Termites (wrongly called “white ants”) can be nasty things. Australia is overrun by termites; in fact, uncountable millions of termite mounds. There are those in the bush that build big mounds, some up to 8 metres or 26 feet tall built by the Cathedral Termite. Every shape and size can be found, and one species, the Magnetic Termite, builds with all ridges in a north-south orientation. Most termites in Australia are in the tropical region, the whole of the top half of the country, often in the dry tropics where grass and spinifex are what the termites consume. Some mounds are over 100 years old, while others can be almost 100 feet around.

Of the 258 described species of Australian termites, only a few are devastating, but they are very widespread. These are the wood-eating ones and love moist conditions, especially the wet tropics but have a very extensive range. Many live underground. Most of these are really bad. They get into houses and eat out rafters, beams and house posts, even the floorboards. In farming country, they eat fencing posts and farming structures and dead trees. They often eat out the core of living trees.  Some even eat through concrete block.

The problem with these destructive species is that you don’t see them, usually, until it is too late.  They live underground, and when above ground, keep making narrow tunnels of dirt and saliva less than a pencil thickness to keep moisture in and light out. To a person’s horror, yes, it has happened to me a few times, you can push a painted beam or strut or post and realize it is hollow; all the inside has been eaten out. It has the appearance of soundness, but what lies beneath the exterior has disappeared. The termites have eaten it from the inside out.

This has given rise to the term “white-anting,” meaning to bring down a foe through that strategy, eating away at the person’s credibility or reputation in a subtle attack, often without the person’s knowledge. That is how to undermine someone. It is satanic. Satan is a destructive termite!

In all my life, I have never seen such a sustained attack on any political figure as I have seen on Donald Trump. He has been white-anted from the moment he took office, every day. I don’t think I have seen such hatred and vindictiveness anywhere as we have seen from the Democrats and left Marxists, not only in the USA, but from other parts of the world – and sad to say, from my Australia.  The left media, and especially the taxpayer funded ABC and SBS, constantly spewed such hate against Trump over the 4 years, and he was not even our leader.

I am sorry to say this, but a very sizeable portion of American society has turned vindictive and vile, and this is an outsider’s observation. I don’t live there. I have never been to mainland USA. Only hateful, wicked people could turn violent and smash up the livelihood of others and loot their shops and belongings while half the nation does not care that it happens, and almost seems to support the lawlessness. It does support lawlessness because half the nation voted that way.

Why is there such hatred and venom against Trump? The only answers I can find are these –

1. He supports the Jews and the State of Israel and Jerusalem the capital. Satan hates that!
2. For 4 years he stopped the satanic advance of the left, and they revile him because of it.
3. He supports freedom of speech and worship.
4. He opposes abortion and believes in the right to life.
5. He did not pander to the influential elite.

Let me say this: when a man or woman is opposed so vehemently by institutions such as CNN, NY Times, Washington Post, Twitter and Facebook, then that person must be in the right because we know those organizations are foul. How do we know that? Well, the same thing happened to our Lord. His rightness exposed their evil. He did not belong to the controlling elite. He worked for man’s salvation, not their destruction. His dealings were with the ordinary people, and He did not resort to bribes. The powerful institutions, such as the Pharisees and political conniving of the Jewish leaders and the Sanhedrin, hated Him, so He was in the right.

One of the readers of RR wrote to me and said, “Trump was not a man of God (as we understand that term), but he was God’s man for the nation to repent.” The nation did not repent but grew worse with treacherous leadership in a number of states and worthless people running riot. Now that the restraints are removed and wickedness will prowl the presidency, I fear for the United States. Especially do I feel for my fellow Christians who will know the hand of evil expression as I am seeing in my country from these very same people-types, these people without morals or conscience, these neo-Marxists, these men and women of the devil.

Just today, I read these headlines –

[1.]   “Biden must put down the monster that is Trumpism” – Washington Post

[2.]   “Madame Tussauds in Berlin dumps Donald Trump’s waxwork model in a dustbin with Joe Biden on the brink of winning presidency” – The Daily Mail

[3.]   Russia, Iran, the PLO and China are reported as being absolutely thrilled that Biden is President.

