Pain and grief – why?

On By AdminIn SOTLeave a comment

Life can be really challenging sometimes.

Our world is filled with people who are plagued with anxieties, fear and depression. We experience these things for so many different reasons, whether physical, environmental or psychological.

Sometimes circumstances outside of our own control bring a tsunami of pain and grief that never goes away. Perhaps through the loss of a loved one or the persistence of an debilitating physical or mental condition. Sometimes, we experience pain as a result of a bad choice that we’ve made.

Whatever it is – we’ve come to a point in time where we are left reeling, disoriented, questioning the point of life, perhaps questioning God Himself.

Perhaps we have no trouble acknowledging the fact that God is the omnipotent creator of heaven and earth – but that doesn’t necessarily stop us from asking the question, “Why does God allow this painful cirumstance to happen”?

If God is all-powerful, “why doesn’t He intervene and resolve the situation”? “Why did God allow this situation to develop in the first place”. Perhaps, in our grief, we point the finger at God and blame Him, because we know He has the power to resolve the situation, yet He persists in allowing us to suffer.

This mental conflict can result in a crisis of faith where we might ask; “How can I love a God who allows pain and grief to be imposed upon me like this. What kind of relationship or what kind of love is this?”

Its unlikely that we will know WHY God has chosen to allow our difficult circumstances to occur and persist, in our moment of suffering.

And the absense of a clear answer to that question can be painful in itself. Christ also had to deal with this – he didn’t want the pain and suffering of the crucifixion. He pleaded with God “please take this cup from me”. God did not answer this prayerful request from his Son, even though his Son pleaded with him.

Yet while we don’t always know the reason why He does what He does, God does give us a glimpse of why we should still trust Him in the most difficult of times.

This glimpse is found in words that God spoke over 2500 years ago in one of the darkest moments in Judah’s national history, deep inside Babylon, to the captives of Judah.

These captives had been taken from their lands, uprooted from their familes – some of whom had been killed back in Israel – and they were now in a foreign place only to be confronted with imprisonment, starvation and death.

Anxiety and depression would have been a natural response to such a traumatic event like this. Life itself would’ve seemed pointless and empty. And in those moments of need, doubtless the captives asked the question “why is God allowing this to happen”?

The way that God appeals to these captives in Isa 51 v1-16 is insightful.

While God chooses not to reveal to us the immediate “why” about our circumstances, He does give us something to hold onto. He presents a case which consists of three main points:

I am trustworthy

v1-2 – Paraphrase: “When I make a promise, I keep it. Want proof? Look at Abraham and how my promise has already started to be fulfilled in his children”

I will give you peace and joy

v3-11 – Paraphrase: “The future is going to be amazing (joy, peace, etc) for those who trust me. I promise.”

I have the power to do this

v12-16 – Paraphrase: “I am the creator of the heavens and the earth – I know what I’m doing. I have the power to make this happen.”

Even in when our affliction is unrelenting – even in our most vulnerable moments God does not always give us the outcome or result that we desperately want and in moments of acute suffering this can feel like betrayal.

However, God wants us – in these moments – to trust Him; trust that He will help us see it through; trust that He wants to bring us peace; trust that He has the absolute power and authority to make this happen and trust that He will keep his promise to do just that.

Christ begged for the cup to be taken from him. Christ did not even deserve the punishment he endured. Despite this, God never removed the cup.

Instead of removing the cup, God gave him more than he or anyone could possibly imagine, and He has promised to do the same for us if we hold fast in Faith.

What does the Bible say about Coronavirus?

On By AdminIn Coronavirus, SOT1 Comment

As the Coronavirus (COVID-19) spreads around the world, there is no doubt that the entire world is facing an unprecedented situation. “Life as we know it, will never be the same” is becoming a common script amongst political and economic leaders.

Not six months ago, the idea that millions of people throughout our prosperous world would soon be confined to their homes for fear of a virus would have been considered ludicrous by most.

But for those who read Bible prophecy, the idea – now reality – fits right into what was prophesied to happen.

While the Bible doesn’t say anything specific about COVID-19, Christ prophesied that certain events would happen around the world prior to His return – events which are remarkably similar to what the world is experiencing now as a result of COVID-19.

What to expect

Lets take a look at what Christ said, in Luke 21;

“Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation” – (v10)

The word “nation” in the original Greek is “ethnos” and refers to a multitude of individuals who are of the same genus or ethnicity.

