General Articles

Day of Reckoning :: By Daymond Duck

Published on: by RR10

On Oct. 22, 2022, Retired Army Gen. Michael Flynn posted a Telegram message that said the Nov. 8, 2022, mid-term elections will be a day of reckoning for the Washington insiders.

I have great respect for Gen. Flynn (and I can’t predict the outcome of the mid-term elections), but I can predict beyond a shadow of a doubt that a day of reckoning is coming upon the Washington insiders that are determined to establish a New World Order that ignores Jesus and the Scriptures.

Jesus was prophesying about the end of the age when He said, “Then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be” (Matt. 24:21).

“Great tribulation” speaks of planet Earth’s darkest hour.

The New World Order is not taking the world toward a new era of peace and cooperation.

The New World Order is plunging the world toward 7 years of globalism, distress of nations, worldwide conflict, famine, pestilence, and death.

The four horsemen of the apocalypse appear to be bridled, saddled, and pawing at the ground.

It is just a matter of time before Jesus raptures His Church, and the unparalleled judgment of God falls upon planet Earth because world leaders are trying to create their own God to rule in a doomed-to-fail Build Back Better program.

After 7 years of Build Back Better nonsense, death and destruction, Jesus will come back, be anointed King of kings and Lord of lords, and take His rightful place on the throne of David in Jerusalem.

With King Jesus on the throne, the soon-to-be day of reckoning will be followed by 1,000 years of peace, justice, and righteousness on earth.

Below are some reasons to believe that day of reckoning is close.

One, concerning reprobate minds: on Oct. 19, 2020, it was reported that the U.S. State Dept. gave $20,600 to a cultural center in Ecuador to fund 12 Drag Queen shows, 3 gay workshops, and a short documentary.

Think about it, America’s national debt now exceeds $31 trillion, inflation is higher than it has been in about 40 years, America is running low on weapons for its military, America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserves are low, the lines at food banks are increasing, several major cities could soon run out of water next year, etc., and Biden’s State Dept. is funding Drag Queen shows, workshops, and a documentary in Ecuador.

Two, concerning inflation and the decline of America: around Oct. 19, 2022, Brian Deese (Biden’s National Economic Council Director) said U.S. diesel inventories are unacceptably low and all options are on the table.

This is because America’s diesel inventory is now down to about 3 weeks’ supply, diesel is used in trucks, trains, ships, farm tractors, construction equipment, military equipment, etc., and America has very little refining capacity.

The average price of diesel is now more than $5 per gallon and expected to surge.

Surging diesel prices will cause the price of everything that is moved on trucks, trains, ships, etc., to surge.

It will also cause everything that is produced on farms to surge.

According to the article, people have known this was shaping up for weeks, and the Biden administration has expressed great concern but done practically nothing to solve the problem (they may have been busy with the funding of Drag Queen shows in Ecuador).

Biden has been draining America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserves, but that does nothing to increase America’s diesel inventories.

Three, concerning the decline of America: on Oct. 17, 2022, The Washington Post reported that it has uncovered evidence that U.S. companies funded by the Pentagon have sold hypersonic missile technology to China more than 300 times since 2019.

Most (perhaps all) of the sales were handled through intermediaries, the sales are illegal, the companies are claiming they didn’t know their intermediaries were selling the technology to China, but they are required to know what their intermediaries are doing with the technology.

Anyway, it appears that the law has been broken more than 300 times since 2019, China’s development of hypersonic missiles is a threat to the U.S., and there is not one word about anyone being prosecuted for selling these U.S. military secrets.

Four, concerning world government: on Oct. 21, 2022, The Expose posted an article about the UN “Transforming our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.”

