Two religious groups believe that they are fighting Armageddon or some precursor to that war. Both appear to be making moves to create conditions for a self-fulfilling prophecy. Both believe that they will be victorious. The Muslim prophecies say that major battles will be fought in Afghanistan, Baghdad and Syria. And when Al-Madhi returns every faithful Muslim should join the army led by Al-Madhi who is assisted by someone from Afghanistan who leads a great army. This army goes to fight against Israel and the Christians. The execution of their war has forced America to fight in those places mentioned by their prophecies. In another version of a Middle East prophecy, the final battle will be fought in the holy nation of Iran. Our sword rattling is truly stirring up the pages of their prophecy. And these groups are acting according to their prophetic scripts. But it is unfortunate that the actions of the United States prompted them to also fulfill these prophecies of their own free will. The religious right believe the opposite. With some tweaking of the prophetic players, they now believe that the Muslims are the forces of Antichrist. They used to believe that Russia and China would start a war in the Middle East and persecute Israel. But the opposite has happened. Now they have recast the role of America so that it is a power that has been called by God to defeat the wicked and bring in the kingdom of God. They are even deliberately trying to turn Russia into an enemy again. What will actually happen? The nations will march against Israel and surround them. Even though the religious right believe that they must support Israel, somehow, America will stop supporting Israel. I do not know how that will happen. But it will. America will also lose the war. We will never leave the Middle East.
Evangelistic Efforts...If we use money collected or number responding as proofs of success of the evangelistic efforts of God Himself then the great attempts of the prophets of God to articulate the position of God have all been devastating failures. People simply prefer darkness to light. Neither the professed people of God nor the wicked are willing to contemplate the appeals for life from God.
Noah. He was 480 years old when he began to preach. His first son was born at the age of 500 and the flood came when He was 600 years old. But after 120 years of preaching and building an ark, the entire world rejected the message of Noah. Only eight people were saved. My calculations estimate that the total population of the earth at the flood was 15 to 33 million, based on two children per family. and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought about a flood on the world of the ungodly. (2 Peter 2: 5)
Lot. After spending several decades in Sodom only three people were saved. His wife looked back, longing for Sodom, and she died. His older children refused to leave. Noah was able to save only his family but Lot lost most of his. For the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, they had only one night of warning when the angels came.
Moses. He was forty when he ran from the comforts of Egypt to herd sheep. He was eighty when he came back to lead the exodus of stubborn goats. But when Moses was 120 years old, after forty years in the desert, of the estimated six million Jews in the exodus only two reached the Promised Land, Joshua and Caleb. If you count the fact that God took Moses to the Promised Land in heaven then only three people were saved. The others died in the wilderness because they longed for Egypt, just as the wife of Lot looked back to Sodom.
Jesus. After preaching to Israel for 3½ years and living among them for 33½ years, He died as a rejected man. Even the twelve disciples had abandoned Him.
Second Coming. What will be the situation at the end of time? It appears that the majority will reject God. ... However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth? (Luke 18: 8) Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it. (Matthew 7: 13-14) Is there any hope that this final effort of God will have major success. Will billions of the estimated 6.6 billion be saved? We have only one example of a very successful effort by a prophet who actually wanted failure! Jonah. For forty days, he preached to the residents of Nineveh, the capital of Assyria. All 120,000 people repented and were saved. But Jonah was angry that God did not destroy them. ... An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign, and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. (Matthew 12: 39-40)
Evangelistic Efforts...If we use money collected or number responding as proofs of success of the evangelistic efforts of God Himself then the great attempts of the prophets of God to articulate the position of God have all been devastating failures. People simply prefer darkness to light. Neither the professed people of God nor the wicked are willing to contemplate the appeals for life from God.
Noah. He was 480 years old when he began to preach. His first son was born at the age of 500 and the flood came when He was 600 years old. But after 120 years of preaching and building an ark, the entire world rejected the message of Noah. Only eight people were saved. My calculations estimate that the total population of the earth at the flood was 15 to 33 million, based on two children per family. and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought about a flood on the world of the ungodly. (2 Peter 2: 5)
Lot. After spending several decades in Sodom only three people were saved. His wife looked back, longing for Sodom, and she died. His older children refused to leave. Noah was able to save only his family but Lot lost most of his. For the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, they had only one night of warning when the angels came.
Moses. He was forty when he ran from the comforts of Egypt to herd sheep. He was eighty when he came back to lead the exodus of stubborn goats. But when Moses was 120 years old, after forty years in the desert, of the estimated six million Jews in the exodus only two reached the Promised Land, Joshua and Caleb. If you count the fact that God took Moses to the Promised Land in heaven then only three people were saved. The others died in the wilderness because they longed for Egypt, just as the wife of Lot looked back to Sodom.
Jesus. After preaching to Israel for 3½ years and living among them for 33½ years, He died as a rejected man. Even the twelve disciples had abandoned Him.
Second Coming. What will be the situation at the end of time? It appears that the majority will reject God. ... However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth? (Luke 18: 8) Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it. (Matthew 7: 13-14) Is there any hope that this final effort of God will have major success. Will billions of the estimated 6.6 billion be saved? We have only one example of a very successful effort by a prophet who actually wanted failure! Jonah. For forty days, he preached to the residents of Nineveh, the capital of Assyria. All 120,000 people repented and were saved. But Jonah was angry that God did not destroy them. ... An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign, and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. (Matthew 12: 39-40)
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