[4.]  “Third Term of the Obama Presidency – Joe Biden represents a move back to normalcy, but progressives will push for change.”  – NY Times

President Trump was white-anted from the time he became president. Why would we have such vitriol against Trump here in Australia all the time? Have you wondered why? Whether they know it or not, or if it is deliberate or not, the left is unified in bringing down the remnants of decency in our countries. It looks like a coordinated army of the wicked, but I am not sure if that has been planned by world socialism. What I do know is that the mastermind behind all these things is Satan, and he is organizing it, and maybe all the left advocates are merely puppets in his hands.

Why does the world succumb so readily? Well, it is the scientific principle of the vacuum. When you remove God from schools, from the workplace, from the family, from our institutions, from our legal and justice systems, then what is left? A gigantic vacuum that is filled by wickedness and that is synonymous with the Marxist left.

This next point I have written on before in an article called, “The Rapture – How Soon is Soon?” In that I stated that 30 and 40 years ago we used to say the Rapture could be imminent, but in hindsight, we are beginning to understand the import of the Timothy verse – “In the last days…”

All over the world we see these perilous/dangerous times, and I believe it is probably applying to Christians, maybe not so much to the world in general.

Just an hour ago I heard of an incident that is sickening. The government of my State, when it obtained office quite a number of years ago, dismissed all magistrates who were not of the ALP (Australian Labor Party – same as Democrats) (the Marxist left) and replaced them by its own people. These magistrates, pure socialists, are soft on crime. One youth (I dare not mention the ethnic background) raped a woman and was told by a magistrate, “Don’t do it again,” with no penalty whatever. The youth was placed in these secret houses in our society, and we don’t know where they are placed, but they have everything. I have just heard that same one attacked another woman. This is the left for you. No biblical conscience, just faces of evil.

There is a hatred in Australia from the ALP (our equivalent of the Democrats), and they have been having a field day. There is a move in Australia today to identify and denounce all the Trump supporters in my nation. This is what happens in China! Evil unites degenerate people all over the world, but it is only now, I believe, that there are two unifying factors for what is consolidating unity in the world. They are Socialism (the new Marxism) and Climate Change. Does Biden ascribe to both? He certainly does. We can see where this is going. It is calling on the world to unite behind Biden’s move on climate change. Even that naïve, deluded young girl in Sweden is his supporter. Who could ever have guessed!

Climate change itself is a myth. There is no true evidence for it, only manipulated figures; and even if we grant a small temperature increase, it is utterly unproven that any man-made activity is responsible for it. Science does not understand the great changes that occur in the oceans and in the sun, and in the long cycles of the earth. 1,000 years ago, the world was several degrees warmer than today, and there were no cars or power stations. That is fact. Then the earth entered a mini ice age.  That is fact. We may be coming out of that now.

However, this climate-change nonsense is the catalyst being used to unite the people of the world.  It is drummed into our school children. I believe by the time the Rapture comes, the world will be quite united in these key areas – socialism and climate change. The transition to the world leader/Antichrist after the Rapture will, therefore, be quite seamless.

Just for a short while, let us return to the Termites.

“Termites emit a tenth of the overall emissions humans create every year, in terms of anthropogenic fossil fuel emissions,” Arndt said via email on October 29, 2019. This academic study, written by academics in Japan, Malaysia and the UK in 2000, estimated termites emit 3,540 teragrams, or 3.54 gigatonnes of CO² in a year.

How much is that? A gigatonne is 1,000,000,000 metric tonnes, so 3.54 gigatonnes is 3,540,000,000 metric tonnes of CO². That is the equivalent weight of 35,400 fully-loaded U.S. aircraft carriers. [Information from https://factcheck.afp.com/its-other-way-around-termites-produce-approximately-one-tenth-carbon-dioxide-emissions-created].

