Over the last few weeks, I have seen a plethora of articles discussing the acceleration of “end times” events.   Just to name a few of these events … 

• A Christian woman from Kentucky, put in jail for taking a stand for a biblical view of marriage
  Four million Syrian refugees fleeing their homeland and pouring into other countries
  
• A significant Russian military buildup in Syria
  
• Much debate regarding the UN General Assembly meeting on September 25 where both the Pope and Iranian President Rouhani’s are scheduled to make speeches.   Reportedly, President Rouhani is going to focus on the issue of Palestine.
  
• An apparent end to “if you see something / say something” which occurred when a 14 year old muslim boy brought a homemade “clock” to school which was mistaken by a teacher for a bomb.   The school and teacher have since been portrayed negatively in the press, social media and even the white house, instead of being applauded for being careful.
  
• Much speculation over the recent “Shemitah” and potential impact on financial markets.
  
• Much speculation over the pending fourth “blood moon” to coincide with the Jewish holiday – Yom Kippur
  
  

Although I agree that these events may be significant from an end times perspective, most of the articles I read left the readers in a state of fear and confusion.   Today, I want to remind you that the portions of scripture which refer to the end times and descriptions of significant end times events are meant to bring HOPE and not fear.  

During the Olivet Discourse- found in Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21 - Jesus responds to a question from His disciples and tells of the events that would indicate that the last days were approaching.   In Mark 13:23, Jesus ends the discussion by stating “So be on your guard: I have told you everything ahead of time.”    Luke adds some more detail to this in Luke 21:34 when he reports the words of JESUS saying: “Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap.”    Clearly Jesus didn’t want anyone to be caught by surprise.   These words were not meant to put fear into the hearts of men...on the contrary, they were meant to bring Hope!  

Maybe you are thinking, “how can say that this is about hope when everything preceding those verses is about the awful things and persecution that we would see as the end times approaches?”   If that is you, I would remind you that the end times for the believer is a time of reuniting with JESUS CHRIST!   In Titus 2:13, Paul reminds us that we are waiting for “…the blessed Hope – the glorious appearing of our great GOD and Savior, JESUS CHRIST”!    In John 14:3 Jesus Himself said “…I go and prepare a place for you, [and] I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am”! 


This is the real message of the end times…a message of HOPE as we are physically reunited with our LORD and Savior JESUS CHRIST and will be with HIM forever.   End times prophecy is not meant to help us “time the stock market” or cause our “hearts to fail for fear”.   It is meant to encourage us to focus on that which is truly important and to ensure that we are prepared for the return of Jesus Christ!   Now THAT is a message of HOPE….to be with JESUS our SAVIOR forever!

Today, be sure that you are saved.   If you have never asked JESUS to be Lord of your life, do it today!   Confess your sins to HIM, tell HIM that you believe in HIM and give JESUS full control over your life.  Do not fear, but be encouraged and have HOPE, because Jesus will be returning soon for those who believe in HIM – just as HE said!

There has been quite a bit of news this week, related to an increased acceptance of cryptocurrency.   One of the primary drivers of this phenomenon has been the economic situation in Greece.   Fortune magazine published an article entitled: “Bitcoin: Greece’s new Euro workaround?”, which  highlights the fact that Greece’s Bitcoin use has grown 500% in the last four weeks!   With banking restrictions and limits on the amount of currency that can be withdrawn in Greece, it appears that individuals are flocking to digital currency in an attempt to minimize the impact on their daily lives.  The Fortune article further states that, “You buy a bitcoin now because you think sometime in the future you’ll have your banks shut and your currency reintroduced,” he adds. “Gold was the old hedge against this sort of thing. Bitcoin is the new one.”   Apparently other European countries are also buying Bitcoins in speculation that it is being used as a “Euro workaround”.  Although this is an interesting phenomenon, there are two other items that occurred this week which make this even more “prophetically significant”.

