NEARING MIDNIGHT 2008
Please note: The earlier pages of
this archive on terryjames.net, now pages two and three, are archived in
ascending order by date of the article with the oldest article first and the newest
article at the end; with this new 2008 archive page, the archived order is
descending with the newest article first and the oldest last. To view the
Nearing Midnight archives prior to December 17, 2007
click here.
You can sense
it. It is in the air. Not in the literal atmosphere we breathe, but within the
sea of life in which all of us swim daily. It is the scent
of things to come–things prophesied long ago, but present in the societal,
cultural, and the political air we inhale and exhale these days. There is a
sea-change in the making, and, according to God’s Word, it won’t be for the
better for those who dwell upon earth.
Most in my
circle of family, friends, and colleagues–even acquaintences with whom I have
lesser contact, are saying the same things these days. It all revolves
around the mantra: “I just don’t see anyone I can vote for, do you?” Yet, I
hear animated inflection, even exhilaration, in the expressions of media
pundits
and in some out here in the sea of humanity who engage in common conversation.
A news
story caught my attention and set in motion a bit of cogitation on the strange
mixture of foreboding and excitement wafting throughout America and
the world while the U.S. presidential election process pervades our daily
comings and goings. It reads in part:
“Germans
are gaga over Barack Obama. He's got Japan pretty jazzed, too, along with
Hillary Rodham Clinton. Russia's leaders, not so much: They prefer a
Republican—as long as it's not Kremlin critic John McCain. And Mexico's
president? He doesn't have much use for any of them.
America's
extraordinary presidential campaign has captivated politicians and ordinary
people around the globe. With so much at stake in the race for the
White House, the world is watching with an intensity that hasn't been seen
since the Clinton era began in 1992.
After eight
years of President Bush, the latest mantra in U.S.
politics—"transformational change"—is resonating across the rest of a
planet desperate for
a fresh start…” (World Captivated by US Presidential Race, Feb. 1, 2008, By
WILLIAM J. KOLE, Associated Press Writer).
Actually,
the “transformational change” is well under way. It has been in process for
decades. The tide of humanism has washed away the base in which the
pillars of American constitutional principles were set by the founding fathers.
The 1960s saw judicial fiat replace much of the legislative and executive
branches' involvement in shaping social-cultural posture for this nation.
Roe vs.
Wade and the abortion of nearly 50 million babies, followed by prayer and Bible
reading being rejected and ejected by humanists who now run the
public schools, prepared the way for the complete transformation in church life
in America–and spiritual changes that no nation can survive as a moral
entity.
The
mega-church movement that has invited entertainment priorities to replace sound
doctrinal teaching and preaching is the result of decades of telling
the American people that while church (meaning Christianity) and state must be
separate at all costs, the Church must allow the secular things of the
nation–and
all things attendant to humanism—to be a visceral part of its activities.
Entertainment, pop psychology, rock bands, and merchandising have become part
of the transformational change.
The
methodologies have worked. The mega-churches have burgeoned in numbers and
grown wealthy and opulent. They will receive no sound doctrinal meat of God’s
Word in most cases, but the attendees have “been to church.” Their consciences
can be clear, and it didn’t hurt a bit.
The
“transformational change” the humanists–and Lucifer—want is coming to pass. The
result will be the regime of Antichrist, whom the masses will worship
as God. There will be no doubt about who to vote for in that day.
God’s Word
through the psalmist echoes in our time: “Why do the heathen rage, and the
people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his
anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords
from
us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in
derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore
displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion” (Psalm 2:1-6).
Christians
are to be good citizens. I don’t mean to imply we shouldn’t cast our ballot for
the best alternative. But, we must never be deluded into believing
that change for the better will flow from any human election or subsequent
government. True change that can improve the human condition comes only from
a transformed spiritual heart–a condition produced only through God’s Son, the
Lord Jesus Christ.
--Terry
For Monday January 21, 2008
“Nephilim” is a term that has prompted numerous people to e-mail, their curiosity piqued. I have touched on matters surrounding the strange term in "Nearing
Midnight" commentaries. Others such as Patrick Heron, as well as I, have presented longer articles on the nephilim and corollary topics in the "Newest
Articles" section of the Rapture Ready website. My recent novel series, “Second Coming Chronicles,” “The Rapture Dialogues,” and the just-released “The
Nephilim Imperatives” deal in a fictional way with the topics involved with the nephilim, but from a solid, biblical perspective.
I’ve chosen one e-mail that particularly gripped my interest and prompted me to choose this subject for this "Nearing Midnight" piece. Here is an excerpt
from the note, which was addressed not only to me, but to several whom the e-mailer apparently considers somewhat knowledgeable in Bible prophecy.
