2.
Russian military activity: The Russians have had to deal
with several hundred years of Chinese design on their Siberian
territory. The Chinese have coveted and at times tried to
invade Siberia, desiring its rich oil and mineral resources.
Russia, as part of their nuclear disarmament agreements with
the United States as the Soviet Union fell apart, had many
if not all of their nuclear Fleet Ballistic Missile submarines
on the "scrap" list--including all six of what I term as their
"continent fryer" Typhoon class FBMs (remember that monster
sub in the Tom Clancy movie "Red October"?). The Russian's
under Vladimir Putin have now taken three of those big babies
off the scrap list and re-activated them. As of now, they're
all sea-worthy, and on station on a rotational basis. Also,
some of the Delta III & IV FBMs have been re-activated
and are currently on station, along with one Yankee class
FMB. Vladimir is most definitely sending a military message
to the Chinese, as he now pushes Russia into a re-armament
phase.
Politically, what has happened in Russia?
Russian Delta IV Class FMB
3.
Changing Russian Political Scene: Now let's see what
Albert Israeli has to say in his own words about what has
occurred in Russian politics, what amounts to the Russian
people voting themselves in a one-party system. "The political
situation in Russia is changing dramatically. Now after the
elections to the parliament Russia is back to a one party
system. With no democratic opposition in sight this government
can easily change any part of the constitution. We are seeing
a more dictatorial power rising here that will have bad consequences
for people in general." [February 2002 News & Prayer Letter,
Messiah For Israel, under "archived articles", http://www.messiahforisrael.com
.] Vladimir Putin, former head of the KGB for ten years,
now stands as the duly elected dictatorial leader of Russia,
with his party holding an overwhelmingly vast majority of
seats in both houses. But the Russians voted themselves into
this dictatorship, in what I would say is their overwhelming
desire for security over freedom. Military security would
come near the top of the list for the average Russian citizen,
where uncertianty over domestic terrorism, and the China threat,
just to name two, are top on their minds. Don't forget, these
people have never known freedom in a democracy, never. They're
not used to it, or making decisions for themselves in the
area of national government. They're doing what comes naturally
for them. But this puts a nuclear re-arming Russian dictatorship
right up alongside Europe's entire eastern border. That's
got to be causing Europeans, especially those from the just
recently freed eastern countries, a very serious amount of
angst.
(to see how Vladimir Putin is
moving to strengthen the Kremlin's power, log onto:
http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/pacepa200409200814.asp
)
4.
Don't forget Europe's major oil source: Europe is 95
percent dependant on Middle East oil, with probably 85 percent
of that from Saudi Arabia. How do you think Europeans feel
about fundamentalist Al-Qaida attacks inside Saudi Arabia,
threatening the Saudi government and driving American and
European oil-workers out of that major oil producig Middle
Eastern country? How do you think Europeans feel about Al-Qaida
attacks that have blown up Iraqi pipelines, both in the north
and south, cutting off at times, their entire production shipments?
Do you see a trend in the headlines? It's scary. And this
trend of violent Islamic expansionism has been going on a
whole lot longer than most folks realize, but the former administration
in the White House had a bad habit of sweeping those details
under the rug. But they were being reported in the newspapers.
Incentives
for Europe to unite are now coming into place: I think
we've just seen that the incentives that have been lacking
in recent European history, from 1945 to present, are now
coming into place, and very rapidly."Europe
is faced right now with social dissintegregation if it does
not take drastic political and religious action. Don't believe
so, log onto these two links and read this article and watch this youtube (: https://www.youtube.com/embed/a-hPCnel0qc http://www.PTM.org/04PT/SepOct/declineEurope.pdf
)".
The Bible clearly prophecies that a Romish form of government
comprised of "ten nations who give their authority" to a powerful
dictator will eventually come into existence in the area of
Europe--as a revival of the Roman Empire (6 such "Holy Roman
Empire" revivals have already occurred). The Bible very clearly
predicts such events, but it never shows how they will come
to be, just that they will come. We as humans are the ones
who have to wait and see how the Bible's predictions will
come to pass, and when. The Jews in the time of Alexander
the Great were watching the prophecies in Daniel 2 in wonderment
and amazement as Alexander swept down through the Middle East
conquering all that stood in his way. They could clearly
see the prophecies of this event being fulfilled in front
of their very eyes. And they very wisely chose to befriend
this conquering king, rather than attempt to fight him. Alexander
was the belly and thighs of brass in Nebuchadnezzar's dream
which Daniel interpretted for the king (Daniel 2:31-44).
The next empire to be prophecied was the Roman Empire, which
came along right on time, conquering all of the previous Greek
empire of Alexander the Great and all the nations that were
included in Alexander's Empire. What we are witnessing, as
events are unfolding on the world scene right now, are geo-political
incentives for the formation of this final evil empire that
the Bible predicts will come on the scene just before the
2nd coming of Jesus Christ to save the world from
global inhilation. If you have any doubts in your mind how
nasty this future "empire" might be, realize that the Hitler-Mussilini
duo was a brief revival of a "Holy Roman Empire", Mussilini
having been crowned as Holy Roman Emperor by the pope in 1935.
