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Jesus: The Final Judge

07/04/2013 3 comments

John 5:22-23, “For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.”

By David Wood, Answering Muslims – “Muslims often ask where Jesus claimed to be God. According to both the Bible and the Qur’an, God is the final judge of all people. Yet in Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus claims to be the final judge of all people. Since Jesus makes a claim that only God can truly make, Jesus clearly claimed to be God.” Source – Answering Muslims.

Recommended: Can An Islamic Antichrist Present Himself As God And Receive Worship, Yet Remain A Servant Of ‘Allah’?

Categories: Radical Islam, Theology and Eschatology

If “Mystery Babylon” Is Not Rome, Then Who Is It?

05/31/2013 13 comments

Here is a great article by Walid Shoebat that everyone needs to read in full. As we all know, Satan does everything in his power to counterfeit, corrupt and conceal truth. As noted in my Mark of the Beast article, the Church of God — the assembly of His people — is called the “Ekklesia” in Scripture and in terms of location is identified with Jerusalem, the epicenter of the Judeo-Christian faith. If the “Bride” of Christ is identified and associated with the city of “Jerusalem” (Rev. 21:9-10, “… I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife… and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God”) then it only stands to reason that Satan’s counterfeit of the Church — the “Babylonian Harlot” — would also be associated with a city of her own. From the preponderance of the evidence that we are given throughout Scripture, the desert “harlot” identified by John in Revelation 17 is associated with the epicenter of Islam itself. Whereas the Judeo-Christian faith arose out of and looks toward Jerusalem, Islam arose out of and looks toward the city of Mecca, the spiritual homestead of the “Ummah” (the Muslim world). And if the “Judeo-Christian Bride” of Scripture is also defined as the “Body of Christ”, whose body does the antithetical “Babylonian Harlot” make? …

Revelation 17:1, “Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me, saying to me, ‘Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters …'”

Mystery Babylon Is Mecca, NOT Vatican

By Walid Shoebat – “When it comes to Mystery Babylon, the common tendency amongst many Protestant theologians is to liken it to Rome. According to them, Rome is the city of seven hills. Others even equate it with Iraq, since this was home to the original Babylon. Years ago, many books were written about Saddam Hussein, who was allegedly hard at work, rebuilding Babylon. Christians gobbled up the books without truly examining the evidence. Saddam was simply rebuilding a tourist attraction where Nineveh once stood, the project was later abandoned and Saddam died on the gallows along with the prophecy books that included his name.

But when presenting a multitude of biblical evidence, people still angrily deny this interpretation because they have etched in their minds a verse or two insisting it’s still Rome, while adhering to a centuries-old theory initiated by Martin Luther. That plus today’s Catholics do not bite. In fact, a clue to the real Babylon was just presented in an article by Aaron Klein when he stated this week that:

“Forces in the Persian Gulf and Arab intelligence services have noted the establishment of Iranian missile launch sites aimed in the direction of Saudi Arabia and Qatar, according to Egyptian and Jordanian intelligence officials speaking to WND.”

Yet, no one in the prophecy arena has even raised a single red flag about the significance of this report; Iran (biblical Elam) must destroy Arabia. In Isaiah 21:9, Isaiah levels a prophetic oracle against Babylon using the same announcement in Revelation 18:1-2 and Revelation 14:8: “Babylon is fallen, is fallen”:

“The burden against Dumah” (Isaiah 21:11)
“The burden against Arabia” (Isaiah 21:13)
“All the glory of Kedar will fail” (Isaiah 21:16)

These are all in Arabia, which is destroyed by Iran “Elam” (Isaiah 21:2)

There has been an immense oversight by many in the field of biblical eschatology; that when it comes to the destruction of end-days Babylon, Scripture makes no mention of any of the ancient Babylonian cities: Nineveh, Ur, Babel, Erech, Accad, Sumer, Assur, Calneh, Mari, Karana, Ellpi, Eridu, Kish, or Tikrit. All of the literal references in Scripture are in Arabia.

The use ‘MOTHER OF HARLOTS’, while it is commonly attributed to the Vatican’s Mariology with the worship of Ishtar, history records that the worship of Ishtar ‘Kilili’, or ‘Queen of Harlots’ [1] originated from Arabia, not Rome. In fact, when Muslims roam roundabout the black stone, it is a throwback to the worship of Ishtar, whom they called Athtar and Allat.

When it comes to the Harlot woman, the Kaaba is a perfect match. The black tarp is considered by Muslims to be a woman’s dress (Kiswa) as Edward Gibbons elaborated:

“…the kuswa of the magnificent Kaaba, is what is used for clothing of a [virtuous] covering, on top of it, it is written, the Kaaba’s dressing, meaning ‘we have dressed her her dress.” [2]

Everything that the harlot is described it fits the Ka’ba; dress, pearls, jewels, gold, silver and even the blasphemies etched in silver threads with golden inlays across her attire. Just the doors of the Ka’ba alone has Read more…

Categories: Radical Islam, Theology and Eschatology

What Is The War Of Gog-Magog?

