|
The born-again, those surrendered to the Word of God, are God’s peculiar treasure. Exodus 19:5:
Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:
God’s directives unto us keep us in His love and protect us from hurtful lusts. His commandments separate us from sinners in a most glorious way, making the redeemed peculiar from the general population. Just one example is the epic research project that revealed that those who attend church more than once a week live 11%, or eight years, longer than the unchurched (see The Power of Going to Church). Jesus said in John 10:10:
The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
Psalms 119:105:
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
God’s Word lightens our darkness and His Word separates us from sin. Obeying His Words makes us an anomaly amongst men—God’s peculiar treasure. I Peter 2:9:
But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
Have you been born again? Are you ready to become God’s peculiar treasure? Do you want the power to live a holy and victorious life? Are you interested in the solutions to all of your problems, every single one? Do you want all of your sin and shame expunged from your record? Then today is your day of salvation. This is your time. Click onto “Further With Jesus” for childlike instructions and immediate entry into the Kingdom of God. Don’t procrastinate. Click now. We’ll wait for you here. Now for today’s subject.
GOD SAID, Revelation 9:12-16:
12 One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.
13 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,
14 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.
15 And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.
16 And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.
GOD SAID, Revelation 16: 12-16:
12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.
13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.
14 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
MAN SAID: These foolish doomsday prophets make me laugh! There is no end to this world, and certainly no judgment day!
Now THE RECORD. Welcome to GodSaidManSaid. This is feature article 605 that once again proves the full veracity of the Holy Bible. These features are archived on the site in text and streaming audio, and every Thursday eve, God willing, they grow by one. These features are offered unto God for the edification of the saints and as ammunition in the battle for the souls of men. Thank you for coming and spending time with us. May the face of our God shine upon you with Light and Truth.
At the time of this writing, September 27, 2012, the Middle East is aflame with anti-Israel-America agitation. Israel is threatening to attack Iran, even Armageddon is knocking at the door; the globe is in economic chaos; wickedness is coming to a full. It appears the return of Jesus Christ is eminent and, to that, the world at large is oblivious. Jesus, speaking of the end, declares in Mark 13:32-37:
32 But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.
33 Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.
34 For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch.
35 Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning:
36 Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping.
37 And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.
Believers are cautioned not to set a time for Christ’s returning. Everyone in the past who has proclaimed a certain date has been shamed. It is possible Christ’s return for the church in the clouds is not for another 200 years, but we surely don’t think so. The signs of Christ’s returning are flashing red from an alarming plethora of positions, and we—the born-again—are directed to “watch.” It is not impossible that we are already at the very cusp of the great tribulation world ending as we know it.
The signs are shouting for attention, but are dismissed as foolishness by the sons of Adam. So it was in the days of Noah as well. “A flood? What’s a flood,” scoffed the people at the preaching of Noah. The scoffers soon found out what a flood was. They were destroyed by it, and today, the world’s mountain peaks as festooned with marine fossils.
One of the signs from the book of Revelation, which we quoted in the GOD SAID section of this feature, pertains to the Euphrates River, the four evil angels that are bound to its bottom, of its drying up, and of a 200-million man army preparing to cross it on their way to the great battle of Armageddon. The Holman Bible Dictionary published the following information under “Euphrates and Tigris:”
Two of the greatest rivers of western Asia. They originate in the mountains of Armenia and unite about 90 miles from the Persian Gulf to form what is now called the Shatt-al-Arab that flows into the gulf. The Euphrates and Tigris were included among the four rivers of Paradise (Genesis 2:14). [End of quote]
Translators claim the Tigris is a transliteration of one of Paradise’s four rivers, the Hiddekel.
In the past, GodSaidManSaid has reported on the Turkish Anatolia project, but more, much more, is on the way. In the September 2012 issue of Popular Science, we find, under the heading of “Flow States,” the following:
Somewhere around 2014, if all goes according to plan, Turkey will complete the Ilisu Dam, a major component of one of the world’s most ambitious—and controversial—hydro-engineering projects. The dam is the latest addition to the $32-billion Southeastern Anatolia Project (known by its Turkish acronym, GAP). Along with 21 other dams, Ilisu will lock up the entire Tigris and Euphrates watershed, creating 7,476 megawatts of hydroelectric capacity and irrigating a parched farm region nearly the size of New Jersey. Ilisu’s reservoir, however, will also flood the ancient city of Hasankeyf, uproot as many as 70,000 members of Turkey’s struggling Kurdish minority, and give Turkish engineers an alarming degree of control over the fate of their downstream neighbors in Iraq.
Many nations depend on rivers that flow across borders, but none so much as Iraq, which gets its water from only two sources: the Tigris and the Euphrates. When Turkey filled another GAP reservoir in 1990, it shut down the Euphrates for a month, and the two nations nearly went to war. Once Ilisu is complete, Turkey will be able to shut down the Tigris, too. [End of quote]
The great Euphrates was there in the beginning, and it plays its part in the end. A last-day sign written 2,000 years ago is now a reality. God’s Word is true and righteous altogether. God’s Word is the only place you build a life that will last forever. Mark 13:37:
And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.
GOD SAID, Revelation 9:12-16:
12 One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.
13 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,
14 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.
15 And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.
16 And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.
GOD SAID, Revelation 16: 12-16:
12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.
13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.
14 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
16 And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
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.
References:
Authorized King James Version
Mitchell, L., “Flow States,” Popular Science, September 2012
The Holman Bible Dictionary