(Proverbs 19-20; 2 Corinthians 3)

The nation of Israel had everything going for it. After all, when God has specially chosen you to be the focus and recipient of the purpose and destiny He has planned for mankind, surely He would pour out incredible mercy and goodness upon you. That’s certainly the case, but Israel squandered it.

God gave Moses the Ten Commandments to teach the Israelites how to live a holy and righteous life. But these rules were supposed to be just the beginning. In reality, their instruction was to be a tutor and cause for the Jewish people to turn to Yahweh with willing minds and softened hearts. There was a supernatural glory in the Ten Commandments; God’s giving of them to Moses caused such brilliance to come upon him that the people required him to wear a veil. The reality is that he represented the sinlessness of God in that condition, and they – in their sin – couldn’t stand to see such holiness. As these things unfolded, what should have brought life to the Jews actually brought condemnation and death.

This condition has continued for Israel to the present age. Paul describes this in 2 Corinthians 3:14-16:

“But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.”

Because the Jews as a whole have rejected Jesus as Messiah – as God – and continued believing that through the Old Covenant, they will find salvation, God has kept a veil over their minds to keep them from understanding the truth. Indeed, their minds are hardened such that some even persecute Christians for daring to appropriate their Scriptures and ‘distort’ them.

This idea of a hardened mind is not limited to the Jews and their particular situation. It appears to be something that can come upon, not only an individual, but also an entire class of people. It can lead to misunderstanding or misinterpreting information – perhaps even a willful rejection of truth – and result in actual harm to others.

Finding a diversion of shows or movies to watch is difficult when your heart is toward the Lord. The vast majority of such productions include gratuitous sex, language, and/or violence. Even shows that start out well can devolve into celebrating these deviancies. My wife and I had begun watching many series from Netflix (in the past when we subscribed to that) and from Amazon Prime that we had to turn off and walk away from.

Recently, we began watching the PBS-produced Victoria that began in 2016. (https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B01N7IM7RE/) For anyone who enjoyed Downton Abbey, you would probably like Victoria as well. It’s an intriguing fictional representation of Queen Victoria and her reign in the 1800s, which is exceptionally free from moral issues that cause disgust for many of us. (There is one uh-oh storyline in Season 2, but it resolves well.)

In a Season 3 episode, a cholera epidemic hits a certain area in London. No one knows why. The medical establishment is clueless and expresses both their ignorance and biases in diagnosing the causes of the outbreak. Only one doctor takes a true interest in determining the plague’s cause. He researches, goes into the area where the infestation is rampant, and as scientifically as he can for that day, tracks down the reason so many succumb, particularly women and children. It’s because he cares and cares enough to act that they end up finding the source and ending the epidemic. His mind and heart were soft and willing to listen and to learn, unlike those of his colleagues with their hardened minds.

You may guess where I’m going with this. The medical establishment of today is of one uniform, hardened mind as to the causes, prevention, and treatment of COVID and its related issues. From all over the world, there are numerous videos and reports that chronicle the deadly approach doctors and hospitals have used to deal with this planned epidemic. They have abandoned all sane medical practices by declaring that literally everyone has COVID that they see and must be treated accordingly. Any suggestion that a patient may have some other illness – particularly when the specific symptoms indicate this – is disregarded. Patients are dealt with as though by robots, uncaring and unaffected by reasoning from family or friends that counter their programming. I’ve labeled these physicians and their ilk zombie doctors.

There is a dark spiritual aspect to all this. I did a Prophecy Update on this subject called Puppet Master Conspiracy that details the demonic manipulation going on: https://rumble.com/vl06lq-awaken-bible-prophecy-update-8-11-21-puppet-master-conspiracy.html.

A few brave medical professionals have spoken out against the wickedness that is being perpetrated by their colleagues. They are horrified at what they see their beloved profession doing to people they are supposed to be helping. The stand these individuals have taken has been at great cost for many of them. They have been ridiculed and lost their positions at the hospitals they served. They’ve been canceled and deplatformed for daring to speak truth to expose the evil lies perpetrated by Big Pharma, the government, and the lapdog media. Their ability to get out a counter-narrative has been stymied and limited to primarily alternative media sources.

If they’d been allowed to speak freely, the staggering foolishness associated with the whole COVID fiasco – from treating patients only after they were deathly ill, to the extreme vaccine injuries with the massive number of deaths associated with the shots – could have been reduced probably by greater than 75%. This has led many of us to conclude that all this is the result of a planned genocide. Only extremely hardened hearts could be subject to such manipulation.

