Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

Wormwood Warning - Another Asteroid Comes Closer to Earth Than Moon
Apr 17th, 2020
Comm entaryADAM ELIYAHU BERKOWITZ/BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS
Categories: Prophecy

An asteroid the size of a house was discovered by NASA last week, which was just in time to announce its near-miss on Wednesday night. Asteroid 2020 GH2 is estimated to be 43 to 70 feet wide according to Space.com.

NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office assured Earth-dwellers that our planet was safe from destruction, tweeting a video that attempted to put a near-earth pass into perspective.

The video depicted the Earth as a basketball, the moon as a tennis ball 25 feet away, and the asteroid responsible for the demise of the dinosaurs as a grain of salt "a couple of blocks away."

But GH2 was not a couple of blocks away. GH2 passed by the Earth at a distance of 220,000 miles, which put it about 16,000 miles closer than the moon.

Any asteroid about 500 feet or larger with an orbit that brings it within 4.7 million miles of Earth is classified as a potentially hazardous asteroid, NASA officials have said.

At the moment, scientists have identified more than 20,000 near-earth objects (NEO) and around 40 new ones are being discovered every week. Of the known NEOs, around 5,000 of these are classed as "potentially hazardous." The threat of unseen dangers lurking directly overhead is far more common than previously thought. Over 17,000 near-Earth asteroids remain undetected in our solar neighborhood

Despite the organization's assurances, threats from outer-space do slip past NASA's telescopes.  In 2006, a meteor struck in Norway with the blast force estimated at the equivalence of 100-500  tons of TNT, around 3 percent of Hiroshima's yield. In September 2007, a meteor crashed in southeastern Peru. Many residents became ill, apparently from the noxious gases released from the impact.

In June 2018, the small asteroid 2018 LA was discovered by a ground-based observatory in Arizona eight hours before it impacted in South Africa.

In December 2018, a space rock several meters across entered the atmosphere at 20 miles per second,  exploding 25.6km above the Earth's surface, with an impact energy of 173 kilotons, 10 times the energy released by the Hiroshima atomic bomb.

The explosion went largely unnoticed as it happened over the remote Bering Sea. But the decidedly not-small event went unnoticed by NASA who was informed of the explosive entry from space by the Air Force who caught it on one of their satellites.

Dr. Lindley Johnson, the planetary defense officer at Nasa, told BBC News that the fireball came in over an area not too far from routes used by commercial planes flying between North America and Asia. He added that a fireball this big is only expected about two or three times every 100 years.

But that prediction seems premature. On 15 February 2013 a meteor approximately 66 ft entered Earth's atmosphere over Russia at a speed of approximately 40,000 mph. Due to its high velocity and shallow angle of atmospheric entry, the object exploded in an airburst over Chelyabinsk Oblast, at a height of around 18.5 miles, releasing 26 to 33 times as much energy as that released from the atomic bomb detonated at Hiroshima.

The object was undetected before its atmospheric entry, in part because its radiant was close to the Sun. Its explosion created panic among local residents. About 1,500 people were injured seriously enough to seek medical treatment and some 7,200 buildings in six cities across the region were damaged by the explosion's shock wave.

16 hours later, 367943 Duende, an asteroid approximately 100 feet in diameter, passed within 17,200 miles of the earth.

A similar but far more devastating event took place  near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River on 30 June 1908. Known as the Tunguska event, an explosion flattened an estimated 80 million trees over an area of 830 sq miles of forest, and eyewitness reports suggest that at least three people may have died in the event.

It is classified as an impact event, even though no impact crater has been found; the object is thought to have disintegrated at an altitude of 3 to 6 miles rather than to have hit the surface of the Earth. The Tunguska event is the largest impact event on Earth in recorded history.

In February 2013,367943 Duende, an asteroid approximately 100 feet in diameter, passed within 17,200 miles of the earth.

On April 29, 1998 OR2, an asteroid half the size of Mt. Everest, is expected to pass by Earth at a distance of 3.9 million miles, more than 15 times that of the moon.

NASA is beginning to seriously consider the threat of a catastrophic impact as a planet-threatening possibility.

In April, scientists and civil authorities from around the world gathered at the International Academy of Astronautics 6th Planetary Defense Conference. in College Park, Maryland. Also, the National Near-Earth Object Preparedness Strategy and Action Plan was published by the White House in June 2018, describing plans for such an eventuality.

The Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO) was established in 2016 to detect any potentially hazardous object. Since the PDCO was established, at least four major impacts have been reported. Only three impact events have been successfully predicted in advance, usually by only a few hours. 

Currently, predictions are mainly based on cataloging asteroids years before they are due to impact. This works well for larger asteroids as they are easily seen from a long distance but is ineffective for predicting smaller objects that can still be quite destructive.

What does the Bible have to say about all this? 

Editors Note....

As we come to the third trumpet in Revelation 810 we read, "and there fell a great star from heaven", Perhaps this is an asteroid that disintegrates upon entry into the atmosphere. There is something different about this star; its name is "wormwood", which means bitter. Perhaps this asteroid is radioactive? We do not know, but we do know that, "many men died because of the waters, because they were made bitter". One third of the fresh water lakes and rivers were piosoned. Man's environment continues to disintegrate.

We are reminded of the waters of Marah which were made bitter, bitterness is a result of sin. The ultimate bitterness of sin is descending upon man and his world. God did not make man's beautiful home for man to live in rebellion against Him.

The Pandemic and the Persecuted
Apr 17th, 2020
Comm entaryARIELLE DEL TURCO/FAMILY RESEARCH COUNCIL
Categories: Persecution

Christians in America and around the world are adjusting to the challenges brought on by the coronavirus. For the persecuted abroad, the virus is an added pressure, as some governments are seeking to use the crisis as an opportunity to crack down on believers.

Here in the United States, most governmental authorities are imposing reasonable restrictions and working with churches and other houses of worship. Yet there remains the need to be on guard. Overseas, the persecuted are facing more hostile governments that are blatantly using the crisis to suppress religious exercise and extend their long arm of state control.

In China, where the novel coronavirus originated, the Chinese government's systematic infringement of religious freedom continues uninterrupted. While Christians waited out the coronavirus lockdown at home, authorities removed crosses from churches. This removal effort is a part of China's plan to "sinicize" Christianity by making it look less like true Christianity and more like a Chinese Communist Party propaganda tool.

Some Chinese provinces have issued guidances forbidding online church services and preaching, a vital way for churches to reach congregants amid both persecution and the spread of the virus. Online activities by individual Christians are also heavily monitored and some pastors have warned apps such as WeChat are giving the authorities a database of individuals to crack down on.

In neighboring North Korea, the regime continues to claim that the country has zero coronavirus cases. Meanwhile, the efforts to ramp up containment of the virus suggests the regime is hiding the truth. The virus poses a particular threat to the estimated 50,000 Christians detained in filthy, cramped prison camps, enduring starvation and torture at the hands of North Korean authorities.

U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback has called for the release of such prisoners of conscience in light of COVID-19.

In Iran, one of the places hit hardest by the coronavirus, Christians are especially concerned. For the underground churches that used to meet secretly in houses, congregants now meet virtually on encrypted apps like Telegram. Christian prisoners face the most intense threat in Iran's inhumane prisons.

Iran's notoriously oppressive regime has already released thousands of prisoners for fear the virus would spread among prisoners. However, the regime refused to release several Christians imprisoned for their faith.

Some countries in Africa have only recently implemented coronavirus lockdowns. As Christians in Nigeria begin to worry about COVID-19, their fears are compounded by threats of violence from the terrorist group Boko Haram and Fulani militants who often target Christians to be kidnapped or killed. Amid a global pandemic, their attacks have not stopped. Some 350 Christians have been killed so far in 2020 by Fulani militants and the Boko Haram terrorist group.

In India, cultural discrimination against Christians is endangering Christian healthcare workers. Reports are surfacing that government officials are choosing to send Christian nurses to care for contagious coronavirus patients because Christians are considered "expendable" in India.

This long-standing discrimination against religious minorities has been getting worse in recent years. This incident during a pandemic is only a reflection of the hostility religious minorities in India face on a regular basis.

For Americans, an unforeseen result of the global outbreak is that many of us are experiencing an external pressure that affects our weekly public worship gatherings -- something that the persecuted church experiences often.

This interruption in our routine offers us a unique opportunity to reflect on the plight of persecuted believers who are forced to meet in hiding or via technology. While our challenges are not the same as theirs, the shared experience of coronavirus enables us to relate to the persecuted church in a new way.

