Israel’s National Salvation

Posted on March 22, 2014 by dknezacek

The other day on My Worldview Pages someone brought up a sermon of Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones, on Replacement theology. That sermon stuck in my craw, because I just can’t believe that a man with the credentials of Dr. Lloyd-Jones would take Scripture so badly out of context, and yet he sure has.

I think an in-depth study of Romans 11 does away with the idea that God is done with physical Israel.  So, let’s have a look, shall we?

First-off, notice that Paul points out that there never has been a time when all Israel has been saved, but only a remnant;

1 I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying, 3Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life. 4But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. 5Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.

Notice “at this present time there is a remnant”. What is the present time? It is the Church-age. And, doesn’t the use of “present time” imply that there is another time coming?  So isn’t he saying that only a small number, a remnant, will be saved at any one time, throughout the Church-age? Then it follows that the time when “all Israel shall be saved” must be at another time, after the Church-age.

Verse 6 points out that salvation is by grace, not works, and Israel has been seeking salvation by works.

7 What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded 8 (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.

The “election” here are the elect of Israel, the remnant of believing Jews, the same as it ever was. He is saying that nothing really has changed, but he goes on to say that the day is coming when it will. A day is coming when all of natural Israel will be saved. This is a repeat of prophecies from the Old Testament, which indicates that God will keep his word.

The anti-Semites in the Catholic, and Reformed, crowds don’t think that God will do this, but keep on…

Verses 9 and 10 simply repeat what he has already said in 7-8, for emphasis.

Notice in verse 11 that the salvation of the Gentiles is meant to provoke Israel to jealousy.

Here’s the thing; Israel cannot see the salvation of the Gentiles today. They do not see that Gentile believers have any more special status with God than they. Last year there were over 3,000 Christians killed for their faith around the world. I’m not certain, but I don’t think there were that many Jews who suffered the same fate, last year. Christians suffer illness and disease, they are victims of crime, and they have to work hard to make a living. To a Jew, how does this show God’s favour on the Church?

12 Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness?

You see, there is a time coming, after the fullness of the gentiles come in, when the fullness of Israel will also come in! The fullness here is a direct reference to Israel’s national salvation, which will occur at a future date.

13 For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office: 14 If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them. 15 For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?

So Paul, here, is telling us that he hopes to save some of his Hebrew brethren in this present age, knowing that only a remnant of Israel will be saved as long as this age continues. He ends this section, however, with a comparison of the coming national salvation of Israel, to be like a resurrection from the dead. In other words, it will look, for a long time, like Israel is dead, spiritually, and then suddenly this dead nation will rise!

16 For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches. 17 And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; 18 Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.

Jesus is the firstfruit, and His children get their holiness from Him. We have no holiness of our own, but what we have has been given to us. Therefore we have no cause to boast against those whom the Lord has pruned out of His tree.

Professing Christians who persecute Israel are disobeying a direct command of God. They have reason to fear.

19 Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in. 20 Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear: 21 For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. 22 Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.

I know so many Christians who say a prayer, and then live like the world. Salvation is not something that should be taken for granted. These people are trusting their own prayer, like it was a magic incantation. That is not scriptural, nor is it Christian;

Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Philippians 2:12

Yeah, we are saved by faith, not works, but once saved we need to work for our Heavenly Father, to show outside, what is going on inside. This does NOT mean that we are to work for our salvation, nor does it mean that we are on our own, to figure out how to be saved!

So, being “cut-off” here does not mean that one can lose one’s salvation. It means that if you do not continue in the Word, if you do not persevere in following Jesus Christ, you were never saved to begin with. We human beings cannot tell if one is saved by appearances, but one who continues to act like a believer, right up to the point of death, is a true believer. Some may act like a Christian for a while, but when the going gets tough, they bail-out. God looks at the heart, and knows the condition thereof.

23 And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again. 24 For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own olive tree?

As Jesus said, “Salvation is of the Jews” (John 4:22).

Verse 25 is the centrepiece of the whole chapter;

25 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.

Up until now Paul has been telling us about Israel’s loss of position, but that this loss is only temporary. Now he tells us when Israel will be restored. The timing is important. Many have thought that they should be the one to lead Israel back to God, and have been frustrated by the results of their efforts.

Israel will be “hardened, in part, until the fullness of the Gentiles come in”. The “part” is a large part, in fact the vast majority of the nation.

The fullness of the Gentiles is a reference to the end of the Church-age.

Many professing “Christians” have been ignorant of this fact, and have acted arrogantly toward Israel, even to the point of participating in pogroms against the Jews. Martin Luther preached to the Jews, and when they would not receive the gospel he became very anti-Semitic, and ultimately died in an anti-Semitic rage. He didn’t understand this verse as it was meant to be understood. Had he done so, he would have been more patient with them.

Since the fullness of the Gentiles has not come in yet, why would he think they would accept his explanations? Their hearts are still hardened, and are prophesied to remain so, until the Church-age is over.   I am not saying that Luther should not have preached to the Jews, of course Christians should attempt to give the gospel to members of Israel, but they should not expect more than a remnant to turn.

26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: 27 For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. 28 As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes. 29 For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.

The time when all Israel shall be saved is given in the context of the previous verse. You can’t divorce verse 26 from verse 25. All Israel shall be saved after the “fulness of the Gentiles come in”, and not before! As long as Gentiles are still being saved, the national salvation of Israel is a yet future event!

Which brings us to the current condition of the Christian Church. As we see an apostasy growing, and spreading around the world, the numbers of Gentiles coming in is declining. Nevertheless, Gentiles are still being saved, and so we know the Church-age is not over yet.

The Deliverer has indeed come out of Sion, but He has yet to turn ungodliness from Jacob.

Luther treated the Jews as enemies, and not as “beloved for the father’s sakes”, but so have many in the Church, even today. The recent “Christ At The Checkpoint” conference in Bethlehem is an example of professing Christians joining hands with God’s enemies, and hating rather than loving, the descendants of Jacob.

Many of the problems of numbers of professing Christians stem from the acceptance of unbiblical eschatological systems like Amillennialism, Preterism, and Post-millennialism. Those who accept these systems do not see any future for the nation of Israel. Because they believe there won’t be an earthly millennial reign, they have no frame of reference to put a saved nation of Israel.

If the current age is all the time there is left, and if Israel is not yet saved, when would a saved nation of Israel live?

The truth is that the bible does indeed teach that Jesus will reign on earth for 1,000 years, and saved national Israel, with the earthly Jerusalem as its capital, will be His seat of government. We can see then that Amillennialism, Preterism, and Post-millennialism are Satanic in origin, because they deny so much Scripture. This is a form of apostasy, and I would not be surprised to see the majority of the Church embracing these dangerous philosophies as we draw closer to the Tribulation period.

Notice verse 29 states that “the gifts and calling of God are without repentance”. God will not repent of the promises He has made to Israel.  If He did He would be a liar!

Later on Paul makes a curious statement;

30 For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief: 31 Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.

I have often skipped over verse 31 when reading through this passage. I didn’t understand it. Then a few weeks ago someone on MWV mentioned this verse and I got to thinking about it;

Verses 5, 25-26, and 31 are referring to the same thing, yet how will Israel see the Church receive the mercy of God, in a way that will provoke them to jealousy?

In some 2,000 years Israel has not become jealous. I have heard some Christians say that “we will make Israel jealous by doing Christianity properly” as if there haven’t been any obedient Christians since the Apostles.

No. This is not what it means!

It is not up to the Church to provoke Israel to jealousy, it is up to God, and He will do it when the fullness of the Gentiles have come in.

The phrase “through your mercy they also may obtain mercy” does NOT mean that by being merciful to Jews, they will be drawn as a nation to Christ. You have to take this verse in the context of the whole chapter, and indeed the context of the whole bible. (Christians should be kind to Jews, but this is not what the passage is referring to)

“Your mercy” is a reference to God’s mercy toward both Jewish and Gentile believers in the event commonly referred to as “the Rapture”, the great snatch. In other words “your mercy” is mercy that is yours, or belonging to you.

