Biblical Prophecy Preserves My Sanity :: By Jonathan Brentner

Published on: by RR7 Category:General Articles

I would go crazy if not for the words of Scripture. I emphasize “words” because that remains Satan’s chief target as it has been through the ages. In the Garden of Eden, he challenged the veracity of God’s Word, and his tactics remain unchanged to this day.

Paul wrote this about the prominence of deception in the last days in 1 Timothy 4:1, “Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared.” “Teachings,” of course, come to us through words that our adversary twists to further his deception of the saints.

Notice the reference to seared consciences. The medical term “cauterize” comes from the Greek word for “seared.” Medically, it refers to destroying tissue to stop bleeding. Spiritually, it refers to a loss of sensitivity to the truth that makes one easily deceived by the “teachings of demons.”

We see this in the world; we all know someone so entrenched in the spirit of this age that they have become incapable of receiving the truth. We cannot have a conversation with them apart from being subject to untrue accusations.

Sadly, this same deceptive spirit has crept into the church via a relentless attack on the words of Scripture that has “seared” the receptivity of many to the truth, especially in the area of biblical prophecy. Once our adversary successfully attacks truth in the area of future things, this gives him an avenue to attack other Biblical texts, especially those related to morality and the Gospel.

It’s the words of Scripture, however, that give us hope today. Its prophetic texts long ago predicted the lawlessness, violence, and wickedness that we see consuming our world. It’s through words that the Lord assures us of our hope in His appearing and of His intent to judge the rampant wickedness of our day. Words form the basis of our “blessed hope” (Titus 2:11-13) and describe our future home in the eternal state (see Revelation 21-22).

Our adversary, the father of lies, works relentlessly to keep our hope of a glorious paradise shrouded in a cloud of doubt. He has many tactics that negate the hope found in biblical texts regarding our future.

Allegory Robs Believers of Hopeful Living in Chaotic Times

The use of allegory to interpret Scripture began with Philo, an Alexandrian Jew who lived during the time of Christ. He admired the teachings of the philosopher Plato who taught that all matter was evil and only the spirit realm was good.

Much to the dismay of the rabbis of his day, Philo allegorized the Old Testament in order “to offer the Greeks the best of Judaism and the Jews the best of Greek philosophy.” [i] Philo reinterpreted God’s Word with the use of allegory to make it comply with Plato, the pagan philosopher.

Philo’s symbolical approach to Scripture later became the pattern for a “new school of theological thought” within the church.”[ii] In the second century AD, two Christian teachers from the city of Alexandria copied Philo’s allegorical approach to God’s Word. Clement (AD 150-215) “embraced Greek philosophy and maintained that Scripture must be understood allegorically so as not to contradict it.”[iii] Origen (AD 185-254) used allegory to make the teachings of the Bible comply with Plato’s dualism.

Clement and Origen dismissed the idea of the millennium because its abundant material blessings contradicted the teachings of Plato, who explained them away with the use of allegory.

Augustine, also an admirer of Plato, adopted the allegorical methods of Alexandria, and with his popularity, expanded the compromised teachings of Origen to the whole of the organized church.

Both Luther and Calvin recognized the considerable damage the use of allegory had done to the purity of the Gospel. Calvin characterized the allegorical approach to God’s Word as “satanic” because it led people away from the truth of Scripture. [iv] Luther joined with Calvin in firmly denouncing the use of such symbolism to interpret God’s word.

However, it was not until a century later that teachers began to apply the Biblical interpretation methods of the Reformers to prophecy and the revival of premillennialism began in the church.

“What’s the big deal?” one might ask. “How does allegory rob believers today of hope?”

It does so by calling into question the foundations of their Gospel hope, that of Jesus’ appearing and our reign with Jesus in His kingdom. If Revelation 20:1-10 does not mean what it says, how can we trust the words of Revelation 21-22 and, in particular, those of 21:4?

Allegory shrouds the Gospel hope of the saints in a dense fog of uncertainty.

If Clear Prophetic Texts Do Not Mean What They Say . . .

Amillennialists tell us that God has forever rejected the nation of Israel and replaced her with the church. This, however, contradicts the words of Romans 11:1-2a, “I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew.”