“…First, I've always wondered why God destroyed everything on earth, except Noah, his family, and the pairs of animals. It just seems strange God would
'lose His temper' and destroy everything, and then promised He would never flood the earth again. Especially, [since] in my opinion, humanity is just as
bad now as humanity [was] back then. We have pervasive homosexuality and murdering of thousands of innocent babies without blinking an eye, just as starters
on moral depravity…
Here [are] a few questions I'd like to ask you Watchmen on the Wall.
1) What is it, with the fascination of the nephilim? Recently, there's a lot of activity on the study of the nephilim. 2) I thought angels were non-sexual
beings. I wasn't aware they could procreate with each other, let alone with women. Could you enlighten me about this? 3) Finally, what does all this have
to do with the end times? I'm not aware of any giants roaming earth at the present time, as if demon/human breeding going on…”
To begin answering, I first want to point again to the words of the Lord Jesus, in which He foretold things to come. I’m convinced He was prophesying things
that would take place not only during the tribulation, but in our present time as well–the time just before He calls the Church to be with him (John 14:1-3;
1 Cor. 15:51-55; 1 Thes. 4:13-18; Rev. 3:10; Rev. 4:1): “And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man” (Lk. 17:26).
The “days of Noah” encompass a quite large time line, with many things happening. Two primary things taking place during Noah’s day–pertaining to our e-mailer’s
inquiry--were:
1) The bene elohim (sons of God) looked upon the flesh-and-blood daughters of men, and came to earth to have sexual relations with them. The offspring of
these unions are the “nephilim.” For the sake of space limitations, I suggest you read the account in Genesis, Chapter 6. 2) The same passages tell us
that violence filled the whole earth at the time these nephilim roamed the earth. These beings were part supernatural, part human. They were called by
Scripture “giants”. They performed spectacular feats in their day, the Genesis account tells us. These are the beings, it is believed, that inspired the
legends of Greek, Roman, Norse, and other mythologies, including Zeus, Apollo, Hercules, Prometheus, Thor, etc.–all the gods and demigods that traversed
the pages of literature some of us read about in our high school and college days.
One argument that some give who believe the “sons of God” were really the sons of Seth, the son of Adam, say these couldn’t be the fallen angels because
of the following Scripture: “For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven” (Matt. 22:30).
The "they’re-no-angels" camp says angels are obviously sexless, therefore do not and cannot procreate. But, that’s not what the Scripture says. God’s Word
indicates the angels neither marry, nor are married in Heaven. The key words are “in Heaven.” These fallen “sons of God” left their first estate–Heaven--the
book of Jude says. They pursued “strange flesh,” i.e., an order other than their own. The term bene elohim in almost every case in the use of the Hebrew
term, means the created order called “angels,” not the procreated order of being called “man.”
We’ve already addressed the e-mailer’s second question about angels not procreating. We go now back to the first question asking why there is presently
such emphasis on the things called “nephilim”.
In my own case of writing on the topic, I can only say that I sense an urging that I believe is from God, the Holy Spirit, to address this topic that has
until now been for the most part left out of the dialogue in eschatology (the study of end things). I believe others are getting the same prompting by
the Lord to make this whole UFO thing a part of the mix of things to come. Jesus’ profound foretelling in Luke 17 must be taken seriously. He is, after
all, the Creator of all things who knows all things.
The proliferation of sightings, reports of abductions, visitations, and many other anomalous things shows, I believe, along with all other signals, just
where this generation must stand on God’s prophetic time line. We, indeed, seem to be in the time Jesus termed “as in the days of Noah”. The Lord always
forewarns any generation that is about to endure His judgment. This generation is no exception. Therefore, He wants us to know what these strange lights
in the sky really mean in our time.
And, the strange unidentified sights are with us early in 2008. I’m of the firm conviction that this year will see a marked increase of such activity as
follows:
STEPHENVILLE, Texas (AP) -- In this farming community where nightfall usually brings clear, starry skies, residents are abuzz over reported sightings of
what many believe is a UFO. Ricky Sorrells says he saw a flat, metallic object hovering about 300 feet over a pasture behind his Texas home. Several dozen
people -- including a pilot, county constable and business owners -- say they have seen a large silent object with bright lights flying low and fast. Some
reported seeing fighter jets chasing it. "People wonder what in the world it is because this is the Bible Belt, and everyone is afraid it's the end of
times," said Steve Allen, a freight company owner and pilot who said the object he saw last week was a mile long and half a mile wide. ‘It was positively,
absolutely nothing from these parts."
To get what I believe to be electrifying insight and discernment into exactly what the return of the nephilim could mean to mankind, from a biblical world
view, I recommend in the strongest terms that you read ***[here put a hard link to Tom Horn’s website, where he offers this book.]*** NEPHILIM STARGATES:
The Year 2012 and the Return of the Watchers by Tom Horn.
The end-times battles between godliness and spiritual wickedness in high places increase daily. God’s royal ambassadors need to be informed with truth about
what they face. This volume will fill in many gaps that exist in comprehending this matter of spiritual warfare.
