Do we or do we not serve a God of logic and reason?
Well the answer is obvious, we serve a God of logic and reasoning. To confirm that all we need to do is look at His creation.
If we
serve a God of logic and reason, then why do so many of us believe in
things that almost equate to being a fairytale and worse, given no
critical thought at all?
Matthew 24:34(KJV) Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
Many
folks point to this verse when speaking of the last day / end times.
Some say that the countdown clock started in May 1948, others say it was
June 1967 when Israel finally took back the city of Jerusalem and won
control of the Temple mount.
Both points are promoted, but I stand upon the birth of the nation that took place in 1948.
The issue that I want to focus on is this, IF we are the final generation, then why do we bow down to the god of time?
"WHAT?? The god of time?"
Yes, often when asked a question that is hard to answer, many people say "it is just a matter of time."
Many
people ask, "when will the rapture take place? " Common answer is "Well,
God tells us not to set dates, but it is just a matter of time."
As a side
note, let me state right here that I am one who stands upon the
imminent return of our Lord, so please don't send me emails giving me
grief about timing and such.
There are
many out there proclaiming that there is an upcoming middle east war
and even claiming it to be a fulfillment of some of the prophecies found
in scripture. You see it in discussion forums, emails and even some
popular bible prophecy teachers newsletters and websites.
" We will
see prophecy come to pass this summer 2013, you mark my words. And if
things don't turn out, well it is just a matter of time till they do."
Foolish Statements
With the election of the new Pope, we hear foolish statements like "The antichrist will be an Italian of roman catholic decent."
Or this "Russia is going to invade Israel and then we are going to get raptured out of here."
Or this, "
a European antichrist with his forces are going to kill all the
Christians by beheading them, Revelation 20:4 tells us so."
Or this, " The coming war is the fulfillment of Psalm 83"
Or this.. " Islam is going to be wiped out this summer in the Israel war."
Do you get the idea at what I am trying to point out here?
People are making foolish statements that have little if any biblical backing what so ever.
Often
they are thrown out there without any logic or reasoning given what so
ever. The sad thing is that I have heard some of these statements come
from the very teachers whose books we read, TV shows we watch, ect.
What's more is that you yourself have heard these sort of things out there too.
What is the common theme in all of this?
If things don't work out, all of these are backed up by the god of time.
" It will happen - it is just a matter of time."
This is why I ask, are we the final generation or not?
People
quote this verse all the time and then state something else that
completely contradicts the final generation found in Matthew 24:34.
Matthew 24:34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
It is like the old Hollywood Indian saying you see in the movies.. "white man speaks with forked tongue."
Folks, if we are the final generation then that means we are running seriously out of time.
What is the flip side of that?
We are
NOT the final generation and all those bible prophecy that have come to
pass, well, all those were just chance, a winning roll of the dice.
It is like we have become accustomed to having our cake and eating it too.
Either these things that are being taught are going to take place here soon,…
because we are the final generation,…
OR they are not and we are not the final generation.
In fact, let me pick on some of these statements to clarify.
"The antichrist will be Italian of roman catholic decent."
This is
one that has been tossed around out there for a while now, and I hate to
say it, but time has just about run out on this one.
How has it run out?
Everyone can clearly see that Europe is being taken over by Muslims, this is a fact.
Based on
birthrate studies, in order for a culture to maintain itself for more
than 25 years the required fertility rate must be 2.11 children per
family. Historically a culture has never reversed a fertility rate of
1.9 children per family. AND IF the fertility rate hits 1.3, it is
impossible for that culture to reverse because it would take that
culture 80 to 100 years to correct itself. In fact there is no economic
model to sustain a culture during that time.
Let's look at the birthrate of Europe.
France 1.8
England 1.6
Greece 1.3
Germany 1.3
Italy 1.2
Spain 1.1
Across
the European Union that consists of 31 countries, the cultural
fertility rate is 1.38. Historical research tell us that these numbers
are impossible to reverse.
In just a matter of years, Europe as we know it will cease to exist.
But Europe is growing and birthrates are high. What is taking place? Immigration.. Islamic immigration.
Who are having all the children? Muslims.
Based on
the numbers and information above, I do not see some Italian guy coming
to power being backed by the catholic church when 1/3 of all European
children will be born to Muslim families by 2025.
It is a
fact that Islam will not bow to a Italian man backed by the Catholic
Church. But the Catholic Church will bow to Islam and this has been
historically proven time and again.
But what is the answer given by those who support this idea?
"Just give it time, you will see. Some Italian guy from Rome will rise up, you mark my words."