Maybe we should tax the termites, or teach them to walk less, or put them on birth control to contain climate change! Those looney policies could easily come from the left. Apparently, Biden wants to “pull Australia into line” over climate change. We have only a small handful of coal- powered stations using the world’s best coking (good quality) coal from Queensland, and Australia produces around 1% of the world’s emissions. Biden can mind his own business. Maybe he can deal with our termites! I wonder if he knows what a termite is? The “termite army” certainly helped him gain office!

I have noticed that in the United States, there is despair coming from some quarters that you are on the road to decline. I agree about the decline as I have seen the same progression here. I get very upset about injustice and our human ability not to be able to correct it. I believe we are in the age when we won’t be able to turn the tide around. I believe the western world has had its chance, and now it is only the twos and threes that are being plucked from the fire. The hearts of men and women are steadily hardening and becoming intolerant.

Tolerance is a strong word used frequently by the left; indeed, preached by the left. They want tolerance and justice for all, but their skewed mentality means they want justice and tolerance for all of their own beliefs, but those of others must be suppressed.

What can we be instructed on from the Bible? It is now, more than ever in our western nations, that we need the support and security of the Bible. I have a few things to say about that to Christians.

1. We must keep in mind the prophecy of Timothy, and I have underlined certain words – 2Timothy 3:1-4 “Realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come, for men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.”

Yes, I know these sinful aspects have always been in humanity, but the display of them today is absolutely frightening.

2. God uses difficulty and persecution to sift the profession. The sieve has some large holes, and many fall through. All those who know the Lord know these verses – 2Timothy 3:12 “Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. 2Tim. 3:13 Evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.” Christians, take note: as things worsen because of evil men who will go from bad to worse, then if you want to be a good soldier of Jesus Christ, you will be persecuted; not may be, or perhaps, but WILL be persecuted. Are we prepared to do that for the Lord who died for us?
3. Do not be afraid of the evil of men, for the Lord is in control – Luke 12:4 “I say to you, ‘My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.’” Reports on the number of Christians martyred yearly vary considerably. Open Doors USA says 11 on average are killed daily. The BBC London for one year gave 100,000 but that included the Christian genocide in The Congo. The true figures are unknown but could be quite high. Remember, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.
4. Rejoice, for your salvation draws closer every day. We are looking to the glorious hope of the Lord’s return for us in the Rapture, and this is our focus. Just beware of one thing – some Christians get so occupied with injustices and the evil in the world, that their upward look starts to become the downward look, and they get miserable. Keep looking up.
5. The prophesied events must happen, and all the great ones of the Tribulation we will not be here for; but in many ways, we see a part alignment of what is necessary. We can be satisfied in that.
6. Let not your hearts be troubled. We believe in God, and all these things must happen in the course of events, so we are not dismayed; disappointed, even angry, yes, but not caught unawares. The Lord is in control. Thy will be done!

One last thing. I don’t believe we can underestimate the part the Chinese virus has played in the events of the world. China developed this Covid through laboratory manipulation then spread it through the world. Their aim to weaken the world has worked, but it has also had causalities. The government of my State was corrupt and was heading for a landslide defeat, but people were deluded in believing that the government saved the State from the virus and returned it with an increased majority. I think Covid played a big part in defeating Donald Trump, exploited by the Democrats. However, and WE MUST NOT FORGET THIS – In the will of God, He allowed the virus, and the subsequent implications.

As the old negro spiritual goes, “He’s got the whole world in His hands…”

The Lord bless you all.

ronaldf@aapt.net.au

An Exposition

Luke 19:36-44: “A Grand Procession and A Dire Prophecy”

“And as He was going, they were spreading their garments in the road. And as He was now approaching near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles they had seen, saying:

‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the LORD,

‘Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!’

“And some of the Pharisees in the multitude said to Him, ‘Teacher, rebuke Your disciples. And He answered and said, ‘I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out!’

“And when He approached, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, ‘If you had known this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. For the days shall come upon you when your enemies will throw up a bank before you, and surround you, and hem you in on every side, and will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.’” (Luke 19:36-44, NASB).

