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Psalms 24:7-10:
7 Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.
8 Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.
9 Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.
10 Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah.
This King of Glory is the living stone, the chief cornerstone that the builders disallowed. Seek Him while He may be found. Click on to "Further With Jesus," on this website for entry into the Kingdom of God. NOW FOR TODAY’S SUBJECT.
GOD SAID, Matthew 13:36-43:
36 Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field.
37 He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man;
38 The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;
39 The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.
40 As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.
41 The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;
42 And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
43 Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
MAN SAID: These foolish doomsday prophets make me laugh. There is no end to this world, and certainly no judgment day!
Now THE RECORD. The concept of the end of the world is ridiculed by the ungodly, somewhat like it was in the days of Noah. II Peter 3:3-9:
3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Noah preached of doomsday for approximately 100 years, but to no avail. Then one day it began to rain. Noah and his family, along with male and female representatives of land creatures were safe in the ark. But those who ridiculed the warning of God through Noah and his family were destroyed by the worldwide flood. Today there are fish fossils on nearly every mountain peak in the world and flood strata around the globe. Those who mocked were destroyed by the flood, eaten by the creatures of the sea and cast out in their dung. Others found their end in large mats of decomposing vegetation. Jesus said that it would be like the days of Noah at His returning. They ridiculed the prophet then and they do the same to the prophecies of God today. Nevertheless, doomsday approaches. It’s beginning to rain.
Many of the skeptics would be surprised to know that the laws of science predict the world’s end. The second law of thermodynamics basically states that all things go from order to disorder and finally end. Examples would be your body, your car, your house, the decay of the earth’s magnetic field, the shrinkage of the sun, the extinction of species. K. Mendelssohn, in an article titled "Probability Enters Physics" in American Scientist, had this comment concerning the second law:
Speculations which have intrigued the philosophers more than the physicists concern the ultimate fate of the universe as a consequence of the second law of thermodynamics. There ought to exist a most probable, and therefore final, state of maximum entropy. Once this is attained, nothing more can happen and all processes, including those of life, must come to an end. [End of quote]
Some scientists predict that the world will end with a loud sound and a fervent heat. II Peter 3:10:
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
The Word of God clearly gives signs of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ for the believers (who will meet Him in the clouds) and the coming of Armageddon. Followers of Jesus Christ are directed to watch carefully but are cautioned against setting dates. I Thessalonians 5:1-5:
1 But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
Matthew 25:13:
Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.
In this series, GodSaidManSaid will show some very clear signs of the coming doomsday.
Sign #1: Over 500 years before the arrival of Jesus Christ, God prophesied by Jeremiah in chapter 24 concerning two baskets of figs:
1 The LORD showed me, and, behold, two baskets of figs were set before the temple of the LORD, after that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the carpenters and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon.
2 One basket had very good figs, even like the figs that are first ripe: and the other basket had very naughty figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad.
3 Then said the LORD unto me, What seest thou, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs; the good figs, very good; and the evil, very evil, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil.
4 Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
5 Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good.
6 For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up.
7 And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the LORD: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.
8 And as the evil figs, which cannot be eaten, they are so evil; surely thus saith the LORD, So will I give Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, that remain in this land, and them that dwell in the land of Egypt:
9 And I will deliver them to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth for their hurt, to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them.
10 And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among them, till they be consumed from off the land that I gave unto them and to their fathers.
Jeremiah was the prophet who proclaimed God’s judgment against the rebellious Israelites. He was there when the Babylonian troops laid siege to Jerusalem and destroyed the Israelite armies. For nearly two and a half millennia, with the exception of a handful of years, Israel ceased to exist as an autonomous nation. In 70 AD, they rebelled against their Roman masters and were totally decimated. Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed and their people scattered to the four corners of the earth where they remained until the 1900s.
Just after the many horrors of World War II, the United Nations declared Israel to be an official state. To be precise, it was May 14, 1948. After thousands of years, Israel was restored to the world’s modern geographical lexicon—again a place on the world’s map, a new budding nation. Keep in mind the new budding nation and the good figs that God said would return to their homeland, Israel, as you read what Jesus said in Matthew 24:32-34:
32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
Jesus said, "learn a parable of the fig tree." A parable, by definition, contains a hidden parallel message. Much of Christianity sees the parable of the fig tree as Christ’s referral to the Jeremiah prophecy. Israel, represented in Jeremiah as the figs, correlates well with the parable of the fig tree. Jesus said in Mark 13:28-30:
28 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near:
29 So ye in like manner, when ye shall see these things come to pass, know that it is nigh, even at the doors.
30 Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done.
The fig tree is putting forth leaves and the figs are returning to Israel in droves to participate in the battle of all time—the battle of Armageddon.
