We know from Job chapters one and two, that Satan has had an access to the throne of God for lo these thousands of years. We also know from two other Old Testament passages that, at one time, he was a beautiful, created angel serving closer to the throne of God than any other angel. But then pride took its toll and Lucifer, the "angel of light" was cast out of Heaven, along with other angelic created beings who were given a choice to cast their lot with Lucifer or continue in their heavenly angelic ministry to serve God. Those two Old Testament references are Isaiah 14:12-17 and Ezekiel 28:11-19. Revelation 12:4 indicates that Satan, formerly Lucifer, took 1/3 of the angelic realm with him.
When you read Job 1 and 2 you'll learn that Satan could do evil against Job, but he could not take his life. He could not kill him at will. Satan is a liar. He lies! He's a killer! He kills when he is allowed to do so. He is a hater, not a lover. He hates all but himself.
In this angelic conflict, in the eternal battle between good (God) and evil (Satan) he would kill every human being alive in the world today. But thank the Lord, God, the Father, is sovereign and He alone is the giver of life and the ruler of death. You and I are alive today because He, God, wants us to be alive. It's His will. We who are the recipients of this gift of life would be wise to give Him our thanks and praise.
Of all the people who have this gift of physical life, who are the prime targets of Satan's death list? That's an easy question. The answer is - the Jewish people. And the reason is, God has made hundreds of promises to the human race that there would someday be a wonderful period of peace, tranquility and bliss. This period, called the Millennium (Latin for 1,000) is spelled out in Revelation 20:2-7.
Involved in these hundreds of promises is first of all His Son, Jesus Christ. He is the premier figure. He will be the King, the Lord of Lords who will rule. It is His rule, His control, His laws that will produce this time of maximum peace.
Also involved in these promises, were and are, the Jewish people. God used them to provide the human channel through which the Savior King would be born. And when Jesus rules in this golden age of peace, when He rules during this 1,000 years, this Millennium, He will be known as Jesus, The King of the Jews and He will sit on King David's throne in the City of Jerusalem. Sounds like a Jew to me! No wonder the Devil hates the Jews! No wonder he's the big chief of the anti-Semites. Just make sure you're not part of his tribe (in more ways than one.)
As I've said before, the Devil possesses none of the attributes of God. God is omnipotent, He's all powerful. Satan is not. He's limited and God alone has set his limits. God is omni-present, there is no place He is not, unless He chooses not to be someplace, like in the heart of an unbeliever. Satan, on the other hand, can only go where God allows him to go. And, of course, God is omniscient. He knows all there is to know. But not the Devil. He has to learn as he goes along.
For instance, when those two million plus Jewish people walked away from Pharaoh and his slave keepers, when they walked out of camp with their alive "first born" and all of the borrowed loot God told them to ask for, don't you know that he, the Devil, slipped up to old Pharaoh and whispered, "You idiot! Why did you let them go? Don't you know they'll be a burr in your camel saddle the rest of your life? Saddle up, call out the chariots and go get em'...kill em' all."
Satan for sure thought this was going to be the last of his nemesis! When he saw those Jews trapped by the sea, the mountains and the Egyptian army, he had no idea that he was going to see the most phenomenal sight he'd ever seen. He had no idea what God was going to do. God said to Moses, "Lift up your rod, stretch your hand over the sea and divide it!" Moses did what God commanded and the sea divided. Satan had to watch this whole thing unfold right before his eyes (if he has eyes).
That day on that seashore, God was controlling Moses and Satan was controlling Pharaoh. I love Exodus 14:30 & 31: "Thus the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the seashore."
"And Israel saw that great work which the Lord did upon the Egyptians: and the people feared the Lord and believed the Lord and His servant Moses."
From there, from that place along the Red Sea, God led them, not northeast but south! South into the desert. There are two reasons for this desert journey. One is, had they gone to the northeast, they would have marched right into one enemy territory after another. And, as a young race of people, not even an organized nation, they were not ready. And two, God wanted them to learn and grow by the tests that He would send them. And so, the bitter water, the no water and other negative experiences. Forty years of wilderness journey. Had they gone to the northeast, it would have been about 50 miles to the borders of the Promised Land - two or three day's journey. Instead, it took them 40 years. You can be sure during that 40 years they came close to total defeat on many occasions - some of their own doings, others, efforts by Satan to wipe them out.
