After God established the laws and commandments that mankind should follow, He also established the blessings that the people will receive if they follow the law and the curses that would be poured upon them if they disobeyed the word of God. First, I want us to take a look at the state of not only America, but the world as a whole. The majority of the world has turned their backs on God. We have new diseases forming and spreading through the world as tourists travel. Countries have prepared for attacks from other nations with missiles and armies ready to be mobilized. The year of 2012 has been the hottest year on record in the United States and countries around the world are suffering from droughts that are drying up crops and causing shortages in usable water. Food supply is low because the farmers were not able to harvest the crops before the crops dried up. Dust storms are occurring more frequently than ever before because of the intense heat and dry conditions. Natural disasters like hurricanes and tornadoes come one after the other.
Now, let’s take a more direct look at America. Illegal immigrants are coming into our nation and gaining more rights than true American citizens. They have rights to vote and they get free healthcare and schooling. The Spanish language is everyone and sometimes it is even written before the English portion. We were once a power nation when God was still in the country. Now we are weak and vulnerable. We were once a loaner nation but now we are trillions of dollars in national debt because we became a debtor nation. People are losing their sense of sanity. Mass shootings are on the rise, such as in Aurora, Colorado and at the Sikh temple in Wisconsin. People are murdering their own families for money. Foreclosed homes and abandoned farms can be seen in nearly every American city. Other countries mock us because we have a President that says we have no national language or religion. He doesn’t salute our flag and says it represents destruction. He bows down to other countries. There has been a rise in imprisonment and child trafficking still exists. Businesses are shutting down, leaving large areas desolate and causing people to relocate. Abortions are on the rise as well.
So, now I’ll get to the point. We need to turn back to God. The Bible forewarned us about the events that would take place if we turned from God and now look at the world. It’s evident He exists. The rewards and curses seen in the books of Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 may have been spoken to the Israelites but they can still apply to us. These prophecies in these two books have been nailed to the cross with Jesus but we are all descendants of God’s people and we need to remember that God can still punish us in this life..
“I will scatter you among the nations and will draw
out my sword and pursue you.”
-Leviticus 26:33
We are those that He scattered among the nations. Everyone’s families in America have at some point migrated from another part of the world. God told us in Leviticus 26:42 that if we do repent and bring Him back to our lives He will remember the covenants He made with Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham. All of the things occurring in the world are curses that were mentioned in both Leviticus and Deuteronomy. Some of the other curses are that there will be cannibalism among the people and the plagues that were the Egyptians will be upon us. Enemies will come who are uncompassionate and will steal the crops. They will take us and capture them to bring them back to their own countries. Our soldiers have been taken as prisoners of war in other countries! Animals and livestock will be stolen and a foreign king will rule the land.
So, what rewards can we expect if we hold fast to God’s decrees and commandments?
-Rain in its season and fruitful crops
-Surplus of food
-Fearless of enemies
-Many generations to come
-Become a power nation
-Prosperous cities
-Recognized worldwide as God’s holy people
-Always be a leading nation
You may think there is nothing we can do. But God told us what to do.
“But if they will confess their sins and the sins of their fathers-their
treachery against me and their hostility towards me,
which made me hostile towards them so that I sent them into the land of
their enemies-then when their uncircumcised hearts and humbled and they pay for their
sin, I will remember my covenant with Jacob and my covenant
with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.”
Chapter 15 is a short chapter but it’s important in informing us about the seven bowls of God’s wrath.
The Seven Plagues
The seven plagues mentioned are the fury of God in the seven bowls. They are not separate from the bowls but they are what make them up. They are the third woe, which comes at the sounding of the seventh trumpet. The victors in verse 2 are the late overcomers who went through the Great Tribulation and did not follow the Antichrist. “Standing by the glassy sea” signifies that they’ve been resurrected and raptured to Heaven so they’re above the lake of fire with God. The song of Moses that these overcomers sing is in Exodus 15:1-18. It praises God for the victory over the forces of the Pharaoh by allowing him to part the Red Sea. In singing this song, the overcomers are praising God for their victory over the powers of the Antichrist. The song of the Lamb that is sung praises Christ’s redemption.
