Friends we reviewed few of the signs with respect to 2nd coming of Jesus and gone thru a case study on Israel. There are many more, but we can't pick all of them.
The significance of Bible in our present world is un-challengeable. Bible which was written 2000 years back, by 40 authors in a span of 1,600 years. It will be impossible to imagine how 40 authors managed to communicate with each other, if they did at all? No one lived that long to communicate with others about what he wrote. How did the authors sitting in different parts of the world wrote on one subject i.e. Christ, so precisely, without any communication link between them? If we start reasoning on these using our limited knowledge, we will reach nowhere. But the answer is simple and straight. The communication link they had was "HOLY SPIRIT". All these years, all these authors wrote 66 books prophesying things to come beyond 2000 years ahead of them, clearly establish one thing, "GOD THE ALMIGHTY'S MATCHLESS POWER".
Remember one thing. Satan will always work anti-clockwise only. He can never go straight; always opt for short-cuts. What-ever God does, he will do exactly the opposite. Take the example of 10 commandments. On Mount Sinai, God gave HIS ten commandments, asked Moses to tell his people not worship any idols. What Moses saw when climbed down the hill is that, his people casted a golden bull, and, started worshiping it. In other-words the moment God spelled out what not to do to Moses, Satan started his work among the people that is why by the time Moses came down, the idol was ready and people started worshipping it. If we are doing something and there is no resistance from other side, think twice, may be what we are doing is not correct. (Spiritual terms) If it is correct, surely Satan would have caused hurdles before us. Think other side. If we are facing problems, hurdles in our "Christian life", rest assured that we are on right course, keep moving, HE will protect us, support us. When we say "Christian life" we need to be clear that anything that we do is in line with the scriptures. For example, if one goes and steals someone's stuff and caught by police, he shouldn't think that he was on right track. What I mean above is the life we maintain as a Christian must be based on what Bible tells us. While maintaining such life, if we face problems, hurdles, then we can rest assured we are on right track.
Let us have our case study-2 on Iraq.
Iraq also known as Shinar or Babylon is having a significant role in the process of fulfillment of Biblical scriptures. Babylon is the place where people gathered thousands of years back, and decided to build a tower that reaches the heaven.
What God told to people?
Genesis 28:13-14 And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, "I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants. Your descendants will also be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
What did the people do?
Genesis 11:2 It came about as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. Genesis 11:4 They said, Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top {will reach} into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.
Instead of obeying God and spreading to the breadth and length of the world, the people of Babylon decided otherwise.
Therefore, HE decided to scatter them all around the earth, thus came different languages. Genesis 11:9 Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.
In coming years, this country (Iraq) will become a democratic country. Invasion of Kuwait by Saddam in 1991, and, later US occupation, and killing of the dictator, and current civil unrest, all of these are the signs of fulfillment of the scriptures. Believe it or not, this country will be transformed in to a most powerful one, to be the center of all business in the world. You will be forced to call it World Trade Center of future.
, when US invaded Iraq, all thought they are after the oil reserves of Iraq. Did they manage to take any? US spent trillions of dollars on Iraq liberation, (as they call it), but didn't get a penny out of that country. The reserves and resources of Iraq will remain within it until that country becomes world business center.
Bible says in Revelation 18:12-14: 12. cargoes of gold, silver, precious stones and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet cloth; every sort of citron wood, and articles of every kind made of ivory, costly wood, bronze, iron and marble; 13 cargoes of cinnamon and spice, of incense, myrrh and frankincense, of wine and olive oil, of fine flour and wheat; cattle and sheep; horses and carriages; and bodies and souls of men.14 "They will say, 'The fruit you longed for is gone from you. All your riches and splendor have vanished, never to be recovered.
As we read in foregone paragraph, Babylon once again becomes the center piece of the world. (as their fore fathers desired) It was 2000 years back, all languages, religions, cultures that we see today spread out from this place (Babylon). It will gather once again. The difference this time, is not by building a tower, but because of a woman, whose immorality, beauty and sinister moves, attracted the wealthy of the world. If God just scattered them then, this time, the punishment will be far beyond the imagination of people.