Little by little as you red through the Old Testament, the target narrows down. First it's all the Jews, then it's the Tribe of Judah and then It's David and then the family of David, in particular the line that flowed through his son, Solomon.
This is Saturday morning, December 30, 2006. Yesterday one of Israel's greatest enemies died on the gallows! Oh, to be sure, there are more hateful, evil, vile anti-Semites lined up to take his place. Probably the next in line is President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran.
More next time. Until then, pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
Bro. Bob
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Friday, December 01, 2006
Focus Point # 10
How shallow we Americans are, who profess to be Christians, when it comes to the current war on terror and our application of the Word of God and these current events. We get most of our information and viewpoints from people who don't even recognize the Bible as a source of information.
We ought to hold the Word of God as the only reliable source of truth and judge world events by what God says. Instead we look at events through the eyes of the Democrat or Republican party. Just imagine, born again people, Christians, if you will, rejecting, or worse, not even knowing the Word of God and listening to...get this...politicians! Or, if that's not bad enough, just imagine Christians getting their world view from such sources as ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN and Rosie (what's her name?)
or Oprah.
I'm sure there are many Christians who profess to be Bible believers who rarely think of Bible prophecy until some skirmish breaks out between Israel and some radical faction in the Arab world. Even then, if it doesn't make the evening news, it's not relevant. Just look at what's happened to the war on terror. The last political campaign, along with mainstream media and the very intelligent, elite academia, no longer treat terrorism as a world wide struggle against godless, evil forces. Now it's just a difference of opinion between the Democrats and the Republicans! You get the impression that 9-11-01 was just a single incident that accidentally happened because of a weakness in our own covert intelligence agencies. It wasn't the terrorists' fault. It was OUR fault for not preventing it. Duh! How dumb is that? In this last election, to hear some of the politicians, you get the idea that terrorism is just a condition that exists to help us determine how to vote or whom to vote for! But I remind you again, the world is in a terrorism mode and it won't be solved in a voting booth.
The world is on terrorism alert, or at least it should be. This battle is and always has been focused on the destruction of the Jewish State of Israel. Now I realize as much as anyone that George Bush or any other leader cannot take a platform and identify this whole situation as a spiritual conflict between God and Satan. Every newspaper and major network would label them as the biggest nut case on earth. I seem to recall that President Bush just threw out a hint referring to Armageddon and the media response was shock, shock, shock! You talk prophecy to the Press and they don't know what to say or print. Why expect anything else from them? The world system doesn't believe in divine creation! What makes you think they would give divine prophecy the slightest possibility? They don't believe in the angelic conflict or in prophecy that deals with Satan's goal to destroy the Jewish race.
I remember playing golf some years ago with some preacher friends. Now remember, this was years ago. We were discussing the world events going on at that time which involved...what else? Israel and the one of many wars they faced with the Arabs. One of the guys standing over his golf ball on the green said, "I think God is no more interested in Israel than He is in this putt I'm about to make!" I knew he was not speaking of the individual souls of the Jewish people, but the people, the nation. That may be what Oprah or Rosie think, but that's not what God thinks. That may be what Ted Turner thinks and that may be what a lot of seminary professors believe, but that's not what God's Word teaches. Look at what God's prophet Zechariah wrote in his Book, 12:2-3: "Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it."
Many hold that that time, that circumstance has already happened. Well, you might just glance over those verses and conclude, "Man, that's already happened so many times to Israel, it's just another skirmish or another border war." To a degree that observation is true, but when you really look at what God says through this Prophet and you read the last part where it says, "Though ALL the people of the earth shall be gathered against it" - that circumstance or condition has never yet come to pass. Someday Satan will lead the WOLE WORLD to war with God's chosen ones.
Did you know that the subject of Israel and Jerusalem has taken up more time in the League of Nations (now defunct) and the United Nations (also now defunct) than any other part of the world? Indeed, Jerusalem is a cup of trembling! I've read that more than 60,000 - and that's a 6 with 4 zeros, more than 60,000 votes have been cast in the UN...ALL against Israel! Russia hates Israel! China hates Israel! Europe hates Israel! And even hundreds of thousands of Americans question and oppose the pro-Israeli stance. The Democratic Party has not been, at least in recent years, the strong supporters of Israel as is the Republican Party. The last time I checked, far more Jews vote Democratic than they vote Republican. That, to me, is not only a negative reflection of Jewish people voting against their own nation, but it's also a poor, anti-biblical stand for the Democrats to hold.