Is there an answer? Paul states it in 2 Corinthians 3:17:

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”

Only by the grace of Christ can this be comprehended and stopped. Some of the medical rebels know the Lord well, others only in passing, and still more are secular. Regardless, I have no doubt that in one way or another, the Lord has worked in the hearts of all these individuals to speak boldly against the travesty they are seeing. It is Christ who causes these people to act in the interest of others at the expense of their own reputations and careers.

Those of us with a pre-Tribulation Rapture worldview know all that is happening in this regard is preparing the way for the Tribulation. Nothing of what is done in those horrible seven years originates without preparation. There is a progression of events that occurs, from devising the technical aspects necessary to institute the worldwide system for controlling buying and selling, to the conditioning of people to obey and eventually worship the son of perdition. All this and more paves the way for Antichrist’s Beast System.

It all begins with minds that are hardened. The only solution is Jesus. The world as we know it isn’t going to get any better. The demonic realm and their human minions are operating at warp speed. They will not relent, as they see NOW as their time to strike. God is allowing this so as to define His true church. When the conditions are right, He will remove us to allow all these wicked actors to have their way, even as He pours out His wrath upon the world.

While we wait for our blessed hope, let’s continue to stand boldly for Jesus. Perhaps even some of these with hardened minds will see the light.

[Author Note: Briefly, I want to set the stage for you as to the nature of most of my articles in this season. Each year I read the Bible through completely at least once – that has been my practice since I came to the Lord in 2005. I remain astounded at what God has done in my life because of that discipline! Each day I read from both the Old and New Testaments. I choose a verse from one of those passages and write my commentary and reflection based on that. In the title of my article, you’ll see the verse I chose. In addition, you’ll see the reading for that day if you’d like to follow along with greater context.]

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Gary W. Ritter is a lay pastor, Bible teacher, and prolific author. His Whirlwind Series comprises three books: Sow the Wind, Reap the Whirlwind, and There Is A Time. These books are contained in the collected volume of the Whirlwind Omnibus. Gary has been given the Christian Redemptive Fiction award for three novels: The Tattooed Cat, Alien Revelation, and for his collaboration with Terry James in writing The Minion Protocols, the third book in James’ Second Coming Chronicles.

Earlier this year, Gary released a four-volume set of Awaken Bible Study Notes that comment verse-by-verse through Scripture from a Biblical prophetic lens. He is currently editing a sequel to Alien Revelation called Alien Zombie Plague, which he plans to release later in the fall of 2021. Recently, Gary wrote a novella for the new Kindle Vella platform. That story is called Tribulation Rising: Seal Judgments – The Coming Apocalypse. This seven-part short work can be found at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B099Z462WD.

Each day this year, Gary has been writing commentary and reflections based on his reading through the Bible in a year. The intent in all his writings is to bring a strong Christian witness to what people read. You can see all his books and blog articles and reach him at his website:www.GaryRitter.com or his Facebook Author page: https://www.facebook.com/gritter3390. You can also see his older video Bible teachings on his Gary Ritter YouTube channel – look for the fish symbol, and more recently on Rumble on his Awaken Bible Prophecy channel: https://rumble.com/c/c-783217.

 

In a song recorded by the late Jim Reeves, we have the lyrics, “This world is not my home; I’m just a-passin’ through. My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue. The angels beckon me from Heaven’s open door. And I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.” With all that’s taking place in this world today, this fits perfectly. (ESV – all emphasis mine)

Now add to this song the first stanza of Beulah Land by Squire Parsons, and we get even closer to an event that is just about to take place. “I’m kind of homesick for a country to which I’ve never been before. No sad goodbyes will there be spoken. For time won’t matter anymore.”

Please know that in no way am I going to set a date or time, but Jesus Himself told us what to watch for just before He returns for us. The return will be twofold; first, the Rapture, then about 7 years later, His actual return to earth to rule from Jerusalem for one thousand years. The event all true believers are looking for is the “taking us up” to meet the Savior in the air and avoid being caught in the 7-year wrath/tribulation, as promised by the Father.

There are some people who think this is all foolishness (1 Corinthians 1:18), but the day will come that they will wish they had listened a bit more. God does not waste time on foolishness, and He has always fulfilled exactly what He said He would do.

Going to 2 Timothy 2:22-23, “So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know they breed quarrels.”

It would be safe to say there’s a whole bunch of quarreling going on today.

I received a post from a reader that included the seven Jewish feasts that take place each year. In the spring are Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits and Pentecost. These are all described in Leviticus 23, and these first four have been fulfilled by Jesus’ death, resurrection, and giving the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Then, there are the fall feasts of Rosh Hashana (Yom Teruah), Yom Kippur and Tabernacles. These are said to represent the “Blowing of the Trumpet; Day of Atonement and Established Kingdom. These are celebrated but have not been fulfilled as yet. That will be the day and hour that no one knows. I am not saying the Rapture is destined to fall on any Jewish day of celebration, as God’s appointed time could be any day, any hour, and even any second now.