On Wednesday, July 8, Yahoo! Finance published an article stating that Citigroup, has developed their own digital currency dubbed - Citicoin.    Citigroup is the third largest bank in the US (behind Chase and Bank of America) based on Asset size.   With this announcement, Citi helped to validate the trend towards digital currencies and confirmed that this is not just a “passing fad”.   In addition to this admission by Citigroup, it is interesting to note that Yahoo! Finance published this article on Wednesday, July 8 – the same day that New York Stock Exchange was shut down for 3½ hours due to a “computer glitch”.    Interesting, huh?

The technology that supports both the Bitcoin and Citicoin is called “Blockchain distributed ledger technologies”.   Without getting too technical, essentially “Blockchain” is a decentralized, secure, transparent method  for processing and verifying peer-to-peer transactions.   Many experts believe that this “Blockchain” technology has far reaching potential uses beyond digital currency including: electronic voting, patent tracking and taxes.    Beyond the technology itself, this is all very interesting as it was first released in 2008 by Satoshi Nakamoto, a name which is believed to be an alias for an individual or a group of developers.   Although there have been numerous suggestions, the true identify of Nakamoto has not yet been confirmed.   Furthermore, this unregulated digital currency is a “borderless currency” which means it sets the stage for the first truly global currency.

The Bible tells of an event, which will occur during the early part of the 7-year tribulation, that is directly related to a full global financial collapse.  In Revelation, chapter 6 we read a description of the “Seal Judgments”.   The first four verses talk about the first two seals: a white horse signifying the introduction of the antichrist and a red horse signifying a global war.   In verses five and six, we are told about a black horse:

“When HE broke the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, “Come.” I looked, and behold a black horse; and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand.   And I heard something like a voice in the center of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not damage the oil and the wine.”

Most commentators believe this third horse represents famine.   However, I believe that the “pair of scales”  described in verse five, implies that this is also about control over the financial system to purchase critical goods -  such as food.  (Additionally, verses seven and eight describe the fourth judgment which specifically calls out famine as a component of the judgment.)    The details in verse six essentially sets the cost of “a day’s worth of food” at a cost of “a day’s wages”.   Today there is a lot of variation on what actually defines “a day’s worth of food” and even more variation on what is described as “a day’s wages”.   This verse seems to imply that during this early point of the tribulation, this will be a more standardized definition of both the quantity of food (rations) as well as the related cost.    

Currently, there are more than 160 active global currencies in existence.   Even though the two primary currencies today are the US dollar and the Euro, it would be incredibly difficult for an individual to control all of them in such a way that there would be a common global price for a specific item such as a quart of wheat or three quarts of barley.   Just think how much easier it would be to control the cost for these and other items with a single, global currency.

A few chapters later, in Revelation chapter 13, John describes another layer of control over the financial system.  Revelation 13: 16 & 17 state:

“And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, and he provides that no one will be able to buy or sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the name of the beast or the number of his name. “

The mark described in this verse will be some type of identifier which will enable commerce.   It is important to note that individuals will need to accept this as a form of worship of the beast.    Although this mark will allow the bearers to buy and sell critical items, it will also have severe consequences in that bearers will be putting the beast in the place of the ONE TRUE GOD in their lives.   In recent years the technology to enable this type of control with either a digital tattoo or a digital implant has been created, however, the type of currency still presented a bit of dilemma.    Clearly a single, global, “uncontrolled”, digital currency would facilitate this as well!

The US Dollar, along with many other currencies throughout history, was at one time backed by gold.   Historically, gold has been the “go to” in times of economic uncertainty.  That is no longer the case as we are now seeing by these news events.   Clearly a digital cryptocurrency facilitates much of what is to come during the tribulation.   Get all excited friends; the return of Christ is closer now than it ever has been before!        

God Bless!