05/29/2013 53 comments

By ICA

Ezekiel 38:1-3a, “And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him, And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog …”

Recommended: Gog As Antichrist: A Historical Survey
Recommended: Gog Of Magog: Does ‘Rosh’ Mean ‘Russia’ or ‘Chief’? Understanding The Hebrew Text Gives Us The Answer …

When it comes to the war described by the Prophet Ezekiel in the 38th and 39th chapters of his book — often referred to as the War of Gog-Magog — there often seems to be a circle of Bible prophecy teachers that keep repeating the same general theories over and over in an effort to impose a specific preconceived idea or timeline into the battle. Instead of allowing the full counsel of Scripture to provide the timing of this war for us, Gog-Magog is characterized as a war that will happen either just before or immediately after the start of “Daniel’s 70th week.” All too often, students of Biblical eschatology who study the positions of a particular author or teacher may then refer to a couple of others who say essentially the same thing for “inquisitive” reinforcement. These students are subsequently conditioned to conclude that these authors and teachers must be correct because they have “all” come to the same conclusion from the text, one that is further strengthened in the student’s mind when the very same teachers also echo similar rebuttals outlining why any opposing position cannot be correct. But as the Bereans in the Book of Acts were called noble because they searched the Scriptures daily to see if what they were being taught was so, we too also need to mimic the Berean example.

Instead of repeating the common misconception outlined above, authors and teachers such as Joel Richardson (read his position here) and Dave Hunt & T. A. McMahon from The Berean Call radio ministry (read their position here) have presented serious, if not devastating, challenges to the more “mainstream” position of Evangelical Christians by offering compelling reasons why Ezekiel’s Gog-Magog war does not describe a “pre-Armageddon” battle. Upon a much closer and careful examination of Ezekiel’s text, it becomes increasingly clear that we can ascertain — simply by comparing Scripture with Scripture — why Gog-Magog is a battle that will, without a doubt, culminate in the war of all wars itself: Armageddon.

What Is Gog, And Who Is Gog?

To understand why, however, we first need to determine what Gog is, and who Gog is, from a Biblical perspective. Ezekiel refers to Gog as “the chief prince” of Meshech and Tubal three times (38:2, 38:3 and 39:1). The Hebrew word for chief is rosh, which also means the head (like the Jewish New Year “Rosh Hashanah“, which means “Head of the Year”), and the word for prince is nasiy which also means captain or leader. According to the text, Gog is a very important leading figure of some sort whom the Lord tells Ezekiel to prophecy against.

Another significant clue regarding the identity of Gog is given for us again a few verses later. In Ezekiel 38:17, God identifies Gog as the one whom the prophets foretold that the Lord would bring up against Israel in the last days to reveal Himself to the nations and to make His holy name known in the midst of His people (cf 39:7). To drive home this point, here are a number of different translations of Ezekiel 38:17:

KJV: “Thus saith the Lord GOD; [Art] thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days [many] years that I would bring thee against them?”

NLT: “This is what the Sovereign LORD says: You are the one I was talking about long ago, when I announced through Israel’s prophets that in future days I would bring you against my people.”

DBY: “Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Art thou not he of whom I have spoken in old time through my servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days, for [many] years, that I would bring thee against them?”

LXX: “Thus saith the Lord God, to Gog; Thou art he concerning whom I spoke in former times, by the hand of my servants the prophets of Israel, in those days and years, that I would bring thee up against them.”

The Message: “A Message of God, the Master: Years ago when I spoke through my servants, the prophets of Israel, wasn’t it you I was talking about? Year after year they prophesied that I would bring you against them. And when the day comes, Gog, you will attack that land of Israel.”

CEV: “The LORD said to Gog: Long ago, I had my prophets warn the people of Israel that someday I would send an enemy to attack them. You, Gog, are that enemy, and that day is coming.”

NCV: “‘This is what the Lord God says: You are the one about whom I spoke in past days. I spoke through my servants, the prophets of Israel, who prophesied for many years that I would bring you against them.”

TNIV: “‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: You are the one I spoke of in former days by my servants the prophets of Israel. At that time they prophesied for years that I would bring you against them.”

We’ve already identified what Gog is, which is a very important leader. To determine who Gog is, what must not be lost here is the fact that all other prophets only spoke of one figure similarly elsewhere that would come up against Israel in the last days, and that figure is the one whom we would now identify as Antichrist. If the Lord refers to Gog as the one whom the prophets spoke of previously that would come up against Israel in the last days, which He does, then there is therefore only one possible conclusion that can be drawn: Gog is somehow referring directly to Antichrist.