In the Lord’s parable of the fig tree, He makes this telling statement in Matthew 24:34:
Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
"This generation shall not pass." If our assessment of the fig tree and the 1948 emergence of Israel as a nation is correct, then the generation that saw 1948 will not pass until all that Jesus declared in the cited passages is fulfilled. Using the Bible life span of 70 years as stated in Psalms 90:10, simple addition of 70 years to 1948 yields an outside date of 2018. Keep in mind that Jesus did not say all would be fulfilled when the generation that saw the budding of the fig tree came to an end, but that the generation would not pass until all was fulfilled. The fig tree has budded.
It’s beginning to rain.
Sign #2: Most are oblivious to the fact that Jesus Christ is returning to this earth in the clouds to gather the blood-bought church unto Himself. Acts 1:10-11:
10 And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;
11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.
This glorious coming event is proclaimed in I Thessalonians 4:13-18:
13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
The Word of God adds clarification to this teaching in II Thessalonians 2:1-12:
1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
One of the two key signs of the great taking up of the church as declared in II Thessalonians, which precedes the end of the world as we know it by just a few years, is when the son of perdition, the son of eternal ruin, the son of Hell, goes into the temple of the Jews and shows that he is God. At the present time, the Jewish temple does not exist. In its place are the Muslim Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa mosques. Given the combustible condition of Israel, a scenario could easily be imagined where the Muslim mosques that now occupy Jerusalem’s Temple Mount could vanish in a moment from an errant or orchestrated explosion or even a natural disaster such as an earthquake. There is a group known as the Temple Mount Faithful Movement dedicated to this very real possibility. A handful of members in their organization was arrested and convicted in the 1980s for plotting to blow up the two mosques. It is said that the materials needed to rebuild the temple have been set aside, awaiting the demolition of the Muslim mosques. Time Magazine reported, "Jerusalem’s Temple Mount is potentially the most volatile 35 acres on earth. . . ." [End of quote] The rebuilding of the final Jewish temple could be imminent. It’s beginning to rain.
Sign #3: In order for the Levite priests and the Jewish people to once again function in the final Jewish temple, they must be purified according to Mosaic Law, and a red heifer plays a very pivotal role. Numbers 19:5-13:
5 And one shall burn the heifer in his sight; her skin, and her flesh, and her blood, with her dung, shall he burn:
6 And the priest shall take cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the midst of the burning of the heifer.
7 Then the priest shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp, and the priest shall be unclean until the even.
8 And he that burneth her shall wash his clothes in water, and bathe his flesh in water, and shall be unclean until the even.
9 And a man that is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and lay them up without the camp in a clean place, and it shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for a water of separation: it is a purification for sin.
10 And he that gathereth the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even: and it shall be unto the children of Israel, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among them, for a statute for ever.
11 He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days.
12 He shall purify himself with it on the third day, and on the seventh day he shall be clean: but if he purify not himself the third day, then the seventh day he shall not be clean.
13 Whosoever toucheth the dead body of any man that is dead, and purifieth not himself, defileth the tabernacle of the LORD; and that soul shall be cut off from Israel: because the water of separation was not sprinkled upon him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is yet upon him.
And then in Hebrews 9:13-14:
13 For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:
14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
In 1997, the Middle East and the religious world were shook with the message of the birth of a red heifer. It was major news the world over. A red heifer, qualified to cleanse the unclean, had not been seen in Israel for nearly 2,000 years. The story of this heifer, known today as Melody, was reported in Newsweek under the title, "The Strange Case of Israel’s Red Heifer." It follows in part:
But to observant Jews, there is nothing ordinary about her. A couple of millenniums ago, in the era of the first and second Jewish Kingdoms, the ashes of a red heifer, butchered in her third year, were mixed with water and used to purify Jews before they could approach the Holy Temple on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount. Not since the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans in A.D. 70, however, has a red heifer been born in Israel, Judaica scholars say. Some Israelis have greeted Melody’s arrival as a wondrous portent for the new millennium; others view her as an ominous threat to Middle East peace.
The furor springs from the fact that some devout Jews see Melody’s birth as a sign from God that the coming of the Messiah is nigh. Many Muslims, and some less observant Jews, are concerned that extremists might take the red heifer as a signal to destroy the Dome of the Rock and Al- Aqsa mosques, which now occupy Jerusalem’s Temple Mount. That would clear the way for the construction of a third Jewish temple—and possibly provoke a war. "The potential harm from this heifer is far greater than the destructive properties of a regular terrorist bomb," wrote journalist David Landau in the influential Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz. Landau has suggested the heifer’s rapid, unceremonious, dispatch.
