The earth is fallen and in raging rebellion. Those whom God’s Word, in KJV, terms “the earth dwellers” acknowledge His existence only to mock and blame Him for the consequences of their own sinful inclination to destroy all they touch. Humankind, made in the image of Almighty God, their Creator, was given an immense ability to create. Yet the ultimate result of that creativity since the Fall in Eden has wrought the ability to decimate. The proof is the discovery and unleashing of the atom.

We don’t have to think about the great nuclear powers with their arsenals of mega tonnage and pinpoint-missile capabilities to wage humanity’s final war. The world now hunkers under the fearful threat of the nuclear sword that might be swung by a half-crazed dictator in North Korea or in scimitar fashion by rogue terrorists everywhere we look within the Islamic world.

What truly astonishes me is that the God of Heaven obviously has His mighty hand upon that potentially planet-ending sword–even with the hatred heaped on Him daily. As I often hear it expressed, if one of us who are sorely vexed in this increasingly wicked generation had our way, we would have already swung that proverbial sword ourselves.

That sort of swashbuckling shortsightedness shows our fallen foolishness. It certainly doesn’t display the divine character of the Living God that indwells each of us who call Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord. We can only thank Him for being in complete charge. Our God’s divine character is indeed an awesome, majestic wonder to think upon. So, let’s do just that. We see His character at the very beginning of His love letter to humanity:

“And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day” (Genesis 1:31).

The Creator said everything was “perfect”–God’s only definition for “good” in His holy lexicon. Soon, the serpent entered the garden, and that perfection was disrupted when Eve fell under Lucifer’s seduction and Adam ate the forbidden fruit, bringing sin and death. Now there was only God who was “good”:

“And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God” (Mark 10:18).

Jesus is God, and He was speaking of the Triune Godhead.

Humans, who were made in perfection, in God’s image, changed from the perfect creatures that walked in harmony with their Maker to fallen creatures that would soon shrivel, die, and return to the dust from which Adam was made. God’s holy character is unchanged all these millennia later. That character is clearly seen throughout His Word. Nothing shows just how unassailable the changeless personality of the Creator is more clearly than His prophetic promises. Bible prophecy thus takes on ever-deepening significance as we move toward the consummation of this age and the ultimate destiny of His creation. His character is all-important in every respect imaginable.

God’s divine character is inextricably tied to His prophetic promises. The ultimate promise relevant to sin-infected humankind is that God would send a Savior to redeem us. Prophecy goes on to say that human life–as well as all of God’s creation—will be returned to its pristine, pre-Fall condition–that is, all but the fallen ones, both human and angelic who do not have Christ as Redeemer. The human unrepentant rebels have rejected God’s grace offer of salvation, and the angels who fell in the original rebellion gave up all rights to the presence of Almighty God and thus are unredeemable—lost forever.

I propose that no prophetic issue more profoundly points to God’s character and prophecy being inalterably linked than the Rapture. This great event, scheduled next on God’s calendar of prophetic promises, is a salvation matter at its very core. The Rapture promises to keep us–saints of the Church Age, or Age of Grace—out of God’s wrath and judgment against the rebels who have rejected His Son, Jesus Christ (read Revelation 3:10).

There is no greater point of faith in this regard, in my view, than to consider God’s embrace of children below the age of accountability. This age is known only to God. It is the age, or level of spiritual understanding, reached when people realize they must accept or reject Christ for redemption from sin.

Until that point–with each individual, it is different—each person’s name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. When the person understands and decides to accept Jesus for salvation, his or her name is written in permanently. If the decision is to reject, the name is blotted out, the Scripture says (Revelation 3:5), until he or she accepts Christ as Savior at some future time. When the person does this, his or her name will then be written in the Book of Life forever.

This is all part of the divine character of God. He will let no person go into Hell, into judgment and wrath, separated from Him forever, without giving the opportunity to be saved from sin’s deadly ruin. Thus, the Rapture of children below the age of accountability is all-important in considering God’s prophetic promises. Each and every such child, even those just conceived and those growing in the womb, will instantly be in the presence of Jesus Christ at the moment of Rapture–just as they are if they die before reaching that age.

I believe, with all that is within me, that when the Rapture happens, God is going to make a thunderous statement about when life begins. He will let this rebellious world know in that instant His holy opinion about the murder of the unborn that has been conveniently termed “pro-choice.”

Our individual walk with the Lord should reflect that godly character. He has restored us to be conformed to His image, to strive to be more like Jesus moment by moment.

“He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” (Micah 6:8).

Our Heavenly Father expects our own character to reflect the glorious character of His Son. When we do our best to be guided by the Holy Spirit toward accomplishing this, on one eternal day, we will hear the words, “Well done, good, faithful servant.”

There continues to be a great deal of conjecture about whether the current Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, is Gog, the evil person who will lead the Gog-Magog attack against Israel as prophesied by Ezekiel in chapters 38 and 39.

Mr. Putin certainly seems to fit the profile in many ways. While the world of Bible prophecy watchers looks intensively at the current Russian leader, fishing to understand if he, Putin, is indeed that biblically foretold character, it is absolutely assured that God’s Word says He has what it will take to deal with whoever Gog turns out to be.

Here is what the Lord says:

“And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him, And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords: Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet” (Ezekiel 38:1-).

So God Himself will go fishing at exactly the right time for this voracious would-be destroyer of God’s chosen nation, Israel. He will “hook” this barracuda-like leader of Rosh (Russia) in his jaw. The Lord will jerk Gog back into the direction He wants this Satan-spawned leader to go. The Lord will be in total control at all times during this attack on Israel–just as He is always totally in control.

We who observe and seek to understand these times so obviously near the Rapture of the Church can’t know for certain who this big, prophetic fish named Gog is. I believe the Church will be in Heaven, called into the clouds of Glory by God the Son–the Lord Jesus—before that great Gog-Magog battle is launched.

The Gog leader is apparently called so because “Gog” is the designation for a demon spirit that will inhabit the Russian leader at the time God puts the “hook” into the jaws. So it is, to me, at least, not possible to say for certain who Gog will be in terms of his given name.

Again, Vladimir Putin seems to have many of the characteristics attributed to the one who will be Gog.

Here is what Joel Rosenberg, a well-known Christian-Jewish writer, has to say in the matter:

“Over the years, people have asked me if Putin might be the Russian dictator referred to as “Gog” in the Biblical prophecies of “Gog and Magog” in Ezekiel 38—39…. Here’s my quick answer: It’s too soon to draw such a conclusion. There’s much more that would have to happen to indicate that Putin was the “Gog” of Bible prophecy. But there’s no question in my mind that Putin is Gog-esque. He is dangerous, and both Israel and the West should keep a close and wary eye on him, especially given all that Putin has done to build a strategic alliance between Russia and Iran and the other countries mentioned in the ‘Gog and Magog’ prophecies.”

The Lord has always seemed to have a special interest in fishing. He started building His Church on the concept of fishing. Remember the earliest signs used by Christians in expressing their relationship to Christ was the symbol of a fish.

Jesus first called men from the shores of Galilee while they were fishing. He told them He would make them “fishers of men.”

He certainly did so. And we can be assured that God will follow up by putting the “hook” in the jaw of the one He calls Gog, whether it’s Mr. Putin or some other Russian leader.

But, as my great friend Chuck Missler used to say: “We will be watching from the Heavenly mezzanine.”

Even so, come, Lord Jesus.