Similarities Between The Battle of Gog-Magog and Armageddon

If Gog is synonymous with Antichrist, then we should be able to correlate events surrounding the battle of Gog-Magog with events surrounding the battle of Armageddon. Naturally, however, when two or more witnesses describe the same event, they will sometimes express certain aspects of the event differently, or emphasize and delineate specific details over others. And the same is true with Biblical prophets. When the sum of all details are considered, however, there are too many astounding similarities between the battle of Gog-Magog and the battle of Armageddon to ignore, and any “differences” that some try to point out between Gog-Magog and Armageddon are easily resolved once the whole of Scripture is compared hermeneutically using not just the book of Revelation, but Isaiah, Daniel, Joel and Zechariah as well. In a nutshell:

Notice the three last points emphasized above. Ezekiel 39:7 and 39:22 both say that God’s name will be known in the midst of Israel and that Israel will know their God from that day forward. The only way that Israel can know God is if they know their true Messiah. Galatians 5:4 makes it clear that those who simply try to be justified by the Law are estranged/separated from Christ (and therefore God), so if Israel is to truly know the Lord their God “from that day forward” they must recognize Jesus (Yeshua) as their Messiah (Ha-Mashiach). Contextually, Ezekiel 39:29 tells us that the Lord pours out His spirit upon the house of Israel and Zechariah 12:10 gives us the timing regarding when this will happen: After the Second Coming of Christ. Ezekiel 39:7 reinforces Zechariah’s timing by showing us that Christ is now physically present in Israel:

Ezekiel 39:29, “Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.”

Zechariah 12:10, “And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for [his] only [son], and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for [his] firstborn.”

Ezekiel 39:7, “So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not [let them] pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I [am] the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.”

If that weren’t enough, God Himself declares in Ezekiel 39:8, “Behold, it is come, and it is done … this [is] the day whereof I have spoken.” He has revealed Himself to Israel and to the nations. How can God say “It is done” when, according to the pop-eschatology position of many Western prophecy teachers today, it is not done until about seven years later at Armageddon? Moreover, if God had declared that He spoke of any “pre-Armageddon” battle before, where is it mentioned in Scripture? The only day in the eschaton that the Lord and the prophets spoke of previously is the Day of the Lord — Armageddon. The view that many of today’s teachers support, however, suggests that all of the Magog nations that Christ destroys — nations that the text tells us in no uncertain terms will know from that point forward that the God of Israel is God (Ezekiel 38:16, 23; 39:7, 21, 23) — suddenly and conveniently all develop a case of collective amnesia to yet again form another coalition in order to yet again gather against Jerusalem, only to be destroyed yet again by Christ a few short years later. Such a position is a highly tenuous, to say the least.

Of course, there’s even more that could be said, but for the sake of brevity I’ll refer to Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible, which is also a good reference for this particular topic as well. Although I do not agree with everything provided in many reference Bibles (nor should we), I will acknowledge that Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible does provide a well-researched analysis comparing the battle of Gog-Magog and the battle of Armageddon by listing the following fourteen proofs why Armageddon is referred to in Ezekiel 38 and 39:

  1. Not one statement in these two chapters (Ez: 38-39) mention a war in Israel before Armageddon [or after].
  2. The battle of Armageddon is the only war predicted by the prophets that could possibly be referred to in these chapters (Ezek. 38:17). Armageddon is mentioned many times by Isaiah, Jeremiah, Micah, and other prophets before the days of Ezekiel (Isa. 1:25-31; 3:25-26; 13:1-16; 24:21; 63:1-6; Jer. 25:30-33; 30:11,20-24; Joel 2-3; Oba. 1:15-21; Mic. 1:3-4; 2:12-13; 5:5-15; etc.).
  3. The destruction of Gog and his armies (Ezek. 38:18-23; 39:1-6,17-20) compares with similar statements about Armageddon in Joel 3; Zech. 14; Rev. 19:11-21.
  4. Gog will not fall upon the open field until Armageddon (Ezek. 39:3-5; Rev. 19:11-21).
  5. The great supper for the fowls and beasts will only be at Armageddon (Ezek. 39:4,17-20 with Mt. 24:27-28; Rev. 19:17-21).
  6. The presence of God (as pictured in Ezek. 38:18-21; 39:1-6,17-24) will not be until Armageddon (Isa. 63:1-6; Zech. 14:1-5; Rev. 19:11-21).
  7. The supernatural destruction of Gog and his armies (as described in Ezek. 38:21-23) will not be until Armageddon (Isa. 63:1-6; Joel 2-3; Zech. 14; Rev. 19:11-21).
  8. God will not magnify and sanctify Himself and set His glory among the heathen (as stated in Ezek. 38:23; 39:21-24) until He comes at the second coming of Christ — at Armageddon (Zech. 14:1-21; Mt. 24:29-31; Rev. 19:11-21).
  9. Gog will not bring the many armies of the nations into Israel to be destroyed until the time of the second coming of Christ, at Armageddon, as referred to in Ezek. 38:18-23; 39:1-7 and proved in Zech. 14:1-5; Rev. 16:13-16; 19:11-21.
  10. The great earthquake of Ezek. 38:20 will not take place until the seventh vial and the second coming (Zech. 14:1-5; Rev. 16:17-21; 19:11-21).
  11. God’s presence will not destroy Gog and his army until the second coming, at Armageddon (Ezek. 38:20; 39:2-7 with Zech. 14:1-5; Rev. 19:11-21).
  12. Gog and his army cannot be destroyed in a war in Israel before the second coming, at Armageddon, to fulfill Ezek. 38:18-23; 39:1-7,17-20, and then be destroyed again at Armageddon to fulfill Isa. 63; Joel 2-3; Zech. 14. We must therefore recognize all these passages as referring to the same destruction — at Armageddon (Rev. 19:11-21).
  13. The burial of Gog and all his armies destroyed in the fulfillment of Ezek. 38-39 will be at the second coming of Christ (Ezek. 39:11-16 with Dan. 7:11; 2Th. 2:8-12; Rev. 19:11-21).
  14. It is at the second coming of Christ that God’s glory will be set among the heathen and Israel will be completely gathered and blessed (Ezek. 39:21-29; Zech. 14; Mt. 24:29-31; Rom. 11:24-29; Rev. 19:11-21).