In the new environment caused by the health crisis, American Christians are on the alert for violations of their religious freedom. When the authority used by the state is abused, it's appropriate for U.S. citizens to make it clear to our leaders that we will not allow them to target churches unfairly or violate our religious freedom during our current crisis.

At the same time, American Christians can use the religious freedom protected by our laws to pray for and advocate on behalf of Christians around the world who are targeted by governments or terrorist groups even during a global health crisis.

The Evolution Connection
Apr 17th, 2020
CommentaryTBC- Answers in Genesis
Categories: Commentary;Creation - Evolution

The idea of extraterrestrial life stems largely from a belief in evolution. Recall that in the evolutionary view, the earth is "just another planet"-one where the conditions just happened to be right for life to form and evolve. If there are countless billions of other planets in our galaxy, then surely at least a handful of these worlds have also had the right conditions. Extraterrestrial life is almost inevitable in an evolutionary worldview.However, the notion of alien life does not square well with Scripture.

The earth is unique. God designed the earth for life (Isaiah 45:18). The other planets have an entirely different purpose than does the earth, and thus, they are designed differently. In Genesis 1 we read that God created plants on the earth on Day 3, birds to fly in the atmosphere and marine life to swim in the ocean on Day 5, and animals to inhabit the land on Day 6. Human beings were also made on Day 6 and were given dominion over the animals. But where does the Bible discuss the creation of life on the "lights in the expanse of the heavens"? There is no such description because the lights in the expanse were not designed to accommodate life. God gave care of the earth to man, but the heavens are the Lord's (Psalm 115:16).

From a biblical perspective, extraterrestrial life does not seem reasonable.When we consider how the salvation plan might apply to any hypothetical extraterrestrial (but otherwise human-like) beings, we are presented with a problem. If there were Vulcans or Klingons out there, how would they be saved? They are not blood relatives of Jesus, and so Christ's shed blood cannot pay for their sin. One might at first suppose that Christ also visited their world, lived there, and died there as well, but this is antibiblical. Christ died once for all (1 Peter 3:18; Hebrews 9:27-28, Hebrews 10:10). Jesus is now and forever both God and man; but He is not an alien.One might suppose that alien beings have never sinned, in which case they would not need to be redeemed. But then another problem emerges: they suffer the effects of sin, despite having never sinned. Adam's sin has affected all of creation- not just mankind. Romans 8:20-22 makes it clear that the entirety of creation suffers under the bondage of corruption. These kinds of issues highlight the problem of attempting to incorporate an antibiblical notion into the Christian worldview.

Extraterrestrial life is an evolutionary concept; it does not comport with the biblical teachings of the uniqueness of the earth and the distinct spiritual position of human beings. Of all the worlds in the universe, it was the earth that God Himself visited, taking on the additional nature of a human being, dying on a cross, and rising from the dead in order to redeem all who would trust in Him.

Judgment and Restoration Pronounced in the Book of Revelation
Apr 17th, 2020
Exploring RevelationArt Sadlier
Categories: Commentary;Warning;Book Study

Since his fall after creation, Satan has been the usurper on the throne of this world. Jesus called him the prince of this world. Paul called him the god of this world. By God's permissive will, Satan has struggled to wrest permanent control of this world from the hands of God. As we come to the book of Revelation this struggle comes to a climax and in verse seven we see the forecast triumph of Christ as He comes to crush Satan. "Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen."

"Behold He cometh with clouds", this is the moment of final triumph as Christ returns to judge the world. "When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory"
(Mathew 25:31-32).  Christ's second coming will be in two stages.

THE SECOND STAGE of His coming brings judgment, and following that, righteousness is restored to the earth, and His glorious rule over this world begins.

THE FIRST STAGE of Christ's Coming involves the rapture of the church. The word rapture is not found in the Bible, but the word is used to convey a truth that is found in scripture. The idea of being "caught up" or snatched away. "Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up---" (1 Thess. 4:17).

The first stage of Christ's coming precedes the tribulation period, it is viewed in Revelation 4:1 The Church Age is presented in Revelation, chapters 2 & 3. John begins in Revelation 4:1, "After this," After what? After the church age is completed. Notice the rest of 4:1, it is a perfect description of the rapture with John participating in it. "....I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter."

REMEMBER the book of Revelation, with the exception of chapter one, is a prophecy of future events. "Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand" (Revelation 1:3).

REMEMBER also, that John actually saw (viewed) these events, which were yet future in John's day. "Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw" (Revelation 1:2). God put John in a divine time machine and allowed him to view the whole tribulation period and things that followed it.

