Poking the Apple of God’s Eye
American mainstream news and entertainment media have degenerated in public trustworthiness to the lowest point in their history, according to those who assess such matters. Talk show radio hosts such as Dan Bongino call these the most corrupt institutions in the nation.
I don’t know the accuracy of such pronouncements. However, I can observe, as can you, and there’s no doubt in my thinking that these support most every issue and movement that is in obvious opposition to godliness while we survey today’s current political and moral landscape.
And speaking of politics in this volatile political season, these media leviathans are in league with one political party in most every sense. I.e., they seem to take the party’s talking points and march in lockstep while demonizing the candidate that is their opponent for the office of president. As a matter of fact, they have melded with that party in generating an insane hatred for that opposition candidate, which, in my opinion, has engendered two assassination attempts, with a number of other such attempts reportedly in the making.
These –mainstream media and the Democrat Party– purport to champion the well-being and improvement in lifestyle of black families and their children. All the while, they accuse the other party and proponents of conservative American values of being Nazi-like and racist. Yet they, themselves, fanatically push for abortion that murders African-American babies in their mothers’ wombs at the rate of 40% of all babies aborted each year in the nation.
This cabal of media and political wickedness pushes for legalization and federal funding of programs that teach aberrant and perverse transgender ideology and demand physical mutilation as well. They champion Sodom-like activity in society and culture, bringing the nation into a quagmire of anti-God immorality that will bring God’s Judgment.
All this said, it shouldn’t surprise that there is a mainstream media push that confronts the Creator Himself with a challenge that is perhaps the most dangerous yet. And I mean dangerous to the media morons doing the challenging.
This is what is meant by the title of the commentary: Poking the apple of God’s Eye.
CBS, a major news network, has openly defied the Creator by telling us –and Him—that the city of Jerusalem no longer is to belong to Israel. That’s right; Jerusalem is now to be considered not a part of God’s chosen nation. The following enlightens further on this mainstream media giant’s declaration.
CBS News is facing backlash after an internal memo instructed journalists not to refer to Jerusalem as part of Israel, igniting criticism from media figures and raising concerns about journalistic integrity. The memo, sent by CBS News senior director of standards Mark Memmott in late August, emphasized the disputed status of Jerusalem, despite its recognition as Israel’s capital by the US government.
This directive, alongside internal tensions sparked by an interview conducted by CBS Morning’s co-host Tony Dokoupil on anti-Israel perspectives, has fueled controversy both within CBS and across the media landscape.
Memmott’s email advised CBS News staff to avoid saying Jerusalem is in Israel, noting that “the status of Jerusalem goes to the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.” While the US embassy is in Jerusalem, and the Trump administration formally recognized it as Israel’s capital in 2017, the memo emphasized that its status is disputed. Israel considers Jerusalem its “eternal and undivided” capital, while Palestinians claim East Jerusalem—captured by Israel during the 1967 war—as the capital of a future Palestinian state.
The directive sparked outrage across social media and among journalists. Adam Rubenstein, contributing editor at The Free Press, stated, “Standards desks are now instructing journalists to deny reality.” Fox News contributor Guy Benson responded, “Jerusalem is not only in Israel, it is the capital of Israel. What on earth is happening at CBS?” Washington Examiner senior writer David Harsanyi added, “Then we can stop referring to CBS employees as journalists.”
Source: CBS memo sparks outrage: Journalists instructed not to acknowledge Jerusalem as part of Israel, By JERUSALEM POST STAFF OCTOBER 11, 2024 12:47 Updated: OCTOBER 11, 2024]
It should not be surprising that Satan has influenced the institutions of journalism to poke God in the apple of His Eye at this point in stage-setting for the time of Daniel’s seventieth week and the time of Jacob’s trouble, Jeremiah 30:7. Here is what the Lord has to say about this matter of His most Holy city of Jerusalem that helps explain why the above offends the Creator of all things in ways we can’t fully fathom.
“I lifted up mine eyes again, and looked, and behold a man with a measuring line in his hand. Then said I, Whither goest thou? And he said unto me, To measure Jerusalem, to see what is the breadth thereof, and what is the length thereof. And, behold, the angel that talked with me went forth, and another angel went out to meet him, And said unto him, Run, speak to this young man, saying, Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls for the multitude of men and cattle therein: For I, saith the LORD, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her.
Ho, ho, come forth, and flee from the land of the north, saith the LORD: for I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heaven, saith the LORD. Deliver thyself, O Zion, that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon. For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.
For, behold, I will shake mine hand upon them, and they shall be a spoil to their servants: and ye shall know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me. Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the LORD. And many nations shall be joined to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people: and I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto thee” (Zechariah 2:1-11).
Jerusalem is the city God has Made His Own. The Temple Mount at its center is the touchstone between God in Heaven and humanity, where the veil was rent from top to bottom on Christ’s death as Sacrifice for mankind’s sin. It is a fearfully dangerous matter to declare you are determined to rip Jerusalem from the Almighty’s Hand.
–Terry
*** Important Notice! ***
God The Holy Spirit is turning on the Light of God’s Truth in Pakistan and other areas of the Spiritually darkened world.
Again, I’m appealing to you, who understand through Holy Spirit Enlightenment just how late is the prophetic hour, to help us print and distribute the little book Prophecy Power: Strength From God To Face Your Future to the people of Pakistan.