Do you see the uncertainty this adds with just this one instance of words not meaning what they say? Paul says, “God has not rejected his people,” and yet those who advocate replacement theology tell us He has done exactly that.

In 1 Chronicles 16:14-18, David verifies the permanent nature of God’s promise of the Land to Abraham, Isaac, and the descendants of Jacob. In verse 17, the Lord refers to this covenant as “everlasting.”

God could not make any clearer the permanence of His covenant of the land with Israel than He did in this text. Why would He say the promise of land is “an everlasting covenant” if He did not intend for it to be “an everlasting covenant?” And if the Lord says a covenant is “everlasting,” then it is most certainly “everlasting”; it will never come to an end. If we cannot take the words of Scripture for what they say, then upon what does our hope for eternal life rest?

The words of Isaiah 9:6-7 provide a clear picture of the future Messiah. No one doubts that Jesus came into the world as a baby, as verse 6 tells us. Christ literally fulfilled this prophecy. It’s also clear from this passage that the Messiah will someday sit on the “throne of David” and rule over a physical kingdom. The naysayers of our hope, however, look at us with a straight face and tell us it does not mean that Jesus will sit on the “throne of David.”

We do not need Lieutenant Columbo to tell us the confusion that arises when someone tells us that the words of Scripture do not mean what they say.

Our hope as Bible-believing followers of Christ is based on the words of Scripture and God’s promise to us of everlasting life.

The Certain Hope of Bible Prophecy

The apostle Paul, in Philippians 3:20-21, places our imminent expectation as New Testament saints squarely on the appearing of Jesus, “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.” The word for “await” in the Greek signifies intense, eager anticipation of a future event.

The New Testament is clear; Jesus is coming to take His own to the place He has prepared for us (John 14:1-3). As I explain in other articles, this cannot be the Second Coming. If the words of Scripture matter, and they do, the rapture and Second Coming must point to separate and unique events.

Only a literal understanding of Bible prophecy puts the events of our world in a proper perspective that relieves the fears of believers.

What we now see in our world is what the Lord said would happen in the last days and that, like birth pains, these things will get much worse before Jesus returns to earth (Matt. 24:8). The wickedness and vileness all around will dishearten us at times, but we know these things must happen because that is what God’s word says would happen. Since biblical prophecy so accurately predicted the mad rush to a New World Order that we see today, we can be certain of its assurance of a glorious new day for us.

Jesus is coming soon to take us home (John 14:2-3). He’s not coming to be where we are at but is coming to take us to be where He is, that being His Father’s house in heaven. We may suffer in the coming days and perhaps face much physical danger, but we have a sure hope that Jesus is coming for us because that is what the words of Scripture promise us!

Pastor Tom Hughes recently stated a statistic that only two percent of millennials today have a biblical world outlook. Admittedly, many reasons exist for this sad number. But could this also be the result of them growing up in churches where the words of Scripture did not really mean what they say?

The heart of biblical worldview is knowing the prophetic context for what we see today and that we find in the words of Scripture. Once pastors or teachers undermine those words with a future that rejects the Lord restoring a future kingdom for Israel, it’s not long before a false worldview takes hold of those in the pews, one that ignores how current events line up the words of the Bible.

You see, it’s the words of the book of Revelation that warn us of the nearness of the tribulation, provide a biblical context for what is coming, and give us assurance of the Lord’s ultimate victory over the wickedness of the world, Satan, and death.

The same words of biblical prophecy assure us of Jesus’ appearing to take us home to the place He’s preparing for us ahead of the time of wrath that’s coming on the world.

The words of Scripture matter; they are God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

I cannot speak for anyone else, but it’s the words of Scripture alone that keep me sane as I watch demon-controlled anarchists and globalists relentlessly deceive people and work for the destruction of the United States so they can submit its people to a Marxist totalitarian New World Order. It’s because, regardless of what happens here below, I know a better day is coming. Paradise will begin the moment Jesus appears and we depart from the earth for a little while.

Jonathan Brentner

Website: Our Journey Home

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E-mail: Jonathanbrentner@yahoo.com

[i] Randy Alcorn, Heaven (Carol Stream: Tyndale House Publishers, 2004), p. 477.

[ii] Ibid.

[iii] Ibid.

[iv] Bernard Ramm, Protestant Biblical Interpretation (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House 1970), p. 58.