The Identity of Gog – An Alternative Explanation

Ezekiel 39:4, 11, “You shall fall upon the mountains of Israel, you and all your troops and the peoples who [are] with you; I will give you to birds of prey of every sort and [to] the beasts of the field to be devoured… I will give Gog a burial place there in Israel, the valley of those who pass by east of the sea; and it will obstruct travelers, because there they will bury Gog and all his multitude…”

If all of that wasn’t enough to chew on, here is one more item worthy of further consideration. Although Gog sounds like a person and is spoken of in anthropomorphic / personified terms as being given over to ravenous birds and animals (Ezekial 39:4) who will be buried in Israel (39:11), let us not ignore the possibility that Ezekiel may not be describing a man, but rather the leading spiritual entity behind Antichrist or the political-religious system that exercises authority over this region, similar to how Daniel describes the spiritual forces exercising authority over Iran and Greece as “the prince of Persia (Iran)” and “the prince of Javan (Grecia)” in Daniel 10:20. Ezekiel calls Gog “the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal” in 38:2, 38:3 and 39:1, which is the region north of Israel in modern day Turkey. Incidentally, in Revelation 2:13 Jesus says that the region of modern day Turkey (which is where Gog is “the chief prince” of) is “where Satan’s throne is” and “where Satan dwells.” It is therefore conceivable that Gog could simply be referring to Satan himself, which would help to explain why we suddenly read of another Gog-Magog battle immediately after Satan is released following his 1,000 years of captivity in Revelation 20:7-8.

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There is obviously much more going on behind the curtain of this physical world than meets the eye. Since the casting down of Satan is also described in physical terms by the prophet Isaiah whereby Satan is “brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit” (Isaiah 14:15) even though Satan is non-corporeal, as is his being bound by “chains” and being thrown down into the abyss (Revelation 20:1-3), the “chief prince” being given over to the animals and buried in the land of Israel at the first battle of Gog-Magog could simply be referring to the physical destruction of the armies of the surrounding Islamic nations (cf. 38:5-6) that he brings against Israel through deceptive means. Knowing that Satan is also referred to elsewhere as the “prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2), the “prince of this world” (John 12:31) and the “prince of demons” (Matthew 12:24) who “deceives the whole world” (Revelation 12:9), to be called the “chief prince” who leads nations to wage war against Israel is entirely consistent with the titles and tasks of the adversary described elsewhere throughout the Biblical texts.

Furthermore, although we have generally understood Antichrist in terms of a man, we should not dismiss nor discount the possibility that Antichrist may not be a man per se at all, but rather the Islamic “system” itself that we see manifest today. Just as the Church (Ekklesia) is the Body of Christ, Satan’s counterfeit of the Church — the Ummah of Islam — would be the “Body of Antichrist” that is given its power and authority by Satan himself (cf Revelation 13:2-4). Although Antichrist could be a literal man who will soon be revealed, the “embodiment” of the religious-political-militant system of Islam (the multitude of a man, Mohammed) that is given its power by “the chief prince” or spiritual force who exercises authority over Meshech and Tubal may be what is truly in view here, even though it is often referred to anthropomorphically as a “man” in Scripture much like the Church (the multitude of the Lamb, Messiah) is referred to as “one new man” in Ephesians 2:15. Either way, Gog is Antichrist.

In Conclusion – One Battle, Different Perspectives

Without any doubt in my mind, the battle of Gog-Magog and the battle of Armageddon are essentially separate descriptions of the same event. More specifically, the Gog-Magog description as outlined by the prophet Ezekiel provides is a broader overview of a conflict that simply leads up to and ends at Armageddon, not simply “Armageddon” itself per se when the armies of the surrounding Islamic nations gather themselves in the “valley of decision” in a final effort to destroy Israel once and for all. It is a broader view of a conflict that comes to a definitive conclusion at Armageddon when Christ Himself destroys the surrounding armies directly, enemies who will have already been fighting against Israel and waging wars for quite some time — months, perhaps a few short years. Ezekiel 38-39 describes this extended campaign, providing us with a broader wide-angle view of a conflict that could last for a good portion of Antichrist’s persecution of Israel and her children, and coming to a climactic end with the Seventh Trumpet and the return of Yeshua Ha-Mashiach, Jesus Christ, in power and great glory, whose presence will be made known all throughout Israel. And the earth.

Revelation 6:15-17, “And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?”