The main thing we are to watch for are the “signs of the end of this age.” The post that I received asked if there might be something different this year than in years past. How about global chaos, increased levels of crime, violence, suicides, immorality, natural disasters, threats of war, and plagues? How about earthquakes in places where they normally do not occur? If the news media would broadcast the real truth, we could see the Bible is accurate to a fault. If more people would believe in God’s word, there would be celebrating and joy worldwide in anticipation of being oh so close to going Home.

One more time for Luke 21:28; “When all these things begin to happen, look up, for our Salvation is near.” Matthew 24:44; “You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.”

Habakkuk 1:2-4 asks hard questions, and an answer is in verse 5; “O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to You “violence,” and you will not save? Why do You make me see iniquity, and why do you idly look at wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise. So the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous; so justice goes forth perverted.”

And then God’s response in verse 5; “Look among the nations and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told.”

It would be difficult for anyone to convince me that the weather changes, fires, so-called pandemic, and whatever else are strictly coincidences. People are turning away from Jesus and turning toward earthly junk faster and faster. Satan and his demons are in hyperdrive.

It’s as if our Creator is trying to get our attention and just maybe cause us to seek repentance. He doesn’t want to see anyone condemned forever and will gladly accept all who would truly call out to be saved (2 Peter 3:9; Romans 10:13). There are revivals taking place, but not so much in America. They are in countries such as Iran, China, North Korea and Africa, just to name a few. Those are places where Christian persecution is out in the open, yet people are still calling out to Jesus to be their Savior. Presently in Afghanistan, the Taliban is checking people’s cell phones, and if a Bible app is found, that person is immediately killed.

America was founded because of religious persecutions, and one of the Bill of Rights issues is “Freedom Of Religion,” or the free exercise thereof. There is also the Right of the People to peaceably assemble and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

This amendment is so misquoted that sometimes it totally loses its original design. “Establishment of Religion, or the free exercise thereof” specifically states all can worship or not as they choose. The only time this should be challenged is if any particular group of worshippers is being persecuted or in the event that a “religion” promotes human sacrifice. The idea of freedom from religion is something that has been going around for about two decades from the anti-Jesus groups.

In Matthew 24:11, Jesus said, “And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray.” Then, 2 Timothy 4:3-4; “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth, and wander off into myths.”

With just these verses, would it be safe to say Jesus, Paul and others were reporting exactly what is happening today? It’s getting more difficult to find an organized evangelical church that is strictly providing God’s true word. People are being told what they want to hear, and that excludes sin that is in their lives. A song years ago had the line, “Don’t worry; Be happy.” Some will be “happy” all the way to the Great White Throne. Peter tells us to always be prepared to give a defense to anyone who asks why we have such Hope, but to do so in a respectful way (1 Peter 3:15).

There are studies today that show people under 40 are turning away from the truth and toward a pluralistic worldview that says Buddha, Muhammad and Jesus are all equal ways to Salvation (Probe Ministries). That study also showed 30% of the people interviewed believe Jesus was not sinless while He was on this earth.

Those of us who still believe in the “ABC Pathway” to Salvation have just about “worn out our welcome” here. First and foremost, God could only accept pure, sinless blood for our sin-sacrifice, and only He could provide this for us.

We must admit (confess) that we are sinners, Believe Jesus is the only true Son of God that willingly gave Himself to die on a cruel cross in our place at Calvary, and have faith that God raised Him from the dead. Finally, we must call on Jesus to be our Savior and to forgive us so we can be with Him forever. Verses that cover all this are John 14:6; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:23; Romans 8:1; and Romans 10:9-13.

Any time a sinner repents, this earth may give it a “ho-hum,” but the angels in Heaven rejoice for us (Luke 15:10). I would so much rather have accolades from the Heavenly Host than from all the humans on this earth.

Time is getting closer, and every sign given in Matthew 24, Luke 21, 2 Timothy 3, and 1 John 2 through 5 are here right now. All who have followed the ABCs need not be concerned when that “twinkling of an eye” (1 Corinthians 15:52) takes place because our Jesus has already prepared a place in Heaven for us (John 14:1-3).

Those who refuse to accept the Savior will be separated from Him forever in the Lake of Fire (Revelation 20:11-15). The “Don’t Worry – Be Happy” can have a very wonderful meaning for all who are truly a part of the Savior’s flock (John 10).

Don’t be left out and left behind; call on Jesus today because tomorrow could be too late.

Come, Lord Jesus.

huebshman46@gmail.com