When the nation of Israel sees that God has been merciful to the Christian believers, by taking them directly to Heaven without dying first, then they will begin to realize that they had been wrong to reject Jesus Christ. They will become jealous of God’s mercy toward the Church, and many of them will receive Christ as Lord and Saviour. By then it will be too late, they will be truly saved, but will have to go through the Great Tribulation, but they will have Jesus to protect them.

This event is the end of the Christian era, and the beginning of the last seven years of Israel’s allotted time, from Daniel 9:26.

32 For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.

As the Church draws closer to the great apostasy, how are the people of the world going to hear the gospel? The true gospel? God’s plan is that Israel will take-up where the Church leaves-off. The Purpose Driven, Emergent, and Word of Faith camps are not preaching the biblical gospel, and leave much to be desired, but these camps are growing. God, on the other hand, desires that people would be saved.

As I have studied Scripture I have come to the conclusion that the Tribulation period will be the time when the highest percentage of humanity will be saved. Since the Church is going apostate, this will be the time when the task will fall back to Israel to pick up the slack. They will rise to the task.

Dan Knezacek

Posted in Christian Doctrine, Prophecy, World Events | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Stars falling to earth?

Posted on March 13, 2014 by dknezacek

After writing about the blood moon hype, I began to think about the other statement that also accompanies “the moon turning to blood”, in the bible.

This statement is often used to ridicule the bible’s science, but is this statement intended to be taken literally, or is something else in view here?  Here are a couple of the passages;

Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: Matthew 24:29

And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken. Mark 13:25

There is a principle of bible interpretation that we need to use to understand what is going on here.  We need to compare Scripture with Scripture.  God always explains what He means in other passages regarding the same events.  By comparing separate passages, we are able to deduce what is literal, and what is meant to describe something using idioms, and figurative language.

 14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.  15 The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. Joel 3:14-15

Could it be that the same phenomenon that darkens the sun and moon is the same event that causes the starlight to disappear?  I think this is exactly what is being said here.  But, there is more;

For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.  Isaiah 13:10

This passage is in the context of a different event, the first destruction of Israel, but we see that here the dimming of the sun, the moon, and the stars is linked by an atmospheric phenomenon, in this case, the smoke of  burning Israeli cities.

What about the moon turning to blood?  Should we understand that the moon will literally turn to blood?  Very obviously this passage is describing the appearance of the moon, as a result of a similar atmospheric phenomenon.  Note also that the context is a similar time frame as the Matthew 24, and Mark 13 passages.

The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come. Joel 2:31

 19 And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:  20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: Acts 2:19-20

I don’t think the passage Peter was quoting was entirely fulfilled in that day, this section appears to be reserved for the time just prior to, and during the Tribulation period.  The fire mentioned here, is likely a combination of volcanic activity, as well as the nuclear destruction of many cities, all in a very short time frame.

And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; Revelation 6:12

The 1883-84 eruption of the island of Krakatoa illustrates the point.

The eruption darkened the sky worldwide for years afterward, and produced spectacular sunsets throughout the world for many months. British artist William Ashcroft made thousands of colour sketches of the red sunsets half way around the world from Krakatoa in the years after the eruption. The ash caused “such vivid red sunsets that fire engines were called out in New York, Poughkeepsie, and New Haven to quench the apparent conflagration.”[15] This eruption also produced a Bishop’s Ring around the sun by day, and a volcanic purple light at twilight. (from Wikipedia)

Very clearly some of the events in the three passages in Joel will result from increased volcanic activity, but just as the destruction of Israel, prophesied in Isaiah 13, caused similar phenomena, it is very likely that the wars Jesus spoke about in Matthew 24:6 will also result in a red appearance of the moon, and the stars complete disappearance.

It could very well be that as a father and son go out in a cloudless night, that the son will ask his father “dad, where are the stars?”, and the father will answer “They aren’t there, I think they have fallen to earth.” 

This is all the phrase means. It could be accompanied by a meteor shower, however, should it occur during the Gog and Magog war, and that would complete the illusion of the stars falling to earth.

Dan Knezacek

Posted in Christian Doctrine, Prophecy, Prophecy | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Are they preparing for Gog/Magog?

Posted on March 8, 2014 by dknezacek

There is a lot going on at the moment, in the international political scene. The run-up to the End Times seems to have been placed into high gear, and things are moving so fast that it is hard to keep-up with them.

There has been a lot of speculation, of late, that the new Russian-Iranian alliance is preparing for the Gog/Magog war of Ezekiel 38-39. This is especially so since the Americans seem bent on appeasing the Iranian leadership in their quest to produce a nuclear missile.

Just as the disciples were in a hurry for Jesus to re-establish the kingdom to Israel in the first century, and it wasn’t His time, so it is today that many Christians are in a hurry for the End-Times to play out.

I’m here to say “Don’t rush God”. His timing is always perfect, and He can always be counted on to do it when the time is best.

One thing that most appear ignorant of is the fact that the Psalm 83 war will occur first. That war is closer than the Gog/Magog war. In fact the current Muslim Brotherhood push to take over the nations of the Middle East appears to be in preparation for that war.

The good news is that the MB has come up against several roadblocks in their quest. The fact that Syrian president Bashar al Assad has not caved in to the MB is a good thing for the region. I’m not saying that Assad is a good guy, he’s actually pretty bad, but he is not nearly as bad as the rebels who are bent on his ouster. Under Assad, people of different faiths have been able to live side-by-side, which will not be the case under the MB.

Yes, I know, Assad keeps on threatening Israel, but he doesn’t do anything about it. It really appears to be a tactic used to maintain his support among the Muslims. This also appears to be the biggest beef among many of the rebels; he hasn’t attacked Israel yet! I think that maybe he is too smart to follow through on the rhetoric! The same can’t be said for the Muslim fanatics who are fighting him.

Oh, and by the way, a lot is said about the 140,000 people who have been killed in the Syrian civil war over the last three years. I hate to say it, but this kind of thing happens in war; When you rebel against your government, you should expect that they just might kill you for that rebellion, and your family just might die if you hide among them, and use them as a human shield!

Here is what the Apostle Paul said about the power of the government, which has been placed there by God;

“3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.” Romans 13:3-4

Don’t forget that Nero, one of the most evil tyrants in world history, was on the throne when Paul wrote Romans, and Paul nowhere says it is acceptable for Christians to rebel against the powers that be, even if they are Nero, Stalin, Hitler, or Obama.

The military coup in Egypt has also been a huge setback for the MB. General Al Sisi has taken power in Egypt, and by doing so has delayed the coming storm. I don’t expect him to last too long, as the MB is busy working their treachery behind the scenes, but in the mean time the Egyptian people will have a bit of a rest.

But I want to focus more on the idea that the Gog/Magog war is imminent, because it is not. The passage in Ezekiel 38-39 lists many nations, and only two of them are aligned today. Russia and Iran.

Two nations does not make a coalition, especially if the biblical coalition includes other nations. Meshech and Tubal were the patriarchs of Russia, and the Persians are the modern day Iranians, but Turkey (The Turkic peoples of Turkey, Turkmenistan, and I believe Uzbekistan as well. Interestingly, the Chinese Uyghurs are also a Turkic tribe.) Libya, and Ethiopia are not ready to join the coalition just yet.

This week Turkey scrambled eight jets when a Russian airplane got too close to the border. It sounds to me like the Turks and the Russians are not quite at the point of cooperating on a joint military exercise in the Middle East.

Libya is so divided, that they are close to civil war, and not at the point of joining a Russo/Iranian coalition, and will not be in a position to do so for several years, I think.

The nation identified in the Ezekiel account as Ethiopia, is probably a reference to Sudan, but in any case, neither Ethiopia, nor Sudan, are in a position to join the Gog/Magog armies any time soon.

Many other conditions of the Ezekiel account have not yet been met, either. For instance, Israel will become much more prosperous before that day, and they will dwell at peace. Israel has not had peace since 1948.

