14: "For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil."
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
The True Gospel and the Ezekiel Warning
The true gospel is the good news of the coming kingdom of God, which is a kingdom God will set up on this earth. It is the kingdom spoken of in Daniel 2:44. "And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever."
This is the gospel that Jesus Christ preached. It includes everything about that kingdom. It includes the law of God because God's law will be the way of life practiced in that kingdom. Includes the prophecies concerning the coming kingdom of God. It includes everything about Jesus Christ because Jesus Christ will be the King of that kingdom. It includes everything about salvation made available through Jesus Christ, because that process of salvation is how we can enter that kingdom.
The Ezekiel warning is a warning to the nations of Israel. It is not just a warning to the Jews. The Jews are not all of Israel. Israel is made up of twelve tribes, and the Jews are primarily the tribes of Judah and Benjamin with part of Levi. There are ten other tribes of Israel in existence today, not known as Jews, and the Ezekiel warning is a warning for them too. It is a warning of punishment to come for our sins, and it is a warning for our time. The warning is described briefly in Ezekiel 3:16-21 and Ezekiel 33:1-20, but there is much more in the rest of the Bible.
This is the gospel that Jesus Christ preached. It includes everything about that kingdom. It includes the law of God because God's law will be the way of life practiced in that kingdom. Includes the prophecies concerning the coming kingdom of God. It includes everything about Jesus Christ because Jesus Christ will be the King of that kingdom. It includes everything about salvation made available through Jesus Christ, because that process of salvation is how we can enter that kingdom.
The Ezekiel warning is a warning to the nations of Israel. It is not just a warning to the Jews. The Jews are not all of Israel. Israel is made up of twelve tribes, and the Jews are primarily the tribes of Judah and Benjamin with part of Levi. There are ten other tribes of Israel in existence today, not known as Jews, and the Ezekiel warning is a warning for them too. It is a warning of punishment to come for our sins, and it is a warning for our time. The warning is described briefly in Ezekiel 3:16-21 and Ezekiel 33:1-20, but there is much more in the rest of the Bible.
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