--Terry
***Check out this book on the last days and the Nephilim***
Nephilim and the Modern Days of Noah
“Nephilim” is a term that has prompted numerous people to e-mail, their curiosity piqued. I have touched on matters surrounding the strange term in "Nearing
Midnight" commentaries. Others such as Patrick Heron, as well as I, have presented longer articles on the nephilim and corollary topics in the "Newest
Articles" section of the Rapture Ready website. My recent novel series, “Second Coming Chronicles,” “The Rapture Dialogues,” and the just-released “The
Nephilim Imperatives” deal in a fictional way with the topics involved with the nephilim, but from a solid, biblical perspective.
I’ve chosen one e-mail that particularly gripped my interest and prompted me to choose this subject for this "Nearing Midnight" piece. Here is an excerpt
from the note, which was addressed not only to me, but to several whom the e-mailer apparently considers somewhat knowledgeable in Bible prophecy.
“…First, I've always wondered why God destroyed everything on earth, except Noah, his family, and the pairs of animals. It just seems strange God would
'lose His temper' and destroy everything, and then promised He would never flood the earth again. Especially, [since] in my opinion, humanity is just as
bad now as humanity [was] back then. We have pervasive homosexuality and murdering of thousands of innocent babies without blinking an eye, just as starters
on moral depravity…
Here [are] a few questions I'd like to ask you Watchmen on the Wall.
1) What is it, with the fascination of the nephilim? Recently, there's a lot of activity on the study of the nephilim. 2) I thought angels were non-sexual
beings. I wasn't aware they could procreate with each other, let alone with women. Could you enlighten me about this? 3) Finally, what does all this have
to do with the end times? I'm not aware of any giants roaming earth at the present time, as if demon/human breeding going on…”
To begin answering, I first want to point again to the words of the Lord Jesus, in which He foretold things to come. I’m convinced He was prophesying things
that would take place not only during the tribulation, but in our present time as well–the time just before He calls the Church to be with him (John 14:1-3;
1 Cor. 15:51-55; 1 Thes. 4:13-18; Rev. 3:10; Rev. 4:1): “And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man” (Lk. 17:26).
The “days of Noah” encompass a quite large time line, with many things happening. Two primary things taking place during Noah’s day–pertaining to our e-mailer’s
inquiry--were:
1) The bene elohim (sons of God) looked upon the flesh-and-blood daughters of men, and came to earth to have sexual relations with them. The offspring of
these unions are the “nephilim.” For the sake of space limitations, I suggest you read the account in Genesis, Chapter 6. 2) The same passages tell us
that violence filled the whole earth at the time these nephilim roamed the earth. These beings were part supernatural, part human. They were called by
Scripture “giants”. They performed spectacular feats in their day, the Genesis account tells us. These are the beings, it is believed, that inspired the
legends of Greek, Roman, Norse, and other mythologies, including Zeus, Apollo, Hercules, Prometheus, Thor, etc.–all the gods and demigods that traversed
the pages of literature some of us read about in our high school and college days.
One argument that some give who believe the “sons of God” were really the sons of Seth, the son of Adam, say these couldn’t be the fallen angels because
of the following Scripture: “For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven” (Matt. 22:30).
The "they’re-no-angels" camp says angels are obviously sexless, therefore do not and cannot procreate. But, that’s not what the Scripture says. God’s Word
indicates the angels neither marry, nor are married in Heaven. The key words are “in Heaven.” These fallen “sons of God” left their first estate–Heaven--the
book of Jude says. They pursued “strange flesh,” i.e., an order other than their own. The term bene elohim in almost every case in the use of the Hebrew
term, means the created order called “angels,” not the procreated order of being called “man.”
We’ve already addressed the e-mailer’s second question about angels not procreating. We go now back to the first question asking why there is presently
such emphasis on the things called “nephilim”.
In my own case of writing on the topic, I can only say that I sense an urging that I believe is from God, the Holy Spirit, to address this topic that has
until now been for the most part left out of the dialogue in eschatology (the study of end things). I believe others are getting the same prompting by
the Lord to make this whole UFO thing a part of the mix of things to come. Jesus’ profound foretelling in Luke 17 must be taken seriously. He is, after
all, the Creator of all things who knows all things.
The proliferation of sightings, reports of abductions, visitations, and many other anomalous things shows, I believe, along with all other signals, just
where this generation must stand on God’s prophetic time line. We, indeed, seem to be in the time Jesus termed “as in the days of Noah”. The Lord always
forewarns any generation that is about to endure His judgment. This generation is no exception. Therefore, He wants us to know what these strange lights
in the sky really mean in our time.