Well they are dutifully marked and it is looking like they are coming up wanting.
Folks, the sands of time are running out. We do not have the luxury of time any more if we are the final generation.
Do you know that most census offices worldwide utilize as the timeframe of 25 years for a generation as an average?
But we are speaking biblically here. How long is a biblical generation?
Scripture says…
Psalms
90:10 (KJV) The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and
if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength
labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.
In other words, the number of years people live on the average is 70, possibly 80 if they are strong and of good constitution.
To back this up, Matthew in his reciting of Christ's generations follow the Psalms 90:10 definition of a generation, 70 years.
Matthew
1:17 (KJV) So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen
generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are
fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto
Christ are fourteen generations.
Matthew
is using the Psalm 90 definitions of generation in order to tell a
specific chronological time story of our Lord Jesus Christ. So if
Matthew is using it pertaining to and qualifying our Lord, we should use
it also.
So with
all that said, and just doing simple math, 1948 70 years comes to 2018.
That is approximately 5 years. Well taking into account that 2013 is 1/4
over, we have a little over 5.5 years left.
Now I do
not want to get emails saying I am date setting, I am not. What I am
showing is logic and reasoning. Either we are the last generation or we
are not.
Continuing
on and looking at the birthrate of Muslims in Europe, what are the odds
of an Italian man backed by the Catholic Church coming to power,
uniting Europe as a force to rule the world in just 5.5 years?
Will Islam just sit back and let this happen?
If you say "Yes," you are kidding yourself and rejecting logic and reasoning.
The
problem is that these people who promote this idea have lost the ability
to mix fairness with objectivity and are suffering from an acute case
of "Don't confuse me with the facts my mind is made up!"
In other
words they worship at the feet of the god of time and feel like they
have all the time in the world for their ideas to jell together.
On the other hand, how many Muslims are looking for the Mahdi to come and establish the global one world caliphate?
Who do we as Christians look to in scripture to create a global one world government in these last days?
Think on this for a moment.
Here is another one the defies logic and reasoning…
" A European antichrist with his forces are going to kill all the Christians by beheading them, Revelation 20:4 tells us so."
Revelation
20:4 (KJV) And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was
given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the
witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped
the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their
foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a
thousand years.
Like the Italian AC, this is another one that is surrounded by illogical ideas when being promoted.
In fact I produced a 10 minute video taking this topic on.
You can watch this video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fVwv7r-Nqw
Many
people point to the Catholic Church being the ones who will help the
Antichrist dispatch all the Christians worldwide. A majority of the
popular authors promote the idea.
I have been reading a book titled " On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill In War and Society" written by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman.
This book
was written to explain a startling fact: throughout most of military
history, up until the end of World War II, the vast majority of soldiers
(between 75% and 95%) have refused to kill their fellow man.
Brigadier
General S.L.A. Marshall, who studied this phenomenon during World War
II, found that no more than 20% of soldiers would "take any part with
their weapons".
The
interesting fact is that these results can be found throughout time and
across cultures, from Alexander the Great who lost only 700 men in years
of fighting, to tribesmen in New Guinea who remove the feathers from
their arrows before going off to war, to the soldiers at Rosebud Creek
in 1876 who fired 252 rounds for each American Indian they hit.
Grossman conducted very in-depth research.
So what was happening to these soldiers?
These
fighting men were resorting to a number of options, and I mean anything
that prevented them from having to kill their fellow man.
So what did these soldiers do?
Some fell
back to support positions running supplies, ammo, messages. Some tended
to the wounded carrying them off the battlefield. Some even faked
injury themselves and even others ran away.
In fact many just fired into the air just above the enemies heads.
In Civil
War times, conscience-stricken soldiers also had the option of
pretending to fire - that is, loading up their muskets, mimicking the
movements of a firing soldier next to them, and pretending to recoil.
Do you know at Gettysburg there were over, 27,574 muskets were found on
the battlefield? Over 90% of these guns were loaded. On the average a
good soldier can load and fire a musket about 4 times in a minute. So
logically speaking the chances of these muskets representing mostly
soldiers killed JUST before they were getting ready to fire is pretty
slim.
Do you
know that over 12,000 muskets were found with multiply-loads down the
barrel? In fact, at Gettysburg they found over 6,000 of them loaded with
3-10 rounds apiece? That means that the soldier "Faked" firing the
weapon and then went through the procedure to reload the weapon. They
consciously objected to killing their fellow man. So they just went
through the paces to look like they were fighting the battle.