There continues to be a lot of attention in the media on the topic of Illegal Immigration.    It is now being reported that unaccompanied illegal immigrant children are being shipped around the US to all 50 states and even the US Virgin Islands.    Did you know that in just the first six (6) months of 2014, over 30,000 unaccompanied illegal immigrant children were identified and shipped across the USA by the Office of Refugee settlement?   According to media reports, the majority of these 30,000 illegal immigrants were young boys between the ages of 12 and 17.

I admit that when I first heard this I started to get really angry and even began to question GOD on why HE would let this happen.   I remember thinking what a risk this is, allowing an “illegal army” to amass within our borders at US Taxpayer expense.   The more I thought about it, the more infuriated I became.  

As I began to pray about this topic, I felt prompted by the LORD to read Matthew 24:14 which says:

This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.   (Matthew 24:14 NASB)

After reading those words, I became excited and began to think, “could it be that GOD was allowing these children to come to the US so that they could hear about the GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST before the end comes”?    Could it be that these children entering US borders - even illegally - is another sign of the soon return of CHRIST?   Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that illegal immigration shoudl be allowed, but I do believe that this is an opportunity for those of us that are Christians to reach even “the least of these”.   (Matt 25:40)

My challenge to you isthat you would tell someone - even an illegal immigrant - about the GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST today!   Instead of just complaining about Illegal Immigration…do something about it, tell them about JESUS CHRIST!

Ezekiel 38 tells of an epic battle that is yet to be played out with a cast of characters who, at first glance, appear to not exist on our modern day maps.   This prophecy speaks of armies from countries such as: Magog, Rosh, Meshech, Tubal, Persia, Cush, Put, Gomer, Beth Togarmah, Sheba and Dedan being drawn out to attack God’s People – the nation of Israel.   All of these countries seem, to the casual observer, to be nonexistent in this modern era.  Ezekiel’s prophecy then goes on to detail how GOD will miraculously intervene (verses 17-23)  to protect the nation  of Israel and destroy all of the invading forces.   But who are these ancient named pawns that are used as part of God’s plan?    

It is interesting to note that many of the countries listed in Ezekiel 38 are actually seen in other portions of scripture.   In fact, Genesis 10, which is often referred to as the “Table of Nations” refers to several of these same countries.   The first eight verses of Genesis 10 (NASB) tell us:

“…Now these are the records of the generations of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah; and sons were born to them after the flood.

2 The sons of Japheth were Gomer and Magog and Madai and Javan and Tubal and Meshech and Tiras. 3 The sons of Gomer were Ashkenaz and Riphath and Togarmah. 4 The sons of Javan were Elishah and Tarshish, Kittim and Dodanim. 5 From these the coastlands of the nations were separated into their lands, every one according to his language, according to their families, into their nations.

6 The sons of Ham were Cush and Mizraim and Put and Canaan. 7 The sons of Cush were Seba and Havilah and Sabtah and Raamah and Sabteca; and the sons of Raamah were Sheba and Dedan. 8 Now Cush became the father of Nimrod; he became a mighty one on the earth…”   (emphasis added)

Did you catch all of those similarities to the countries identified by Ezekiel?   Let’s take a closer look at some of the main characters detailed by Ezekiel more than 2,500 years ago.  
 
Gog
Ezekiel 38:2 details the first of the main characters when he states  “…Son of man, set your face toward Gog of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him…”.   This first person, and yes it is a person not a county, is called Gog of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal.   Gog as used here would actually be more of a ‘title’ not a specific name.  Think of it as you would the title ‘Pharaoh’, ‘Czar’ or ‘President’.     So essentially he is the President of Magog, Rosh, Meshech and Tubal.   


Magog, Rosh, Meshech and Tubal
The Philosophical Dictionary by Voltaire combined with the writings of Josephus in “The Antiquities of the Jews” (Book 1, Chapter 6), give us a clue as to the modern day identity of Magog as they are referred to as the Scythians.   Josephus tells us that “Magog founded the Magogians, and the Magogogites were the people called Scythians by the Greeks”.   The Scythians were a nomadic tribe who ultimately inhabited what is now referred to as Russia and the “Stans” (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, etc.).  