Pastor Anil Jasper worked diligently to translate the Sunday school quarterly-sized book into his native language. The results have been powerful in helping turn on that Light of understanding about Jesus and His soul-saving Sacrifice. Anil reports that the book distribution is reaping great rewards in terms of his people accepting Christ –something that might not have happened if not for the presentation in our little book.
Please consider again supporting this effort, as time looks to be short, according to all prophetic stage-setting signals in the world today. We want to one day hear the words from our Lord: “Well done, good, faithful servant.”
Please go to the following to read more and contribute.
https://terryjamesprophecyline.com/2024/10/04/please-help-in-our-pakistan-missionary-effort/
———————————————————————————————————————————————————————-
Perilous Times … In the Church
When we think of the prophetic signs of the last days, we typically begin with Israel, examine the closeness of the world to the appearance of the riders of the apocalypse, and perhaps turn our attention to the formation of the beast kingdom that’s now rapidly taking shape. These are excellent places to look, and they lead us to a myriad of related signs that unmistakably point to Jesus’ soon appearing.
I would like to suggest that the condition of today’s church also shouts with the message that we live in the last moments before the Rapture of the church.
In 2 Timothy 3:1-5, Paul depicts that the rebellious nature of people would mark the “perilous times” of the last days. We certainly see these attributes everywhere we look in our world. Sadly, however, they also exist among professing Christians, even among many who are truly born again.
When I look at the apostle’s list, the traits related to pride immediately catch my attention:
- Lovers of self
- Proud
- Arrogant
- Swollen with conceit
These qualities are far too common within the body of Christ and, more than any other sin, cause division among the saints and harm the cause of Christ in our world. Most, if not all, of the false teaching that exists in churches stems from those who believe their interpretation of a text is far superior to the actual intent of the author who penned the biblical text in question.
As a result of the prideful condescension to other viewpoints, particularly those related to Bible prophecy, believers who believe what the New Testament teaches about Jesus’ imminent appearing often find that they are no longer welcome at the churches they attend. I know this has been the experience of a great many followers of Jesus. It’s been my fate as well.
Pride was the key fault that the Lord found with the church at Laodicea (Revelation 3:14-22). He didn’t criticize the church for teaching errant theology or for the acceptance of immorality in its midst. No, the Lord chastised this group of Christians for their pride. Their smugness at what they had accomplished caused the Lord to severely warn them with these words, “I will spit you out of my mouth” (3:16). They had achieved much visible success as a church and credited themselves for their amazing achievements.
Why did Jesus respond in such a harsh way to their arrogance? I believe it was because such spiritual superiority makes it impossible for the atmosphere that Paul described in Colossians 3:12-14 to exist:
“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.”
The body life that Paul describes in the above verses absolutely cannot coexist with the pride that the Lord warned would mark humanity during the last days, the time in which we now live.
Arrogance. It’s often displayed via a self-righteous spirit that causes great harm to the body of Christ because it leads to some of the other ways that the apostle describes people, even Christians, during the last days (2 Timothy 3:1-5):
- Heartless
- Slanderous
- Brutal
- Treacherous
When the above qualities manifest themselves inside the walls of a church, and they do, they create a hostile and unsafe atmosphere. Mercy flies out the window, body life dies, and the words of Colossians 3:12-14 become merely matters of verbal assent but fail to change anyone’s behavior toward his or her fellow saint.
For many, today’s church has become a place of pain rather than a safe haven of acceptance that nurtures spiritual growth.
Many Bible-believing churches today resemble the Laodicean church rather than the church at Philadelphia (Revelation 3:7-13), whose qualities now define but a remnant of New Testament saints.
In his book, New Morning Mercies, Paul David Tripp wrote the following about “mercy forgetfulness.” I have read these words many, many times during the past month as a needed reminder of what’s important as I await Jesus’ soon appearing:
Mercy forgetfulness is dangerous because it shapes the way you think about yourself and others. When you remember mercy, you also remember that you simply did nothing whatsoever to earn that with which mercy has blessed you. When you remember mercy, you are humble, thankful, and tender. . . When you forget mercy, you take credit for what only mercy could produce. When you remember mercy, you name yourself as righteous and deserving, and you live an entitled and demanding life.
When you remember mercy and think you are deserving, you find it all too easy not to extend mercy to others. Proudly, you think that you’re getting what you deserve and that they are, too. Your proud heart is not tender, so it is not easily moved by the sorry plight of others. You forget that you are more like than unlike your needy brother, failing to acknowledge that neither of you stands before God as deserving. Humility is the soil in which mercy for others grows. Gratitude for mercy given is what motivates mercy extended. Paul says, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you” (Eph. 4:32).
When we forget God’s merciful dealings with us, we open the door for Paul’s descriptors of perilous times to affect our dealings with others.
There’s no room for an attitude of superiority in the body of Christ. We are all equal in terms of how we initially came to saving faith in Jesus as well as in our need for the mercy and grace that daily sustains us in our walk with the Lord.
Sadly, the traits that Paul lists in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 define life in many churches today. Does this not also tell us that we are nearing the midnight hour when Jesus comes for us? I’m convinced that it does.
Maranatha!
-Jonathan