In the last few years we have seen growing nationalism and populism around the world which has placed ethnicity and national identity into the spotlight. Since 2015, populism has brought Trump to power, divided the United Kingdom from Europe and has been the vehicle of growing success for global leaders like Putin and Xi Jinping. As populism grows around the world, it bears a strong resemblance to the populism that led to World War 2.

With severe restrictions on travel around the world and with world leaders pointing the finger at China for allowing this virus to go unchecked, nationalistic undertones are only escalating around the world.

Christ continues.

“And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences (epidemics)” – (v11)

Christ explains that earthquakes, famines and edpidemics will occur, and over the last 20 years, the world has seen some huge earthquakes including the biggest on record – the Indian Ocean earthquake that hit 9.1 on the Richter scale in 2004.

Famines around the world are growing every day as economic disparity around the world increases. According to the United Nations, 820 million people were undernourished prior to COVID-19 and 697 million people were experiencing severe food insecurity.

Sadly these numbers are about to get worse – the United Nations ran some modelling which predicts that Coronavirus will cause global famines of “Biblical proportions” in just a matter of months, which will result in one billion people experiencing chronic hunger. 

The word pestilences in the Greek means “plagues or epidemics”. The world has rarely experienced a pandemic that has had such a far reaching impact around the globe as that of the Coronavirus.

How the world will react

And what does Christ say will be the result of all these things that come upon the earth?

“And there shall be … upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity” – (v25)

The Greek word “distress” means to “narrow, constrict, constrain” – these are words that have a remarkable resemblance to the overwhelming feeling of confinement that one third of the world experiences today as movement and travel is restricted, public places and events cancelled, and people are told to stay in their homes.

But even more significantly, the word Greek word “distress” used here in Luke actually originates from the Greek word “sunecho” and it describes someone who is “taken with” something – usually a disease or high fever.  This same word is used both in Luke 4:38 and Acts 28:8 to describe people who were sick and taken by high fevers – and ofcourse our world now is in the grip of a virus that also causes a high fever.

The word perplexity originates from the Greek word ‘aporio’ which means “to be without resources” or “to be left wanting”.  And already we have seen in the last few months, hospital systems completely overwhelmed whenever an outbreak occurs; not enough ventilators, not enough hospital beds, not enough face masks.

Christ continues.

“… men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth” – (v26)

The fear and “fainting” here is referring to the mental and emotional anxiety, apprehension and fear that is proliferating as people worry about their jobs, their health, their lifestyles, and their lives.

The word “failing” in the Greek literally means, to “leave off breathing”. To be out of breath to the extent one faints or loses consciousness – and is that not what thousands of people around the world are experiencing as a result of COVID-19?

“… for the powers of heaven shall be shaken” – (v26)

And as fear proliferates, the powers of heaven (the governing leaders and institutions of the world) will be “shaken” – the Greek word means to “totter”. As a result of COVID-19 world leaders are shaken to the core, confused and lost as to what economic policies should be enacted, working furiously to keep health systems resilient, supply chains functioning and all the while, the global economy is tottering and on the brink of collapse.

When all these things begin to come to pass…

And Christ said, when all these things begin to come to pass, we can expect to see His return;

“At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.” – (v27)

We don’t know exactly when Christ will return, or whether or not this pandemic will result in His return. But what we do know, is that the unprecedented situation which has been brought upon the world by COVID-19, is already creating a series of events that resemble those that Christ predicted would occur, just before His return.

Living on Borrowed Time

On By AdminIn Time2 Comments

After buying a company worth twenty-seven billion dollars, Warren Buffet was asked in an interview why he manages his diary so meticulously.

Buffet explained that he manages his time with the utmost care, because;

“I can buy anything I want, but I can’t buy time”

There is a great disparity of wealth between the likes of ourselves compared to Buffet. Buffets wealth is something-something billion dollars (and fluctuates like the weather) whereas our wealth is simply incalculable, and is stored up in heaven.

However despite the great disparity between us, there is a good lesson in what Buffet said. Just as his colossal fortune causes him to guard his use of time with obsessive carefulness, so too our rich faith and hope should prompt us to guard our time to ensure it is used wisely.

Christ’s message to us of faith was, “occupy till I come”. This message was incredibly important because he said this in context of the parable of the money that the nobleman gave to his servants before he travelled to a far country. When the nobleman returned, he found that each servant had invested his money in varying ways. Some had simply done nothing while others had invested their money hard. This is a very frank picture of what it will be like when Christ returns; some of us will have invested hard in using our time for God and sadly, others will have done very little with their time to advance Gods work.

