The Only Generation :: By Daymond Duck

On Jan. 23, 2023, Hal Lindsey started off his weekly article like this:

“The price of eggs…. A Mall of America security guard threatening the wearer of a ‘Jesus saves’ t-shirt…. Attacks on the U.S. power grid…. A worldwide obsession with pornography…. Another wave of nuclear threats coming out of Russia…. A universal weakening of democratic institutions…. A global reshuffling of leaders…. Threats of ‘civil war’ in Israel…. Corruption in the highest levels of government across the world…. Weaponized Artificial Intelligence…. Deep fake audio and video enabling previously unimagined levels of deception.… Global economic chaos…, and on and on.

“What do these and hundreds of other things like them have in common? They are signs of the soon coming of Jesus. Planet Earth is in the throes of the birth of a new world. It’s difficult — even excruciating — but it is also thrilling. We are entering the days foreseen by the prophets.”

Wow, just the kind of thing one would expect from the foremost prophecy teacher in our lifetime.

Hal mentioned that there are hundreds of other signs, and I will add the following to his list:

  • The rebirth of Israel.
  • The restoration of Jerusalem with Israel in control.
  • Preparations to rebuild the Temple and resume the animal sacrifices.
  • The technology to control all buying and selling.
  • The technology for the whole world to see the resurrection of the Two Witnesses and the Second Coming of Jesus.
  • The developing world government (New World Order; Great Reset; Build Back Better, etc.).
  • The developing world religion (calling good evil and evil good; increasing rejection of Jehovah, Jesus, and the Bible; increasing promotion of abortion, LGBTQ agenda, etc.).
  • The increasing frequency and intensity of natural disasters, famine, pestilences, poverty, etc.

We are the only generation to see the convergence of all the prophecies that the Bible said will be fulfilled at the end of the age.

Here are recent events that seem to indicate that the end of the age is looming.

One, concerning the persecution of Christians: on Jan. 24, 2023, it was reported that Open Doors has been monitoring the persecution of Christians since 1993 (for 30 years), and it is increasing all over the world.

According to the group, globally, more than 360 million Christians are experiencing “very high or extreme levels of persecution for their faith.”

Two, concerning persecution: on Jan. 29, 2023, Paul Craig Roberts (Institute for Political Economy) noted that political activism is normalizing sexual perversion (homosexuality, pedophilia, etc.) and making criticizing it a criminal violation of civil rights and hate speech laws.

I agree with Roberts, but I want to add my opinion on something here.

While there has always been persecution over some issues, I don’t believe society has ever had the normalization of sexual perversion on a global scale or the criminalization of speaking out against it on a global scale, but that is where the world is headed now.

The United Nations, World Health Organization, World Economic Forum, United States, and other despisers of the truth are promoting global laws that will criminalize Bible truth all over the world (II Tim. 3:1-7).

Sexual perversion is just part of it; other things that are going to be outlawed include spreading the truth, worshipping Jesus instead of the Antichrist, some things people want to spend their money on, etc.

Society is witnessing the birth of unparalleled global tribulation- period persecution of believers that matches Bible prophecy: censorship of truth; prosecution of believers for praying silently in front of an abortion clinic, for refusing to make a wedding cake for a same-sex wedding, etc.

Persecution of people who become believers during the Tribulation Period will be terrible.

Three, concerning the WEF: on Jan. 16, 2023, highly respected writer Leo Hohman wrote, “They intend to digitally enslave the world in a total surveillance state based on a global digital I.D. (likely disguised as vaccine passports) and a global digital currency to replace cash.”

Four, concerning world government: on Jan. 24, 2023, it was reported that Canadian Member of Parliament, Dr. Leslyn Lewis, continues to speak out against Canada’s involvement in the World Economic Forum (WEF).

  • In 2022, Lewis said, “The WEF threatens Canadian Democracy.”
  • On Jan. 23, 2023, Lewis said, “The unelected WEF is not our government. Canadians did not sign up for the WEF’s plan to create agile rule-making in a post-pandemic world & the 4th Industrial Revolution (something that Prime Min. Trudeau did in 2020).

As I understand it, Dr. Lewis said it is wrong for Trudeau to be signing international agreements that impose global laws on Canadian citizens that they haven’t voted for and their Parliament hasn’t approved.

This is also happening in the U.S., and citizens could lose many of their rights at the World Health Organization Assembly meeting in May.

(More: Concerning that meeting: on Jan. 27, 2023, prophecy teacher Jonathan Brentner wrote, “If it (the Pandemic Treaty) is approved by member nations during their May 2023 meeting, it would give the WHO and its head absolute control over member nations in regard to what they deem as health emergencies. In other words, in the event they declare such a crisis, the WHO could prescribe a course of action for everyone. It wouldn’t matter if the president of a nation disagreed – the dictates of the WHO would become law in his or her country. Should a U.S. governor say “No!” to the WHO mandates, that also wouldn’t matter. The WHO would have the power to militarily enforce compliance with its health dictates.”)

