Crown Him With Many Crowns

Saturday, August 31st, 2013

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• Rapture
• Salvation

A Bible Study by Jack Kelley

This verse from the old hymn obviously refers to the Lord in His position as King of Kings. But did you know that you may also receive multiple crowns? There are five types of crowns mentioned in the New Testament that will be given to qualifying believers immediately after the Rapture. These crowns are identified as the Everlasting Crown (Victory) in 1 Cor 9:25, the Crown of the Soul Winner in Phil 4:1 and 1 Thes 2:19, the Crown of Righteousness in 2 Tim 4:8, the Crown of Life in Jas 1:12 and Rev 2:10, and the Crown of Glory in 1 Peter 5:4.

And You Thought the Emmys Were Something

The Awards Ceremony described in 1 Cor 3:10-15 clearly distinguishes these crowns from the free gift of Salvation by sequence and purpose.  Our Salvation is granted at the moment of belief (Ephe 1:13-14) before any good or bad behavior has occurred, and marks the beginning of our new life. The events of 1 Cor 3:10-15 take place on the believers’ Judgment Day, after the rapture, and reflect the fruits of our Christian life.  (It’s important to remember that everyone involved in this ceremony is a believer).  Simply put, salvation is the gift at the beginning that makes it possible for us to earn the crown at the end.

The requirements are simple. If the motives of our heart are pure when we perform certain “acts of righteousness,” we may be earning one or more of these special rewards. But if there’s any thought of personal recognition or of earning some special credit for ourselves, we’re disqualified. The Lord told us in no uncertain terms; if we perform for the praise of men, we’ve gotten all the credit we’re going to get. We’ll receive no reward from the Lord.  But if we keep our good deeds secret He who sees all things will remember and reward us (Matt 6:1-4).

Matters of the Heart

The only acceptable motive in earning these crowns is what I call an “attitude of gratitude.”  This attitude motivates selfless acts of love, performed for no other reason than to express the gratitude we feel for the free gift of salvation we’ve received.  Both the reactions of others and the observable outcome of our efforts are irrelevant.  It’s one of the few areas of our life where we’re not held accountable for results.  The motive of our heart is the only thing that matters.

I’m persuaded that the Lord’s ways are so different from ours, and our motives are so difficult for us to discern, that it’s hard to tell what crowns we may be earning.  And this goes double where the motives of others are concerned. Hence Paul’s admonition in 1 Cor 4:5.
Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.
Only the Lord is capable of judging the quality of of our works.  The things of which we’re proudest could be burned up in the fire, while little acts of kindness we don’t even remember could sparkle like precious gems in His eyes.

The Gift and the Prize

Understanding the difference between the Gift we’re given (Salvation) and the Prize we can earn (Crowns) gives us a great advantage in interpreting scriptures that speak of these things. The words themselves hold the clue. One doesn’t earn a gift. It’s freely given out of love with no strings attached. And it’s never taken back. So it is with our salvation.  It is the gift of God (Ephes. 2:8)

A prize  is something you qualify for and work to earn. It’s a reward for behavior, and you have to play by the rules to win.  In  2 Tim. 2:5 Paul wrote, “anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor’s crown except by competing according to the rules”.  That’s how it is with our crowns.  And some of them are awarded on the basis of perseverance, requiring us to stay focused to the end.  Jesus said, “Hold on to what you have so that no one will take your crown” (Rev. 3:11).

When you understand that the Bible is God’s Word and therefore can not contradict itself, you know that if He says even once that our salvation is guaranteed, then its guaranteed. He can’t say it is in one place and then say it isn’t in another. If it appears that way, He has to be talking about two different things. And sure enough, He is. When He speaks of the gift of salvation, He says it’s unconditional, based on belief, and guaranteed (Ephes. 1:13-14).   When He speaks of the prizes we can win, He’s speaking of our crowns that are conditional, and require us to maintain certain behavior (Phil 3:13-14).  As an example, in 1 Cor. 9:24-27 Paul talked about bringing his own body under submission so that after preaching to others about the importance of living a victorious Christian life he himself would not be disqualified for the prize.

Where’s My Crown?

By the way, what do you suppose we do with these crowns, once we get them? According to Rev 5:10 we immediately turn and, bowing before His throne, place them at His feet.  In so doing, we acknowledge that even our “acts of righteousness” were made possible because of His gift to us.