After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them. Eze. 38:8

There were rocket attacks against Israel this week. It is a lie to say that all of Israel is dwelling safely today.

And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,

The security fence running around the Palestinian areas would seem to have to be removed before the Gog/Magog war conditions will be met. This means that there will be a peace between Israel and the Palestinians before the Gog/ Magog war! It will not be a one-day peace, but a lengthy time of peace which can really be called a “peace”! This must be for several years.

No. The conditions for the Gog/Magog war have not yet been met, so we know that this war is not imminent. While the Psalm 83 war is not imminent either, look for it to be fulfilled first, and much sooner than the Gog/Magog war.

Dan Knezacek

Posted in Christian Doctrine, Prophecy, Prophecy, World Events | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Will the Antichrist have a Muslim background? part 2

Posted on March 2, 2014 by dknezacek
Disclaimer: The author intends these articles to assist the reader in understanding the End Times prophecies of the Holy Bible. There is no intention to provoke hatred towards any group, tribe, or nation. Even the family of the Antichrist deserves to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ! The book of Revelation states that there will be members of every tribe, nation, kingdom, and tongue, in Heaven! It is the hope of the author to provoke Christians to witness of the love and forgiveness of God toward all who will listen! It is his hope that we will share in the joy of seeing even family members of the Antichrist himself, in Heaven with Jesus!

I briefly touched on Dr. Reagan’s statements about Isaiah 14, in my last article, but I want to go over some of it again, if I may.  I want to focus on the section about Joe VanKoevering’s book, simply because he and I have used some of the same arguments.

I did not borrow my arguments from VanKoevering, but came up with them through my own studies of the Scriptures.  It seems obvious to me that, if different people come up with the same interpretations, independently of each other, that they just might be on to something!

Dr. Reagan dismissed many of those arguments without examining their validity,  I don’t know if this is because VanKoevering was not in-depth in his analysis, or if Dr. Reagan simply skimmed over them without taking them seriously.

He started with the following;

“The King of Babylon idea comes from Isaiah 14:4ff where a taunt against the King of Babylon is presented. As the King of Babylon is described in detail, he clearly morphs into a description of Satan. VanKoevering claims it is also a description of the Antichrist.”

It grieves me that Dr. Reagan would make a statement like this, and then not back it up with an analysis of the passage in question.  Such an analysis would show that this passage clearly is a description of the Antichrist, right down to its comparison with the Son of God.

The first part of the passage sets the context, and it is clearly an End Times context.  This eliminates any sort of ancient fulfilment of these prophecies;

1 For the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob.  2 And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place: and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the LORD for servants and handmaids: and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors. 3 And it shall come to pass in the day that the LORD shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve,  4 That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased!  Isaiah 14:1-4

Notice that the time is specified in verse 3 as “in the day that the LORD shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve”.   You see, that day has not happened throughout history, and will not occur until the Tribulation is over.  It can even be seen in the first verse, for the time the Lord will have mercy on Jacob will not be fulfilled until the end of the Tribulation, when Jesus returns.

The taunt against the king of Babylon is a future taunt against the prominent world leader of the Tribulation period… the Antichrist!   Why did Dr. Reagan miss this context?

I would argue with the KJV paraphrase of “heylel”, as “Lucifer”, but I must say that this is actually closer to the truth than the modern translator’s (such as the NIV) use of “Morning Star”, which actually confuses Jesus Christ with the Antichrist!  In fact most of the ancient translators used Lucifer in this case, so the KJV is in good company, but it is clear that they did not know who it referred to.  They only knew that this is an extraordinarily evil person, and assumed that it must be Lucifer, the chief fallen angel.

12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!  13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:  14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.  15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.  16 They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; Isaiah 14:12-16

Wikipedia has this to say about the translation of heylel as Lucifer;

Lucifer (/ˈluːsɪfər/ or /ˈljuːsɪfər/) is the King James Version rendering of the Hebrew word הֵילֵל in Isaiah 14:12.[1] This word, transliterated hêlêl[1] or heylel,[2] occurs only once in the Hebrew Bible[1] and according to the KJV-influenced Strong’s Concordance means “shining one, morning star, Lucifer”.[2] The word Lucifer is taken from the Latin Vulgate,[3] which translates הֵילֵל as lucifer,[Isa 14:12][4][5] meaning “the morning star, the planet Venus”, or, as an adjective, “light-bringing”.[6] The Septuagint renders הֵילֵל in Greek as ἑωσφόρος[7][8][9][10][11] (heōsphoros),[12][13][14] a name, literally “bringer of dawn”, for the morning star.[15]

The person spoken of here is not Lucifer per se, but a man who is indwelt by Lucifer, or Satan; the Antichrist, Lucifer’s closest human associate.  Notice that verse 16 states that this person is a man.  Don’t spiritualize it to say that “it says a man, but really means an angel”. If it says “man” it really means a descendant of Adam.

This man is the culmination of all the kings of the age of the gentiles.  This man is mankind’s answer to Jesus Christ, and yes, his reign will shake the earth like no other ruler in earth’s history!

Verses 21-22 indicate that he has sons and nephews, which the Lord will also destroy with him.  Lucifer has no nephews, and while it could be said that the Antichrist is the son of Satan, he is an adopted son, and not genetically related.  Satan has many adopted sons, but no natural descendants.  The Antichrist will have sons.

So much for the idea that the Antichrist is gay.

By the way, the angels who do have physical descendants have been locked up, and are no longer free to roam the earth (Jude 1:6)

This person will actually go to Hell for a short period of time;

15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.  16 They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms;  17 That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners? Isaiah 14:15-17

Who are those that see him in this condition, but his contemporaries, those who he has sent there before him?  The saints he has executed will also behold him, from the comfort of Heaven.  These are those who remark at his fate.  His stay in Hell is shortened, however…

Notice though, that this man is an anti-christ in the sense that he is like the literal definition of the term; he is like the messiah in many ways, and tries to replace Him.  The prefix “anti” in the Greek not only has the connotation of being “against”, but also “in the place of”.  In fact the Isaiah account compares him to Christ in a very direct way;

18 All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house.  19 But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcase trodden under feet. 20 Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, and slain thy people: the seed of evildoers shall never be renowned. Isaiah 14:18-20

When it says the kings lie “in their own house”, it is referring to their body lying in a tomb.  The king of Babylon, of Isaiah 14, is “cast out of his grave”, or resurrected like “an abominable branch”.  This statement does not apply to Lucifer, nor to any other angel, nor even to any other prophetic figure, but only to the Antichrist!

The Branch is one of the terms for the messiah, Jesus, throughout the Old Testament, and yes, He was raised from the dead.  This person is resurrected like an “abominable branch”, like an “evil Messiah”.

Many have speculated that the resurrection of the Beast of Revelation 13:3, is a trick, but these passages indicate that it is genuine; God allows Satan the power to raise this one man, as a trap for those who have rejected the resurrection of the Son of God.

As he is raised from the dead, he will demand worship, and the world will fall to its knees!  This event will be at the end of the age, and then there will be two persons who have been verifiably raised from the dead; Jesus Christ, and the Antichrist!

Again I have to ask, “Why didn’t the bible translators, or Dr. Reagan see this?”  The only answer I can see is that they are viewing the passage through their pre-conceived notions, and not simply reading, or understanding, what is there.  Traditions can be very powerful, and can blind us to much truth.  We need to pray that the Lord will help us remove our traditional blinders, and allow us to see what He has placed there!

Dr. Reagan also has this to add;

“A similar taunt is presented in Ezekiel 28 against the Prince of Tyre. And like the passage in Isaiah 14, the taunt morphs into a description of Satan that could be applied to the Antichrist. Does that mean the Antichrist must also be the King of Tyre? I think not.”

I had never considered that the Ezekiel 28 passage might concern the Antichrist before, but it actually appears that it could be!  It is unwise for Dr. Reagan to dismiss this idea out of hand.