And, the strange unidentified sights are with us early in 2008. I’m of the firm conviction that this year will see a marked increase of such activity as
follows:
STEPHENVILLE, Texas (AP) -- In this farming community where nightfall usually brings clear, starry skies, residents are abuzz over reported sightings of
what many believe is a UFO. Ricky Sorrells says he saw a flat, metallic object hovering about 300 feet over a pasture behind his Texas home. Several dozen
people -- including a pilot, county constable and business owners -- say they have seen a large silent object with bright lights flying low and fast. Some
reported seeing fighter jets chasing it. "People wonder what in the world it is because this is the Bible Belt, and everyone is afraid it's the end of
times," said Steve Allen, a freight company owner and pilot who said the object he saw last week was a mile long and half a mile wide. ‘It was positively,
absolutely nothing from these parts."
To get what I believe to be electrifying insight and discernment into exactly what the return of the nephilim could mean to mankind, from a biblical world
view, I recommend in the strongest terms that you read a
NEPHILIM STARGATES: The Year 2012 and the Return of the Watchers
by Tom Horn.
The end-times battles between godliness and spiritual wickedness in high places increase daily. God’s royal ambassadors need to be informed with truth about
what they face. This volume will fill in many gaps that exist in comprehending this matter of spiritual warfare.
***Check out this book on the last days and the Nephilim***
NEPHILIM STARGATES: The Year 2012 and the Return of the Watchers by Tom Horn
http://www.survivormall.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=459
--
Terry
WTJ___
For Monday January 28, 2008
So many end-times signals pervade the present hour that it’s difficult to choose one for the Nearing Midnight column. They are all important to our being
faithful watchmen on the wall. We can always present analysis of news from Israel and the Middle East, or from the European Union, Russia, Iran, Iraq and
China. We can–and often do—observe geophysical signals that look much like prophecy in the making. Economy, religion, and societal and cultural matters
are most often somewhat less manifest on our prophecy screens of observation. Hidden down in the sub-strata of these categories are issues and events that
are most often missed, or ignored. The old adage “can’t see the forest for the trees” applies in these cases. These are the issues that have become such
a part of American–and even foreign—cultural life that we often miss their significance.
I would like to deal with one area of these prophetic sub-categories for a moment. Actually, the potential ramifications involved in this singular issue
likely will be at the very heart of rebellious mankind’s final rebellion against God, as follows:
“And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, And blasphemed
the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds” (Rev. 16:10-11).
I would like to examine one of the “deeds” of which these hell-bound rebels will refuse to repent. This is because I believe this particular “deed” is becoming
a prodigious problem in our time. We recently witnessed this through news media that has obviously gone completely bonkers in its obsession in reporting
the matters involved.
The prophecy is given as part of the apostle Paul’s “perilous times” forewarnings: “For men shall be…incontinent, fierce…” (2 Tim. 3:2-3). The word “incontinent”
here doesn’t mean that adult diapers are required. The term means people will be unwilling and/or unable to control their desires. They will be totally
addicted. Here’s the prophecy that captures the particular addiction to which that left-behind people will be willfully enslaved: “Neither repented they
of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts" (Rev. 9:21).
The problem, so critical in our day that it is almost certainly the great addiction that will fulfill this prophecy during the most terrible time of judgment
during the tribulation, is wrapped up in the word “sorceries.” Its root meaning is key to understanding what this great addiction will be when Revelation
9:21 comes to pass. Here is what one of the best Bible teachers to ever live–in my view--has to say about this matter:
"Sorceries" is the Greek word pharmakeion, from which we get our English word "pharmacy." Pharmacy means "drugs". What were called drugstores when I was
a boy are now called pharmacies. The Great Tribulation will be a period when the use of drugs will not be controlled. Drugs will play a large part in the
lives of the unsaved and will serve several purposes. Drugs will enable them to bear the judgments of the Great Tribulation…” (Dr. J. Vernon McGee, Edited
Messages Commentary, p. 971).
News media reporters and pundits, as well as many of the fans/followers of the entertainment industry celebrities and their activities, were stunned this
past week in what was apparently the result of drug overdose. Heath Ledger, the 28-year-old Australian actor who starred in “The 10 Things I Hate About
You,” in Mel Gibson’s “The Patriot,” and in “Brokeback Mountain,” was found nude and lifeless in his New York City apartment. He is but one of many within
the entertainment business (it is thought as of this writing) to die from deliberate or accidental overdose. The drugs that apparently took the actor’s
life were prescription--not illicit--drugs, it is thought as of this writing.
We remember Judy Garland’s and Marilyn Monroe’s stories. John Belushi, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Anna Nicole, and dozens more have gone the way of one
form or the other of pharmakeion.
Sadly, we are given the media eye’s view of possible tragedies in the making when the paparazzi follow the lives of stars like Brittany Spears, Paris Hilton,
and Lindsay Lohan. Drugs and alcohol, according to news reports, are at the center of many of the bizarre incidents in which these young people are involved.