Five, concerning the recent WEF meeting and world government: on Jan. 26, 2023, Canada Free Press posted an article by writer, commentator, and Radio Host Douglas V. Gibbs.

Gibbs has been on “Hannity” and “Fox and Friends.

Gibbs’ nickname is “Mr. Constitution,” and he said, “Unelected elitists who believe their job is to rule the world recently gathered at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, meeting to discuss the fate of all of humanity and the road we must take based on their visions in order to ‘save the world.’ Except, they don’t mean to save the world; they mean to control humanity and break the spirit of anyone who dares stand against them.”

Gibbs continued, “These tyrants drive and lobby policies in the United States through a well-placed, deeply embedded deep state, and they do the same throughout the world. The dark spirit of tyranny we fought wars (including two World Wars and a Cold War) against has now become the mainstream leadership on this planet, and they aim to make sure that this time they are not knocked off the top of the mountain.”

Here is a link to the article.

https://canadafreepress.com/article/world-economic-forum-davos-globalism-woke-progressivism-temper-tantrums-and-tyrants

(My opinion: The prophesied world government is shaping up, and it will be seven years of hell on earth. The only people that are not going to be impacted are those that die before then and those that are truly trusting in Jesus when the Rapture occurs.)

Six, concerning famine and hyperinflation (food shortages, extreme food, and energy prices, etc.) during the Tribulation Period: on Jan. 27, 2021, shortly after he became Pres. of the U.S., Biden signed an Executive Order that committed the U.S. to conserving at least 30% of America’s land and water by 2030.

Unless this is reversed, it will block mining, farming, and drilling for oil on 30% of America’s lands and water by 2030.

Blocking mining, farming, fishing, and drilling for oil on 30% of the world’s land and water will have a great impact on everyone’s life.

At the U.N. Biodiversity Conference that was held on Dec. 7-19, 2022, under the guise of saving “Mother Earth” from natural disasters (rising sea levels, floods, droughts, wildfires, etc.) supposedly created by man’s pollution and excessive consumption, the group agreed to a plan called the 30-by-30 (or 30 X 30) Initiative.

One of the 30-by-30 Initiative goals is to protect 30% of the world’s land, water, and marine areas (not allow 30% of these areas to be used) by 2030.

Critics say the real goal is to transform the world according to the agenda, morals, etc., of the “Transforming our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.”

Anyway, on Jan. 26, 2023, the Biden administration announced a 20-year ban on mining on 225,504 acres of land in Minnesota.

Another group of U.S. workers will be losing their jobs, and Biden has already signed an agreement to make funds available to increase mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (sounds like putting U.S. workers drilling for oil off the coast of Florida out of work and asking Saudi Arabia to increase production).

He seems determined to weaken America.

Seven, concerning hyperinflation and a global economic collapse: on Jan. 25, 2023, the head of the Bank of Canada warned that Canada’s economy has stalled, growth will be close to zero for the remainder of this year, and Canada’s citizens are not going to feel good.

Critics blame Prime Min. Trudeau for running up Canada’s debt with excessive spending on Covid and unnecessary liberal programs.

Payday has arrived in Canada, but most of the world is facing the same problem.

Eight, concerning the Millennium in Israel: God said, “The desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose…. For in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water” (Isa. 35:1, 7).

In recent years, Israel has built several desalination plants to draw water from the Mediterranean Sea and make it suitable for drinking.

On Jan. 30, 2030, it was reported that Israel has received very little rain this winter, but Israel’s system of desalination plants has filled the Sea of Galilee, and Israel will soon double the amount of water it sells to Jordan.

Nine, concerning the Battle of Gog and Magog: on Jan. 29, 2023, Israeli drones struck an Iranian weapons production facility inside Iran.

There are contradictory reports about what Iran was producing (drones, ballistic missiles, etc.), but the next day, Russia’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement that said, “We strongly condemn any provocative actions potentially capable of provoking an uncontrolled escalation of tension in an already far from calm region. Such destructive actions may have unpredictable consequences for peace and stability in the Middle East.”

Two things stand out about this event:

  • One, Israel apparently struck a target inside Iran.
  • Two, some analysts called Russia’s statement a veiled threat to Israel.

Finally, are you Rapture Ready?

If you want to be rapture ready and go to heaven, you must be born again (John 3:3). God loves you, and if you have not done so, sincerely admit that you are a sinner; believe that Jesus is the virgin-born, sinless Son of God who died for the sins of the world, was buried, and raised from the dead; ask Him to forgive your sins, cleanse you, come into your heart and be your Saviour; then tell someone that you have done this.

duck_daymond@yahoo.com

 

God Sees Our Distress; Our Deliverer Is Coming :: By Jonathan Brentner

I love the words of Scripture. They form the basis for my hope of eternal life, provide needed assurance in times of trouble, and calm my soul during the turbulent times in which we live.