And so the question is, how are we occupying our time? How are we spending, investing and managing our time? What do we do in our spare time?

A key area of concern is the amount of time we spend swiping, browsing, sharing and interacting on social media platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and more. These platforms seem free, but they’re not; we pay for them with our time. Our time and information are then sold by these platforms to third party advertisers.

These platforms are designed so that we develop an addiction to them; there’s a term for it – its called “Persuasive design”. Persuasive design is a design practice that focuses on influencing our behaviour. Persuasive design techniques are ingrained in our social media apps to try and influence our human psyche and habits. From a neurological point of view, we respond to these design techniques in two ways. Firstly, we feel a subconscious stress response, (because we are waiting for something to happen and have no idea where its going to go), and secondly, they stimulate a dopamine release for building anticipation which makes us feel the urge to come back to find out more. This generates which is known as “FOMO” – “Fear of missing out”.

We also get a good dopamine fix when watching TV. Today’s producers know all the neurological design tricks to get viewers addicted and living with an insatiable anticipation for the release of the next episode, or the next live sports coverage. The producers highlight the most intense moments of the season and preview them over and over again; they cut the scenes just at the point when viewers are about to discover a thrilling new element to the story; they deploy and elicit the full spectrum of emotions (disgust being an increasingly popular emotion that viewers like to feel) and are always sure to make viewers question what is right.

Giving in to mindless habits like TV or social media whenever we find free time is like reaching for the bottle that says “dopamine”: we take a sip and fulfil the behaviour of an addict. We surrender our precious time to the advertisers so that they can ask us to surrender our money as well.

Of course, many of these activities are not of themselves evil, but let’s not be naive about this; not only are they proven to have adverse social, psychological and neurological effects, but they can also have an insidious effect on our relationship with God, depending on how much time we invest in them.

When we constantly surrender ourselves to easy, mindless and impulsive habits like these, we demonstrate to God our lack of self-control and we cripple our ability to commit brain power to Gods work. And so the question is, how are we occupying our time? How are we spending, investing and managing our time?

The clock is ticking. Prophecy is unfolding quickly.

The nobleman is about to return from a far country and gather us together to judge how we have occupied our time. Have we been reading his word each day? Have we been preaching the gospel? Have we been contacting and visiting the fatherless and widows in their affliction?

Or have we surrendered our spare time to mindless habits that are of no worth to Christ?

Putin says ‘sorry cant help’ to Israel and invites Iran to Israels border.

On By AdminIn Israel, Russia1 Comment

For so long, Israel’s Prime Minister has warned Iran about crossing the ‘red line’ – an ultimatum which has characterised most of Netanyahu’s tenure as PM.

His warnings were issued to Iran with a tone of profound confidence and proclaimed at the highest levels of government. His speeches were arresting and the news organisations around the world cashed in on the sensationalism of it all. Many would remember his vivid speech to the world at the United Nations where despite irreconcilable world views, world leaders gather to epitomise unity and peace on earth while on the other hand, Netanyahu presented an explosive chart showing the sketch of a bomb with – you guessed it – a red line.

However, in the last few years, the red-line rhetoric fizzled out when under President Obama, the US put Netanyahu into a headlock and used the other arm to give Iran a load of cash as part of the Iran deal. While to the North, Russia’s grand move into Syria left an irritating little scribble on Netanyahu’s red-line.

As times have changed, the reality is that a bigger problem looms on the horizon: another red-line – this time, not Netanhayu’s.

Until now, Netanyahu’s military exploits in Southern Syria have been left unchecked by the Russian occupying force – most likely against the will of the regional Russian military commanders.

Netanyahu has bombed Syrian tanks that have strayed towards the Israeli border and even bombed Hezbollah targets close to Damascus while Putin seems to have had more interest in Sochi’s weather. Yet, only a few days ago, a senior Israeli official outright threatened to bomb Damascus – still, no response from Putin.

However Netanyahu’s concern for Iranian occupation in Syria reached a tenor pitch when he left Israel and took his red-line narrative to Putin who was patiently suffering harsh conditions in his Sochi resort. The meeting with Putin started well – at least for Netanyahu, who drizzled at length about his concerns of Iranian occupation in Syria; “Iran continues to threaten Israel’s existence, and it funds terror organizations and missile plans,” Netanyahu told Putin. “Wherever ISIS disappeared, Iran has taken over. Iran is already on its way to taking control of Iraq, Yemen, and in many ways has already taken over Lebanon.”