Those who name the name of Christ should pray for these caught up in this demon world of addictions, rather than simply cast invectives, saying overtly,
or in effect, that they deserve what they get. Their influence on the youth of America is considerable, and we should pray that they turn in the opposite
direction and become truly positive role models. God loves them and wants to bring them out of the darkness of this world, which is ruled over by the devil
and his minions.
The perilous times Paul foretells are with us, we can know, because the Scripture frames precisely what we see today: “For men shall be ... incontinent,
fierce...” (2 Tim. 3:2-3).
There is no doubt that the most violent crimes in the news today are usually reported in tandem with drug dealings. Both dealers and those under the influence
of pharmakeion are the most fierce among us. No one is safe when standing between the dealers and their drug money, or the addicts and their next fix.
The prophecy in Revelation proves the demonic, supernatural strength of addictions. With the very last vials of God’s pure wrath being poured upon the rebellious
earth-dwellers, they, rather than repent and plead for mercy, shake their fists in the Creator’s face and curse Him. As bad as the addictions are at present,
they, according to God’s prophetic Word, are scheduled to get infinitely worse as mankind moves down the hellish path prepared for them by Satan and his
demonic hordes.
Pray for those held in this bondage. Only Christ’s return as King of Kings can and will ultimately prevail against this thing called pharmakeion. It is
one of the most prominent end-times signals to be found in this generation.
--Terry
For Monday January 7, 2008
When Uncle
Jed Clampett, out shooting some “food”, pierced the ground with his musket
ball, up come a bubbling crude. Black gold. Soon the oil men descended
upon the Clampetts, and … well, who in America in his or her 40s, 50s and
beyond doesn’t know the rest of the story…
It happened
for real in the early 1900s in the United States. Texas, Oklahoma, and other
points around the nation saw a rush to their oil field discoveries.
It was like a magnet that drew the barons of industry to the fields. They went
wild with the prospect of powering an economy that would bring riches like
no other people of any other nation had ever experienced. The oil magnet was
irresistible–and quickly turned to an absolute essential. The greed that
followed
the rush to achieve oil procurement created a monopoly that the federal
government stepped in to break apart. John D. Rockefeller created a family
dynasty
from his oil dealings that continues to affect, literally, the world’s economy
in ways that are difficult to fully comprehend.
“Big oil”
today continues to be labeled as the chief culprit in, if not fomenting,
certainly causing, the continuation of conflict–especially in the Middle
East. I hate to agree with the liberal mantra against the major oil interests,
but must be a realist, and admit that too often the love of money –which
God’s Word terms “the root of all evil”--is at the heart of much mischief in
the Middle East and other areas that contain beneath their surfaces the black
gold industry seeks out so more wealth can be generated.
At the same
time, each of us is the benefactor of such grasp for wealth and power. Every
time we start our engines or flick the light switches, we are giving
a tacit nod of approval to “big oil”.
I do not
see this as an intrinsically bad thing. Like you, I enjoy being cool in the
summer and warm in the winter. The Creator of all things put the resources
there to be used. He gave the brainpower to develop the petroleum sources of
energy, and granted the acumen to develop all of the derivative spin-offs
thereof.
Man, as he
always does, has perverted things to make the blessing something that is
quickly turning into a curse for us all. The lust for the black, liquid
wealth in order to keep the engines of money-making powered, is, like the most
powerful magnet one can imagine, drawing mankind toward the final war of
the age just before Christ’s return.
The
$100-per-barrel mark was reached this past week. It was very brief, quickly
receding to $99 and even lower. The new high was reportedly caused by a
single investor who purchased high and sold low, 1,000 barrels, the minimum
required for such purchases. The buyer apparently wanted to go into the record
books as being the first to break the $100-per-barrel mark.
Regardless
of the veracity of the story, the $100-per-barrel barrier being breached causes
petroleum domination of earth’s future to come more into view.
The following news excerpts frame the movement toward uncertain times ahead:
“The price
of oil hit $100 a barrel in commodities trading Wednesday—the first time that's
happened—and ended the trading day not far below that chilling
Mark, at $99.62 a barrel … Wednesday's jump was surprisingly large and created
enough momentum to pull wholesale gasoline and heating oil prices to records
that quickly will translate into big retail price boosts.
The
striking prices prompted travel organization AAA to issue a warning that
‘record high prices will be paid by consumers for gasoline in the year ahead…’
Oil prices have been in the high $90s for weeks, but the jump to the $100 mark
Wednesday came as a reminder that fuel prices might have no ceiling.
‘Headlines
about oil hitting $100 will unnerve people. They'll expect gasoline prices to
go higher,’ says Mark Vitner, senior economist at Wachovia…” (James
R. Healey, USA TODAY, ABC News.com, Jan. 3, 2008).
With the
political left in America and around the world getting their way about nixing
development of nuclear energy and any alternative source they deem
unhealthy to the environment –whether there is true altruism in their
motivation or whether it is for political base-building—the fact is, oil is
depleting
by the hour. There lies ahead a point of critical mass for the explosion that
is coming.
