Business as Usual

I listen to some of the prophecy teachers, and I have noticed a couple of things.

Many of them have books to sell. Others are pushing a kind of prepper mentality. They are affiliates for survival food and implements.

I find this annoying because I want my teachers to tell me something that will edify me and not line their own pockets. I understand that is becoming a rare thing in any school at any level. As a Christian with the gift of teaching, this makes me sad. It shouldn't be that people are deceived in the name of Jesus for the sake of money.

If you think that things are bad enough in the world that you need to stock up on food and water, you may be right. If North Korea starts flinging bombs around, it might be an excellent idea. If riots are coming to a town near you, by all means be ready to shelter in place.

If however, you think that you need to stock up to survive the Tribulation period - and if you believe Jesus will take us out of here and you are watching for Him - don't bother.

Here's what Jesus Himself said:

37As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be at thecoming of the Son of Man. 38For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark. Matt 24: 37-38 Berean Study Bible

27People were eating and drinking, marrying and being given in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all. 28It was the same in the days of Lot: People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. 29But on the day Lot left Sodom, fire and brimstone rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.… 
Luke17:27-29 Berean Study Bible

Please note that it was business as usual up until the moment of the disaster. There was no warning like the collapse of the social structure or economic failure. The warnings came from the men speaking God's word - Noah and Lot both warned people that they needed to listen to God. None of the people did. Only those who were paying attention to God and were ready to move at God's word were saved. 

So take this to heart:

The Return of the Son of Man
(Matthew 24:26-31; Mark 13:24-27)

25There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among the nations, bewildered by the roaring of the sea and the surging of the waves. 26Men will faint from fear and anxiety over what is coming upon the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28When these things begin to happen, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” Luke 21 NIV

When they BEGIN to happen, watch.

God bless us all,

Kathi Linz

Syria Under Fire

I find the news headlines absolutely fascinating lately as I have studied Bible prophecy for many years.

In light of Obama saying he wants to take military action against Syria, check this one out:

A prophecy against Damascus: "See, Damascus will no longer be a city but will become a heap of ruins." Isaiah 17:1

Syria says if we attack them, they will retaliate and the first to be hit would be Israel. These people do not threaten without a complete intent to follow up on their word.
Assuming they do hit Israel, God has something in mind for them and all who ally themselves together against Israel:

1A day of the Lord is coming, Jerusalem, when your possessions will be plundered and divided up within your very walls.

2I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it; the city will be captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped. Half of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be taken from the city. 3Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations, as he fights on a day of battle. 4On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south. 5You will flee by my mountain valley, for it will extend to Azel. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake^a in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.  Zechariah 14

 

The scene of war is described even more graphically in Ezekiel 38.

 

I have to wonder how soon Jesus will come back for those who love Him. It has to be during a time of peace, because Jesus said:

 

26“Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all. Luke 17

 

People are eating and drinking and carrying on with life as if everything were normal.

 

The Feast of Trumpets - the only unfulfilled Jewish holiday - is on September 5 this year. Congress is reconvening on September 9th to consider taking action against Syria. Obama says he may act with or without Congressional approval.

 

All the pieces are in place. I have to wonder whether the table is being set even now for the wedding supper of the Lamb.

 

Hallelujah!!

 

God bless us all,

 

Kathi Linz

Dragons

Where does the idea or the prototype of a dragon come from?  Almost every culture has a dragon or flying serpent in its mythology.  I can think of two ways it could have come about.

The Bible says that Noah took two of every kind of animal with him on the ark (and seven each of clean animals).  Since he took two of EVERY kind, that would include dinosaurs - albeit they would have had to be young ones to fit on the ark. (Gen. 7:2-3)

All kinds of land animals were created on the sixth day.  Dinosaurs, many of them, were land animals.  Before the Flood, people only ate vegetation as far as we know. In Genesis 1:29-30, God tells Adam and Eve they may eat every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seeds in it. (By the way, all of the animals were also created to eat plants.  See v. 30)

It is possible that as people discovered more and more ways to disobey God, that they began eating animals and that the dinosaurs were hunted to extinction before the Flood.  I cannot prove that one way or another.  But assuming some were alive when Noah constructed the ark, then there were dinosaurs aboard it when the rains began to fall.

After the Flood, the earth was substantially different.  There were annual seasons instead of a uniformly warm planet.  (See studies done in the Antarctic that prove it was once warm and lush. http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/08/03/from-leafy-to-lifeless-tropical-rainforest-once-covered-antarctica/ )
Certainly that would have affected the lifespan and size of the great lizards, but they might have continued to exist for some centuries past the Flood.  Stories like St. George and the Dragon lend some credence to this idea. Also explorers to the Dakotas claim to have seen flying lizards.  The Native Americans there called it a thunderbird.

Another possible origin for dragons would also begin in the Garden of Eden.  The talking snake that discussed eating the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil was not shaped like our modern snakes.  When God cursed the snake, He said it would crawl on its belly and eat dust all of its life.  That wouldn't have been much of a curse unless the snake hadn't crawled before the curse was given.  So I pose the question, what was the snake's mode of getting around before he landed on his belly?  Legs almost certainly.  Even today, pythons and boas have vestigial legs.  That would make the curse even worse, to still have a reminder of what once was.  (Gen. 3:14)

So snakes had legs in the beginning.  What if that wasn't all?  What if they also had wings and could fly? 

No one doubts flying lizards (see the aforementioned pterodactyls and pterodons).  There is a species of snake in South America that leaps from tree branches, flattens out its body, and glides on the air for some distance.  http://www.flyingsnake.org/    South American mythology has an important god named Queztalcoatl or Plumed Serpent.  The idea of flying snakes had to begin somewhere - and some snakes seem to remember that they were once allowed to fly.

Take your pick of the choices, but I have to lean in favor of the snake in the Garden of Eden.  All the other references to dragons in the Bible link the name Dragon to Satan. (Rev. 12:13-17 and, just in case that doesn't do it for you, see Rev. 20:2)

Go with God.

Kathi