There is tons of WWII history one can study to see just how
evil that one was (or just rent and watch Schindler's List).
"For
a more complete description of what the Bible predicts in
the way of prophecied empires leading up to and including
this final one we have been talking about, i.e. the coming
United States of Europe, log onto: http://www.unityinchrist.com/prophecies/2ndcoming_4.htm
. If you are a believer, read on, as this last part pertains
to you specifically."
What
should we, as Christians, be doing with this knowledge?
If you think God the Father merely drew you to Jesus and now
you're a Christian, and that's it, life's wonderful with all
these Christian friends to fellowship with--let's live it
up, life's great--well, think again. That's not exactly the
job description Jesus left us Christians with. You might
want to read the following if you think that's all there is
to Christianity, that it's just some nice kind of social club.
Or maybe, now that you realize what's up prophetically speaking,
and that this stuff looks imminent, you're planning on spending
hours of your time every week scanning the headlines for clues
to when the gig's up, so you can run and hide somewhere like
some survivalist. God's promised protection for Christians
that are doing his will, but he hasn't necessarily told us
how or when he's going to protect us. I.e. he doesn't want
us to know that information, but instead to trust him, while
doing his will. So give up on that idea. You'd better off--spiritually
speaking--studying the gospels and Epistles. So what does
God want us to be doing with our time, especially if that
time may be drawing to a close?
Is
there a link between Bible Prophecy and Evangelism?
Today there is a major push to bring the gospel of salvation
to the entire world, to all the language groups in the world.
By reading the documented accounts of the field work of the
major international evangelistic organizations it becomes
totally obvious that the Holy Spirit is behind and fueling
this drive to promote the gospel of salvation in today's "modern"
times. But support and funding of these excellent international
evangelistic organizations is insufficient and sporadic at
best. Some Christian groups and denominations don't necessarily
think this worldwide push of evangelism is Biblical, or necessary,
while others do (but what the Holy Spirit is doing in these
areas can't really be ignored). What did Jesus Christ have
to say on this subject? It's time to take a hard look at what
Jesus actually said and determine that what he said should
govern our actions and beliefs in this important area. First
let's note that he said there would be a major push to promote
the gospel of the kingdom to the entire world just before
the end of this evil age and his 2nd coming.
Matthew 24:14, "And this gospel of the kingdom
shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all
nations; and then shall the end come." What end? Verse
15-16, "When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation,
spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place (whoso
readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judea
flee unto the mountains." To those who understand Bible prophecy, verse 15 of
Matthew 24 marks the beginning of World War III, called the
great tribulation in Bible language. But in Jesus' own words,
he said that there would be this huge push to promote the
gospel of salvation around the world, and that when this was
accomplished, then the end of this evil age would come, and
ultimately, if you keep reading Matthew 24 through to verse
31, the 2nd coming of Jesus himself. These are
all Jesus Christ's own words, directly quoted and not taken
out of context. The very first commission Jesus gave to the
500 or so disciples (students) who had faithfully followed
him, and by extension, all Christians from then on, is found
in Matthew 28:18-20. It's the only major job assignment Jesus
gave Christians to perform until he comes again. Let's read
it. Matthew 28:18-20, "Go ye therefore,
and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe
all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am
with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen."
There are two parts to this assignment:
1) Preach, teach the gospel to all nations, and 2) obviously,
to those who respond favorably, baptize them and teach them
to observe all things, whatsoever Jesus had commanded them
(and now recorded in Scripture). This was
spoken in similar time sequence to Acts 1:8-9, where Jesus
said this, "But ye shall receive the power of the Holy Spirit
coming upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in
Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the
uttermost part of the earth." That is basically the only job assignment Jesus gave his disciples
(disciples: archaic king James language for students), and
by extension all Christians born of the Holy Spirit. That
job entails preaching the gospel of salvation, which is called
in some places, the gospel of the kingdom--and to teach those
who respond favorably (obviously one can't do much teaching
to those who don't respond favorably, their minds are closed)
the details of how to be a Christian or believer in Jesus.
This job can be broken down into two areas, one is promoting
and preaching the gospel to everyone, and the other is nourishing
and supporting the body of Christ--made up of those who respond
favorably to the gospel message--believers, nourishing them
in the Word of God. Some Christians have been blessed with
talents in the nourishment end of this assignment, while others
are good at evangelism. Let each of us use the talents God
gave us in the area of this assignment where we best fit.
But now what is the connection between prophecy and
evangelism? As we have just seen in Matthew 24, Jesus predicted
(prophecied) that there would be such a large push to promote
the gospel of the kingdom just before the start of World War
III--the tribulation--that this gospel would go around the
world and reach all nations and peoples. Then right after
that is accomplished the end of this evil age would come.