The Masoretic Text and Septuagint both point to Rosh being a specific place.   In fact in Gesenius’ Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon of the Old Testament written in the 19th Century, Rosh was referred to as Russia.   This same researcher, Wilhelm Gesenius, identified Meshech as the founder of Moschi (meaning mountains) now referred to as Moscow.   Tubal is believed by most to refer to the Tobolsk region in Russia.

Persia
The next in our cast of characters is Persia which is now referred to as Iran.   In fact, prior to 1935, modern day Iran was actually called Persia.

Cush and Put
Cush and Put are both named in Genesis chapter 10 and were two of the sons of Ham and grandsons of Noah.   According to the writings of Josephus, Cush, the son of Ham, was in possession of the lands south of Egypt, specifically modern day Ethiopia and the Sudan.   Put, the son of Ham, was referred to as Phut by Josephus and his territory included modern day Libya and most likely Tunisia and Algeria.

Sheba and Dedan
Sheba and Dedan are mentioned as the grandsons of Cush in Genesis 10:7.   There is also a reference in Genesis 25:3 naming Sheba and Dedan as two of the grandsons of Abraham.  It is not clear exactly which pair of men are the ones referenced by Ezekiel, however, most commentaries identify the countries represented as modern day Saudi Arabia and parts of the Persian Gulf Region.

Beth Togarmah
Beth Togarmah literally means “the house of Togarmah”.   There is still some lack of clarity over the exact identity of Togarmah, however the most convincing evidence points to Armenia and parts of modern day Turkey.    In fact, there are Assyrian records which refer to modern day Armenia as “the house of Togarmah”.   Many commentaries refer to these people as individuals who migrated from Cappdocia (Turkey), which in Ezekiel’s time included a city known as “Tegarma” or “Tagarma”, into Armenia and then up into Turkistan and even further north into Siberia and Mongolia.

Gomer
Finally we have Gomer.   There is much debate over the identity of this country.   Voltaire claimed that Gomer was a reference to modern day France or Spain.   Some have identified this as other parts of Eastern Europe as Gomer may have inhabited areas of the Rhine and Danube Valleys in Germany.   However, one of the most compelling identifications is that the Gomerites were the ancient Cimmerians.   The Cimmerians were expelled in 700 BC from the Southern portion of Russia into the land we refer to today as Turkey.  

Overall, we can see that all of these ancient characters still exist today and that they are beginning to align together based on their mutual enemy – the nation of Israel.   In fact a recent Yahoo! news article mentioned that with the latest unrest occurring in Iraq, the United States has begun to pull it’s citizens out of the country due to safety concerns.   This void is giving Russia an opportunity to step into Iraq to “help” provide resources to fill this occupancy vaccuum.   This development is especially interesting when coupled with the fact that Iraq is not specifically referred to in Ezekiel 38. 

In the fall of 2007, Russia (Rosh) and Iran (Persia) declared a military alliance largely based on their desire to “defend against western aggression”.   This alliance has continued to strengthen and expand over the last seven years.   In 2014, we have seen a real resurgence and re-strengthening of Russia with the annexation of Crimea and now the border battle with the Ukraine.    

Ezekiel does not tell us specifically when this war will happen, but he does give us four clues as to the timing of the event.   Specifically verses 8-14 tell us:

• This will happen in future years (latter days).
• The land (Israel) will be recovering from war.
• The residents of the land (Israel) will be gathered from many nations and brought out from the nations.
• The land will be made up of unwalled villages and a peaceful, prospering and unsuspecting people.
  

Since we are over 2,500 years past the date of the prophecy, I would say that the first condition of future years is definitely met.   History shows us that Israel has grown quickly since it’s “re-birth” in 1948 with Israeli’s returning to their homeland from the nations, meeting the third condition above.    Additionally a look at the Israeli business news allows us to realize that Israel is a prosperous nation – fulfilling a portion of the fourth point above.      