It actually appears that Ezekiel 28 consists of two sections that are divided in the middle.  The subject changes with the phrase “Moreover, the word of the LORD came unto me, saying…”  Earlier in the passage, however, it describes this person who declares himself to be God, and then dies as a man at the hands of his enemies, in a way which could refer to the death of the Antichrist.  Again, that part of the passage cannot refer to Satan, although the subsequent section just might.

Don’t forget that emperors can call themselves “king” of any part of their empire.

He may be correct that the first section of Ezekiel 28 does not refer to the Antichrist, and perhaps only refers to an ancient king of Tyre, but this passage does not have any events that could ONLY refer to the Antichrist, as the Isaiah 14 passage actually does!

Dr. Reagan disagrees with Joe VanKoevering, that Prince Hassan of Jordan is the best candidate for the Antichrist, as do I, but his methodology in refuting VanKoevering’s arguments is lacking substance.

“The next qualification of the Antichrist that Hassan is supposed to fulfill is that he carries the title of Prince. This is really irrelevant. When Daniel 9:26 says the Antichrist will be a “prince,” all it is saying is that he will be a political leader. The Bible uses two terms for political leaders — prince and king. The biblical authors could not refer to presidents or prime ministers because those forms of ruling power had not yet developed. Thus, when we are told in Psalm 118:9 “it is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes,” we are being warned against putting our trust in politicians. The warning is not limited to those politicians who literally have the title of prince.”

I don’t know why he would say “The Bible uses two terms for political leaders — prince and king.” because this simply is not true.  Maybe it is true in the translation he is using, but I would advise him to read the KJV.  I did a search for “governor” in the AV, and had 79 matches.  Now, not all of these matches refers to a political governor, but some of them definitely do;

And Joseph was the governor over the land, and he it was that sold to all the people of the land: and Joseph’s brethren came, and bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth. Genesis 42:6

And told him, saying, Joseph is yet alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt. And Jacob’s heart fainted, for he believed them not.Genesis 45:26

Notice that Genesis, the oldest book in the bible had a hebrew word for “governor” from way back during the time of Moses.

Beside that he had of the merchantmen, and of the traffick of the spice merchants, and of all the kings of Arabia, and of the governors of the country.  I Kings 10:15

And next unto them repaired Melatiah the Gibeonite, and Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon, and of Mizpah, unto the throne of the governor on this side the river.  Nehemiah 3:7

Now, my Hebrew is just basic, but I don’t see “Melech” (king) in this passage.  Notice also that his governor has a throne!

Dr. Reagan’s characterization of Hebrew as not having any word for a political leader other than a prince or a king, is an over-simplification.

For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed. Isaiah 9:16

While princes are often politicians, the “prince” Daniel refers to in 9:26 could actually be the son of a king.  While I would agree with Dr. Reagan that prince Hassan is not likely the prince in question, this possibility should not be dismissed lightly.  Very clearly the ancient Hebrews had words for political offices other than kings and princes, so the use of the term “prince” could very well mean just that!

I am sorry that I didn’t get to the other two books in Dr. Reagan’s article.  I shall attempt to get to them another day.

Dan Knezacek

Posted in Christian Doctrine, Prophecy | Tagged , , , , | 11 Comments

Ukraine and the Eurasian Union

Posted on February 25, 2014 by dknezacek

In 1974 the Club of Rome put forth a plan, in its book Mankind at the Turning Point, the Second Report to the Club of Rome, by Mihaljo Mesarovic and Eduard Pestel, whereby the world “should” form ten regional governments, and from there create a one-world government.  When I say “regional governments” I mean that they propose that the regions of the world should unite and form local-regional governments.

NAFTA, and the European Union are the first two of these fledgling nation-states, and while political union has not yet been achieved, this is the ultimate goal.  It may take a major catastrophe to push total political union, and I am sure this is what is planned.

The South American Union Masthead

This leaves eight other nation-states to be formed around the world.  There is already an African Union in the works (http://www.au.int/), as well as a South American Union (http://www.unasursg.org/), and there is talk about a South Asian Union.

My attention was caught by a reference to a Eurasian Union, while reading an article about the current Ukraine crisis, on Pajamas Media.    It seems that the corrupt Yanukovych government has been attempting to drag Ukraine into this Eurasian Union, against the wishes of his people.

In spite of the fact that those opposed to the Eurasian Union have the upper hand, for now, don’t discount this idea.  If this union is the fledgling form of one of the kingdoms of one of the ten kings of Revelation 17:12, then the Eurasian Union may be down, but it is not out.

“And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.” Revelation 17:12

It shall be interesting to see how this works out.  Unfortunately not everyone will be on-side with these unions, and we are sure to see more bloodshed, as they form and impose their will on their respective populations.

One thing is for certain; These ten nations will form in the last days.  It is futile to combat them, and better to spend one’s energy preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.  It is God’s will that the earth will come under these ten rulers, before the rise of the Antichrist.  The Eurasian Union will take shape, but perhaps not in the way that Putin has in mind.

Nevertheless, many of the nations named in this article are also listed in Ezekiel 38-39, such as Turkey and Iran.  It could very well be that the Eurasian Union will be instrumental in the Gog and Magog war.

Dan Knezacek

http://www.theguardian.com/world/shortcuts/2014/feb/18/brief-primer-vladimir-putin-eurasian-union-trade

http://www.businessinsider.com/eurasian-union-map-2013-12

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/kremlin-anticipates-ukrainian-integration-with-eurasian-union/494541.html

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/29/us-ukraine-eu-putin-idUSBRE9AS0F320131129

Posted in Christian Doctrine, Prophecy, World Events | Leave a comment

Blood Moon Rising?

Posted on February 22, 2014 by dknezacek

The snake oil salesmen are at it again, though in fact, the error they are perpetrating is very old.

I am referring, of course, to the hype about the “blood moons”, and the pile of books, and current internet articles, that are flogging this error.  This stems from a human desire for God to hurry-up, and to get it over with.

Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light. Amos 5:18

We naturally desire to be in the millennial reign, to live in a perfect world, but God will do it in his own time.  Don’t rush Him!

 10 The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining:  11 And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it? Joel 2:10-11

The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, BEFORE the great and the terrible day of the LORD come. Joel 2:31

14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD IS NEAR in the valley of decision.  15 The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. Joel 3:1:14-15

“The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, BEFORE that great and notable day of the Lord come:” Acts 2:20

An old Jewish error concerning these passages can be traced to the passage in the Talmud that equates a lunar eclipse to a “blood moon”.  When Christians pick up this error there is a problem, Christian doctrine does not come from the Talmud;

“When the moon is in eclipse, it is a bad omen for Israel. If its face is as red as blood, (it is a sign that) the sword is coming to the world.” http://www.pray4zion.org/TheComingBloodMoons.html

A Blood Moon over the Temple wall

The Talmud is a New Age reinterpretation of the Old Testament, and is as dangerous as any pagan religion.  Christians have no business following this abomination.  There is a current push to reinterpret the New Testament, in the same New Age way, that is equally as dangerous, but that is not my subject for today.

Suffice it to say that this reinterpretation can be found in all the major denominations, and in many independent churches today.

Modern translations such as The Message, and the New Century version, follow in the New Age tradition of the Talmud.  This trend has been going on for some time, however, and even older translations such as the NASB, the NIV, and the NKJV, have been infected, to some extent.

The idea that a lunar eclipse could be in view here is refuted by the immediate context of the passage.  In every passage about this phenomenon, a dimming of the sun is connected to the “blood moon”.  You can’t get away from this connection, and yet every one of these false teachers focuses on the “blood moon” as if it was an eclipse.  It isn’t!

Look at this passage again, and ask yourself “is it possible that this could refer to a lunar eclipse?”;

The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come. Joel 2:31

Eclipses happen all the time, and while it may be that Israel will not experience an eclipse for another hundred years, they have experienced many over the last three millennia, and the rest of the world experiences them regularly.  They are as predictable as the clock!
By its very context this cannot be a sign from the Lord.  A sign is not something that occurs regularly as clockwork.  By its very definition, a sign is something out of the ordinary.