The Song of Moses and of the Lamb
In the song that they sing, God’s ways are His governing principles and His works are His judgments. Moses knew His ways but the children of Israel only knew His works (Psalm 103:7). The Greek word for holy in this case refers to the sum of qualities that are His divine character. Holy is His nature and righteous are His principles.
The Temple and the Seven Angels with the Seven Bowls
In verse 5 we see mentioned the temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony. The testimony is the law of God, and was put into the Ark (Exodus 25:16). The Ark was put into the tabernacle so therefore the temple in heaven is the Tabernacle of the Testimony. The seven angels that carry the seven bowls of God’s wrath are dressed like priests (Ezekiel 44:17). “Clean bright linen” indicates they are white garments. These angels are girded at the breasts with golden girdles. To be girded at the breasts is to indicate love and golden girdles indicate divine strength. No one can enter the temple until the angels release the seven bowls. This is so that no one can appease God’s fury with their prayers at this point until the seven bowls are poured out on the rebellious people influenced by the Antichrist.
Chapter 14 discusses the three reapings and some of the events that will take place during the Great Tribulation, including the fall of religious Babylon. In the first verse, this Mount Zion is the heavenly one. The 144,000 is the 144,000 mentioned in Chapter 7, the 12,000 Jews from each tribe of Israel. The name “His Father” on their foreheads signifies that they are one with Him. The voice is tumultuous yet solemn and pleasant. No one can learn the new song because they don’t have the same experiences of Christ as these first overcomers. When verse 3 says “from the earth” it proves that they’ve been raptured at this point. They were “purchased” by God when He sealed them and they will be raptured before everyone else.
The Three Angels
Now we see three more angels, each with a different message to those still on earth. The first angel proclaims the eternal gospel. It tells man to return to worship God and not be deceived by the Antichrist. He will begin the eternal judgment on the world. The second angel brings forth the message that Babylon has fallen. “Who has made all the nations drink” indicates that the Babylon being mentioned here is Rome, which is again mentioned in Chapter 17 and 18. Babylon the Great is a reference to Dan 4:30 when Nebuchadnezzar congratulates himself on his achievement: 'Is this not Babylon the great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?' Immediately he became a beast and was driven from men. Rome has always influenced the rest of the world. The fury refers to her fury when the saints do not consent her fornication. The third angel brings forth the message of what the punishment will be if man does not heed these warnings. “Mixed undiluted” in verse 10 means that God won’t be light in His judgment and wrath. He’ll give to each what they deserve. Torment will not cease to exist in the lake of fire. The endurance to suffer the Antichrist’s persecution will be needed by the saints who remain on earth. There are two peoples who make up the saints at this time: the Jews who keep the commandments and the believers who keep the faith of Jesus.
The Harvest of the Earth
The dead in verse 13 are those who are martyred under the persecution of Antichrist during the great tribulation. At this point, Christ is no longer clothed by a cloud but now He is on the cloud. The Lord’s coming is now in the open and everyone will know. He is still the Son of Man, therefore He is qualified to execute God’s judgment on everyone (John 5:27). The golden crown is His crown of glory and the sickle indicates that He is the one who will reap God’s people. All believers, who since Christ’s coming have received His seed of life, make up God’s harvest. They are made ripe through their sufferings in the great tribulation so therefore they will be reaped and raptured. In verse 16, the sickle represents the angels sent by the Lord to reap the harvest (Matthew 13:39).
This next angel in verse 17 has a sickle to reap the ones who chose not to follow Christ and chose to worship the Antichrist. In the bible, the Jews are likened to the fig tree (Matthew 24:32), the believers are likened to wheat (Matthew 13:25, 30), and now the wicked are likened to grapes, which is a counterfeit of the true vine made of Christ and His followers (John 15:1-6). The grapes, being composed mostly of water, indicates that these wicked are ripe because they are filled to the brim with sin. The great winepress in verse 19 is the war at Armageddon in Chapter 16, which is the valley of Jehoshaphat (Joel 3:9-16). All the Gentile worldly forces will be gathered there, and the Lord, with His overcoming saints, will destroy them there (Isaiah 63:1-6). The city that is mentioned in verse 20 where the winepress was trodden is Jerusalem. one thousand and six hundred stadia is one hundred and eighty-two miles, which is the distance from Bozrah (Isaiah 63:1) to Armageddon.