However, the current military actions this month in Gaza show clearly that Israel is not currently at peace.   Israel is currently at war, not recovering from war.  Could a victory in this current military situation lead to Israel being a “land recovering from war”?  

It is also interesting to note that Hamas has built tunnels from Gaza into Israel.  On July 19, 2014, the New York Times reported that “…Israeli troops have uncovered 13 tunnels from Gaza into Israel since the start of the ground operation, some of them as much as 30 yards underground, with multiple entry points beneath greenhouses and open fields, Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, an Israeli military spokesman, said on Saturday. He said that the 13 tunnels, now under Israeli control, were all over the periphery of Gaza and that he believed there were “tens” more…”    Could this be the beginnings of “unwalled villages”?

These are exciting times for those awaiting the return of the Messiah!   Keep your heart focused on the Lord and your ears listening for that trumpet sound…HE is coming quickly!

The new Need for Speed movie came out this past week and it made me think about how things seem to have been “speeding up” lately.    One of the most popular portions of scripture related to Bible Prophecy is found in Matthew 24.    In this sermon, Jesus told His listeners about some of the signs that would signal HIS return and the end of the age.

Matthew 24: 4-8 “…4 And Jesus answered and said to them, “See to it that no one misleads you. 5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many. 6 You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. 8 But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs…”




1 Thessalonians 5:3 tells us that “…While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape…” 

Daniel 12:4 reminds us that technology will accelerate as we approach the end of time.  We see that at the conclusion of the Old Testament book of Daniel when we are told “…conceal these words and seal up the book until the end of time; many will go back and forth, and knowledge will increase.”




Birth pangs or labor pains are the pains that a woman feels as she is getting ready to give birth.   Typically they start out slowly and far apart, but as the time for delivery comes close, the contractions get closer together and more intense.    Spiritually we are seeing an increasing frequency and intensity of events that Jesus referred to in Matthew 24.    A careful read of scripture shows us that these birth pangs occur in several broad areas including (but not limited to):

• Signs on the earth – Earthquakes, Famine, Pestilence
  
  
• Signs in the heavens – Sun, Moon & Stars
  
  
• Signs in the nations – Wars and Rumors of Wars
  
  
• Signs in the culture – Violence, Apostasy, Lack of Faith
  
  
• Signs in technology – Increase in knowledge, Increased speed
  
  

 

Just take a quick look at some recent news items and you can see how things seem to be speeding up as of late.   Let’s take a quick look:

• According to the United States Geological Survey there have been eight (8) earthquakes of a magnitude of 6 or more just in the first two weeks of March 2014.    There have been a total of almost 300 earthquakes since the beginning of 2014 with the most powerful one (6.9) so far this year occurring in China on February 12.   On March 10 there was a 6.8 magnitude earthquake which struck near Ferndale, California.
  
  Did you know that the number of earthquakes of magnitude 4.0 or higher has steadily increased in every decade throughout the last 60 years?
  
  
• On February 25, 2014 Time magazine posted an article talking about Detroit,  the city hardest hit by the awful winter.   The winter of 2014 saw Atlanta, Georgia being brought to a complete standstill.   There is actually no shortage of headlines talking about the cold, in fact accuweather.com posted a March 10, 2014 article detailing how New Orleans was having the “coldest Mardi Gras ever”.   People have been asking “what is happening with the weather lately”?   
  
  Could it be that GOD is trying to get our attention?
  
  
• The amount of data that is available in the world has been steadily increasing.  In 2010, IDC estimated the “digital universe” at 1.2 Million Petabytes (a petabyte is 1 million gigabytes) or 1.2 Zettabytes.  In 2013 this number had already reached 4 Zettabytes and is projected to grow to 35 Zettabytes by 2020!   That is a staggering amount of data and has helped to drive new terminology like “big data” and “cloud storage”.
  
  
• There is continued “war and rumors of war”.   Throughout the last few weeks we have seen this highlighted in the conflicts occurring in the Ukraine.    In fact the New York Times ran an article on March 14, 2014 stating: “Rumors Mushroom in Eastern Ukraine, Fueling Expectations of War”.
  