An event that occurs on the Canadian and American prairies, every fall, is actually closer to what the bible intended, than the natural event of an eclipse… a harvest moon.  The dust kicked up into the atmosphere by thousands of combines, processing millions of bushels of grain causes the moon to appear red.

“Wildfires in North America and dust storms in Africa sometimes fill our air with aerosols. A low hanging harvest moon can give an array of colors that is not usually seen.” http://www.moonconnection.com/harvest_moon.phtml

A Harvest Moon, looking like blood

This phenomenon actually gives us a clue to what the bible is referring to;  It is not the aerosols from  a major harvest, nor even from a major forest fire, but aerosols, dust, spewing into the atmosphere from a major battle, with perhaps even nuclear devices being set-off.

Jesus told us about it in Matthew;

For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.  Matthew 24:7

These wars will produce the blood moon phenomenon, and they will occur during the closing days of the Church age.

Notice also that this phenomenon shall occur numerous times in the End Times, not once.

“Immediately AFTER the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:” Matthew 24:29

Again Jesus said that it will occur AFTER the Tribulation, but Joel already told us that it will occur BEFORE the Tribulation, the Day of the Lord. Is this a contradiction?  No.

Go and read through the context of the passages in Joel above.  You will see that this phenomenon will occur at least three times.  It will occur when the day of the Lord is near, before the day of the Lord, and during the day of the Lord.  It is not something that will only be seen from Israel, but all over the world.

So what is going on with the “blood moon” hype?  Is it just that guys like John Hagee want to flog books, and make lots of money?  No doubt they do, but this is more about deceiving the people of God.

When the Psalm 83 war occurs, this phenomenon will occur, and people will interpret it as being post-Tribulation.  Then later, when the Gog and Magog war of Ezekiel 38-39 occurs, it will occur again, and people will interpret it as fulfilment of Matthew 24:29, a sign that the Tribulation is over!  They may even look back to the Psalm 83 war and reinterpret that event as having been “before the Tribulation”.  Even so, they will still get it wrong!

If you can’t count to three you will get it wrong!

The sun being darkened, and the moon turning to blood, will occur three times at minimum, and each time it will be worse than before.  When the Psalm 83 war occurs, it will be viewed all around the world.  When the Gog and Magog war occurs you can bet that this phenomenon will be seen in Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo, Washington, London, and Jerusalem.

The Gog and Magog war will be so bad, that people will be saying “it can’t get any worse than this, therefore it must be the Tribulation”, but it can… and will.  So when they form a world government in the aftermath of that war, and they are saying “peace and safety”, that will be the time that the Day of the Lord is about to begin!

So what can be said about people like John Hagee, who are pushing this crap?  They are deluded at best!  Don’t waste your money, or time, on his book.  (Sorry to those who are offended at my use of the term “crap” to describe Hagee’s book.  That is what it is worth.  Perhaps I should have used the biblical term; “dung”.)  I don’t have to read it to know that his whole mindset is in error, as is the mindset of all those who are jumping on the “blood moon” bandwagon.

If you look at the “prophecy community” and the things they have been saying for decades, you should notice that there is a tendency to explain away the events of prophecy.  There is a tendency to provide a naturalistic answer to these events.

When the bible talks about the Euphrates river drying up (Revelation 16:12), I have heard Grant Jeffrey say that this could be caused by the dams on that river shutting off the water flow all at once.  (The context of the passage is a drought) When the bible speaks of creatures from the abyss, with a sting in their tail (Revelation 9:10), some prophecy teachers equate this to be helicopters. (The context is supernatural creatures, probably fallen angels)

Is there a difference with the blood moon hype?  I don’t think so.

Each of these events will have a literal fulfilment.  The fulfilment of each event will be something that is out of the control of humanity, and also something that is out of the ordinary.  Eclipses are rather ordinary.

So, the fact that there will be four eclipses in Israel during 2014-2015 has nothing to do with biblical prophecy.  Except that someone just might take advantage of these events to stage a fulfilment of prophecy.

So many seem to think that Satan is utterly predictable, and of no real danger, but I think he is very intelligent, and is quite able to move in the hearts of world leaders, to approximate the fulfilment of prophecy before its time.  Can he do this?  Absolutely!  Will he do this?  Absolutely, and more!  This is why we need to be vigilant!  “Because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” 1 Peter 5:8

Misinterpretation of signs, and seeing signs when there is none, can be as dangerous as missing the signs altogether.

Dan Knezacek

Posted in Christian Doctrine, Prophecy, Prophecy, World Events | Tagged , , , , , , , | 29 Comments

Who is the Antichrist?

Posted on February 16, 2014 by dknezacek

One of the limitations of Twitter is the fact that there are a limited number of characters one can use in a tweet.    Conversations are limited to one short sentence at a time.  This makes it difficult to qualify, even the context, in which comments are made.

Here is an example of a tweet that was a response to one of mine.

Patricia Burns Screenshot
There is so much going on here, it is difficult to know where to start.  We could start with the fact that the New Testament was written entirely in upper-case characters.

Remember, when the bible says to “compare spiritual with spiritual” (1 Corinthians 2:13) it is saying that we need to compare Scripture with Scripture.

Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.  I John 2:18

First of all, notice that the first time the word “antichrist” is used in the bible it is in the singular.  You can see this without having a capital “A” at the start of the word.

What we see here is that, while there is one Antichrist, there are many antichrists.  When John said that there are many antichrists, he was not denying that there shall be one, final, personal Antichrist.

Something else you should notice is that the term “antichrist” was used verbally in the Church before it was included in Scripture.  We are not privy to those conversations, so we do not know exactly what was said.  All we can do is go through Scripture and try to understand what is meant by this term, and to whom it refers.

The Greek prefix “anti” has the meaning of “being against” but it also has the meaning of “being in the place of”.  So, the person referred to as the Antichrist is not only one who is against Christ, but is someone who declares himself to be in the place of Christ himself.

John defines antichrist thusly, as Patricia pointed out; “Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.” I John 2:22

The Antichrist is a person who denies that Jesus is the Christ, because he claims that he is the Christ, himself.  This is also the definition of any antichrist; any person who denies the Son of God… any person who denies that Jesus is the Christ.

Technically then, the Roman Catholic church would not fit John’s definition of an antichrist, or an antichrist religion.  The Roman Catholic church is adamant that Jesus is the Christ, and the son of God.  The problem is that while their words profess Christ, their actions deny Him!  When the pope calls himself the “vicar of Christ” he is actually declaring himself to be an antichrist, for the Latin word “vicar”, from which we get the English word “vicarius”, means “in the place of”, exactly the same as the Greek “anti”.

When Catholic priests perform the mass, which they call an “unbloody sacrifice” of Christ, they are denying the sufficiency of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross.  When they say that Christ’s sacrifice was sufficient to save, but that you have to add your own good works in order to stay saved, they are denying the sufficiency of Christ.  This is a denial of the Son and of the Father.

By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.  Hebrews 10:10

Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, Romans 4:6

One’s eschatology, can also amount to a denial of Jesus Christ; If you say that “Jesus cannot return until the Church takes over the world”, you are saying that Jesus cannot form the kingdom of God on earth by Himself.  You are saying that He is powerless without the Church, and depends on it.  This eschatology is typical of the Roman Catholic Church, as well as many protestants, and the New Apostolic Reformation.  While they declare Christ with their words, their eschatology is a denial of the Son of God.

Now, back to the Antichrist; Is there someone in the bible who fits the description of someone who not only is against Christ, but who also would put himself in the place of Christ?

And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done. Daniel 11:36

Someone who exalts himself above every god, including the God of gods, is exactly the type of person who would be called an “antichrist”.  Indeed this is the Antichrist.
The little horn of Daniel 8:9 is the prototype of the Antichrist.  This was the man known as Antiochus Epiphanes, a man who had the inscription on his coins “Theos Epiphanes”, or “God Manifest”.