But when it came time for Putin’s turn to talk, the conversation did not go so well; “Iran is Russia’s strategic ally in the Middle East,” Putin told Netanyahu.

Witnesses present during part of the nearly two-and-a-half hour meeting say that following the Prime Minister’s entreaties to the Russian leader, Putin sighed, telling Netanyahu his government would be unable to assist; “Unfortunately, we can not help you here.”.

This is Netanyahu’s fourth trip to Russia in the last 16 months, and his sixth meeting with Putin during this same time frame. Netanyau said that the reason he wanted to hold talks now with the Russian leader was because the situation inside Syria has changed very rapidly over the last few weeks.

Less than a week after Netanyahu warned Putin, Putin put Netanyau’s warning to the test. DEBKAfile reports exclusively from its military and intelligence sources that on Saturday and Sunday Aug 26 – 27, Russian forces installed Iranian Revolutionary Guards and Hizballah officers at a joint “administration center” they had set up in the town of Quneitra – 5 Kms from the Israeli border.

Surveillance spotters saw them moving 2 km from the Golan border, the closest hostile Iranian and Hizballah troops have ever come to Israel’s border with Syria.

The reality is that while Israeli enemies gather on its border with Putin’s explicit support, Netanyahu’s tattered red line could well soon be replaced with Putin’s very literal and meaningful red line – Israel could lose its authority overnight to strike freely in Southern Syria.

What then of Israel’s red line?

—-

Ezekiel 38 prophecies that Russia and Iran will invade Israel in the latter days around the time of the coming of Jesus Christ. This has been a clear understanding of Christadelphians for 150 years and only now looking to becoming a reality in the years ahead. Follow our Facebook page for daily updates:  https://www.facebook.com/pg/WatchYeTherefore

Israel alarmed as Russian military moves 5km from Israel’s border

On By AdminIn Russia3 Comments

A couple of weeks earlier, we reported that Russia had moved troops within 85 kilometres of Israels border and we thought this was close! Well in the last few days, Russian troops have now moved 5 Kilometres from Israels border where they plan to stay for the long term.

This news is confirmed by a number of mainstream media reports including STRATFOR intelligence who say that this move was a part of a loosely established ceasefire agreement between the US and Russia.

Its a monumental step from September 2015, when we watched Russia move into Syria and setup a military base in the North-West.

The troops are now stationed in the Syrian town of Quneitra opposite the Syrian-Israeli Golan border. Russian military personnel were already present there to advise Syrian Arab Army troops – however this is the first time the Russian military units have been deployed on this scale.

A senior Israeli official reacted with alarm, “The agreement as it is now is very bad. It doesn’t take almost any of Israel’s security interests and it creates a disturbing reality in southern Syria. The agreement doesn’t include a single explicit word about Iran, Hezbollah or the Shi’ite militias in Syria”.

Debkafile reports:

The absence of any Trump-Putin commitment on this score leaves Israel fully exposed to the presence of Iranian and Hizballah forces within mortar range of its Golan border in an area supervised by their ally, the Russian military.

It was this danger that galvanized Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu into broadcasting Israel’s total opposition to the Trump-Putin ceasefire for southwestern Syria during his visit to Paris on Monday, July 17, after his talks with President Emmanuel Macron.

In an apparent bid to calm Israel’s concerns, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov made an usual statement for a Russian diplomat: “I can guarantee that we have done everything and the US side has done everything to ensure that Israel’s security interests within this framework are fully taken into account,” he said later on Monday.

Careful perusal of this comment revealed to our sources that it was made in the context of a previous ceasefire accord for the Russians had made Turkey and Iran “co-sponsors.”

Note how Russia has the responsibility of managing Iranian, Turkish and Hezbollah presence along the Golan – these are the national belligerents of Armageddon (Ezek 38 & Joel 3).

“‘Get ready; be prepared, you and all the hordes gathered about you, and take command of them. After many days you will be called to arms. In future years you will invade a land that has recovered from war, whose people were gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate. They had been brought out from the nations, and now all of them live in safety. You and all your troops and the many nations with you will go up, advancing like a storm; you will be like a cloud covering the land. Ezekiel 38

How much closer does Russia need to be to Israel for us to make changes in our life that should’ve been made some time ago? (I speak for myself as much as anyone else!).

How long until the next step South is taken?