Oct 26, 2020

Published on: by RR7 Category:Nearing Midnight

What Makes Hypersonic Missiles So Dangerous?

What has kept the world safe from nuclear war over the past 60 years is the concept of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD). This principle is founded on the notion that a nuclear attack by one superpower would be met with an overwhelming nuclear counterattack such that both the attacker and the defender would be annihilated.

For about two years I’ve been reading about the Russians’ advancement in hypersonic missiles. I didn’t understand the significance of Moscow’s ability to deliver nuclear weapons at vastly faster speeds until I watched a recent YouTube news video on the subject.

If a conventional nuclear missile is launched against a target in the US from Russia, it would take about 30 minutes for the missile to travel from Russia to the US. A hypersonic missile can cut this travel time down by several minutes. Because a hypersonic missile can fly at a very low altitude, it can avoid radar detection. This means an attack on Western targets can occur within a few minutes.

A Russian nuclear submarine off the coast of Louisiana could strike at Offutt, AFB command system in Nebraska and take out our ability to launch a counter strike. In 1948, Air Force Secretary Stuart Symington chose to headquarter the Air Force’s crucial long-range atomic strike force at Offutt primarily because the base was centrally located on the North American continent – placing it well beyond the existing range of potentially hostile bombers or missiles.

The planes that transmit launch codes would be able to get airborne before Offutt was destroyed by a nuclear strike. A hypersonic missile would now be able to span the 850 miles distance between Offutt and the Gulf of Mexico in less than eight minutes. Since it would take three minutes to sound the alarm, there would not be enough time to get the doomsday planes into the sky.

The president and the Pentagon would have almost no time to react. Being only a few miles from the Atlantic Ocean, a hypersonic missile attack would take out the DC area at a speed measured in seconds. A surprise attack on the organizations that have the launch codes could leave the US unable to carry out a retaliatory strike.

Our submarines could be sitting under the Baltic sea with no way to return fire to the enemy. As it became clear that command and control units could be easily wiped out, the ability to launch missiles would have to be greatly relaxed.

I was stationed at Offutt for 19 of 20 years of military service. I remember we had an airborne command post, called the Looking Glass, flying 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. After the demise of the Soviet Union, it was decided that is safe enough to end the continuous flights.

We may need to relaunch Looking Glass with time for a nuclear reaction cut to just a few minutes. During the Cold War there were several times when various glitches caused false alarms that led to the contemplation of the nuclear option.

The Russian advancement in hypersonic missiles has spurred the need for us to develop this technology. The US Air Force is moving forward with a new hypersonic missile that it says can strike a target 1,000 miles away in under 12 minutes, reported Air Force Magazine. The hypersonic missile would be able to fly between 5,000 and 6,000 mph, or roughly between Mach 6.5 and Mach 8, to strike a target at that distance.

Bible prophecy clearly implies that humanity will largely destroy itself with nuclear weapons during the Tribulation. Isaiah 13:12 says that man will become “more rare than fine gold.” Zechariah 14 seems to give a firsthand view of a nuclear holocaust. The graphic descriptions in this ancient prophecy are a good description of what would happen to people exposed to an atomic blast:

“Now this will be the plague with which the LORD will strike all the peoples who have gone to war against Jerusalem; their flesh will rot while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongue will rot in their mouth. It will come about in that day that a great panic from the LORD will fall on them; and they will seize one another’s hand, and the hand of one will be lifted against the hand of another. Judah also will fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the surrounding nations will be gathered, gold and silver and garments in great abundance. So also like this plague will be the plague on the horse, the mule, the camel, the donkey and all the cattle that will be in those camps” (Zechariah 14:12-15).

—Todd

On the Mark, Get Set…

There is growing angst, it seems, about the COVID-19 vaccine and whether we should take it once it’s available. This isn’t to advise on whether to take it or not. That’s up to each individual. But I will say that so far as worrying about it being the equivalent of taking the mark of the Beast—as prophesied in Revelation 13:16–18—there is no need to worry. Taking the vaccine won’t mean you’ve taken he Antichrist’s dreaded mark of “666.”