Let us get an issue settled here and now, especially those of you who read these expositions and articles that I have presented over the months. What we are examining is in no way, shape, or form even remotely defined as a mere legend or myth. The story of Jesus Christ is not the product of anonymous Bedouin sages that have been embellished over the years, nor is it the end product of a conspiracy from a group of peasants who were so devoted to the cause and words of their devout but misguided teacher that they formulated a scheme to carry on the mission of Jesus and transform it into what we refer to as the “Church.”

The words and deeds of Jesus are not on par with tales of legendary Graeco-Roman “heroes” that have been collected by scholars such as H.D.F. Kitto in his work on the ancient Greeks, or by Will Durant and his multivolume history of the world. Nor can they be found in the writings of Edith Hamilton and her work on mythology. The undisputable fact that Jesus Christ is a literal historical figure is verified by well-known authorities such as Dr. Bart Ehrman, Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina and is known as the author of books such as Misquoting Jesus (2005), Jesus interrupted (2006), and The Triumph of Christianity (2019).

This work, along with others, presented questions on the authority and accuracy of Scripture. This viewpoint is unique and interesting, considering that he is one of the most recognized and notable experts on the origins and structure of the New Testament.

There are other works which support conservative views of Scriptural authority, such as from the pen of Dr. Norman Geisler, late dean of Southern Evangelical Seminary and the author of numerous books on Christian doctrine and apologetics (defense of the Christian faith). He co-authored The Popular Handbook of Archaeology and the Bible (2013) listing non-Biblical, non-Christian sources such as:

• Flavius Josephus (Antiquities of the Jews),
• the Babylonian Talmud (Jewish rabbinical commentaries on the Scriptures, their interpretations, and traditions),
• Pliny the Younger (a contemporary of the Emperor Hadrian),
• Tacitus (author of a history of the Caesars),
• and others such as Mara Ben-Serapion, Suetonius, Thallus, Lucian, Phlegmon, and Celsus.

Each of these men mention the historical figure of Jesus and His teachings in their histories, most of them composed only a short period after His death and resurrection. These Roman and Jewish contemporaries had the following conclusions concerning Jesus and His work:

• Jesus lived during the reign of Tiberius Caesar (14-37 A.D.)
• He lived a virtuous life.
• He was a wonder worker.
• He had a brother named James.
• He was claimed to be the Messiah.
• He was crucified under Pontius Pilate.
• He was crucified on the eve of Passover.
• Darkness and an earthquake occurred when He died.
• His disciples believed He rose from the dead.
• Christianity spread as far as Rome.
• His disciples were willing to die for their beliefs.
• Christian disciples denied the Roman gods and worshipped Jesus as God.

(Geisler, Norman, and Holden, Joseph. The Popular Handbook of Archaeology and the Bible, Eugene, OR., Harvest House Publishers, 2013, pp.295-296).

Other scholars and apologists such as Dr. Frank Turek, Daniel Wallace, Darrell Bock, Sean McDowell, Josh McDowell, Ravi Zacharias, R.C. Sproul, D. James Kennedy, Randall Price, John Walvoord, Bruce Metzger, Walter Kaiser, Gary Habermas, James White, J. Warner Wallace, John MacArthur, W.A. Criswell, and organizations such as Associates for Biblical Research all affirm not just the historical fact of Jesus, but of the accuracy and evidence obtained from ancient manuscripts, archaeological discoveries, topical research, historiography, archival resources, and testimonials that also give credence and truth to the claims and work of Jesus Christ as well.

The accepted narrative of a legend or myth is that the hero conquers his foes, rights all wrongs, rewards his compatriots, rescues his princess or damsel, and ends with a life of victory, praises, wealth, comfort, and an eternal entrance into an afterlife where all is well and all turns out right at that time. All His compatriots have been loyal and steadfast, brave, intrepid, men of courage and superhuman strength ready to go to war and do deeds of valor, or so it goes.

This story-weaving occurs over a long period of time, usually centuries, and is careful to leave out or refute any instances where the main characters are cowards or incapable of performing their duty, or anything else that would be humiliating or embarrassing. No bad deeds or words would ever be presented, and each character would be flawless, almost superhuman, and possess some empathy for the less-favored. Women would have been secondary characters with no real value except to be the object of chivalry and less so as a contributor to the legitimacy of the story. A central factor about the heroes of legends is that they tended not to meet a humiliating death at the hands of their foes, or be ridiculed, spat on, mocked, hated by those whom he came to help, nor to be abandoned.