It was a long article, but here are a few important points in my words:

  • “Transforming our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” is a codename for a UN master plan to change the political and economic system of the world.
  • The governments of 193 nations in the UN and people in 1,000 of the world’s largest corporations that support the World Economic Forum (WEF) have formed a partnership to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
  • None of the people in the large corporations have been elected, but the purpose of the Agenda for Sustainable Development is to control every aspect of every individual’s life.
  • The Sustainable Development Goals reflect what these rich elitists want, and they are being pushed upon the whole world without the approval of individual citizens.
  • The goals are being pushed upon society a little bit at a time, but ultimately everyone will be dependent upon a world government for their food, water, energy, shelter, medical care, and everything else, which is how these rich elitists intend to keep people under control.

(FYI: Satan has a strong grip on the West. Prime Min. Trudeau of Canada, Pres. Macron of France, King Charles III of the UK, and Prime Min. Rishi Sunak of Britain are all tied to the World Economic Forum, and Pres. Biden of the U.S. has long supported the New World Order. The citizens of these nations have been betrayed from within, and a world government is well on its way.)

Five, concerning natural disasters: this writer lives close to the Mississippi River.

On Oct. 21, 2022, a long-time farmer and fellow Church member (a reliable source, but not an official source) told me there are hundreds of barges stranded on the Mississippi River near Hickman, Ky.

The water level is low, barges were getting stranded, and the National Guard closed part of the river for dredging.

The idled barges are costing owners thousands of dollars a day.

Shipping costs that were about $25 per ton are now about $90 per ton.

Further south, some barges are moving, but they can only carry a partial load, or they will get stranded.

Farmers are harvesting their beans now, and the fact that some barges are stranded near Hickman, Ky., and other barges farther south can only carry a partial load means there is a shortage of barges. (The barges that can move have to make more than one trip to carry the usual amount of beans to Gulf Coast terminals near New Orleans.)

The cost of everything that uses Soybeans is going to soar.

Six, concerning reprobate minds, departing from the faith, etc.: on Oct. 22, 2022, Dean Dwyer wrote in Harbingers Daily that a pastor in Australia told his church:

  • “As today we look back at the brutality of concentration camps and racially inspired violence, so future generations will look back at our day with disgust at the brutality taking place in our clinics: legalized, state-sponsored execution.“
  • “Lust is a sin, sex outside of marriage is a sin, practicing homosexuality is a sin….“

In a later interview, the leader of Australia’s opposition party said:

  • “The views that have been expressed by a pastor at this church in relation to gay people, or to the issue of abortion – they’re an abomination, and I condemn those points that have been made by that particular pastor.” This political leader (who claims to be a Christian) condemned the teachings of the Bible on abortion and homosexuality, and he called them an abomination.

I am not his judge, but I believe his day of reckoning is right around the corner.

Seven, concerning the signs of His Second Coming, Jesus said, “There shall arise false Christs, and false prophets” (Matt. 24:24-26), and indeed, many false Messiahs have risen in Israel in recent years.

Christians that study Bible prophecy know that the Jews will eventually accept a false Messiah (called the Antichrist), he will eventually defile their rebuilt temple, they will realize they made a mistake, their blinding will cease, and they will accept Jesus as their true Messiah (Jn. 5:43; Matt. 24:15; Zech. 12:10-14).

Now we read that a group of Jewish rabbis is saying it is prophesied that the Messiah would appear in the first year after a Shemitah cycle (a 7-year cycle; the Jews could plant crops and let the land rest every 7 years called a Shemitah cycle).

They say the last Shemitah cycle ended at sundown on Sept. 26, Israel is in a new Shemitah cycle, this is the first year of a new cycle, and the Messiah has appeared.

  • Their claimed Messiah’s name is Yanuka Rav Shlomo Yehuda Ben David (Jesus was a descendant of David).
  • Rav Shlomo is the one Jews have been waiting on for 3,000 years.
  • Rav Shlomo is 33 years old (Jesus died when He was about 33 years old).
  • Rav Shlomo has memorized the entire Torah (the first 5 books of the Bible) with total comprehension, and no one else has ever done that.
  • Some religious Jews call Rav Shlomo the living Torah (Jesus was the living Word of God).
  • Some say he is appearing as a man but is really an angel (Jesus came as a man, but He was also God in the flesh).
  • There is nothing Rav Shlomo does not know (Jesus is all-knowing).
  • Rav Shlomo injects light into us (Jesus is the light of the world).
  • Rav Shlomo’s ancestors include Syrians and Jews (Some believe the Antichrist will be an Assyrian).
  • Rav Shlomo is an only child (Jesus was the only begotten Son of God).