That
critical mass will come; I’m convinced God’s prophetic Word says, when that
petroleum magnet draws all nations who will meet in one spot on the planet
where the rapidly dwindling reserves will still be pooled beneath the surface.
From this point in time, at least, it seems God will use man’s greed as
a catalyst and instrument of judgment: “And he gathered them together into a
place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon” (Rev. 16:16).
Developments
in the oil-rich Middle East, at whose heart, of course, sits Israel, the No. 1
signal of where we are on God’s prophetic timeline, are things
to closely watch as 2008 unfolds.
--Terry
For Monday December 31, 2007
Projecting what a new year holds in store at the end of the year just past is a popular practice for news and entertainment media. Jeanne Dixon, the one-time
media’s darling of soothsaying, is long gone from the prognosticating scene. Old Nostradamus just wrote in quatrain circles too nebulous for predicting
things for any given year. His words are too mysterious for the audiences of most print and electronic venues today.
Many who seek out fortune tellers, of course, can pick up tips on things to come in the new year from tabloids or other on-the-rise predictors of what of
significance will happen during the next 12 months. The track records of each and of all are consistently dismal, although some among the seers will again,
like they do every year, bend, mold, and otherwise squeeze and force any important event of 2008 to fit their foretelling.
Disturbingly, the same can be said for some within Christian circles. These insist on foisting upon us their “words of knowledge” about what the Lord has
told them privately and commanded them to share with the rest of us who are without the gift. Those ministers –usually of the TV sort—are the ones who
get the most press from secular journalists and their media outlets. The more outlandish the prediction, the more the journalists pay attention. It provides
good fodder for fun-poking and/or outright ridicule when, as always happens, the outlandish foretelling fails to take place.
Boy! With all that as groundwork upon which to build this commentary, you had better believe I’m going to frame my thoughts and form my words carefully.
That is because I’m about to ruminate a bit upon what I think will be an important developing process toward fulfillment of Bible prophecy during 2008.
The title of the article encapsulates the thought: “Follow the Money in 2008.” World monetary matters constitute the Number 2 most significant signal of
where this generation stands on God’s prophetic timeline, in my view. Economy, as a matter of fact, is a thematic chord running throughout all of Bible
prophecy yet future. At the same time, economic factors at this very moment poise to force the world into a new paradigm. Movement in that direction is
accelerating at a phenomenal pace. Yet, I believe the complete change could happen sooner than even the forces presently exerting pressures for the change
can accomplish--i.e., I believe the present acceleration of all economic movement toward a time when all will be forced to accept Antichrist’s mark in
their hands or in their foreheads, although indeed swift, will, in retrospect, have seemed a slow-motion process when the prophesied beast system of Revelation
chapter 13 sudden rise to authority takes place. I’m talking about the rapture and it’s almost certain, instantaneous ramifications. But, until that sudden,
cataclysmic shift, it is wise to follow the money as it shapes the course of this upcoming year and beyond, as the Lord allows.
There can be little doubt about God’s view of fallen mankind’s deadly love affair with filthy lucre. He speaks to the matter through the Apostle Paul: “For
the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows”
(1Tim. 6:10).
Notice that God’s Word speaks specifically to those of “faith”. The love of money is at the heart of all that is evil in the world, and that errant love
takes even believers down the path away from the Lord when they get caught up in following the love-of-money trail. Judgment begins with His own –believers—when
this happens. The end of such evil is desperation and sorrow, Paul forewarns.
We have only to look at things going on within the body of Christ today to know that many are following the money. There is a prosperity message in this
present hour that robs God of His rightful place in the hearts and minds of His children. The message proclaims, in effect, that God is a sugar daddy and
owes His people the very best. They shout this 24 hours a day on their nationwide broadcasts, rather than preaching and teaching that we owe our very salvation
to Him, and that it is our duty to warn people that hell awaits, without their coming to Christ in repentance.
Just like the world, many in the body of Christ today are reprobate in their thinking–they have turned God’s Word upside-down. Good has become evil, and
evil good, sadly, even with great numbers of those who are in Christ.
So what does this acceleration of the love of money in every aspect of human life seem to portend for the new year that lies before us? Again, God’s Word
tells us that evil men and seducers will grow worse and worse (2 Tim. 3:13). What is at the foundation of the evil in man? That’s right, the love of money.
The love of money is the root of all evil!
Antichrist will be the most evil of men who have lived on Planet Earth. Money–economic power—will be at the heart of the beast’s system of absolute control.
(Read Revelation 13:16-18).
There should be no question in the minds of those who truly study God’s prophetic Word from a literalist viewpoint. This world is headed toward the most
heinous draconian system of enslavement in history. Its power to put all in bondage will be economy that is wedded to a religious system that demands all
worship Satan’s man of the tribulation hour, the Antichrist.