He may be overreacting, but there is precedent. In the early ’80s, a handful of Jewish militants were arrested and convicted of plotting to blow up the two mosques. And sentiment still runs strong. Gershon Solomon founded the Temple Mount Faithful Movement 30 years ago to press for the hill’s liberation from what he calls "Muslim imperialist occupation." His followers periodically challenge the Israeli government’s longstanding stricture against Jewish prayer anywhere on the Temple Mount, apart from the Western Wall. Solomon sees Melody’s advent as an omen, "another sign that we are very close to the rebuilding of the temple," he says. This will [allow] big crowds of Orthodox Jews to join us in our campaign to liberate the Temple Mount." [End of quote]
Maimonides, an ancient Jewish sage, noted that from Moses to the destruction of the second temple, only nine red heifers had been sacrificed. According to Maimonides, the tenth red heifer will be prepared by the Messiah. It is said amongst the Jews that the red heifer is the deepest secret of the Bible, one that King Solomon, the world’s wisest man, could not fathom. The answer, of course, is revealed in Christ Jesus. An organization known as Canaan Land Restoration of Israel, Inc., has as its ministry the shipping of red heifers to Israel to be raised and bred on their own land. Israel now imports about 80% of its beef. It is likely these Israeli beef farms will quickly become self-sustaining. For nearly 2,000 years, there was no red heifer to sanctify the people, now there is an abundance. It’s beginning to rain.
Sign #4: Remember, the great catching up of the church to meet Christ in the clouds is just a few years from Armageddon, and the end of the world as we know it. One of these two signs mentioned above, taken from II Thessalonians, is the son of perdition going into the Jewish Temple and confessing himself to be God. In order for this to happen we need a Jewish Temple, we need a red heifer, and we also need Levitical priests and workers to perform temple duties.
The tribe of Levi, one of the 12 tribes of Israel, was designated by God to conduct all temple duties. Down through history, Israel, through defeat in battle (a result of their disobedience), has been dispersed to the four corners of the earth. In 70 AD, the second temple was utterly destroyed with its records. The destruction of genealogical records and over two millennia of dispersion have made Jewish tribe identification nearly impossible, but not as much so for the Cohens and the Levis. In the Jewish effort to preserve the identity of the Levite tribe, it was forbidden for a Cohen or a Levi to alter his name. The name Cohen is a Jewish surname derived from Kohein (meaning a Jewish priest). Cohens are direct descendants of Aaron, the brother of Moses, who was also of the tribe of Levi. Aaron and his sons performed all priestly duties. The name Levi, on the other hand, is derived from the father of one of Israel’s 12 tribes, Levi. The entire tribe was set aside to perform the many tasks in connection with the temple and to support the needs of the priests. Years back, Time Magazine reported the following: "Two Talmudic schools located near the Western (Wailing) Wall are teaching nearly 200 students the elaborate details of Temple service. Other groups are researching the family lines of Jewish priests who alone may conduct sacrifices..." [End of quote]
The ability to detect a Levitical priest has now risen to the level of DNA science. Variations in the Y- chromosome unique to the sons of Aaron can now be ascertained through DNA testing, which establishes with certainty a true Levite priest. It’s beginning to rain.
Sign #5: The majority of this world waits with anticipation for a great deliverer—the ultimate solution. The New-Agers and Muslims are waiting for "The One." The Jews are awaiting the coming of the Messiah, and the Christians look with great anticipation for the second coming of Jesus Christ. Be assured someone is coming and it will be Jesus Christ. As it was in the days of Noah, to most it will be a day of utter destruction. It’s beginning to rain.
I thought it quite interesting that the Israeli National Parks Authority approved a multimedia reconstruction of Armageddon on the site of its ruins, 15 miles southeast of Jerusalem. Newsweek reports, "High tech prayer grottoes will enable pilgrims to contemplate the final showdown with the aid of virtual reality." [End of quote]
It will be more real than they think. If you haven’t made the decision for Jesus Christ, do it today. Click on to "Further With Jesus," on this website. It is beginning to rain.
In review, the first five signs of doomsday are as follows:
1. Israel, the fig tree, is budding and the generation that sees it shall not pass till all is fulfilled.
2. The son of perdition, the return of Jesus for His church, and rebuilding of the temple.
3. The red heifer.
4. Cohen and Levi.
5. The world awaits someone.
GOD SAID, Matthew 13:36-43:
36 Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field.
37 He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man;
38 The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;
39 The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.
40 As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.
41 The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;
42 And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
43 Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
MAN SAID: These foolish doomsday prophets make me laugh. There is no end to this world, and certainly no judgment day!
Now you have THE RECORD.
CONTINUE READING
References:
King James Bible
www.eliyah.com
Hamilton, Contreras, Dennis, "The Strange Case of Israel’s Red Heifer," Newsweek, 5/19/97
www.mechon-mamre.org
Morris, H.M., "That Their Words May Be Used Against Them," Institute For Creation Research, 1997
www.templemount.org