Clearly
this shows that among soldiers a deeply ingrained resistance to killing
is prevalent when faced with killing other human beings. But this isn't
just with soldiers, it is with man in general, he does not want to kill
his fellow man.
Now what is interesting is that Grossman uses most of his book to discussing the ways in which this resistance can be overcome.
How can this take place? Simple, training and brainwashing is conducted upon the soldier.
Revelation 20:4 tells us the Christian martyrs will die, that is a fact.
But here
is what I have to ask, were are the huge number of forces that are being
trained to dispatch Christians? In fact we also need to include Jews
as well because we know that Jews will also be persecuted against during
the tribulation.
How Many Will Die?
According
to the website adherents.com, there are 2.1 billion Christians
worldwide. This number also includes Mormons, JWs, ect.
So how many of these will go in the rapture?
Scripture gives us clues.
In
Matthew 7, which I consider one of the bibles most troubling chapters in
all of scripture, we see Christ who is speaking to Christians /
believers.
Scripture says…
Matthew
7:13-14 (KJV) Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate,
and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be
which go in there at:
14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
Christ
himself tells us that there are many believers who are on the broad way
that leads to destruction. He also tells us that those who are on the
narrow way, the Lord tells us that "few there be that find it."
Now I am
not talking about losing one's salvation. I am one who stands on if a
person is saved, they cannot lose their salvation.
What
is being presented in this chapter are those who claim the title, but
are not true Christians. These Christians In Name Only, or what I refer
to as C.I.N.Os.
What do I mean by that?
Simple
example, Oprah Winfrey publicly claims to be a Christian, but we clearly
see that her fruits do not show it. We cannot judge ones heart, but
based on her fruits, I would speculate that she is one of those on the
broad way.
So how many is "few there be that finds it?"
To be
honest I don’t know, but to look at the logic of this situation let's be
fair and keep things simple and say 1 billion Christians are raptured.
Of those who are left, again keeping it simple to explain logic let's say that 1 billion "Christians" are left behind.
We also have to remember that there are approximately 14 million Jews in the world as well.
We know based upon scripture that 2 thirds of the Jews living will be persecuted.
Zechariah
13:8 (KJV) And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the
LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall
be left therein.
That is approximately 4.6 million Jews left in the world with 9.3 million being persecuted.
My question is, who is being trained and brainwashed to kill 1 billion, nine point three million Christians and Jews worldwide?
Do we see the Catholic Church stepping up to the plate to fulfill this large order?
What about other false religions out there? Maybe Mormons? What about New Agers? What about the dreaded Freemasons?
Here is another point to consider. Studies show that it takes approximately 2-3 people to execute one person.
Now we
know for a fact that there will be Christians and Jews who do survive
the tribulation, scripture tells us of the nations who will populate the
millennial kingdom. This is a fact. So not all 1 billion, nine point
three million Christians and Jews worldwide will die. But a good number
of people will.
So again, I have to ask who is being trained to dispatch these millions of people?
FACT - We
know that man has an aversion to killing other human beings, Christian
morals or not, that is clearly shown in the multiple military studies
conducted.
FACT - We
also know from scripture that "beheading" will be the method of choice
so we cannot blame nuclear, biological or chemical weapons of mass
destruction.
It will be the simple "off with their head" solution.
"Well Ray, the "restrainer" will be taken out so all hell will break lose."
Good
point, but it does not negate these studies. Grossman in his book talks
about Alexander the Great who lost only 700 men in all his years and
campaigns of fighting and concurring the known world. He also
experienced the same unwillingness to kill. Alexander lived at the time
prior to the restrainer.
Folks, the unwillingness to kill our fellow man is ingrained into us. God's law is written upon all of our hearts.
Romans
1:18-19 (KJV) For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all
ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in
unrighteousness;
19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.
We know
that the restrainer was not present during Alexander's time. There are
other "pre-restrainer" cases in history that back this up as well. We
also know that the law of God is known to all men because it is written
upon our hearts.
The only
way to overcome this unwillingness to kill our fellow human being, is to
be subjected to training and brainwashing. In fact the longer that the
person is exposed, the less remorse and mental trauma one will
encounter.
Knowing
that millions will die at the hands of the Antichrist and that a
generation is 70 years. Where are the masses of people being trained
today to kill their fellow man?
Last Generation?
Remember
that based upon Psalms 90:10 a generation is 70 years. Again looking at
Israel becoming a nation in 1948 and using simple math we get the year
2018 being the approximate end of the generation. Seeing that we are
about on quarter through 2013, that gives us approximate a little over
5.5 year to train millions to behead and kill all those during the
tribulation.