SO UNDERSTAND, that in Rev.4:1, John views the yet-to-come rapture and sees himself actually participating in it, as he actually will in a yet future day.

UNDERSTAND FURTHER, after Rev.4:1, the church is not seen on earth again until it is seen coming out of heaven with Christ at the end of the tribulation period in Revelation 19:11-14.

Compare, "Behold He cometh with clouds," Rev.1:7 with Dan.7:13, "Behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of Heaven". Compare also with Matthew 24:30, "coming in the clouds of Heaven." We see the church leaving for heaven in the clouds of heaven and returning later to earth in the clouds of heaven. Between Revelation 4:1 and Revelation 19:11, the tribulation period takes place on earth,and the church is not present. This is clear evidence of the pretribulation rapture of the church.

In Revelation 3:10, we have the promise that the church will not go through the tribulation period. "Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth." 

The reason the church will not go through the tribulation period has nothing to do with what we might want or desire. It has solely to do with the plan and purpose of God.

Remember Revelation 1:7 is speaking solely of the second stage of the second coming, "His glorious appearing," and not the rapture.

John continues in vs.7, "and every eye shall see Him," the whole world will be aware of His Coming - what an awesome moment it will be!

Then John says, "they also which pierced Him." Israel's eyes will finally be opened. "For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in" (Romans11:25). Israel will recognize at last, that Christ is their Messiah after all. Then, they will cry out in sorrow of heart, the Christ we crucified, the one we have rejected, He is our Messiah after all.

See that grief prophesied in Zechariah 12:10-14, "And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon. And the land shall mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart; The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart; All the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart."

This is one of the great purposes of the tribulation period, to bring Israel through the fires of affliction and judgment, to bring them to the point of recognition and repentance. "And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God." (Zechariah13:8,9).

John continues in verse 7, "and all the kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him." At that time a rebellious world will finally be brought face to face with their judge, Christ, whom they have rejected. The wailing, will be from anguish of the judgment that they know is about to fall. "When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. (Mt.25:31-33). And verse 41, " Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." 

John closes the verse with "even so, Amen." It is not that John is rejoicing in the fact that the world will be judged when Christ comes, he is just saying that such judgment is well deserved and Christ will be vindicted and glorified.

One moment after the rapture, there will not be a single believer on the earth. I remind you also that at the end of the seven years of tribulation, there will not be an unbeliever alive on the earth (Mat.25:41). There will be, however, a great multitude of believers to go into the millennial kingdom, saved during the tribulation period and surviiving it. Another multitude will be saved during the tribulation, they will be martyred. They will be raised from the dead and rule and reign with Christ in the millennial age.

We may appear at times, to the world to be on the losing side, but we have read the last chapter of the book and we know the final outcome! Herein lies the patience of the saints.

Be It Done Unto Thee Even As Thou Wilt - Matthew 15:28
Apr 17th, 2020
Morning MeditationF.B. Meyer
Categories: Commentary;Inspirational;Book Study

This was a remarkable permission. It is not often that Christ takes the key to His stores out of the bunch which hangs at His girdle, and entrusts it to a soul, saying in effect, Take what you will. "Of the work of My hands, command ye Me."

1. We must intercede for others. - This woman came for her child. We must always be on our guard when we ask much for self, lest somehow our requests be prompted by self-aggrandizement. If we do ask for power, wisdom, or likeness to Christ, let it be that we may help others better. The apostle says that Christ "loosed us from our sins . . . and made us priests" (Rev 1:5, Rev 1:6, R.V.). We all need this loosing, that we may become intercessors.

2. We must accord Christ His right place. The Canaanitish woman came to Him as the Son of David, and He answered her not a word. She had no claim on Him as such. That He was the Jews' Messiah could not help her. She had given Him that title by courtesy and hearsay. It was necessary that by His silence she should be driven to find Him for herself. When she gave Him a universal title, and said, Lord, help me! worshipping at His feet, she was a step nearer the goal.

3. We must answer His affirmations with Yea. - He told her what she was. She was an alien and outcast. She was not part of the chosen family; she must understand her true position, and take it. And she did. She said, Yea, Lord. If you can perfectly accept God's will, so that it shall take the place of your own; if you will take your place among the clogs beneath the table, you are sure to obtain answers to your prayers - God can let you have your way, because it will be His.