   
  
  

Whether you agree that things are speeding up or not, it begs the question, what if Jesus were to return today….would you be ready to meet HIM?    If the answer is “yes”, then great!   However, if your answer is “no”, then don’t delay any longer.   Get ready today!     The time for HIS return is coming quickly!

Did you ever wonder where certain everyday expressions come from?     Phrases like “being caught between a rock and a hard place”, “a Herculean effort”, “he’s so full of himself” and “Achilles’ heel” actually all tie back to Greek Mythology.   Other expressions such as “twinkling of an eye”, “drop in the bucket”, “signs of the times” and “powers that be” all have their roots in the Bible.    Over the past few weeks, I have been pondering one such expression:  “the writing on the wall”.    Today, this phrase is typically used to describe a situation where you could literally see doom coming beforehand.  

The roots of this phrase are found in the Old Testament of Scripture, specifically in Daniel 5.   This portion of scripture tells of an event that occurred in Ancient Babylon.   In verse 1 of this chapter we are introduced to Belshazzar, the King of Babylon.   Belshazzar was the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar, the King of the Babylonian empire who took Daniel and his friends into captivity.    Belshazzar threw a big party with all of his friends and basically mocked the ONE TRUE GOD -  JEHOVAH.   Suddenly a hand appeared out of thin air and wrote a phrase on the wall.  

5 Suddenly the fingers of a man’s hand emerged and began writing opposite the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace, and the king saw the back of the hand that did the writing. 6 Then the king’s face grew pale and his thoughts alarmed him, and his hip joints went slack and his knees began knocking together.

The hand terrified the King and his guests as a message was written that nobody could understand.   The King was scared by what he saw, but he didn’t know what the message meant.  In fact, none of his counselors understood the message.  The “great minds” of the day couldn’t tell the king what it meant.   Nobody understood the words of warning.   None that is except for a prophet of the Lord named Daniel.

25 “Now this is the inscription that was written out: ‘MENĒ, MENĒ, TEKĒL, UPHARSIN.’ 26 This is the interpretation of the message: ‘MENĒ’—God has numbered your kingdom and put an end to it.  27 ‘TEKĒL’—you have been weighed on the scales and found deficient.  28 ‘PERĒS’—your kingdom has been divided and given over to the Medes and Persians.”

The King James version of scripture states the word “TEKEL” as “Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting (or lacking)”.   Wow, can you imagine being Daniel and having to tell the king that GOD examined him and he didn’t measure up?    Daniel went on to tell Belshazzar that his kingdom would be taken from him and given to the Medes and Persians.    What a terrifying word of judgment!    That very night, this word of warning came to pass.   Belshazzar was murdered and the Medes and Persians took over the Babylonian empire.

It always amazes me how GOD constantly warns people about what lies ahead.   Amos 3:7 tells us “Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing without revealing His plan to His servants…”.  That statement is as true today as when it was written over 2,700 years ago.    The book of Jonah tells of how GOD sent the prophet Jonah to warn an entire nation to repent because HIS judgment was coming.   Romans 13:11-12 encourages New Testament believers to “wake up” because “the day is at hand”.    Make no mistake, we are living in what Scripture calls “the Last Days”.    We are quickly approaching the day when Christ will return for HIS Church.    As that day draws near, I believe that GOD will continue to give us indications that events are unfolding in this generation just as HE did in generations past.  

In this blog we will attempt to point out events that we see unfolding around us which can be tied back to biblical prophecies describing events of the Last Days found in scripture.   Literally, we will seek to explore, the “Writing on the Wall” as we see it today.

Can you see that we are living in the last days?   If you were examined by God would you be found lacking or would you be one of the saved?   Take time today to surrender your life to JESUS CHRIST, our One True Hope.   He is coming back soon…be ready!

  God Bless,

Stephen