Coins from the Greek/Seleucid ruler, Antiochus Epiphanes

Coins from the Greek/Seleucid ruler, Antiochus Epiphanes

Antiochus was also the man who slaughtered a pig on the altar in the Temple of Jerusalem, which is a type of the abomination of desolation Jesus spoke of in Matthew 24:15, and elaborated on in Revelation 13:14-15;

14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.  15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

Is this person spoken of in other parts of the bible?  Of course he is;

12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!  13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:  14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.  15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.  16 They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; Isaiah 14:12-16

Wikipedia has this to say about the translation of heylel as Lucifer;

Lucifer (/ˈluːsɪfər/ or /ˈljuːsɪfər/) is the King James Version rendering of the Hebrew word הֵילֵל in Isaiah 14:12.[1] This word, transliterated hêlêl[1] or heylel,[2] occurs only once in the Hebrew Bible[1] and according to the KJV-influenced Strong’s Concordance means “shining one, morning star, Lucifer”.[2] The word Lucifer is taken from the Latin Vulgate,[3] which translates הֵילֵל as lucifer,[Isa 14:12][4][5] meaning “the morning star, the planet Venus”, or, as an adjective, “light-bringing”.[6] The Septuagint renders הֵילֵל in Greek as ἑωσφόρος[7][8][9][10][11] (heōsphoros),[12][13][14] a name, literally “bringer of dawn”, for the morning star.[15]

The person spoken of here is not Lucifer per-se, but a man who is indwelt by Lucifer, or Satan; the Antichrist.  Lucifer’s closest associate on earth.  Notice that verse 16 states that this person is a man.  Don’t spiritualize it to say that “it says man, but really means an angel”. If it says “man” it really means a descendant of Adam.

Verses 21-22 indicate that he has sons and nephews, which the Lord will also destroy with him.  Lucifer has no nephews, and while it could be said that the Antichrist is the son of Satan, he is an adopted son, and not genetically related.  Satan has many adopted sons, but no natural descendants.

So much for the idea that the Antichrist is gay.

Notice though that this man is an antichrist in the sense that he is like the literal definition of the term; he desires to be like the most high.  In fact the Isaiah account also compares him to Christ in a very direct way;

18 All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house.  19 But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcase trodden under feet. 20 Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, and slain thy people: the seed of evildoers shall never be renowned. Isaiah 14:18-20

The king of Babylon, of Isaiah 14, is resurrected like “an abominable branch”.

The Branch is one of the terms for the messiah Jesus, throughout the Old Testament, and He was raised from the dead.  This person is so evil that his resurrection is called an abomination.  Many have speculated that the Beast of Revelation’s resurrection is a trick, but this passage indicates that it is genuine; God allows Satan the power to raise this one man, as a trap for those who have rejected the resurrection of the Son of God.

As he is raised from the dead, he will demand worship, and the world will fall to its knees!

Could God entrap people?  Yes!  Everything you need to avoid being trapped by the Antichrist, is there in the bible.  All you need is to read it and believe it!

If you don’t believe the word of God, you will believe your eyes when the world leader is resurrected from the dead, and you will be destroyed for it!

1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,  2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.  3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;  4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. 5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?  6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.  7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.  8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:  9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.  11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:  12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 2 Thessalonians 2:1-9

Is there any other place in Scripture where someone is said to lift himself up as being above God?  If there is I am pretty sure it is a reference to the same person.

Yes, it is God who will send the strong delusion, which will include Antichrist’s miracles, and his resurrection.  You were created for God’s glory, and you will glorify Him regardless of whether you follow the Antichrist, or Christ!  Either way, God has a place for you!  Just in case you’re wondering, it is not the same place!  Hell is a very real place, and so is Heaven.  Only those who receive Jesus the Son of God, go to Heaven.

So, the Beast of Revelation, is also called “another Little Horn”, the Son of Perdition, the king of Babylon, The Man of Sin, The Assyrian, “that Wicked”, and The Antichrist.  The early Church was speaking about this man, by the use of this term, without any mention in Scripture up to that time, and were not incorrect to do so.  John was not correcting them, but broadening the term to include all who deny Jesus is the Christ.  After all, all generations of the Church age have to deal with antichrists, but only the last generation has to deal with the Antichrist himself.

Some people, and I think Patricia Burns is among them, don’t like the use of the term “the Antichrist” to denote the Beast of Revelation, simply because the bible does not specifically say that this is the same person, but not only does the title fit, it fits him best of all!  In fact, careful scrutiny of many passages reveals that this is indeed the same person.

Dan Knezacek

Posted in Christian Doctrine, Prophecy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Antichrist and his Muslim background

Posted on February 12, 2014 by dknezacek
Disclaimer: The author intends these articles to assist the reader in understanding the End Times prophecies of the Holy Bible. There is no intention to provoke hatred towards any group, tribe, or nation. Even the family of the Antichrist deserves to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ! The book of Revelation states that there will be members of every tribe, nation, kingdom, and tongue, in Heaven! It is the hope of the author to provoke Christians to witness of the love and forgiveness of God toward all who will listen! It is his hope that we will share in the joy of seeing even family members of the Antichrist himself, in Heaven with Jesus!

Every once in a while, prophecy articles come along that just get my goat.

I’m not angry that people have a different opinion than I; everyone has a right to their own opinion.  What gets me is when someone speaks out on a subject when he has not done his homework.  This is especially so when the author is well known as a prophecy scholar, and should know better.

I found such an article the other day written by Dr. David Reagan.

What especially bugs me is that Dr. Reagan has a copy of my book, The Spirit of Prophecy, and he was speaking about a subject which is covered at length in it.
Some of his criticism of four books, on the subject of a Muslim Antichrist is actually correct, but it is his pretense that their arguments are the only valid ones on the subject that irks me.

The Spirit of Prophecy covers many of their arguments, and more.
If you want to see biblical arguments that the Antichrist will have a Muslim/Arab background, then you need to get a copy of The Spirit of Prophecy.

His first statement in the article goes as follows;

“The traditional viewpoint has been that the Antichrist will be a European of Roman descent. This view is based on a statement in Daniel 9:26 which says that the Antichrist, referred to as “the prince who is to come,” will be from “the people who destroy the Temple.” Those people proved to be the Romans who destroyed the Temple in 70 AD.”

This statement is really a glossing-over, and an over-simplification of the facts;  Yes it was the Roman armies who finished the job of destroying the Temple and Jerusalem, but it is also a historic fact that there were Syrian Arabs in those Roman armies.

“So Vespasian sent his son Titus from Achaia, where he had been with Nero, to Alexandria, to bring back with him from thence the fifth and. the tenth legions, while he himself, when he had passed over the Hellespont, came by land into Syria, where he gathered together the Roman forces, with a considerable number of auxiliaries from the kings in that neighborhood.”(Josephus, The Jewish War, book 4)

In fact the Roman General, Titus, specifically made an order to preserve the Jewish Temple intact.  Some of his troops disobeyed his orders and began to destroy the Temple.  When it became apparent that it might appear that he had lost control of his troops, he reversed his order.

Now, do you think the crack, highly disciplined, Roman troops would be the first ones to disobey their General’s orders, or is it more likely that it was the auxiliaries from the area of Damascus, who’s loyalties were divided between their own kings, and Rome.  Would Roman troops from Italy, France or Germany be more likely to disobey the Roman general, or would it be Syrian troops who already had a long history of hostility toward Israel?

Roman soldiers who disobeyed a direct order were subject to the death penalty.  Think about it!

Of course, this is only scratching the surface, when you dig deeper, you find that there is more to the story;  Even as the Roman, Egyptian, and Syrian troops were marching toward Jerusalem, someone else got their first.  This other nation was officially Jewish by religion at that time, but this did not stop them from killing some 20,500 people in Jerusalem!  This is some 5 times higher than the death toll of 9/11!  I would call this act of barbarism an act of war!

The tribe of Edom is actually the closest relations the Jewish people have on earth, even closer than the Ishmaelites, these were the Edomites, or Idumeans, the descendants of Jacob’s brother Esau!  This is the predominant tribe of the three founding tribes of the modern nation sitting across the river from Israel.