The year that is now closing has seen tremendous momentum in forcing all nation-states toward a global economic order. Talk of a new currency, the amero,
and of the North American union daily brings the reality of these more into view as changing the United States from a sovereign economic unit into a new
world trading bloc along the lines of the European Union.
Technologies that link all of us together; monetary institutional mergers that now have you and me in America dealing with someone in India or some other
foreign place when we need to check our banking transactions; oil making debtors of us all to creditors we can’t even identify, much less reach to influence
in our own best interest–all point to the thought that the one-world monetary beast of Revelation 17: 12-13 must be very near as we enter 2008.
Israel and the pseudo peace-making agenda constitute the Number 1 most important signal of where this generation sits atop the Bible timeline of prophecy.
Almost as crucial to understand, however, is that it is monetary imperialism that is the one-world engine, fueled by Mid-East black gold, driving all nations
toward Armageddon.
While 2008 unfolds, keep your eyes and ears on Israel and the all-important global economic monster that is almost upon us.
--Terry
For Monday December 24, 2007
So, we come
to another time of Christmas. Many aboard spaceship Earth send tidings of peace
and good will. But the prospects for the times, sadly, are not
joyful upon this tremblous sphere. The only one who can spread such tidings
–and make joyous times a reality--is relegated to the status of one religious
figure among many by those who cry for peace. They, as a matter of fact, do all
within their politically correct power to remove mention of Him from the
season of celebration that has for centuries bore His holy name.
The
incessant plea for there to be peace is, itself, prophetic in nature. The peace
today’s earth-dwellers seek above all other is centered around the terrifying
prospects of war that threatens to erupt from the most sensitive geographical
location on the planet. God considers this place the center of the world.
He deals with man based upon their treatment of how they deal with Israel in
general, and with Jerusalem in particular.
The Bible
is replete with those who deal treacherously, seeking to establish hegemony
over the region. The Lord will not allow tranquility to reign so long
as that tranquility is based upon establishing governance that does not include
Him as sovereign in the matter. One prophecy about such surreptitious “peace”
powerfully thunders God’s Word on the matters involved.
“[To wit],
the prophets of Israel which prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and which see visions
of peace for her, and [there is] no peace, saith the Lord GOD”
(Ezek. 13:16).
The Lord God condemns all who try to establish their wicked man-made peace within His land.
“The way of
peace they know not; and [there is] no judgment in their goings: they have made
them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace”
(Isa. 59:8).
Israel’s
God states in no uncertain terms the truth about the false peacemakers: “[There
is] no peace, saith the LORD, unto the wicked” (Isa. 48:22). His
judgment is certain, and He minces no words in pronouncing what will happen to
those who force man-made peace upon Israel and to the people of Israel herself
who sign on to that pseudo-guarantee of peace and safety.
“For when
they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as
travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape” (1Thess.
5:3).
The prophet
Jeremiah speaks for the Lord in pointing the finger of judgment at Israel,
which has throughout history turned to others than their God for
security. Modern Israel, in particular, seems at this moment to be at the end
of the Almighty’s finger of condemnation. Israel’s leadership more and more
observably leans toward a quick fix to the nation’s increasingly unpopular
position among earth’s nation-states. It is a man-made pseudo remedy to which
Israel’s God speaks directly: “For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of
my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when [there is] no peace” (Jer.
8:11).
The present
road to false peace will eventuate in devastation –to which the prophet Daniel
speaks. The ultimate false peacemaker is the subject of Daniel’s
forewarning. The Antichrist.
“And in the
latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king
of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall
stand up. And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall
destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy
the mighty and the holy people. And through his policy also he shall cause
craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and
by peace shall destroy many…” (Dan. 8:23-25c).
But,
thankfully, that isn’t the end of the story for Israel or the world. Daniel gives
the outcome of Antichrist’s false peacemaking that results in unprecedented
devastation.
“…he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand” (Dan. 8:25d).
Antichrist
and all of the phony peacemakers of history will be crushed and ground to
powder. They will be blown away by the winds of history into the dustbin
of eternity. Daniel foretells the final destruction of the false purveyors of
peace talk through interpreting Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar’s strange
dream of a man-image that represented the four great kingdoms that would rule
over earth until Christ’s return:
“Thou
sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon
his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then
was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces
together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the
wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that
smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth” (Dan.
2:34-35).
Nahum the
prophet gives the final Word of God about the resolution to the long search for
peace. Again, peace on earth centers around Israel, Jerusalem,
and the Prince of Peace, that great earthly power-crushing stone--the Lord
Jesus Christ.
“Behold
upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth
peace! O Judah, keep thy solemn feasts, perform thy vows: for the
wicked shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off” (Nah. 1:5).
PEACE is
the purpose for which the Christ-child was born--to bring peace to humanity by
providing sin-destroying reconciliation to God the Father through
Christ’s shed blood on Calvary’s cross. God chose that the Redeemer, His Son
Jesus, would become the God-man through Israel. That’s why we are commanded
to pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6). Only when the Prince of Peace
reigns and rules will there be peace on Earth, good will toward men.