"Well Ray, I have heard that there are guillotines all over the US in secret FEMA camps just waiting to be used."
Again, an unwillingness to think critically or objectively.
If this was the case, who is the company that produced all these guillotines?
Where are they located?
Based on the statement above, they had to be shipped all over the US.
Where are the truckers to drove these guillotines all over the US?
What about the people who loaded and unloaded the guillotines from these vehicles?
What about the people who worked in the no-name factory who built these guillotines?
What
about eye witnesses of some form or fashion, or innocent bystanders who
happened to be in the right place at the right time?
The truth about a secret is that no matter what, it will not remain a secret very long specially if it is a government secret.
In
regards to this story, there are too many variables that would easily
expose the production of these guillotines taking place in this nation.
In fact
ramping up a company, training the workers and in these financially
stressful days, finding the money, stockholders, and financial backing
to achieve this as well as dispatching all those Christians, I think 7.5
years is not enough time.
Again there are too many variables that could go wrong in keeping this a secret.
Now
playing the devil's advocate, and taking the US alone, how many true
blue Americans would put up with a large number of guillotines being
produced in secret? Someone would expose this, there would be pictures
posted on facebook, videos on you tube. More proof of the company would
come out followed by investigations and then congressional hearings.
Folks, a
tool of death like the guillotine, would not go unnoticed and would be
reported to the public the moment that the company came into existence .
Just
look at the 9/11 conspiracy, the Obama birth certificate conspiracy or
what about the old idea that men did not land on the moon and it was
all shot on a movie sound stage?
All these
are well known, the conspiracy of guillotines all over the US is a myth
and does not have any provable facts based on logic and reasoning to
support it.
BUT,
let's just entertain this idea for a moment and say it is true, you
would still need 2-3 people trained and brainwashed to kill their fellow
human being day in and day out, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week non-stop
because we are dealing with millions. Look how long it took Hitler to
kill six million Jews. We are talking at least a billion people here.
Here is
another point. Our own military is trained to kill and have put into
practice these ideologies to help overcome the resistance to kill and
still they are ineffective. Look at how many of our gulf war and
Afghanistan war vets come home with post traumatic stress syndrome
because they have been trained and have killed, and yet they are still
suffering the consequences of taking another's life.
The
American fighting man and woman are some of the best trained soldiers in
the world, but what is missing is the brainwashing making killing a
part of their lives.
Scripture says…
Proverbs 22:6 (KJV) Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
This is often seen as a blessing to Christian parents, but when viewed from another angle, it is seen as a curse.
Who has been training up their children to kill at such a young age?
You know and I know… Islam.
How many Muslims are there worldwide?
According
to adherents.com, it is estimated that there are 1.5 billion Muslims.
This study was also conducted around 2001. It is believed that nearly
one-fourth of the world’s population today is Muslim. Without firm
numbers it is believed that there are more than 1.5 billion, to quite
possibly 2 billion with Islam being the fastest growing religion in the
world today.
So taking
into account that Christians will be taken out in the rapture, that
Islam is the fastest growing religion and that many will die at the
hands of the antichrist, there is only one group of people that fit the
ability to meet Revelation 20:4 and that is Islam.
Points to consider about Islam …
Muslims are taught to hate Christians and Jews
Muslims are taught to kill the infidel
Beheading is the standard form of execution
Muslims are taught from a young age to die for the cause of Islam
Muslims are taught to kill for the cause of Islam
But here
is the stickler, all the countries mentioned in scripture that are
associated to Christ's physical return are all Muslim countries and are
clearly named. There is no refuting that.
For
example , the chapters in Isaiah 13 - 29 all deal with Christ's literal
second coming and the destruction of Israel's enemies.
Isaiah 13 Burden of Babylon,
Isaiah 14:24 Burden of Assyria,
Isaiah 14:28 Burden against Philistia (Gaza),
Isaiah 15:1 Burden of Moab,
Isaiah 17 Burden of Damascus & Samaria,
Isaiah 18 Burden of Ethiopia
Isaiah 19 Burden of Egypt
Isaiah 21:13 Burden against Arabia
Isaiah 22 Burden against Jerusalem (occupied by enemy),
Isaiah 23 Burden against Tyre.
All of these are Muslim counties.
In fact every time the sword of the Lord is mentioned, it is always in association to a Muslim country.
Ezekiel
30:4- 5 (KJV) And the sword shall come upon Egypt, and great pain
shall be in Ethiopia, when the slain shall fall in Egypt, and they shall
take away her multitude, and her foundations shall be broken down.