The inhabitants of Jerusalem had locked the city gates, and refused to allow the Idumeans in.  No doubt this irritated the Idumeans, but it is hardly an excuse for them to kill so many people.  After dark, a group of Zealots opened up a small door in the city wall and invited in the Idumeans.

Once inside the city the Idumeans went first to the Temple where they killed 8,500 men, and then they went throughout the city killing another 12,000 people!

In the aftermath of the killing they held a “trial” of the high priest Ananus, and his deputy, a man named Jesus.  Calling a jury of 70 Jerusalem citizens, they held a trial, but failed to get a conviction.  Rather than allow these two men to go they took them to the wall of the temple and threw them over, killing both.

Josephus states that it was this event that was the beginning of the destruction of Jerusalem, because these two men knew that they could not defeat Rome and were prepared to negotiate a surrender of the city.  With its leaders dead, the Idumeans left the Zealots in charge of the city, and these people hated Rome so much that they were prepared to sacrifice the entire city in defiance of Rome, and this is exactly what happened.

I take Josephus’ analysis rather seriously; he was there, and he knew the people of Jerusalem.  You can read more of Josephus’ account on my blog.

So who was responsible for the destruction of Jerusalem?  Was it the Romans, who were carried along by the actions of others?  Or, was it the group of people who’s deliberate, hostile actions directly led to the destruction of the city?  Who do you think Daniel’s vision refers to?  I think it was the Edomites.

And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.  Daniel 9:26

Reagan’s assertion that the Antichrist will be a Gentile is correct, there is no flaw in his reasoning on this point.  The Jews will accept the Antichrist as a political Saviour, but when he declares himself to be God, they will rebel against him.  This will trigger Armageddon.

What gets me is that some of his refutation of the four books is correct, but it seems that he is pointing to their weakest arguments.  Those four books are; The Assyrian Connection. 1993, by Phillip Goodman, Unveiling the Man of Sin, 2007, by Dr. Joe VanKoevering, Antichrist: Islam’s Awaited Messiah, by Joel Richardson, God’s War on Terror: Islam, Prophecy and the Bible, co-authored by Richardson and Shoebat.

While I said that some of his refutation of these books is correct, but that is not to say that he is entirely correct.  Over all, they are closer to the truth than he is.  His statement that Babylon’s downfall, predicted in Isaiah 13, had occurred by the time Alexander visited the city, ignores the clear statement in Isaiah 13 that Babylon’s downfall will occur during the Day of the Lord.

“Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.” Isaiah 13:6

Keep on going…

“9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. 10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.  11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.  12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.”

The world will be punished with Babylon.  That does not sound like the defeat of Babylon by the Persians.  Verse 10 is a direct reference to the same events in Jesus’ statements of Matthew 24:29.  Notice that the Lord will make men “precious”.  This does not mean that they will be good, but that they will be rare!  Rare the way gold is rare in comparison to Iron.

No, there are not two Days of the Lord!  Babylon’s destruction still awaits.  Its fall into disrepair is not fulfilment of that prophecy; It will be rebuilt and re-inhabited before the Day of the Lord.  A prophecy scholar like Dr. Reagan should know that the destruction of Babylon is predicted for the Tribulation period, and not before.

Even when the site of Babylon was visited during the 1,800s there was still a village there that was actually using the bricks of Babylon to build its buildings, the very same ones that had Nebuchadnezzar’s face impressed on them!  This cannot happen if the Isaiah 13 prophecy has been fulfilled!

“And they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but thou shalt be desolate for ever, saith the LORD.” Jeremiah 51:26

Jeremiah 50-51 is a parallel passage to Isaiah 13, and a careful scrutiny of these chapters also indicates that Babylon’s downfall is reserved for the Day of the Lord, the Tribulation period!  It can’t happen at that time if it has already happened, can it?  No.  Babylon will rise again before being destroyed completely!

Revelation 17:1 is a direct reference to Jeremiah 51:13;

“O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, and  the measure of thy covetousness.”  Jeremiah 51:13

No, the destruction of Babylon, prophesied in both Isaiah and Jeremiah, is reserved for the Day of the Lord, and any prophecy scholar worth his salt should know that.

Reagan denies that the “Assyrian” in Isaiah 10:24 could be a reference to the Antichrist, yet many scholars think that it is.  I would counter their argument by saying that just because someone is the king of some place, it does not mean that he is from there, or was born there.  The queen of Canada, Elizabeth, lives in England, and has only visited here sporadically, and yet she holds the title as the “Queen of Canada”.

This is true even in the bible;

“But in the first year of Cyrus the king of Babylon the same king Cyrus made a decree to build this house of God.”  Ezra 5:13

Cyrus was the king of the Medes and Persians, but he reigned over Babylon, and took that title for himself.  The Antichrist will also call himself the king of Babylon, but he does not have to live there to take that title.

In his rebuttal of VanKoevering’s book, Reagan says this about the idea that the reason the Antichrist will not defeat this nation is because they support him;

“As to the argument based on Daniel 11, it is true that the Antichrist and his armies will not enter modern day Jordan. But the reason given is that the area will be “rescued out of his hands” (Daniel 11:41). That doesn’t sound like a voluntary decision to refrain from invading the area. Rather, it sounds like God prevents the Antichrist from invading Jordan — and for good reason, since the Bible indicates this will be the land of refuge for the Jewish remnant when they flee Israel in the middle of the Tribulation (Revelation 12:13-17).”

Here we have an example of Dr. Reagan taking Scripture out of context.  The overwhelming prophecies regarding Edom, Moab, and Ammon, are negative, and speak of God’s judgment against this nation.  You can’t take one prophecy that seems positive on the surface, and base a whole system of eschatology on it.

They are “rescued out of his hands” by supporting him, more than any other nation.

Once again Reagan is glossing-over a lot of Scripture about this nation.  He is correct that Scripture does indicate that Israel will take refuge in this nation, but I think this looks more like God saving them right under the nose of the Antichrist, rather than that the nation goes out of its way to help them.

Careful scrutiny of this event reveals that a few women of Edom and Moab will hide the people of Israel, while their own husbands are a part of the Antichrist’s army hunting them down!

2 For it shall be, that, as a wandering bird cast out of the nest, so the daughters of Moab shall be at the fords of Arnon.  3 Take counsel, execute judgment; make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts; bewray not him that wandereth. 4 Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler: for the extortioner is at an end, the spoiler ceaseth, the oppressors are consumed out of the land. Isaiah 16:2-4

It is the “daughters of Moab”, and not the entire nation, who will be instrumental in saving Israel.

“A wandering bird cast out of the nest”, is a reference to these women of Moab, who are unlike their countrymen.  They don’t belong, because they belong to God!

Immediately after these verses, the prophet proceeds to prophecy judgment against the pride of Moab.  Clearly these righteous women of Moab are a very small minority, and not representative of the entire nation.

Still there is evidence that some of the women of Edom will be with them;

(about Edom) “Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and let thy widows trust in me.” Jeremiah 49:11

It appears that some of the women of Edom will join with the Moabite women, in protecting the believing remnant of Israel, but very clearly their own husbands will die because they are in the Antichrist’s armies, hunting for the people of Israel!
What is the future for the descendants of Esau?

“And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour them; and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau; for the LORD hath spoken it.” Obadiah 1:18

How is this possible if women of both Moab and Edom, are instrumental in the survival of Israel?  What will happen to these women, after the Tribulation is over?

“In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old: 12 That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by my name, saith the LORD that doeth this.” Amos 9:12

You see, the righteous women of Moab and Edom will be absorbed into Israel.  They will marry Jewish men, and their children will be adopted into Jewish families.  If you ask them, “aren’t you an Edomite or a Moabite?” they will answer “I am a Jew”, and it will be true!  Why?