The entirety of the Scriptures goes against this pagan narrative and presents people as they are in all their questionable character, reprobate behavior, acts of maliciousness, scandals and underhandedness, deceit, piety, and overall hatred of God and His Holy nature and decree. The Bible tends to not cover up anything, because it is written to show us without apology or excuse that these are real people like you and I with real sins and problems. They pretend to be brave on the surface but run or cower when faced with a problem or dilemma.

In this story of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, we find an actual event of history, the fulfillment of prophecy, and the hard reality of what our LORD was about to face in terms of being the perfect, sinless sacrifice on behalf of our sins. He would face a time of pain and terror that we could not comprehend or endure, either physically or mentally. He would undergo the loss of unity with God the Father and take upon His sinless nature the sins for which we should be justly punished and cast into hell for all time.

As both God and man, the Lord Jesus knew that as He was being escorted through the streets of Jerusalem amid the cheering and adulation of the crowds – who were hoping that He would be the One who would destroy the Romans and establish the kingdom of Israel – these same people who were shouting praises this day would be part of the crowd calling for Him to be crucified in a matter of days. He had not fulfilled their misguided definition of the role and purpose of God’s “Messiah” (Anointed One), being that of a conqueror /warrior like King David. He was and is the promised “Suffering Servant” so clearly described in the book of the prophet Isaiah (Chapter 53) as the One who would redeem us from our sins and conquer the real foe – evil itself and its source. The people of Israel had clung to one interpretation, totally blind to the fact that they needed salvation on a spiritual level and not national.

Patriotism and religious observation will not get anyone, no matter how pious, into heaven, and to ignore and throw away the promise of salvation by the gracious mercy of God through Christ ended with a declaration of a coming, horrendous judgment from God for their wanton and deliberate unbelief.

The hero of this narrative, if it were merely a legend or myth, would have never been found or studied in the annals of other civilizations because of the abrupt ending, being a horrendous death on an instrument of torture without hope or rescue from anyone. His followers all ran away, His enemies seemed to be triumphant, there are too many embarrassing details to hide, it seems that the Supreme Being Who initiated this plan of redemption and rescue had failed, and the events are not made up but are historically validated, so no one can claim otherwise.

Indeed, if this was the entirety of the story of Jesus, the concept of the church, faith, hope, doctrine, evangelism, testimony, the need for Scripture, the nature and promises of God, the idea of resurrection, the stories of brave martyrs, the work of the apostles, or even a record of their very existence would be totally irrelevant, foolish, and a waste of time and effort on anyone’s part. For Jesus to have been a mere misunderstood and deluded Judean sage would have relegated Him to oblivion and any hope we might have of peace and assurance beyond this life.

The Lord Jesus is not some Semitic guru Who operates above the level of perceived consciousness or whatever some misguided souls tend to proclaim, nor is He one to wink and let us get by with works and words that produce nothing but self-centeredness and evil. He plays no favorites, and if He is as the Scriptures and the Words of His own testimony declare, then He is to be worshipped, glorified, honored, praised, and yes, feared for the Holy Sovereign Lord and God He clearly claims to be.

As we now begin to witness the Passion week of our LORD in the following chapters of Luke’s Gospel, we know that because of His gracious act of love on the cross, He put aside the weapon of destruction that He could have rightfully used on His enemies. By stretching out His arms to be nailed on that horrid method of execution, He embraced us. By His actions, He took us into His care where we would no longer be strangers and enemies but as His friends and family for all time, if we would but bow before Him, confess our sins, and embrace Him as Lord and Savior this day.

He will bear the sword of heroism and victory when He comes back to rule and reign as King and Conqueror, and we will be with Him on that great and glorious day. He promised. After all He is the Hero of the story, right? Heroes always win in the end. Hallelujah!

donaldwhitchard@gmail.com

www.donaldwhitchard.com