5
Ethiopia, and Libya, and Lydia, and all the mingled people, and Chub,
and the men of the land that is in league, shall fall with them by the
sword.
We must
accept the fact that Islam and the descendant of Ishmael, Esau and Lot
are the last day players. Over and over again they are mentioned by name
in scripture. Not the EU, USA, New York or Rome.
We as
students of bible prophecy have forgotten that this whole situation
started in Genesis with the children of Abraham and a battle over the
promised land.
The
problem, there are many who refuse to look at the logic and reasoning.
Like many of the statements believed above, they do not want to be
bothered with the facts because their mind is made up to what they want
to believe even when it is clearly in black and white and contained in
God's Word.
Conclusion
I personally believe that we are the final generation.
If we are
the final generation as many in the bible prophecy arena are teaching,
we must contend with logic and reasoning and not fairytales.
Just because something has been taught for the last 50-100 years, does not make it so.
We are
called to look down at scripture and then peer out to the horizon to see
how the world fits within scripture, not how scripture fits within the
ideas that are being taught in the world.
We as students of bible prophecy need to put away all the books of men and look at what scripture is truly teaching.
We have
forgotten to go to God's Word and apply Acts 17:11 to make sure that
what is being taught holds true to scripture. But more than that, it
must adhere to logic and reasoning because our God is not a God of
confusion nor does He lie.
Therefore if it is not God who is in error, we have to ask "who is?"
The obvious answer is man.
We need
to once again learn how to think critically, with an objective mind. We
have got to stop allowing people to "spoon feed" us what they believe we
need to know and this includes me as well.
It is the Holy Spirit which teaches us and it is He who will illuminate the truth if we apply God's logic and reasoning.
We also
need to come to the realization that if we are the final generation that
scripture talks about, then there are some issues at hand that we need
to contend with and not push it off to the god of time.
We need
to admit that there are things that we have once believed that do not
fit scripture as well as the timeframe given the days we are living in.
We must come to the understanding that If scripture fits, we must submit.
There are
going to be those out there who will argue the timeframe of a
generation, when did that generation begin, when will it end, ect.
Personally that does not matter, time is still time and it is ticking
down. An extra 20 or so years will not really matter if we are the final
generation.
Taking
into account of the Muslim demographics presented, that situation is
not changing and only some fairytale idea of all the Muslims being taken
off the earth in some miraculous event is absurd. Yes, there are folks
out there who believe that all of Islam will be destroyed.
The fact
that an event like that is not even mentioned in scripture either except
at Christ's literal second coming when He destroys the enemies of
Israel should tell you something about the idea.
Therefore
we need to decide if we are the final generation or not. If we are that
final generation, we have a limited amount of time in this generation
for things to come together logically because we serve The Omniscience
God of logic and reason. (all knowing all seeing)
More
importantly, we need to start holding our teachers feet to the fire and
challenge them with God's Word as well as logic and reasoning. We need
to start asking the hard questions and demand solid biblical as well as
logical answers. Not these fairytale ideas that were dreamt up some
50-100 or more years ago when Israel was not a nation.
We need
to reexamine what we have been taught with a sound mind allowing the
Holy Spirit to teach us and not the latest popular teacher with the
bestselling book.
Folks, I
hold myself up to the same scrutiny as well. If I am wrong, I am willing
to admit that I am wrong if shown from scripture to be incorrect. I
have admitted error before and I have no problem recanting something
said in error.
But one
has to ask, how many others are out there with all their books, DVDS,
CDs, studies, TV shows on the line? How many are out there are willing
to admit that they are wrong when presented with sound logic and
reasoning in light of all their books, DVDs, CDs, ect?
Odd are
that they will stick to the "Don't confuse me with the facts my mind is
made up! Besides, it is clearly stated in my book, CD or study guide,
so how can I be wrong?"
If that is the answer you get, then we need to question pride being the culprit.
Scripture says…
Proverbs 16:18 (KJV) Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.
If we are
the final generation, we have a lot of work still needing to be done.
Millions upon millions do not have any knowledge of the Lord our God,
nor the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. We no longer have the
luxury of time and must be about the Lord's Work.
BUT… if we are NOT the final generation, then we have all the time in the world and can worship at the feet of the god of time.
What you need to do is ask yourself "what generation are we?
The final generation or the one serving the god of time?
By Ray Gano
When
we finally submit and start walking with Him, allowing Him to lead, “He
leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.”
This is what it means to dwell in the house of the Lord forever. 
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