“Whereas Edom saith, We are impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places; thus saith the LORD of hosts, They shall build, but I will throw down; and they shall call them, The border of wickedness, and, The people against whom the LORD hath indignation for ever.” Malachi 1:4

Edom is not known as “the nation against whom the Lord hath indignation for ever” today, are they?  No.  Most people, even most Christians are unaware that the bible makes this prediction.  They are not known that way today, but after the rise of the Antichrist, and after they form his power-base, this nation will be a curse-word, throughout the world!

In order for David Reagan to say what he does about this nation, he has to take Scripture out of context, and he has to ignore a mountain of evidence that the future of the descendants of Esau is not so rosy, in spite of the fact that Israel may well take shelter there.

Well, I have hardly even scratched the surface, but I’ll leave it there for now.  Suffice it to say there is a lot more I could say about Dr. Reagan’s analysis of those four books, but I’ll leave that for another day.

Dan Knezacek

Posted in Book Reviews, Christian Doctrine | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Does Israel need the USA?

Posted on February 6, 2014 by dknezacek

Economics 101

Reading the news about Israel, I keep hearing statements that “If Israel does not give up Judea and Samaria, the European Union will boycott Israel, or punish them in some other way, economically”.

In the same way, we keep hearing that we (Canada and the USA) need to trade globally in order to be prosperous.

In both cases these are examples of propaganda.  People who say these things don’t understand the first thing about economics.

Let’s start at the beginning;

In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the earth.  On the earth He placed all kinds of plants, animals, and fish, and in the rocks He placed all kinds of minerals.  Then He planted a garden, and placed a man and woman in the midst of it.

That is it.  This is what we inherited.  All the world’s nations are descendants of those two people, and all the wealth of the entire world was created from the plants, animals, and minerals God placed on the planet for us, by descendants of those two people.

All the plants, animals and minerals on the planet only have potential value in their natural state.  A vein of gold has no value as long as it remains in the rocks.  Value is added when someone discovers the vein, but it still only has potential value until miners get in there, and extract the ore.

Even then, the ore’s value is not fully realized until someone puts it in an oven and separates the gold from the rocks.  In other words, work has to be done to it, for it to realize its potential.

Still, the value of gold is really related to what can be done with it.  Gold is a useful element that can be used for jewellery, coatings on electronic components, coatings on canopies of fighter planes, and many other uses.

It is the same for every other product used by mankind.  Value is added by human labour.
So what if all we have is a town with a handful of people with various skills?  In and around this town we have a couple of farmers, who provide food for the town.  One man is a shoe maker.  Another is a tin-smith.  There are also a few sewers (seamsters; used to be called seamstresses), and weavers.  There are a couple of builders, and a machinist who makes mechanical components.

With a town of a couple thousand people we conceivably could have all professions represented.  Each person performs his work in exchange for products made by someone else.  Now, in order to make the exchange easier the village council creates coins, and value can be transferred from one person to another.  Now the shoe maker can save his coins and purchase a larger product, like a house, or a car.

Money, whether coins, paper, or “bitcoins”, is simply a way to make one’s labour transferrable.

That is economics in a nutshell.

All the so called advanced theories of economics are subservient to the above.  It is possible to manipulate economies by creating a fiat currency, and to play games with people’s confidence in the value of the currency, but in the end, everyone needs food, clothing, and shelter.

If the currency loses its value, or people lose their confidence in it, people will end up going back to the basic old barter system, of trading goods and services for goods and/or services, but really every economy boils down to a form of barter.

We started talking about Israel, so what does Israel really need from the rest of the world?  Israel has more than a couple thousand townsfolk; they have several million intelligent people, both Jews and Arabs.  Israel also has natural resources, such as natural gas, oil, building materials, and farmland.

What Israel needs to do is to ensure that they have people with all the skills required for a modern economy.  It is possible for governments to encourage national industries, through the use of tariffs and import taxes.  Both Canada and the USA developed thriving economies by the use of these devices, and both have suffered terribly since removing them in the interests of encouraging a “global economy”.

While China’s economy is booming, North America’s is suffering incredible job losses, and record unemployment.  Anyone who does not think there is a connection here is living in a dream-land!

China’s new-found wealth has not made them more free, or democratic; rather it has given them the resources to become more aggressive toward their neighbours! http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/07/senkaku-diaoyu-china-japan-parliament  http://rt.com/news/japan-military-drill-islands-491/

Meanwhile the Chinese Yuan is artificially pegged to the US dollar, unfairly penalizing North American businesses.

Both the USA and the EU use the promise of financial aid as a carrot on a stick, to manipulate Israel, and other nations, into doing their bidding.

IAI Lavi

The IAI Lavi is a case in point.  This was an advanced fighter aircraft developed by Israel Aircraft Industries in the 1980s.  Because of pressure from the United States, Israel cancelled the program.  This airplane was so good it would have been a competitor to the American F16, so the Americans convinced Israel to “just buy American aircraft”.  In the end it was the USA who benefited, not Israel.

Now Israel has ordered advanced F35 fighter aircraft from Lockheed-Martin.  The first planes are set to arrive in 2017, but what if Israel goes ahead and attacks Iran’s nuclear program in the mean time?  Will the US cancel the order, as they did with Egypt, leaving Israel with an ageing fleet of F16 and F15 aircraft?  Is it possible that some of those (F35) planes could end up in the hands of Israel’s enemies?

Israel should have encouraged their own defence industries.  It is unwise for a nation to depend on other nations for defence supplies, especially when you are surrounded by enemies.  We are not talking about luxuries here, this is about survival!

Not only is this about survival, it is also about having a thriving economy and not having to depend on handouts from other nations to maintain one’s sovereignty.  Having an advanced fighter aircraft that a nation can sell would bring in billions of dollars, or shekels, of much-needed cash.  It would provide jobs for highly skilled workers, so they could stay at home and not have to move to the US, or Europe.

The US did the exact same thing to Canada in 1958, with the cancellation of the Avro Arrow, also an advanced fighter aircraft.  The Diefenbaker government caved in to American pressure, and cancelled a world-class, high-technology fighter aircraft. In that case, Canada relinquished its position as a world leader in the field of aviation, and had to purchase its military aircraft from the USA.  Meanwhile our skilled workers made their way down to California, Seattle, and Wichita, Kansas.

The difference is that Canada is next door to the USA, and the Americans have a vested interest in ensuring Canada’s security.  Israel, on the other hand, is thousands of miles away, and the current American administration appears intent on sucking-up to the radical Islamists in the neighborhood. On Israel’s security they appear double-minded.  This does not bode well for Israel’s future.

This is not only about defense industries.  It is all encompassing.  Look at Japan, and the limited natural resources they have.  Japan is a world leader in many market sectors, such as automotive, and consumer electronics, and they did it all without their own coal, iron ore, bauxite, or oil!

Welfare recipients usually become so dependent on hand-outs, that they think they need welfare to survive.  The truth is that Israel has all the resources, provided by God, that they need.  The most important resource, by the way, is intelligent people!

So, does Israel really need the EU, or the USA?  Not really.  They have all the resources they need to foster a thriving economy, with or without help from abroad.  Most importantly, Israel has God.  It is God who is bringing Israel back to the land, and this will continue with or without help from the EU, or the USA.  In fact, I would argue that an independent Israel will bring back the rest of the family faster than an Israel who is dependent on outside support.

So Israel, my advice is; get your people trained in all kinds of skills, and get to work!  There are many skilled workers in North America who have had a hard time finding work since the economic collapse of 2009.  I am sure many of them would jump at the chance to use their skills to train Israeli youth, in Israel.

The same advice applies to the USA and Canada; Stop favouring the Chinese. Use tariffs to protect your workers!  Get your people off of the entitlement programs, and get them back to work!

Posted in World Events | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

John Kerry’s solutions

Posted on February 4, 2014 by dknezacek

A group of settlers made this spoof of John Kerry and his “solutions” to the Israel-Palestinian conflict.  Of course, if Israel were to follow Kerry’s plan, it would put them in an even more dangerous position than they are now, and no, they would not get any peace out of it.

I thought it was funny, and the spoof “Kerry’s” ideas are about as realistic as the real Kerry’s ideas;

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment