General Articles

The Top 3 Prophetic News Headlines of 2019 :: By Britt Gillette

Published on: by RR7

The number one sign of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ is the convergence of all the signs He said to look for. Jesus said, “When you see all these things take place, look up! Your salvation draws near” (Luke 21:28). What are the things Jesus and the prophets said to look for? Israel back in the land (Jeremiah 23:7-8)… The Jewish people back in control of Jerusalem (Luke 21:24)… The Gospel being preached to the whole world (Matthew 24:14)… And more. Today, we see these signs. Because we do, we can be confident we live in the season of His return. But Jesus cited other signs too. So did the prophets. And we see those signs as well. As 2019 draws to a close, what were the biggest prophetic news stories? Below is a list of what I believe were the top three:

1) Syria: The U.S. Moves Out, While Turkey Moves In

In early October, the United States withdrew from northeastern Syria. A few days later, Turkey invaded. This continued an ongoing trend in Syria. It’s a trend that sets the stage for fulfillment of bible prophecy.

Ezekiel said an invading force of many nations will attack Israel in the last days. In Ezekiel 38-39, he describes this force as coming from the north of Israel, and he says a man named Gog will lead them (Ezekiel 38:2-6). Below are the nations involved, followed by their modern day names:

Rosh = Russia

Magog = Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Afghanistan

Persia = Iran

Cush = Sudan

Put = Libya

Meshech, Tubal, Gomer, and Beth-togarmah = Turkey

If you’ve paid attention to the news, one thing from this list jumps out at you. The three most powerful nations – Russia, Iran, and Turkey – now reside in Syria. The decreased U.S. presence in Syria paves the way for further influence from these three nations. The leaders of Russia, Iran, and Turkey have met several times to coordinate their military forces. Over the past several years, their alliance has grown stronger, and their joint military forces are right on Israel’s border. And they’re not just on any border. They’re on Israel’s northern border. Why does this matter? Because Ezekiel said this invasion force will come from the north (Ezekiel 38:15; Ezekiel 39:2).

Today, we see the three most powerful nations in Gog’s invading force coordinating on Israel’s northern border. Never have these three nations been on Israel’s northern border at the same time. Never have they cooperated militarily. Until now. This sets the stage for the fulfillment of the Ezekiel 38-39 prophecies. This means eventually, Russia, Iran, Turkey, and the other nations in the Gog of Magog alliance will send an overwhelming invasion force against Israel (Ezekiel 38:8-9). The world will not come to Israel’s defense (Ezekiel 38:15-16). But God will. He’ll put His full power on display and supernaturally destroy Israel’s invaders (Ezekiel 38:18-23). The events of 2019 bring us closer to that day. Expect to see more and more events in Syria to align with Ezekiel’s account. Expect Russia, Turkey, and Iran to get closer. Expect other nations to join them. And expect Israel to become more isolated.

2) The Saudi Drone Attack

September 14, 2019 was a major milestone in the history of warfare. On that day, someone (thought to be Iran) launched a successful drone attack on two oil processing facilities in Saudi Arabia. At the time, almost five percent of the world’s daily oil consumption flowed through those two facilities. The news made headlines for a few days. Then, most people quickly forgot about it. But as we look back in the years to come, I think we’ll view that day as highly significant. Why? Because it was the first successful large-scale strike in the new era of drone warfare. Saudi Arabia invested millions to secure those facilities. In mere minutes, those defenses proved useless.

Unmanned drones have been used on the battlefield for years. But those drones were much larger, and they attacked as part of a larger military campaign. Because of the success of the September 2019 strike, expect to see more drone attacks. Expect to see smaller drones arriving in larger numbers. In the years to come, drones will get smaller. They’ll attack in sophisticated swarms piloted with artificial intelligence. Drone swarms are the future of warfare. They can inflict just as much damage as any conventional weapon, and because they’re unmanned, the attacking nation can deny any involvement. They’re less expensive to build and maintain than large standing armies. They don’t require large numbers of highly trained personnel. They can be controlled from a remote, secure location. They can be deployed anywhere in the world, often undetected. They can even evade radar. Because they blend into the environment, they can appear out of nowhere, surprising the enemy. They present a new threat, and most conventional armies are unprepared to defend against them. Drones magnify the military power of smaller nations. They close the gap between weaker nations and world superpowers.

The rise of drones is a turning point in modern warfare. Together with artificial intelligence, drones will overturn the post-war stability of MAD. Ultimately, this will lead to World War III and global domination by a single nation. This is exactly what the Bible says will happen in the end times. It says a global war (Revelation 6:4) will lead to a global empire (Revelation 13:7).

3) The Continued Popularity of Home Smart Devices

Another 2019 trend involved the continued popularity of home smart devices. In millions of homes throughout the world, Amazon, Google, and Apple are watching and listening. Popular devices such as Amazon’s Alexa products, Google Home devices, Facebook’s Portal, and Ring doorbells have placed cameras and listening devices in people’s homes.

Next time you go somewhere, take a moment to identify all the cameras around you. They’re everywhere, and they’ll only get more powerful. This isn’t surprising. Many people have long foreseen the rise of an intrusive government surveillance state. What hasn’t been foreseen is the willingness of so many people to aid in their own surveillance. Of their own free will, people have placed eavesdropping devices in their own homes, sometimes in their own bedrooms – allowing corporations, governments, and hackers to record their conversations and view their interactions.

Even if you avoid all these devices, you’ll find it hard to escape their watchful eye. Millions now have doorbell cameras recording everyone who comes and goes. Depending on their placement, these cameras are capable of recording everyone who comes and goes from every house in an entire neighborhood. In addition, other people can upload pictures of you on Facebook. Even if they don’t tag or identify you, Facebook often will. Through its facial recognition technology, it automatically tags people. Even if you don’t have Alexa or Siri devices, if you’re in the home of someone who does or within earshot of such a device, you’re at risk of being listened to and recorded. Do you trust all this personal and private information in the hands of a large corporation? What about your government? And what about foreign governments who will find it more than easy to hack into these devices?

As technology advances, devices like these will become smaller, cheaper, and far more powerful. Cameras and microphones will cover every square inch of the world. And ever more powerful forms of artificial intelligence will search those camera and audio feeds. What will they search for? They could search for you. A government in control of such a system will know everything you do and say.

In 2020, this trend will continue. These technologies will build the foundation for a totalitarian global government. The Bible says such a government will appear in the last days (Daniel 2:40). It will trample and devour the whole earth (Daniel 7:23). No one will be able to oppose it (Revelation 13:4), and it will have such total control over daily life, no one will be able to buy or sell anything without its permission (Revelation 13:7). The rise of the modern surveillance state is just the latest sign we’re approaching the fulfillment of these prophecies.

What to Look for in 2020

Hopefully, Jesus will return in the last few days of 2019. But whether He does or doesn’t, expect these same trends to continue in 2020. Look for increasing cooperation between Russia, Iran, and Turkey in Syria. Look for drones to become smaller, operate in larger numbers, and become more powerful. We may even see a Pearl Harbor-like event utilizing drone technology. Look for smart devices connected to the Internet to spread into even more homes. All of these things and more will probably mark 2020. This is why the #1 thing you should look for is the return of our Savior. As we enter the new year, all the signs tell us, “Jesus is coming!”

Britt Gillette is author of the free ebook Coming to Jesus as well as the books Signs of the Second Coming, Racing Toward Armageddon, and The End Times. Receive his book 7 Signs of the End Times for free when you sign up for his monthly newsletter.

 

No Saint Left Behind :: By Jonathan Brentner

Published on: by RR7

When Jesus comes for His church, will He leave any true believer behind on the earth to endure the horrors of the tribulation?

Some say yes. They claim Jesus will only catch up believers who are watching for His appearing or those walking with Him at the time. In other words, the Lord will leave behind saints lacking in some way.

This teaching contradicts both the Gospel and God’s Word.

Let me first clarify my assertion; I am referring to those who are truly in Christ and already in possession of eternal life (see 1 John 5:11-12). All those truly redeemed by the blood of the Lamb will meet Jesus in the air when He appears to take his church back to His Father’s house in heaven, no exceptions!

Professing Christians who do not truly know Jesus as their Savior will miss out on the rapture. Many rely on things such as good works, church attendance, the sinner’s prayer, or some other achievement, things that by themselves do not constitute saving faith. Because they are not in Christ and thereby do not possess eternal life, they will miss out on the rapture.

Let me explain my key objections to the teaching of a partial rapture.

The Partial Rapture Contradicts the Gospel

My first objection is this: the partial rapture teaching contradicts the saving message of the Gospel.

Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

We receive eternal life by grace through faith, not as a result of our works or faithfulness. The Lord regenerates us and gives the faith to believe. From start to finish, our salvation is all about Jesus and the Spirit’s saving and preserving work inside us (Titus 3:4-7).

  1. L. Moody once said, “It takes the same grace to keep us saved as it does to save us.” From start to finish, our salvation is all about grace; works play no part whatsoever in our initial salvation or in our final glorification.

Our reception of glorified bodies at the time of the rapture is no more dependent upon our good behavior than at the initial moment of our salvation. From beginning to end, God allows no room for anyone to claim credit for ourselves. No one has a cause for boasting because of good works.

2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

The basis of our salvation is the righteousness of Jesus. As believers we are already “holy and blameless before” God simply because of our position in Christ (Eph. 1:3-4). We add nothing to our salvation from start to finish.

The claim that any believer needs further purification insults God’s work on our behalf and implies that Jesus’ righteousness applied to our account leaves us lacking to enjoy the final redemption of our bodies (Rom. 8:23-25). The partial rapture teaching insults the work of Jesus on our behalf.

The Partial Rapture Contradicts Paul’s Promise in 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10

Another reason to oppose the teaching of a partial rapture is its blatant contradiction of God’s Word. For the purposes of this article, I will just cite one passage from Scripture that contradicts the doctrine of a partial rapture.

In 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10, Paul writes, “For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him.”

The wrath in this text belongs to the day of the Lord or what we refer to as the tribulation. In these verses we have the Lord’s promise that He will come for His church before the wrath of this day begins, which I believe solidifies our belief in the pretribulation rapture.

When Jesus returns, He delivers both those who are “awake or asleep” from God’s wrath that is coming upon the world. Since Paul just wrote about the rapture including both living saints and the “dead in Christ” (1 Thess. 4:16-17), many carry that same meaning to 5:10 thinking it refers to both dead and living saints.

While it’s true the rapture will include both living and dead saints, that is not what Paul refers to in 1 Thessalonians 5:10.

The Greek verb Paul uses for “awake” in this verse is gregoreo, which denotes alertness. In 5:6, Paul uses the word along with that of being “sober” to portray the idea of temperance in our walk with the Lord versus that of drunkenness or carelessness. Jesus used gregoreo in Matthew 24:42 and Mark 13:35 to command our watchfulness for His return.

It’s the sense of watchfulness and sober living that the apostle characterizes as being “awake” in 1 Thessalonians 5:10 rather than the sense of being physically alive. Paul is referring back to the immediate context.

What about those whom Paul characterizes as being “asleep?” Who are these people?

The word Paul uses for sleep in in 5:10 is katheudo. This word can refer to someone who is physically asleep, but it’s rarely used of someone who had died. Of the 22 times this word appears in the New Testament, there is only one time when it seems to apply to someone who had died.

Earlier in 1 Thessalonians 5, Paul uses katheudo with definite moral implications applying the word to believers who are not walking with the Lord or watching for His return (v. 6). It’s the opposite of someone not careful about how he or she behaves as a believer.

This is not the same word Paul uses in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-16 “asleep” in regard to a believer who has died. Paul’s choice of a different word in 5:10 further indicates to us that the contrast in this verse is not between living and dead saints, but rather with those who are watching for Jesus’ return versus those who are not careful about their walk with the Lord.

The sense of 1 Thessalonians 5:10 is that both those who are alert spiritually as well as those who are not will be included in the rapture; Jesus will not leave any true saint behind whether they remain watchful for His appearing or not.

I know this might be hard for some, but what Paul is saying in this verse is that all true believers will participate in the rapture regardless of the closeness of their walk with the Lord or watchfulness at the time it occurs.

Why Walk with the Lord?

At this point you might be wondering why you should walk with the Lord. If Jesus will whisk all those who know Him to heaven when He appears, what difference does it make if I walk with Him?

It makes a huge difference.

The New Testament teaches that all believers will give an account of their lives to Jesus (Rom. 14:12; 1 Cor. 3:10-15; 2 Cor. 5:10; Heb. 4:12-13). Faithful service will be rewarded (1 Cor. 15:58); saints who neglect their spiritual gifts and opportunities to serve the Lord with those provisions will suffer loss at the judgment seat of Christ, but they will not lose their salvation or miss out on the rapture.

In 2 Timothy 4:8, Paul writes of a special reward for “all who have loved his appearing.” Even though the apostle died long before Jesus’ return, the Lord will reward Paul for remaining watchful for His appearing. A special reward awaits those who remain alert to the Lord’s imminent return.

Another factor consists of the changes God makes in the lives of those who belong to Him. We become a “new creation” according to 2 Corinthians 5:17. The Holy Spirit regenerates those of us at the moment of our salvation and afterward acts as a force within us, motivating us to serve the Lord. This does not mean we do not sin, but that we feel uncomfortable remaining in that state for a lengthy amount of time.

Our identity as holy and blameless children of God (Eph. 1:3-14) also enables us to resist sin and motivates us to serve the Lord.

The bottom line is this: no matter where true saints of the Lord are at in their walk with Him, they will receive glorified bodies when Jesus comes for His church. Regardless of their watchfulness at the time of Jesus’ return or the closeness of their walk with Him when He appears, they will participate in the rapture.

I do not have all the answers, but I know two things for sure. First, God’s justification of the sinner is permanent and leads to glorification (Rom. 8:30-39). Nothing can break that chain. We are secure in Christ.

Second, Jesus will not leave behind any saint who possesses His righteousness as a result of God’s irreversible verdict in justifying us when we were sinners.

No true believer will miss out in the rapture.

Jonathan Brentner

Website: Our Journey Home

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E-mail: Jonathanbrentner@yahoo.com