If you’re working to earn the gift He’s already offered for free, you’re wasting your time and your life, and missing out on the joy of service. If you’re working to enhance or preserve His gift you risk offending Him, by showing that you think His effort was not sufficient. If you’re overwhelmed by the fact that He has accepted you just as you are, and just can’t restrain yourself; passing His love along every where you go with out any thought of reward, then one day soon He may crown you with many crowns. 08-31-13

“Limited, narrow” US strike on Syria risks leaving Assad's air force and chemical arsenal intact

“Limited, narrow” US strike on Syria risks leaPublish Postving Assad's air force and chemical arsenal intact

The Chessboard of World War III

The Chessboard of World War III

Syrian military using humans as shields

Syrian military using humans as shields

Mid-Week Prophecy Update - Thursday, August 29th, 2013

Mid-Week Prophecy Update - Thursday, August 29th, 2013

Al-Qaida ready to storm into Syria if U.S. strikes?

Reblogged from www.wnd.com    

Thousands of Islamic fighters mobilizing on border

Published: 4 hours ago

 

NEW YORK – Thousands of jihadist fighters have mobilized in Turkey and Jordan, ready to storm into Syria if the U.S. begins a bombing campaign, according to informed Middle Eastern security officials.

The Islamic militants, fighting alongside the Syrian rebels, are being directed in part by Turkish, Saudi and Jordanian military staff, according to the security officials.

Al-Qaida and its affiliated organizations are known to be within the rebel ranks. The security officials said the jihadists waiting to advance into Syria include members of the al-Qaida-affiliated Jihadiya Salafiya group.

The information comes amid the increased likelihood of U.S. military action, with both President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry presenting the case against Syria today.
Get Aaron Klein’s “Impeachable Offenses: The Case to Remove Barack Obama from Office,” autographed, at WND’s Superstore

Obama said he was considering a “limited” attack, while Kerry spoke of “clear” and “compelling” evidence that Assad gassed his own people.

The White House released a four-page intelligence document it said was based in part on communications intercepts concluding Assad’s regime had “carried out a chemical weapons attack” outside Damascus, killing more than 1,400 people, including more than 400 children.

“Read for yourselves the evidence from thousands of sources,” stated Kerry. “This is the indiscriminate, inconceivable horror of chemical weapons. This is what Assad did to his own people.”

Obama, meanwhile, warned against inaction.
“It’s important for us to recognize that when over a thousand people are killed, including hundreds of innocent children, through the use of a weapon that 98 or 99 percent of humanity says should not be used even in war, and there is no action, then we’re sending a signal,” he said.

Historian Predicted America's Financial Collapse... in 1857

Reblogged from directorblue.blogspot.com 

Guest post by J. R. Nyquist

The Great British historian, Lord Macaulay, predicted the future unraveling of the United States economy in a letter written in May 1857. Macaulay’s prediction was based on his analysis of American institutions. Discussing the life of Thomas Jefferson with an American author, Macaulay wrote, “You are surprised to learn that I have not a high opinion of Mr. Jefferson, and I am surprised at your surprise. I am certain that I never wrote a line, and … uttered a word indicating an opinion that the supreme authority in a state ought to be entrusted to the majority of citizens [counted] by the head; in other words, to the poorest and most ignorant part of society.”

According to Macaulay the United States was becoming increasingly democratic throughout the nineteenth century. And this tendency, he argued, was dangerous to liberty and to the country’s economic well-being.

As Macaulay explained, “I have long been convinced that institutions purely democratic must, sooner or later, destroy liberty or civilization, or both.”

Macaulay pointed to the French Revolution and to the tendency of democratic movements to despoil the rich. “You may think that your country enjoys an exemption from these evils,” Macaulay wrote to his American correspondent. “I will frankly own to you that I am of a very different opinion. Your fate I believe to be certain, though it is deferred by a physical cause. As long as you have a boundless extent of fertile and unoccupied land, your laboring population will be far more at ease than the laboring population of the Old World, and, while that is the case, the Jefferson politics may continue to exist without causing any fatal calamity.”

Eventually, of course, the United States must fill up with people. It must lose its economic advantages. “[T]he time will come, noted Macaulay, “when New England will be as thickly peopled as old England. Wages will be as low, and will fluctuate as much with you as with us.” America will then be urbanized, with a large population of “artisans.” Then it will happen that large numbers of these artisans will sometimes find themselves out of work. “Then your institutions will be fairly brought to the test,” wrote Macaulay. “Distress everywhere makes the laborer mutinous and discontented, and inclines him to listen with eagerness to agitators who tell him that it is a monstrous iniquity that one man should have a million, while another cannot get a full meal.”

With the supreme power in the hands of a discontented multitude, what kind of government are they likely to elect? Would it be a government committed to “the security of property and the maintenance of order”? Or would it be a government that gets through hard times by robbing the rich “to relieve the indigent”?  Eventually, wrote Macaulay, the Jeffersonian bent of the United States will result in the destruction of property, the plundering of the wealthy. “It is quite plain that your government will never be able to restrain a distressed and discontented majority. For with you the majority is the government, and the rich, who are always a minority, absolutely at its mercy.”

As we see today, all levels of government in America are involved in relieving the distress of the poor and unemployed, and we also see that this is presently accomplished by taxing the rich as well as by taking on debt. Presently the United States has the most progressive income tax system in the industrialized world with the rich paying more than half of all income taxes. As for the accumulation of debt, the gross public debt of the United States exceeds 160 percent of GDP; and this figure necessarily represents the future despoliation of the rich through inflation and/or future taxation.

The process that Macaulay wrote about, therefore, is well on its way. “I seriously apprehend that you will, in some such season of adversity as I have described, do things which will prevent prosperity from returning,” wrote Macaulay to his American correspondent; “that you will act like people who should in a year of scarcity devour all the seed-corn, and thus make the next a year not of scarcity, but of absolute famine. There will be, I fear, spoliation. The spoliation will increase the distress. The distress will produce fresh spoliation. There is nothing to stop you. Your Constitution is all sail and no anchor.” As the process of unraveling continues, he added, “Either some Caesar or Napoleon will seize the reins of government with a strong hand, or your republic will be as fearfully plundered and laid waste by barbarians … as the Roman Empire….”

Today our barbarians are not represented by external tribes. Today the barbarian is an internal problem. In The Undiscovered Self, the psychiatrist Carl Jung wrote: “Separation from his instinctual nature inevitably plunges civilized man into the conflict between conscious and unconscious, spirit and nature, knowledge and faith, a split that becomes pathological the moment his consciousness is no longer able to neglect or suppress his instinctual side.” As Jung further explained, “the accumulation of individuals who have got into this critical state starts off a mass movement purporting to be the champion of the oppressed. In accordance with the prevailing tendency of consciousness to seek the source of all ills in the outside world, the cry goes up for political and social changes.” And what happens next, according to Jung? Society’s “underside comes to the top and the shadow takes the place of the light….”

Here is the psychological process at work inside every communist revolution. The movement of the oppressed against the rich becomes a pathological outbreak, with dire consequences. A criminal political class gains the upper hand. Plunder takes place on an unprecedented scale. “The Communist revolution has debased man far lower than democratic collective psychology has done, because it robs him of his freedom not only in the social but in the moral and spiritual sphere,” wrote Jung. Not only is the economy destroyed, but mankind sinks into immorality. This debasement, said Jung, could bring more than economic collapse. As Jung pointed out, “It needs only an almost imperceptible disturbance of equilibrium in a few of our rulers’ heads to plunge the world into blood, fire, and radioactivity.”

It seems perfectly clear that we are presently headed for spoliation as described by Macaulay. We are already acting like people who respond to scarcity by devouring our seed-corn, “and thus make the next a year not of scarcity, but of absolute famine.” And as Carl Jung explained, the debasement that follows is not merely economic, but spiritual as well. We see all the signs around us. We see the political situation developing apace. What Macaulay wrote makes perfect sense today, especially when we are watching his prediction unfold before our very eyes.

Visit J.R. Nyquist's website at JRNyquist.com

True Legends - Steve Quayle

True Legends with Steve Quayle from Gary Stearman on Vimeo.

U.S., British release intel reports of Syrian chemical attacks. (Read full texts.) Nearly 1,500 killed, including 426 children. Now what?

U.S., British release intel reports of Syrian chemical attacks. (Read full texts.) Nearly 1,500 killed, including 426 children. Now what?

25 Quotes About The Coming War With Syria That Every American Should See

Reblogged from

 - By Michael Snyder - http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/25-quotes-about-the-coming-war-with-syria-that-every-american-should-see

 

If Barack Obama is going to attack Syria, he is going to do it without the support of the American people, without the approval of Congress, without the approval of the United Nations, and without the help of the British. Now that the British Parliament has voted against a military strike, the Obama administration is saying that it may take "unilateral action" against Syria. But what good would "a shot across Syria's bow" actually do? 

A "limited strike" is not going to bring down the Assad regime and it is certainly not going to end the bloody civil war that has been raging inside Syria. Even if the U.S. eventually removed Assad, the al-Qaeda affiliated rebels that would take power would almost certainly be even worse than Assad. Even in the midst of this bloody civil war, the rebels have taken the time and the effort to massacre entire Christian villages. Why is Barack Obama so obsessed with helping such monsters? There is no good outcome in Syria. The Assad regime is absolutely horrible and the rebels are even worse. Why would we want the U.S. military to get involved in such a mess?

It isn't as if it is even possible for the U.S. military to resolve the conflict that is going on in that country. At the core, the Syrian civil war is about Sunni Islam vs. Shia Islam. It is a conflict that goes back well over a thousand years.

Assad is Shiite, but the majority of Syrians are Sunni Muslims. Saudi Arabia and Qatar have been pouring billions of dollars into the conflict, because they would love to see the Assad regime eliminated and a Sunni government come to power in Syria. On the other side, Iran is absolutely determined to not allow that to happen.

Saudi Arabia and Qatar have no problem with using Sunni terrorists (al-Qaeda) to achieve their political goals. And as a very important ally of the Saudis, the U.S. has been spending a lot of money to train and equip the "rebels" in Syria.

But there was a problem. The Syrian government has actually been defeating the rebels. So something had to be done.

If it could be made to look like the Assad regime was using chemical weapons, that would give the U.S. government the "moral justification" that it needed to intervene militarily on the side of the rebels. In essence, it would be a great excuse for the U.S. to be able to go in and do the dirty work of the Saudis for them.

So that is where we are today. The justification for attacking Syria that the Obama administration is giving us goes something like this...

-Chemical weapons were used in Syria.

-The rebels do not have the ability to use chemical weapons.

-Therefore it must have been the Assad regime that was responsible for using chemical weapons.

-The U.S. military must punish the use of chemical weapons to make sure that it never happens again.

Unfortunately for the Obama administration, the world is not buying it. In fact, people are seeing right through this charade.

The U.S. government spends $52,000,000,000 a year on "intelligence", but apparently our intelligence community absolutely refuses to see the obvious. WND has been able to uncover compelling evidence that the rebels in Syria have used chemical weapons repeatedly, and yet government officials continue to insist over and over that no such evidence exists and that we need to strike Syria immediately.

Shouldn't we at least take a little bit of time to figure out who is actually in the wrong before we start letting cruise missiles fly?

Because the potential downside of an attack against Syria is absolutely massive. As I wrote about the other day, if we attack Syria we have the potential of starting World War 3 in the Middle East.

We could find ourselves immersed in an endless war with Syria, Iran and Hezbollah which would be far more horrible than the Iraq war ever was. It would essentially be a war with Shia Islam itself, and that would be a total nightmare.

If you are going to pick a fight with those guys, you better pack a lunch. They fight dirty and they are absolutely relentless. They will never forget and they will never, ever forgive.

A full-blown war with Syria, Iran and Hezbollah would be a fight to the death, and they would not hesitate to strike soft targets all over the United States. I don't think that most Americans have any conception of what that could possibly mean.

If the American people are going to stop this war, they need to do it now. The following are 25 quotes about the coming war with Syria that every American should see...

1. Barack Obama, during an interview with Charlie Savage on December 20, 2007: "The President does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation."

2. Joe Biden, during a television interview in 2007: "The president has no constitutional authority ... to take this nation to war ... unless we're attacked or unless there is proof we are about to be attacked. And if he does, if he does, I would move to impeach him."

3. U.S. Representative Ted Poe: "Mr. President, you must call Congress back from recess immediately to take a vote on a military strike on Syria. Assad may have crossed a red line but that does not give you the authority to redline the Constitution."

4. U.S. Representative Kurt Schrader: "I see no convincing evidence that this is an imminent threat to the United States of America."

5. U.S. Representative Barbara Lee: "While we understand that as commander-in-chief you have a constitutional obligation to protect our national interests from direct attack, Congress has the constitutional obligation and power to approve military force, even if the United States or its direct interests (such as its embassies) have not been attacked or threatened with an attack."