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."
-Genesis 1:1
Many people in today’s society deny the presence of God and the Holy Spirit. They say he doesn’t exist and one atheist told me that the only reason Christians believe in God is because they are weak and need something to have hope in. We are not completely independent, we need God. That must make us weak. I don’t think so. I think it makes us stronger to come to terms that there is something greater than us. The complexity of the design of man, the Earth, and the solar system point to intelligent design. Creation. Not evolution. How is it that Earth is the only planet that can sustain life? And if we came from monkeys then how come there are still monkeys swinging in the trees? And if we came from fish then does that mean we are eating out third cousin whenever we eat a tuna sandwich? How come humans have not changed much over thousands of years besides not needing our appendix and spleen and such? How are we the most intelligent creation on this earth!?!? My God, OUR God is not a myth. He is real and lives in each and every one of us if we allow Him to.
If God was not real and the Bible was a fiction story then how could hundreds of prophesies come true and continue to come true? An atheist might try to bring up the prophesies that did not come true but how can they ignore the ones that did? We are going through so many of the birth pains of the Rapture and Tribulation that will lead to the end of the earth that we know.
“I have revealed and saved and proclaimed- I, and not
some foreign god among you. You are my
witnesses- declares the Lord- that I am God.”
-Isaiah 43:12
He says it right in the bible! There will be people who refuse to accept the Lord so He brings up the point that He was the one who prophesied all that happened. How? Because He is the one who plans all things from the beginning to the end! Matthew 24:4-32 describes a few of the signs of the end of age.
-false prophets
-wars and rumors of war
-famines
-earthquakes
-“Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me…the love of most will grow cold.” – Matthew 24:9-12
-the image of the antichrist will appear in the most holy place (the Middle East) This hasn’t happened yet but it will soon occur.
We have seen so many false prophets declaring when the end of the world will happen. Right now they are saying the world will end in December. However, they are false because the bible states in various places that no one, I repeat no one, will know when the Son of Man will come (Just a little side note, Jesus is called the Firstborn of the dead in Revelation 1:5 because our spirits were once dead and he was the first to be spiritually born. He was the ultimate sacrifice that we needed to be able to obtain life in Heaven.). There has been an increase of wars in the past few centuries. There are many countries that are what we know as third-world that has thousands of children who have no food for weeks. In the past year or so there has been an increase in earthquakes. Christians are more hated now than ever. Sure, you can say that there have always been earthquakes and Christians have always been hated. But all I can say is EXACTLY! The birth pains don’t all happen at once! They gradually grow closer and closer together and that’s exactly what’s happening. So don’t try to deny the fact that the Bible is right and prophesied many things that are coming true. In Revelation it talks about the earth being consumed by fire before the Rapture. There are so many wildfires around the United States and around the world.
The bible even describes how the people will act in 2 Timothy Chapter 3.
-people will love themselves
-be lovers of money
-boastful
-proud
-abusive
-disobedient
-ungrateful
-unholy
-unloving
-unforgiving
-slanders
-no self-control
-treacherous
-conceited
Have you been paying attention to people around you? All they want is money, money, and more money. Look at the politicians and Fortune 500 companies. Everyone is always so proud and boastful about what they have and what they’ve done, always competing with friends, family, and neighbors to see who can have the best stuff. Otherwise known as “keeping up with the Joneses”. People are abusive not only to the people around them but all to substances like drugs and alcohol. The children disobey their parents and people who don’t have Christ as their savior disobey the Maker and Creator of heaven and earth. They are ungrateful for what little they have and don’t read the bible or live it out. They show no love to their fellow human being, laughing at the disabled and telling the homeless man to go get a job instead of standing on the corner. They don’t know if he already tried getting a job. They don’t forgive anyone either. In my own life, my grandmother cannot find it in her heart to forgive my father for stating facts. They give in to their earthly desires so easily, living dangerous lives joining gangs and walking the streets selling their bodies.
Some will say that the bible states that Jesus will save His people, the Jews, because of His crucifixion. But today many of the Jews still have not converted to believe in Jesus as their savior (Romans 11:26- And so, all Israel shall be saved.)This prophesy is not false though. Not all Jews will be saved. Paul, in his writing to the Romans said, “Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sands of the sea, it is the remnant that will be saved, for the Lord will execute His word upon the earth, thoroughly and quickly.” (Romans 9:27-28). Now mind you, there is no idea of time in Heaven. Everything happens in its right time. There is no blanket of salvation for the Jews although Jesus, on the cross, said, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” The only way they would have been saved is if they accepted Jesus as their final sin sacrifice. John 14:6 says, “No one comes to the Father except through Me.” How can someone believe in God but not Jesus? Jesus was God’s creation as the final sacrifice we needed. Zechariah 9:9 says that upon the coming of the King of Kings, Israel shall never fall again. This is a future prophesy! Not a prophesy that should have already happened. For only 4 of the 7 biblical feasts have been completed.
What are the 7 biblical feasts you ask?
-Passover: This feast celebrates the deliverance of the Hebrew slaves from Egypt. The Passover Lamb’s blood is applied to the doorsteps of their houses. Jesus became that Passover Lamb when he was crucified on the cross willingly to become our redemption.
-Unleavened Bread: This is a seven day period that prohibits the eating of leavened bread as leaven is a symbol of sin. Jesus fulfilled this when he was buried and became our righteousness.
-Firstfriuts: This feast celebrates the bringing of the firstfruits of the winter harvest to the Temple indicating there would be more to come. This feast was fulfilled when Jesus rose from the dead to be presented to God as the first of the harvest. (1 Corinthians 15:20-23.
-Feast of Weeks: Known as Pentecost, this feast shows anticipation and desire of serving God. This feast was fulfilled when the Holy Spirit entered the disciples of Jesus in the Temple. It represents the beginning of Christ’s followers on earth, being set apart as holy.
-Rosh Hashanah
-Yom Kippur
-Feast of Tabernacles
Look at the battle between Isaac and Ishmael. It started in biblical times and the battle between the Arabs and Israelis is still going on! And the "end" as we know could NOT have happened before one of the major prophecies came true. It happened on May 14, 1948 - when the world briefly felt sorry for the Jews and returned Israel to them - The Jews became a nation again in ONE DAY, just as predicted in the Old Testament. Furthermore, the Old Testament prophesied that when the Jews again owned Israel, the Land would arise from a barren desert into a prosperous land. Which it did! Before that (please check history books) it was nothing but a desert, good for absolutely NOTHING. Even the Arabs didn't want it. But, suddenly, when the Jews entered back into the picture, BAM! The Six Day War! And who won? The way-outnumbered Jews! Why? Because God kept His promise! Israel is coming up with many technological advances and is one of the top ten profitable countries.
The Bible is not a science book, yet it is scientifically accurate. All the other stuff about the Big Bang is not science. It is someone’s own belief that has spread to others. Ask yourself this concerning the world around us: Why is it that the earth is made up of mostly water and that it is critical for our very survival. Explain why trees remain intact as something we can use for fire, shelter, build houses, and make paper? Why do atoms stay together? Why is there just enough gravity on earth to keep us from being squashed like bugs or floating into space? How can this be just "coincidence"? For more of science and the bible: http://www.clarifyingchristianity.com/science.shtml
Some atheists choose to come up with the fact that Luke and Matthew have 2 genealogies that differ with certain names. The careful Bible student is likely to conclude that Matthew and Luke present two different genealogies. Following through the genealogies, one will notice that there are some names which are common to both, but also, a great number of differences. Matthew begins at the patriarch Abraham, and works his way to Jesus the Messiah. Luke begins at Jesus, and works his way back to Adam. There are two genealogies, with two distinct purposes. Matthew, it appears reveals the genealogy of Joseph, and Luke, presents the genealogy of Mary. Although Mary was a virgin Joseph was still considered Jesus’ father. His lineage proved Jesus’ right to be the Messiah because of the royalty in the genealogy. The genealogy shows Christ’s humanity.
If God is real then the bible is real. Therefore, Christ is the Messiah and Savior of mankind, not sent to judge but to save mankind from eternal damnation. Nobody can force anybody to believe in God or the Bible. In reality, the existence of God cannot be proven or disproved absolutely. If you cannot come to terms that God is real than the only way to find out that God really exists is to die. But you can’t say that “you didn’t know”. That won’t save you from his wrath and judgment.