Also in Matthew 24 a great persecution of Christians takes
place, which Jesus also predicted in Matthew 10, tied right
to this "end time" push of the gospel message. Could it be
that this push of the gospel message is going to be so powerful
and so extensive that it stirs up a hatred aimed at Christians?
It appears so. But it hasn't happened yet, not in this country
yet (the United States). Why? Because the gospel of the
kingdom isn't going out to the world in sufficient power to
cause this hatred and persecution of Christians on a worldwide
scale that would include the United States. Doesn't that
tell us something? Roughly a third of the Bible is prophecy,
some already fulfilled, but a lot of prophecy is 2nd
coming of the Messiah prophecy, yet to be fulfilled. Then
about a third of the Bible is historical in nature, and about
a third is instructive in nature, showing how we ought to
live spiritually, growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus
Christ. But prophecy does show that when this major push
to evangelize the world is accomplished a lot of the world
will reject the message. If we are to believe Jesus, immediately
following this worldwide dissemination of the gospel (and
its rejection by the world), World War III starts. In this
war, God totally gives this world over to Satan for a 3.5
year span of time (Dispensational Pre-Millennialists believe
it's a 7 year span--no matter, we'll see when it occurs {if
we're still alive}). But God's major lesson to mankind is this: Look and
see what you get when you reject God's invitation to a better
way of life and Eternal Life at the end--you get destruction
and annihilation. Then when the world has had it's fill of
destruction and annihilation, Jesus comes and stops the war,
locks up Satan and the demons and brings salvation to all
who are left alive. The start of a whole new world without
Satan begins and lasts for 1,000 years-a world where the knowledge
of salvation and of God fills the earth as the seas cover
the earth-salvation is freely offered to everyone with no
more blinding influence coming from Satan, everyone's eyes
will be opened to the truth of God (cf. Revelation 19:1-21;
20:1-6; Zechariah 14:1-19; Isaiah 35:1-10; Isaiah 11:1-16;
Ezekiel 36, whole chapter). That's the connection between
Evangelism and prophecy. Both are part of God's lesson plan
for mankind. And as things get close to the beginning of
verse 15 of Matthew 24, we as Christians must be about the
job Jesus gave for us to accomplish, the job he said would
be accomplished before the start of World War III, the tribulation.
So when you read these prophecies, understand, this is God's
lesson plan for mankind. And we Christians have been given
a very important teaching job within that lesson plan of God
to the world. Ask yourself this, why did God leave Satan
and the demons on this planet when he created mankind through
Adam and Eve? God is the ultimate teacher. Jesus was called
Rabbi, Teacher, by his students (disciples). God is teaching
the whole of mankind a lesson He doesn't want forgotten--not
just what His way of life brings--but what Satan's way of
life brings--death. There's a positive and negative side
to God's lesson plan. Some like to avoid
the teaching of all prophecy and stick entirely to teaching
about Christianity. They avoid some of the central lessons
God has to teach about what happens when you follow Satan's
way of life. The
whole gospel is a full-bodied message with a positive element
and a negative element. Even the apostle Paul in his thorough
description of the gospel of Christ in the book of Romans
points out the problem of mankind that the gospel is meant
to address (cf. Romans 1). And prophecy clearly shows the
negative side of the lesson plan--if you ignore the gospel
offer from God, destruction and annihilation will be the end
result. So we see that prophecy, the balanced teaching of
it, is a vital part of God's lesson plan for mankind and Christians
alike. And as we see things getting close to the end, prophecy
should make us want to redouble our efforts to support worldwide
evangelism, and evangelism at all levels. Don't lose sight
of the job God has given you to do as a Christian or Messianic
believer in Yeshua. If you wonder how you could do anything
to support evangelism, that you're just not cut out for that--that's
fine. Your talents may be in the area of nourishing and support
of other Christians and new-believers. But you can always
lend support to those who are doing the job in the international
areas of evangelism, and doing it quite effectively. The
one thing that they do need is steady contributions. (And
it doesn't have to be much. A steady habit of giving is far
more important to the international evangelistic organizations
than the amount you can afford to give.) And that is something
we can all do. This site has a whole section on evangelism,
and the Mission Statement at the bottom of the Homepage shows
some of the ways international evangelism can be supported
(http://www.UNITYINCHRIST.COM/missionstatement.htm
). You can make a difference in how many people are given
an opportunity to chose life instead of death--eternal life!
God says that he places life and death before us, and commands
us to chose life. Deuteronomy 30:15, "See, I have set before
thee this day life and good, and death and evil." That lesson
is spelled out in prophecy and evangelism, when they are properly
coupled together as they should be.
The European nations are receving
a wake-up call, you can bet on that one for sure. Isn't it
high time we as Christians woke up too?
For
a more complete description of what the Bible predicts in
the way of prophecied empires leading up to and including
this final one we have been talking about, i.e the coming
United States of Europe, log onto: http://www.unityinchrist.com/prophecies/2ndcoming_4.htm
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