Revelations 18:2-24 - And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird. For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the passion of her immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed {acts of} immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich by the wealth of her sensuality.
I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues; for her sins have piled up as high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. Pay her back even as she has paid, and give back {to her} double according to her deeds; in the cup which she has mixed, mix twice as much for her. To the degree that she glorified herself and lived sensuously, to the same degree give her torment and mourning; for she says in her heart, I SIT {as} A QUEEN AND I AM NOT A WIDOW, and will never see mourning.
For this reason in one day her plagues will come, pestilence and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire; for the Lord God who judges her is strong. And the kings of the earth, who committed {acts of} immorality and lived sensuously with her, will weep and lament over her when they see the smoke of her burning, standing at a distance because of the fear of her torment, saying, Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! For in one hour your judgment has come.
And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargoes any more- cargoes of gold and silver and precious stones and pearls and fine linen and purple and silk and scarlet, and every {kind of} citron wood and every article of ivory and every article {made} from very costly wood and bronze and iron and marble, and cinnamon and spice and incense and perfume and frankincense and wine and olive oil and fine flour and wheat and cattle and sheep, and {cargoes} of horses and chariots and slaves and human lives. The fruit you long for has gone from you, and all things that were luxurious and splendid have passed away from you and {men} will no longer find them.
The merchants of these things, who became rich from her, will stand at a distance because of the fear of her torment, weeping and mourning, saying, Woe, woe, the great city, she who was clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls; for in one hour such great wealth has been laid waste! And every shipmaster and every passenger and sailor, and as many as make their living by the sea, stood at a distance, and were crying out as they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What {city} is like the great city?
And they threw dust on their heads and were crying out, weeping and mourning, saying, Woe, woe, the great city, in which all who had ships at sea became rich by her wealth, for in one hour she has been laid waste!
Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, because God has pronounced judgment for you against her.
Then a strong angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, So will Babylon, the great city, be thrown down with violence, and will not be found any longer. And the sound of harpists and musicians and flute-players and trumpeters will not be heard in you any longer; and no craftsman of any craft will be found in you any longer; and the sound of a mill will not be heard in you any longer; and the light of a lamp will not shine in you any longer; and the voice of the bridegroom and bride will not be heard in you any longer; for your merchants were the great men of the earth, because all the nations were deceived by your sorcery. And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints and of all who have been slain on the earth.
What we read above is a prophecy. If we compare this with present day happenings in the world, don't you feel that we are already there? Parents are scared to send their three years old to school. People are ready to do anything to get soaked with their lust for money and sex, they can't live without it. Today we are hearing so many reports, about father raping his own daughter; children killing their parents, son molesting his mother, even babies are not spared. Cruelty has no bounds; No trace of Love any more. Human morals are at the lowest level already. Fear of God is getting evaporating fast. Believers' talking, acting as a
non-believer, that too inside the church hall, and yet they partake from the Holy Communion. Where is the fear of God? Such people are forgetting one thing, that our God is a Fiery God. HE is showing mercy, so we are surviving. Not because of our deeds. This is the period of Grace. People are using God and Spirituality for the benefit of their own flesh. All these points out only one thing, that is, the end of this world is very near. Revelation 22:11 Let the one who does wrong, still do wrong; and the one who is filthy, still be filthy; and let the one who is righteous, still practice righteousness; and the one who is holy, still keep himself holy.
We, as children of God, don't have to be worried about all these happenings, as we should know whom we serve, in whom we rest our hope, (Jesus Christ), who has conquered this world. Having said this, we need to wake up, gear up our armaments, and get ready for the fight with the spirits and principalities of the Air, not with individuals. We have to be ready for the day of rapture. Do we have oil in our lamps; are the wicks clean and burning properly? Did we forgive others, or do we still have some grudge against others in our heart. Are we carrying any of Satan's property with us, viz. adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatries, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies.
Bible says, nobody knows, when he comes. We should always be ready, 24x 7.
Revelation 16:15 Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his clothes, so that he will not walk about naked and men will not see his shame
Mathew 24:35-36 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. But of that day and hour know no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
- Amen
Continues to - PART THREE