Originally Posted 3/16/2011, Revised 6/1/2013
Categories: Radical Islam, Theology and Eschatology, Wars and Rumors of War Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Unsealed: A Closer Look At Revelation 6 And “The Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse”

05/02/2013 190 comments

By ICA

Revelation 6:1, “And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see…”

Recommended: See How The Book Of Revelation Foresaw Islamic Teachings

Were John’s apocalyptic snapshots and descriptions of the “Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse” in the Book of Revelation pointing to events that would only take place nearly 2000 years after the visions were first revealed? All too often, many of today’s Christian teachers and Bible prophecy experts have repeated the belief that the entirety of the Book of Revelation, with the exception of the first three chapters, are to be understood in futuristic terms only. I have done this myself in the past. Whether it be the Seven Seals or the Seven Trumpets or the Seven Bowls of wrath, everything contained therein and described by John from Revelation 4:1 onward must be treated as little more than a description of apocalyptic earth-shattering events that we, as Christians, will never witness taking place upon the world in which we live, events that can only begin to come to fruition after an imminent rapture has suddenly removed all followers of Christ from the face of the earth to deliver them from the impending wrath of God and the last-days Beast of Revelation. If we take the time to engage in a careful examination of the text, however, we may begin to see that some of the events often understood as yet to come, are events that are already taking place today.

An Overview Of History: The Islamic Beast Of Revelation – The Past And The Present

After careful study, I have come to the conclusion that, judging from the description of events and their sequence provided for us in Scripture, the “Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse” described in the first four Seals of Revelation 6 are four separate

Read more…
Categories: Anything Else, Cosmic Craziness, Earthquakes, Famines and Crop Destruction, Man-Made Disasters, Pestilence, Radical Islam, Theology and Eschatology, Wars and Rumors of War Tags: , , , ,

Mideast Caliphate Storm Clouds Darken (And What It Potentially Means For Israel Isn’t Good)

03/23/2013 Leave a comment

By Joel Richardson, WND – “Turkish Foreign Minister Davutoğlu calls for a new regional neo-Ottoman order

For the past several years, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, the chief architect of Prime Minister Erdoğan’s ruling Islamist Justice and Development Party, has repeatedly denied the Turkish government’s regional ‘neo-Ottoman’ plans. In 2009, Davutoğlu determinedly repudiated all claims that he was leading Turkey back to the Ottoman era. Against the mounting charges made by various political analysts and journalists, the FM protested, ‘When others use [this term], I have always warned that we do not count it correct.’

But like so many double-speaking ‘progressive’ politicians here in the U.S., Davutoğlu has suddenly changed his tune and is now all in for Turkish neo-Ottomanism. In a recent meeting with American Secretary of State John Kerry – the U.S. senator who was against funding the war in Iraq, until he was for it – Davutoğlu seems to have come down with an acute case of Kerry’s flip-flopism. According to the foreign minister, neo-Ottomanism is now the coming new order for the whole Middle East. As reported in Al-Monitor, Davutoğlu said that, ‘Last century was only a parenthesis for us. We will close that parenthesis.’

So last century was a mere ‘parenthesis’ that will soon be closed. Under Davutoğlu and Erdoğan’s direction, Turkey will return the region to its previous Ottoman order. The period of Kemalism and secularism in Turkey is coming to a close. Davutoğlu continued, ‘We will do so without going to war, or calling anyone an enemy, without being disrespectful to any border.’

According to the FM, Turkey will bring about a new regional order, complete with Turkish leadership, of course, without any war ‘or calling anyone an enemy.’

Unless, of course, we are speaking of neighboring Syrian President Bashar Assad, whom Erdoğan recently called ‘a mute devil’ who must be ousted.

Or unless we are speaking of Kurdish separatists, roughly 500 of whom Erdoğan recently bragged of killing via the Turkish military within a few days.

Or unless we are speaking of those who espouse the concept of Israeli self-determination knowns as Zionism, which Erdoğan recently compared to fascism and called it ‘a crime against humanity.’

Davutoğlu’s comments continued Read more…

Categories: Radical Islam, Theology and Eschatology Tags:

The Spring Equinox Has Come And Gone … Has The 1260 Day Countdown Begun?

03/23/2013 1 comment

Here’s an update on this story. The Spring Equinox has come and gone without any obvious fulfilment of the theory set forth by 119 Ministries in their “End of Days” teachings series, specifically part 4 of the series titled “Daniel Unsealed“. Though I strongly disagree with some of the teachings set forth by 119 Ministries, they admittedly offered a number of compelling reasons why the final 1260 days leading up to the Second Advent could begin around March 21st or 22nd, 2013. But it didn’t happen. Now, does this mean that Christ will not return in 2016 as 119 Ministries and others have theorized? No, of course not. Although most of us view the 1260 days as literal days, which they very well could be (a view that I still hold myself), we need not turn a blind eye to the possibility that they were intended as days of years, more along the lines of an historicist view of Church history (albeit non-papal). If that is the case, then we could still be well on our way to witnessing the glorious return of our Saviour and King in a few short years. As always, test all things and let us not sleep as others do, but let us continue to watch …

119 Ministries Statement: “Shalom to those who love YHWH and all of His Word,

It is with mixed feelings that 119 acknowledges that the seemingly compelling data points brought forth in the teaching ‘Daniel Unsealed’ resulted in no substantial and quantifiable edifying value.

From the beginning, we admitted that possibility, and firmly stated that ‘Daniel Unsealed’ was either one of 119’s most important teachings, or the least important. We are sad to say that reality proves that it was 119’s least important teachings.

This by no means reflects negatively on our Creator. He is in control of all things, and though His prophecy is perfect, those that make every humble attempt to interpret it are by no means perfect, including us. We pray that this does not reflect negatively on 119 Ministries, though we understand that there will be those that consider this as a mark against 119 Ministries. For those that share that sentiment, we apologize deeply for any disappointment or frustration that may have resulted from our decision to share what we considered to be a prophetic possibility.

We by no means regret our decision to create and publish the teaching, but regret any way that we may have fallen short to mitigate any ill feelings toward the fact that the data proved inconsequential. The data was compelling, and should have been interpreted as a Read more…

Categories: Anything Else, Theology and Eschatology

Former Muslim: Islam Is “Not Merely A Religion But A Cult Belief System” Of A Man — “The Cult Of Muhammad”

03/22/2013 24 comments

Revelation 13:18, “Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count [‘psēphizō‘ – reckon] the number [‘arithmos‘ – multitude] of the beast: for it is the number [‘arithmos‘ – multitude] of a man; and his number [‘arithmos‘ – multitude] is ‘χξς‘ …”

Exegetically and hermeneutically, the “number” (arithmos) of the Beast does not necessitate the use of mathematics or gammatria to “reckon” what it is, as many prophecy teachers have often assumed. The reason for this is simple. The word “arithmos” is used a total of 18 times in the New Testament, and aside from Revelation 5:11 when John is referring to the number of angels around the throne of God, every other time “arithmos” is used it is always referring to a group of people. This therefore suggests that the understanding intended by John is again referring us to a specific group of people, as in “the multitude of the beast: for it is the multitude of a man.” But what man would that be and who are the people associated with him? First, there is absolutely nothing in the text telling us that the man who John was referring to must be someone alive at that specific time of the end, another assumption often espoused by many teachers. Second, the Greek word “chi-xi-stigma” — which is often translated as “666″ — is nearly identical to the Arabic Bismallah, which means “In The Name Of Allah”. Thirdly, of significance is the fact that in order to convert to “Allah’s religion” one must recite the Islamic creed, called the Shahada, by declaring that “There is no god but Allah, and MOHAMMED is his messenger.” Without Christ, there can be no Christianity. Likewise, without Mohammed, there can be no Islam. Thus, if one does not acknowledge the man Mohammed, they cannot become a Muslim and will not be counted as part of the people of Islam — the Ummah. In this light, it therefore only stands to reason that “the number (multitude) of a man” is not referring to an eschatonic Antichrist, but rather to Mohammed — the founder and (false) prophet of Islam — whose teachings even today, and in increasing measure, continues to force all those under Islamic rule to worship Allah — the god of Islam — who should otherwise be killed if they refuse …

See: Turkish Writer: 10 Million Muslims Killed By Muslims Since 1948 Thanks To Mohammed
See: Arab Writer: Islam’s Uncivilized ‘Civilization’ Has Accomplished Nothing Thanks To Mohammed

Revelation 13:15, “The second beast was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed.”

By Clare M. Lopez, Islam Watch – “The Iraqi-born native Arabic-speaker who goes by the name ‘I. Q. Rassooli’ has lived in Europe since his university days studying engineering in England. His mind is an inquiring and a questioning one, characteristics not much appreciated among the conformist Muslim community of his origins. And so he stayed in the West and, for the next 23 years, undertook ‘as thorough a study of Islam as humanly possible,’ as he says.

His research and analysis about Muhammad, the Qur’an, Hadiths, Shariah, Arab and Islamic history, and a comparative, contrasting study of those with the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, Zoroastrian (Persian) beliefs, pagan Arab religions and more culminated in a thesis that no publisher would print. Instead, al-Rassooli created a website, www.inthenameofallah.org that now contains over 780 chapters. He also put up over 280 audio/video chapters on YouTube that collectively received over 1.59 million visitors and 3,976 subscribers in the two years before YouTube removed took them down. Luckily, al-Rassooli had them all backed up on his blog site at www.the-koran.blogspot.com and he then put them back up on YouTube under another name. His website is at www.alrassooli.com

Al-Rassooli also founded a movement called the Ummat al Kuffar (Nation of Infidels) that he hopes will develop and grow, given that some 80% of all humanity are not Muslims but rather the object of Islamic supremacist conquest intentions. He says his mission is the exposure of the facts and reality about Islam, based on the primary Arabic language sources themselves.

Family Security Matters Contributing Writer Clare Lopez recently was granted the opportunity to interview I.Q. al-Rassooli about Islam. Here are his replies to her questions

Read more…
Categories: Radical Islam, Theology and Eschatology

Half Devil Half Child: Can One Be Both Muslim And Christian?

03/07/2013 15 comments

Ephesians 5:11, “… have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.”

1 John 1:4-3a, 2:21-23a, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist … I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth. Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father …”

By Joel Richardson – “One of the most controversial issues that has plagued the Missions movement in recent years is the Insider Movement or as some refer to it; Chrislam. There has recently been a full documentary produced that I would like to highly recommend to everyone who has a concern for a proper biblical approach to reaching Muslims with the Gospel. The title of the documentary is Half Devil Half Child. The issue of hyper-contextualization among missionaries is a pressing issue that will only become even more relevant in the years to come. If you are a pastor that supports missionaries to the Islamic world, this is certainly an issue that you should inform yourself concerning. It is important that those who love Muslims and desire to see them reached in a way that is faithful to the Scriptures are not supporting those who are promoting what can often become outright syncretism and compromise. Make sure to visit the Half Devil Half Child website and recommend the documentary to your friends.” Source – Joel’s Trumpet.

Categories: Anything Else, Theology and Eschatology

‘Judaism Has Lost Its Title As The World’s Most Persecuted Religion; Today, That Dubious Honor Goes To Christianity’

03/01/2013 7 comments

Although the author of the article below creates a sharp distinction between Judaism and Christianity, according to Biblical Scripture the Gospel — in both the Old and New Covenants — is written and administered by Jews. There is nothing Gentile about it. The Christian faith is therefore 100% Jewish, no matter the doctrine, just like the Old Covenant is 100% Jewish. The entire Bible is Jewish and it is Gentiles who are brought into fulfilled Judaism, which we call Christianity — not the other way around — by being grafted into the Jewish paradigm, not into a Gentile one. As I have said elsewhere, we should not view believing Jews as being a part of the Church of God because they believe in Jesus, but rather it is we as Gentiles who are now a part of the Church of God because we believe in Yeshua …

Ephesians 2:13-19, “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ … who has made both one … to create in Himself one new man from the two … For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God”

Commentary Magazine – “In recent months, a new consensus has emerged: For the first time in millennia, Judaism has lost its title as the world’s most persecuted religion; today, that dubious honor goes to Christianity. ‘Christians are targeted more than any other body of believers,’ wrote Rupert Shortt in a 54-page report for the London-based Civitas institute in December, which meticulously documented their persecution on a country-by-country basis. Even politicians have begun grasping this fact: German Chancellor Angela Merkel publicly deemed Christianity ‘the most persecuted religion in the world’ in November. In short, as one commentator put it last week, Christians have become the new Jews.

There are two reasons why Christianity has displaced Judaism as the world’s most persecuted religion. One, obviously, is increased persecution of Christians, which stems largely from the rise of radical Islam: Though non-Islamic countries like China also repress Christians, only radical Islamists kill them wholesale. The other is that today, Jews face less persecution than ever before in history. And that is entirely due to the existence of the State of Israel.

Were hundreds of thousands of Jews still scattered throughout the Islamic world, as was true a century ago, they would assuredly face persecution no less severe than Christians do. But they aren’t, because most have relocated to Israel. In fact, for the last 64 years, any Jew anywhere who felt sufficiently threatened to want to leave his country has been able to find sanctuary in Israel, and Israel has repeatedly gone to great lengths to try to rescue those who want to leave but can’t.

Many Christians, too, might like to leave places like Egypt or Iraq. But unlike the Jews, they have nowhere to go: No country on earth will automatically open its doors for them–with no questions asked and Read more…

Categories: Radical Islam, Theology and Eschatology Tags:

‘Barrel Of Dynamite’: Palestinian Man Dies In Israeli Custody, Palestinians Riot; PA Officials: Third Intifada Is Here

02/24/2013 1 comment

By STUART WINER, The Times of Israel – “Four thousand five hundred Palestinian security prisoners in Israeli jails went on a hunger strike Sunday to protest the death of Arafat Shalish Shahin Jaradat in Megiddo Prison the day before, amid a wave of clashes in the West Bank that has been stoking Israeli concerns of a third Palestinian intifada, or uprising.

Palestinian officials on Sunday morning warned that another popular uprising was indeed unfolding, but asserted that protesters would stick to the path of nonviolence.

‘The death of the prisoner is the culmination of an already tense situation,’ Kadoura Fares, a former PA minister and the head of the Palestinian prisoner’s club, told Maariv. ‘All of the incidents reveal a clear trend – we’re facing an intifada. The hunger-striking prisoners and the tense demonstrations, the violent clashes during which Palestinian civilians are killed, and the frozen peace process – all indicate that we’re sitting on a barrel of dynamite.’

‘It may very well be that Jaradat’s death will turn out to have been the match that lit it,’ he added.

Jaradat, 30, died of an apparent heart attack Saturday afternoon, according to Prison Services spokeswoman Sivan Weizman.

Following the announcement of Jaradat’s death, prisoners briefly rioted in the Ofer Prison in the West Bank. In Hebron, Palestinian protesters clashed with security forces, who dispersed them using teargas. One soldier and two Palestinians were lightly injured.

The Israeli government categorically demanded from the Palestinian Authority that it calm the West Bank unrest, Israel Radio reported…

His death is seen as another source of rage for Palestinians who have already been stepping up demonstrations in protest of Israeli-held Palestinian prisoners, especially four long-time hunger-strikers, including one whose health is rapidly deteriorating.” Read more.