Sometimes a passage or a phrase speaks to me in a new way. Such was the case with Exodus 2:23-25:

“During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.”

I like the phrase at the end of verse 25 in the ESV, “and God knew.” In the Hebrew text, the word is yada, which in its basic form simply means “to know.” It appears 947 times in the Hebrew text of the Old Testament.

In Exodus 2, yada reveals God’s awareness of the plight of the Israelites in Egyptian bondage just before He tasked Moses with the job of delivering His people. Yada appears again in Exodus 3:7:

“Then the Lord said, ‘I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings.'”

After forty years tending sheep in the wilderness, Moses was fully prepared to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt. The longsuffering slaves were ready to accept freedom and follow the leader God would send to them. The Lord knew the time was right.

He doesn’t explain why this time was better than twenty years earlier. He doesn’t need to fill in all the blanks for us. We trust His sovereignty and wisdom.

God Hears Our Groaning

Members of the body of Christ suffer from afflictions of a wide variety. Some face martyrdom for their faith, others lose their freedoms, and many endure severe opposition to their faith. We all fight off the relentless attacks of our enemy.

I know many saints who are hurting because of cancer, other ailments, and grief. The afflictions of this life, along with aging, have a way of catching up to all of us.

And like the ancient Israelites, we groan.

I love how the Apostle Paul connects our anticipation of the Rapture with our sighing amid the many hardships of life:

“And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience” (Romans 8:23-25).

The Lord hears the cry of our hearts as we long for Him to appear and take us to glory.

The Lord is not distant as some imagine Him to be; He sees; He hears; He feels all our grief; and He’s our deliverer just as He was for ancient Israel.

Someday soon, the prophetic words of 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 will be past tense, and we will rejoice with our Savior in glory:

“For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.”

There are days when it seems as though the perfect time for the Rapture has long since passed. We see the tears of loved ones and watch as violence, wickedness, deception, and lawlessness explode in our world. We often wonder, “How much longer, Lord?”

In the meantime, we rest in the fact that God sees our distress and His Deliverer will come for us. Is it not encouraging to know that the Lord knows all about our distressing circumstances and has our rescue in sight?

The One who has “called us to glory” (1 Peter 5:10) is ever so close to taking us there (Colossians 3:4).

A Glorious Restoration for Israel

The forty years that Moses tended sheep in the wilderness must have felt like an eternity for Israelites in Egypt. It’s likely that most knew about God’s covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and looked for a deliverer to take them to the Land promised to their forefathers.

During the last half of the seven-year Tribulation, a much more frightening scenario will exist for the Hebrew people. Once the antichrist defiles their temple, they will face the darkest time in their history. In the end, only one-third of them will remain alive.

The prophet Zechariah, speaking for God, wrote these words about this future time of peril:

“And I will put this third into the fire,
and refine them as one refines silver,
and test them as gold is tested.
They will call upon my name,
and I will answer them.
I will say, ‘They are my people’;
and they will say, ‘The Lord is my God'” (Zechariah 13:9).

Zechariah 14:1-8 describes the arrival of Israel’s future deliverer, the Lord Jesus. He will fight for Israel as a mighty warrior, destroy all the armies that will have come against Jerusalem, and establish His worldwide kingdom over which He will rule from Jerusalem. Is it not fitting that Moses referred to Jesus as a “prophet like me” in Deuteronomy 18:15-18? The greater Moses will deliver the Israelites at His Second Coming.

It will be a glorious time of restoration for the kingdom of Israel. God will forever protect the Jewish people with His presence in Jerusalem (Zephaniah 3:14-20).

We Trust God’s Timing

We often groan because of personal pain or that of those close to us. At other times, it’s because of a world descending into lawlessness and wickedness, the likes of which we once thought impossible.

In the midst of the distress we feel, the words, “And God knew,” bring welcome relief. We know our Deliverer is surely coming to catch us up to meet Him in the air.

As we wait, we remain confident that:

  1. God is always aware of the plight of those who belong to Him. He sees, He hears, and He loves us more than we can imagine.
  2. Jesus remains ever mindful of the promises we hold dear to our hearts. He’s preparing a place for us in heaven (John 14:2-3).
  3. The Lord will surely come for us before the judgments of the day of the Lord (1 Thessalonians 5:1-10).
  4. God’s timing often mystifies us, but we trust His purposes, knowing Jesus will arrive at the perfect time.

The words “And God knew” seem so simple, yet they breathe hope into the most distressing of circumstances. Our Deliverer stands ready to rescue us and will surely do so.

In the meantime, we pray for Him to come soon.

Maranatha!!

My book, The Triumph of the Redeemed-An eternal Perspective that Calms Our Fears in Perilous Times, is available on Amazon. In it, I connect the dots between God’s keeping of His covenants for Israel in the future and our hope as New Testament Saints.

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