It is obvious that Rav Sholom is not the true Messiah (the Jews’ true Messiah will appear to them at the end of the Tribulation Period), but these claims could be part of the reason why Israel accepts the wrong man before they get it right.

Here are links to three short videos readers might want to watch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvI_rAIztPs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVXz2OlAUno

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qal69j99Lag

Eight, on Oct. 24, 2022, it was reported that globalists in several Western nations are waging war on nitrogen (a main ingredient in fertilizer) to stop climate change.

If these climate change fanatics succeed, many fertilizer companies will reduce their production or completely shut down their factories, the use of fertilizer will be greatly reduced or eliminated, and food shortages and famine will quickly spread all over the world.

Shortages have already started, and they will go worldwide in a matter of months.

The U.S. now has a radical climate change czar, John Kerry, and our nation will not be exempt.

Nine, concerning famine: on Oct. 20, 2022, it was reported that 7th graders in 100 primary schools in the Netherlands were served insects and mealworms for lunch.

This wasn’t the first time something like this has happened.

1,000 schools in Australia have been selling chips made from insects.

Factories in Canada are raising crickets and selling organic cricket flour.

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

 

Don’t Be Deceived: The Rapture Happens First :: By Jonathan Brentner

Published on: by RR10

As the world moves closer to another world war, which may include nuclear weapons, some speculate that the Tribulation period has already begun.

Others grow weary of waiting for the Lord’s return. How much longer will Jesus keep us on earth before He comes for us? Is He really going to keep us out of the time of the Lord’s wrath that’s rapidly approaching our world?

Please know that the Bible assures us that the Lord will come for us before the start of the seven-year Tribulation, which begins the moment that the antichrist makes a covenant with Israel. This has not yet happened!

1Thessalonians 5:1-11 provides much-needed encouragement regarding our hope in Jesus’ soon appearing. In this passage, the Lord, through the Apostle Paul, promises that we as believers in Jesus will miss the wrath of the coming Day of the Lord, which includes all of the Tribulation period.

Many Bible students also see 2 Thessalonians 2:3 as a verse that confirms the pre-Tribulation Rapture of the church:

“Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition” (KJV).

The traditional way of regarding “falling away,” or “rebellion” in some translations, has been to regard this as a reference to a time of future apostasy in the church. The Greek word here, apostasia, normally makes one think of apostasy, such as in a spiritual falling away.

However, in recent years, apostasia has received heightened scrutiny from biblical scholars, with many now regarding it as a reference to Jesus’ appearing to take us home to heaven, the physical departure of the church from the earth. This actually aligns with the earliest English translations of the Bible, which translated apostasia as a departure, such as in a physical exit from a location. [[i]]

Do sound reasons exist for such an interpretation?

I believe they do. Below, I discuss the reasons that changed my long-held viewpoint of this matter to that of regarding apostasia as a reference to the pre-Tribulation Rapture.

The Word Apostasia Can Refer to a Physical Departure

The first question to ask is this: Is it possible for apostasia to refer to a physical departure such as the Rapture? Yes, it can.

In his book, The Falling Away, Dr. Andy Woods provides much evidence regarding the use of the Greek word apostasia in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 as a physical departure rather than a “falling away” from the faith. He wrote this regarding the basic meaning of the word:

“…apostasia simply means to ‘to stand away from’ or ‘to depart.’ Only by examining how this word is used in its immediate context will determine what the departure is from, whether it be a spiritual or physical departure.” [ [ii]]

The root verb form apostasia confirms that it can refer to a physical departure from a location. New Testament writers used the verb form of apostasia fifteen times. As Dr. Woods points out:

“…only three times does it mean a spiritual departure. The remaining twelve times, it clearly means a physical departure. For example, Luke 2:37 says, “and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four, she never left the temple.'”  [iii]

Since apostasia can refer to either a physical departure or a spiritual falling away, we must rely on the context to determine the proper interpretation.

The Context Supports a Physical Departure

Both the immediate and extended context of 2 Thessalonians 2:3 support a physical departure. The Rapture is the main subject matter of both books that Paul wrote to the Thessalonians as well as chapter two of 2 Thessalonians.

2 Thessalonians 2 begins with these words, “Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him…” (v. 1). Paul introduces this passage, verses 1-12, with a reference to the Rapture. Why would he not also have the Lord’s return to take us home on his mind two verses later? I believe he does.

As for the greater context, Dr. Woods writes,

“Since the ‘context is king’ in determining the meaning of the apostasia, and the larger context of the Thessalonian letters pertain to the return of Christ, interpreters should be open to a physical departure understanding of the word. Thus, the larger context of these two books does not favor spiritual departure interpretation of the apostasia, but rather it favors the physical departure view.”  [iv]

The usage of apostasia in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 as our physical departure via the Rapture aligns with both the immediate and overall context of the verse. The context favors the interpretation of apostasia as a physical departure, such as the Rapture of the church.

Paul Is Referring to a Definite Event

Paul’s use of the definite article in front of apostasia tells us he has a specific event in mind, either a particular instance of apostasy or a definite occasion such as the Rapture. Because he does not further explain the event, this indicates the apostle was referring to an event that his readers would readily recognize.

The only apostasia of which his readers would have been aware of is that of the Rapture. They had no framework leading them to assume it meant a spiritual departure from the faith; again, we have no evidence that Paul even talked about this until much later. At the time, he assumed he would be alive at the time of Jesus’ appearing for His church. [v]                     

The apostle has a definite event in mind, one that his readers would readily recognize. On the other hand, Paul never refers to spiritual apostasy in either of his epistles to the Thessalonians and offers no additional clarifying information in the text.

The only departure that his readers would readily recognize is that of the Rapture.

Paul Does Not Mention Spiritual Apostasy in Either Epistle to the Thessalonians

As we look at 1 and 2 Thessalonians, we see repeated references to the Rapture, but Paul never mentions a falling away from the faith.

Why would Paul cite a spiritual departure from the faith as a key indicator of the Day of the Lord with no other mention of it in either book that he wrote to his readers? And if he had not yet mentioned it to them, we would expect to see an explanation. However, he provides no such background to his reference.

As Dr. Woods points out, Paul does not even refer to the spiritual apostasy of the church in the latter days until much later in his ministry, near its end. [vi] And when he does, the apostle always adds much supporting detail (1 Tim. 4:1-5; 2 Tim. 4:3-5).

The Sense of Physical Departure is Consistent with Verses 7-8

In 2 Thessalonians 2:7-8, Paul writes,

“For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming.”

These verses tell us that the revealing of the antichrist cannot happen until the Restrainer is taken out of the way. The evidence strongly points to the Holy Spirit as the Restrainer and thus to the Rapture as the time His special restraining presence leaves the earth along with the church.

Notice the parallels with verse 3 if we assume apostasia refers to a physical departure.

  1. In verse 3, Jesus removes His church via the Rapture first, and then we have the revealing of the “man of lawlessness.”
  2. In verse 7, the Lord takes away the restraining work of the Holy Spirit that keeps the antichrist from making himself known to the world.
  3. In both verses 3 and 7, the antichrist steps onto the world scene after a “departure,” or the removal of either the church or the particular work of the Holy Spirit through the church.

If apostasia refers to a physical departure in verse 3, we then find a parallel in the context in verses 7-8, which provides us with additional evidence favoring a reference to the Rapture in verse 3.

An Example from Church History

As additional evidence supporting the interpretation of apostasia as a physical departure, we have an example from early church history. A key leader at the time referred to what we now call the Rapture as a “departure.” Cyprian, a bishop in the city of Carthage during the third century AD, wrote this:

We who see that terrible things have begun, and know that still more terrible things are imminent, may regard it as the greatest advantage to depart from it as quickly as possible. Do you not give God thanks, do you not congratulate yourself, that by an early departure you are taken away, and delivered from the shipwrecks and disasters that are imminent? [vii]

Cyprian (AD 200–258) used the words “depart” and “early departure” to refer to the Lord’s appearing to take His church away before a time of “shipwrecks and disasters.” While this by itself doesn’t confirm the translation of apostasia as “departure,” it lends considerable support to our interpretation of the word as a reference to the Rapture.

Please also note that Cyprian believed the church would depart before a time of great trouble on the earth.

The Rapture is Consistent with the Expectation of the Thessalonians

The young believers in Thessalonica expected the Lord to come for them before the start of the day of the Lord. Their response to an errant message telling them this time had already begun confirms this. They panicked when they received the mistaken communication.

In response to their frayed nerves, Paul told them “not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed” (2 Thess. 2:2). “The verb shaken denotes a rocking motion, a shaking up and down, like a building shaken by an earthquake…” [viii] To be “alarmed” signifies a feeling of “fright” with its usage here conveying a “state of alarm, of nervous excitement.” [ix]

Paul’s main purpose in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 was to comfort and assure the Thessalonian believers that the Day of the Lord had not yet started. The fact that they remained earthbound does that much better than a spiritual falling away from the faith that might occur far away.

This Confirms a Pre-Tribulation Rapture

In my book, The Triumph of the Redeemed, I wrote:

If apostasia refers to a physical departure, and the context and other evidence strongly support this conclusion, Paul is telling his readers, and us, that they could know that the Day of the Lord hadn’t yet started because they remained earthbound. This must signify that the Rapture occurs before the start of the Tribulation since the judgments of this time fall under the umbrella of the Day of the Lord. [x]

This is not wishful thinking but rather the result of a careful study of word usage as well as the context of 2 Thessalonians 2:3.

If apostasia signifies the physical departure of the church from the earth, and the evidence strongly suggests that it does, the Rapture must occur before the antichrist makes his appearance on the world scene and makes a covenant with the nation of Israel.

The fulfillment of Jesus’ words in John 14:2-3 is the next event on God’s prophetic calendar. Keep watching and enduring until the glorious day Jesus comes for us!

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”

—

My book, The Triumph of the Redeemed-An eternal Perspective that Calms Our Fears in Perilous Times, is available on Amazon. This book provides a step-by-step account of why the Rapture must happen before the Tribulation period.

Note: Please consider signing up for my newsletter on the home page of my website at https://www.jonathanbrentner.com/. It will greatly help me reach more people. Thanks!

[i] The Wycliffe Bible (1384), Tyndale Bible (1526), Coverdale Bible (1535), Cranmer Bible (1539), Breeches Bible (1576), Beza Bible (1583), and Geneva Bible (1608) all translated “apostasia” as a physical departure.

[ii] Andy Woods, The Falling Away – Spiritual Departure or Physical Rapture? (Taos, NM, Dispensational Publishing House, Inc., 2018), p. 19.

[iii] Ibid. p. 23

[iv] Ibid. p. 27

[v] Jonathan C. Brentner, The Triumph of the Redeemed (Crane, MO: Defender publishing, 2021) pp. 146-47.

[vi]Andy Woods, p. 13

[vii] Cyprian, Treatises of Cyprian, “On the Mortality,” section 25.

[viii] Hiebert, D Edmond, The Thessalonian Epistles (Chicago: Moody Press, 1971), p. 301.

[ix] Ibid., p. 302

[x] Brentner, p. 148.