Just remember what God said to Abraham, "I will bless them that bless thee and curse them that curse thee!"
Until next time,
Blessings,
Bro. Bob
We ought to hold the Word of God as the only reliable source of truth and judge world events by what God says. Instead we look at events through the eyes of the Democrat or Republican party. Just imagine, born again people, Christians, if you will, rejecting, or worse, not even knowing the Word of God and listening to...get this...politicians! Or, if that's not bad enough, just imagine Christians getting their world view from such sources as ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN and Rosie (what's her name?)
or Oprah.
I'm sure there are many Christians who profess to be Bible believers who rarely think of Bible prophecy until some skirmish breaks out between Israel and some radical faction in the Arab world. Even then, if it doesn't make the evening news, it's not relevant. Just look at what's happened to the war on terror. The last political campaign, along with mainstream media and the very intelligent, elite academia, no longer treat terrorism as a world wide struggle against godless, evil forces. Now it's just a difference of opinion between the Democrats and the Republicans! You get the impression that 9-11-01 was just a single incident that accidentally happened because of a weakness in our own covert intelligence agencies. It wasn't the terrorists' fault. It was OUR fault for not preventing it. Duh! How dumb is that? In this last election, to hear some of the politicians, you get the idea that terrorism is just a condition that exists to help us determine how to vote or whom to vote for! But I remind you again, the world is in a terrorism mode and it won't be solved in a voting booth.
The world is on terrorism alert, or at least it should be. This battle is and always has been focused on the destruction of the Jewish State of Israel. Now I realize as much as anyone that George Bush or any other leader cannot take a platform and identify this whole situation as a spiritual conflict between God and Satan. Every newspaper and major network would label them as the biggest nut case on earth. I seem to recall that President Bush just threw out a hint referring to Armageddon and the media response was shock, shock, shock! You talk prophecy to the Press and they don't know what to say or print. Why expect anything else from them? The world system doesn't believe in divine creation! What makes you think they would give divine prophecy the slightest possibility? They don't believe in the angelic conflict or in prophecy that deals with Satan's goal to destroy the Jewish race.
I remember playing golf some years ago with some preacher friends. Now remember, this was years ago. We were discussing the world events going on at that time which involved...what else? Israel and the one of many wars they faced with the Arabs. One of the guys standing over his golf ball on the green said, "I think God is no more interested in Israel than He is in this putt I'm about to make!" I knew he was not speaking of the individual souls of the Jewish people, but the people, the nation. That may be what Oprah or Rosie think, but that's not what God thinks. That may be what Ted Turner thinks and that may be what a lot of seminary professors believe, but that's not what God's Word teaches. Look at what God's prophet Zechariah wrote in his Book, 12:2-3: "Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it."
Many hold that that time, that circumstance has already happened. Well, you might just glance over those verses and conclude, "Man, that's already happened so many times to Israel, it's just another skirmish or another border war." To a degree that observation is true, but when you really look at what God says through this Prophet and you read the last part where it says, "Though ALL the people of the earth shall be gathered against it" - that circumstance or condition has never yet come to pass. Someday Satan will lead the WOLE WORLD to war with God's chosen ones.
Did you know that the subject of Israel and Jerusalem has taken up more time in the League of Nations (now defunct) and the United Nations (also now defunct) than any other part of the world? Indeed, Jerusalem is a cup of trembling! I've read that more than 60,000 - and that's a 6 with 4 zeros, more than 60,000 votes have been cast in the UN...ALL against Israel! Russia hates Israel! China hates Israel! Europe hates Israel! And even hundreds of thousands of Americans question and oppose the pro-Israeli stance. The Democratic Party has not been, at least in recent years, the strong supporters of Israel as is the Republican Party. The last time I checked, far more Jews vote Democratic than they vote Republican. That, to me, is not only a negative reflection of Jewish people voting against their own nation, but it's also a poor, anti-biblical stand for the Democrats to hold.
Just remember what God said to Abraham, "I will bless them that bless thee and curse them that curse thee!"
Until next time,
Blessings,
Bro. Bob
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