--Terry
For Monday December 17, 2007
If you have ever caught a finger in your eye from someone while you were engaged in athletics, or if you have ever been poked there in some other way, you
know the agony. Your whole body convulses because of the pain. The reaction is immediate, and violent.
The God of creation likens man’s dealing carelessly with Jerusalem to their jabbing Him in the eye: “For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath
he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye” (Zech. 2:8).
The world of nations is closing in on Jerusalem. Pressures are being brought to bear upon that city--the center of the earth, from God’s perspective.
God tested Abraham and Isaac there, providing a ram as substitutionary sacrifice just as Abraham was plunging the knife downward toward his son’s heart.
Jesus Christ, who himself wept over Jerusalem millennia later, was sacrificed for the sins of mankind near the spot on Moriah where the ram was caught
in the thicket.
Jerusalem, atop the Temple Mount (Moriah), is where God’s Law, the Ten Commandments etched by the finger of God in stone tablets, resided within the Ark
of the Covenant. Jesus fulfilled the Law, with God’s sacrificial act of supreme mercy and grace for lost and perishing mankind. The veil covering the holy
of holies in the Temple ripped apart from top to bottom at the moment Jesus voluntarily gave up His life on the cross at Calvary. Mankind has, since that
most profound moment in human history, had direct access to the throne of God through prayer in the name of Jesus. Is it any wonder that the Supreme Being
is sensitive about anyone who might act destructively against the one place on the planet where He chose to reach down to sin-blackened mankind and provide
redemption by sacrificing His only begotten Son?
Yet, no consideration is given by the nations’ leaders to what God’s Word says about this strange geographical site that is a special contact point between
lowly man and his creator. The Temple Mount reportedly was on the table with regard to man-made peace efforts at the turn of the millennium.
“…According to declassified Israeli government documents published today by Israel's Haaretz newspaper, during U.S.-led negotiations in 2000 at Camp David,
Ehud Barak, then prime minister, agreed sovereignty over the Temple Mount would be either ‘ambiguous’ or control would be determined based on the bond
of each party to the site. The Palestinians would therefore control the upper sections of the Mount, which houses the Al Aqsa Mosque and also is the site
of the First and Second Jewish Temples…”
Apparently, treachery at the highest levels of the Israeli government continues to be pervasive. The same report quoted a Palestinian negotiater, a questionable
source that I realize must be viewed with a jaundiced eye. Arab officials are known for making wild claims. And, truth to most of them seems to equate
to whatever is advantageous to their cause at the moment. Nonetheless, the negotiator’s words must not be unheeded, in consideration of such a crucial
matter as the future disposition of the Temple Mount.
“… The chief Palestinian negotiator said that in the months leading up to Annapolis, the Palestinian team was ‘surprised’ by [Israeli Prime Minister] Olmert's
willingness to give up the Mount.
"‘We had intense debates on many topics, which remain open and unsettled, but the Harem Al-Sharif (Temple Mount) is not a sticking point. The Israelis didn't
argue with us. We were pleasantly surprised Olmert didn't debate about giving the lower section of the [Mount] either, which was a sticking point in the
past.’…” (WorldNetDaily.com, "Revealed, Israel Agreed To Forfeit Temple Mount," Aaron Klein, Dec. 13, 2007).
The American presidential administration is in the process of wading in on the effort to push Israeli/Palestinian movement toward a peace the Lord of heaven
declares will never stand.
“US President George W. Bush is set to take a more active role in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, his top diplomat said in an interview transcript
released Wednesday.
"US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told USA Today Bush would be visiting the region because 'he very much wants to signal support for the bilateral
process between the parties and to continue in a hands-on way to encourage them to move forward.'" ("Bush To Take 'Hands-On' Peace Talk Role," Jerusalem
Post, Dec. 13, 2007).
Mr. President: Be aware, and beware while you take America into the three millennia-long fray. Be sure, in your “hands-on” actions aimed at making man-made
peace that is doomed from its inception, not to poke the Almighty in the apple of his eye.
Here is God’s ominous forewarning to those who either overtly or covertly, whether through commission or omission, do anything to deleteriously affect His
city, Jerusalem: “And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem” (Zech. 12:9).
***Terry’s Author Website***
First, I thank all who have so generously ordered The Nephilim Imperatives from amazon.com. I will appreciate your continuing to spread the word about the
book, if you find it a read you can endorse. And, if you will, please write a review on amazon.com if you like the book.
Also, I invite you to my newly created author’s website.
Terryjames.net
The new site is a work in progress, and is designed to give a quick reference to my writings and biography. It will, I prayerfully believe, further enhance
our efforts at raptureready.com, the site that has my whole heart, while Todd and I continue to serve the Lord and you, our wonderful friends.
--Terry