PA Gives No Indication Of Calling For West Bank Calm – “[A] senior aide to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas gave no indication the Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in the West Bank, would issue any call for calm, and blamed Israel for the spike in unrest. Yasser Abed Rabbo, a senior Abbas aide, said Israel’s treatment of prisoners and anti-Palestinian violence by Jewish settlers were ‘the cause of the deterioration’.” Read more.

Categories: Theology and Eschatology, Wars and Rumors of War

Petrus Romanus: Will The Next Pope Be The False Prophet Of Revelation 13?

02/13/2013 22 comments

By Joel Richardson – “Well, here we go. The announcement of the resignation of Pope Benedict [has] caused somewhat of an explosion with the prophecy-sphere of eschatological conspiracy-theorizing and speculation. What of St. Malachy’s prophecy? Does this mean the final pope is here? How did the authors of Petrus Romanus know that the Pope would resign?

The answer to these questions is as follows: St. Malachy’s prophecy is a proven fraud. The next pope is not likely to be the final pope. And for well over two years now, long before Petrus Romanus was written, there has been talk of the Pope resigning. See for example here, where there was public talk of his resignation as late 2011. In fact, Benedict’s brother, George Ratzinger, also a priest, suggested last year that the Pope might retire at age 85. And Benedict, himself even made a case for papal resignation in a book titled, ‘Light of the World’ published back in 2010. Despite the bold claims of the authors of Petrus Romanus, nowhere in the book do they ever actually predict the Pope would resign. What they do (see page 59) is simply cite some of the previous discussions that were in the news concerning the Pope stepping down, and strongly speculate that this might take place in 2012. 2012 of course, was the target date set by the authors for the revealing of the Antichrist or the False Prophet. Next on their agenda: To show how the Vatican is planning on ushering in an alien Antichrist.

I want to be clear that my point is not to personally attack the authors of these works, but to simply call on responsible Christians not to engage in the kind of silly and rampant speculation that revolves almost entirely around conspiracy theories, sectarian polemics, and extra-Biblical pseudo-prophecies. It truly saddens me to see so many widely known prophecy teachers openly support the theories in these books. Along these lines, an interesting observation was made by my friend Ray Gano of Prophezine. Gano pointed out that virtually all of the more well [known] prophecy teachers who are supporting the Petrus Romanus theory are pre-tribulationalists. Now think this through. Pre-tribulational Dispensationalism has always Read more…

Categories: Anything Else, Theology and Eschatology

Will Israel Become Wealthiest Nation In Mideast?

02/08/2013 1 comment

By Joel Richardson – “For years, it was assumed that the nation of Saudi Arabia, with its vast oil reserves, would long reign the wealthiest oil-producing nation in the Middle East. According to present estimates, Saudi Arabia sits atop approximately 266 billion barrels of oil. The Muslim dominated OPEC countries together claim roughly 1,112 billion barrels.

But due to a new technology called ‘fracking,’ this is all about to change. Fracking, hydrofracking, or hydraulic fracking, what some are calling a ‘miraculous new technology,’ has made it possible to access what were previously inaccessible – and absolutely massive – deposits of shale oil and natural gas. This new technology, it is claimed, will allow formerly inferior energy-producing nations to emerge overnight as the new titans of global energy. And the Muslim world is not at all likely to be pleased about which nations fracking will allow to emerge as the world’s most powerful energy producers.

You guessed it. Because of fracking, the nation of Israel, along with the United States, could soon emerge as the world’s largest oil-producing nations. Some say this will happen as soon as 2020. According to estimates, Israel’s oil-shale reserves could amount to as much as 250 billion barrels, placing it neck and neck with Saudi Arabia. When one combines this with the massive amounts of natural gas ( approximately 100 trillion cubic feet) found in recent years just off Israel’s shore, the Jewish state could quickly move beyond mere energy independence and become a major global exporter.

In the ongoing geopolitical chess game for wealth creation, power and even survival, the dawn of fracking technology literally changes everything. And it has the minds of analysts churning out a thick froth of speculation. This is true concerning political analysts as well as analysts of Bible prophecy.

Let’s indulge in a bit of geopolitical speculation first. How will a potentially emerging energy-dominant nation of Israel change the Middle East? Will Turkey’s Prime Minister Erdogan tone down his rhetoric demanding an apology for the Mavi Marmara flotilla fiasco? Perhaps the Iranian regime will consider toning down its predictions that Israel is a rotting corpse soon to disappear. How would the Muslim-dominated OPEC change if Israel emerged as a top-dog energy producer? Is it possible that oil-poor Muslim nations such as Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan could be forced to come crawling to the Jewish nation for assistance in meeting their own energy needs? The Russians are already ahead of the game, actually. Putin has already entered into a partnership with Israel through Russia’s state-run energy company, Gazprom, all for the purpose of prying open Israel’s vast offshore natural-gas reserves. Even now, in the early stages of the transition, the potentials for total game changing possibilities are endless.

But what does fracking mean to analysts of Bible prophecy? For years, many students of Bible prophecy have Read more…

Categories: Anything Else, Theology and Eschatology