Maybe it’s unnecessary for me to say why there’s no need to worry in this regard. But some might not know. Most who read these commentaries are savvy about the fact that the Antichrist marks-and-numbering system for buying and selling won’t be foisted upon the Beast’s victims as long as all born-again believers are still on the planet. The Rapture must occur before that “man of sin” can make his appearance, according to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2.

Whether the would-be world controllers—like, in my opinion, Bill Gates—wants to slip some sort of a tracking chip into the vaccine that’s eventually produced, I have no conjecture to make. I will say that I doubt very much that these wannabees will be able to do so at this time. Will I take the vaccine? I really can’t say at this point.

I take an annual flu shot. That doesn’t prevent one from getting flu; it only lessens the effects if one does get it, as I understand.

So, as I say, this commentary isn’t about whether to take a vaccine. It is, however, to look at that coming Antichrist mark to some extent, in consideration of technologies being developed during these strange days.

Certainly, like all other things we see developing that smack of end-times prophecy about to be fulfilled, the marks-and-numbering system is in the stage-setting mode.

In geopolitics, we see developing enragement that is bursting at the seams to bring in a global order. In religion, we are seeing a coming together of religious thought and a merging with that geopolitics. This movement seems to be more and more influenced by and even led by the Vatican and this apostate pope. In culture and society, the world, and especially our own nation, has reached the point of rebellious rage. God has been all but eliminated from our educational system and even churches have closed their doors en masse to submit to governmental edicts spawned from the coronavirus threat.

It’s no wonder, then, that in science, technologies are developing that presage the coming Antichrist regime.

Satellite tracking systems have existed for some time. GPS and other technologies are an everyday reality. Transponders of varying sorts can be chipped into people, pets, and possessions. And the technology that will one day allow the Beast regime of Antichrist to cause all to receive a mark on their hand or forehead is progressing rapidly. So get set: That feared mark instrumentality is just around the corner.

The following news excerpt might shed some light on how near might be the actual technology for implementing the Revelation 13 prophecy about the 666 mark.

Oct. 12 (UPI) — Engineers have developed a way to print biometric sensors onto skin, like a non-permanent tattoo, without the use of heat.

In addition to being more comfortable and less intrusive than today’s wearable devices, the technology — described Monday in the journal ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces — can also collect more precise biometric measurements.

“In this article, we report a simple yet universally applicable fabrication technique with the use of a novel sintering aid layer to enable direct printing for on-body sensors,” first author Ling Zhang, researcher in the Harbin Institute of Technology in China, said in a news release…

Because the sintering process, the bonding of metallic components to the sensor, required temperatures of 572 degrees Fahrenheit, the fabrication wasn’t suitable for human skin…

Researchers were first able to lower the sintering temperature to 212 degrees Fahrenheit by adding a new nanoparticle to the silver components — creating what scientists called a sintering aid layer…

“That can be used to print sensors on clothing and paper, which is useful, but it’s still higher than we can stand at skin temperature,” Cheng said. “We changed the formula of the aid layer, changed the printing material and found that we could sinter at room temperature.”…

In tests, scientists used their new wearable sensor to measure temperature, humidity, blood oxygen levels and heart rhythms…

In a follow-up study, scientists plan to print sensors designed to track symptoms and vital signs associated with COVID-19. (“Wearable Tattoo: Scientists Print Sensors Directly onto Skin Without Heat,” Brooks Hays, https://www.upi.com/Science_News/2020/10/12/Wearable-tattoo-Scientists-print. My thanks to my friend Chris Mangan for the article.)

Today, government has almost boundless capability when it comes to keeping track of us. Electronic wiretapping devices and cameras trained on traffic and on most every corner keep watch. Cameras on every building trace our every movement. From biometrics to radio-frequency identification cards, satellites, and Internet surveillance, we are under watch 24/7. This still will not be enough to control on the scale Antichrist will demand.

Personal tattoos with electronic tracking and controlling properties will doubtless be the next generation of technology dedicated to tracing humanity.

If you know Jesus Christ for salvation, you won’t have to worry with any of it during the time when Antichrist unleashes his horrendous regime. Believers in Christ will be removed in the Rapture in advance of that worst time in human history. (Read Revelation 3:10).

Here’s how to avoid having to endure taking the mark of the Beast during the coming Tribulation:

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Romans 10:9–10)    

–Terry