6. The New York Times: "American officials said Wednesday there was no 'smoking gun' that directly links President Bashar al-Assad to the attack, and they tried to lower expectations about the public intelligence presentation."

7. U.S. Senator Rand Paul: "The war in Syria has no clear national security connection to the United States and victory by either side will not necessarily bring in to power people friendly to the United States."

8. U.S. Senator Tim Kaine: "I definitely believe there needs to be a vote."

9. Donald Rumsfeld: "There really hasn't been any indication from the administration as to what our national interest is with respect to this particular situation."

10. Robert Fisk: "If Barack Obama decides to attack the Syrian regime, he has ensured - for the very first time in history - that the United States will be on the same side as al-Qa'ida."

11. Former congressman Dennis Kucinich: "So what, we're about to become al-Qaeda's air force now?"

12. Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem: "We have two options: either to surrender, or to defend ourselves with the means at our disposal. The second choice is the best: we will defend ourselves."

13. A Syrian Army officer: "We have more than 8,000 suicide martyrs within the Syrian army, ready to carry out martyrdom operations at any moment to stop the Americans and the British. I myself am ready to blow myself up against US aircraft carriers to stop them attacking Syria and its people."

14. Khalaf Muftah, a senior Ba'ath Party official: "We have strategic weapons and we're capable of responding."

15. An anonymous senior Hezbollah source: "A large-scale Western strike on Syria will plunge Lebanon virtually and immediately into the inferno of a war with Israel."

16. Ali Larjiani, the speaker of the Iranian parliament: "...the country which has been destroyed by the terrorists during the past two years will not sustain so much damage as the warmongers will receive in this war."

17. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei: "Starting this fire will be like a spark in a large store of gunpowder, with unclear and unspecified outcomes and consequences"

18. General Mohammad Ali Jafari, chief of Iran's Revolutionary Guards: (an attack on Syria) "means the immediate destruction of Israel."

19. Israeli President Shimon Peres: "Israel is not and has not been involved in the civil war in Syria, but if they try to hurt us, we will respond with full force."

20. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: "We are not part of the civil war in Syria, but if we identify any attempt whatsoever to harm us, we will respond and we will respond in strength."

21. The Jerusalem Post: "The lines between Hezbollah and the Syrian regime are so blurred that Israel will hold Damascus responsible if Hezbollah bombards Israel in the coming days, Israeli officials indicated on Wednesday."

22. Ron Paul: "The danger of escalation with Russia is very high"

23. Pat Buchanan: "The sole beneficiary of this apparent use of poison gas against civilians in rebel-held territory appears to be the rebels, who have long sought to have us come in and fight their war."

24. Retired U.S. General James Mattis: "We have no moral obligation to do the impossible and harm our children's future because we think we just have to do something."

25. Syrian refugee Um Ahmad: "Isn't it enough, all the violence and fighting that we already have in the country, now America wants to bomb us, too?"

Happening tonight.... Alert!

Happening tonight....

ALERT!

Will Israel enter the fray regarding Syria?

Reblogged from Elizabeth Prata´s the-end-time.blogspot.com   

I am watching the Middle East situation carefully. I have some concerns regarding if the conflagration will widen, and if it does, whether some of the prophesied wars will begin. I don't know if the time is now or not, but it seems to me that we have had so many near misses of late (in the last 4 years) and those near misses are coming faster and more frequently, that they seem like birth pangs to me, ready to break water and flood the world with Tribulation. That is my opinion. In any case, we know that the last days wars will happen and one of these days they will begin. I just happen to think it will be sooner rather than later.

In watching the news and reading the Old Testament prophets, I noticed something that Knesset Foreign Affairs and Security Committee Chairman MK Avigdor Lieberman yesterday struck me. He said--

"that Israel does not want to become embroiled in the Syrian conflict, but may have to hit back if it is struck. ... Lieberman said that Israel does not want to enter the fray against Syria but added, “We may have no choice, but I hope that everyone knows how to read the map correctly and understand that Israel has no interest in entering the whirlpool of the Arab world.” "

What I believe he was referring to is that Israel is a tiny nation, completely surrounded by implacable enemies. If the situation goes south in Syria, well, Israel is to the south and undoubtedly Israel will receive either purposeful targeting or accidental blowback. Either way, the job of the Foreign Affairs Secretary is to protect the people.

However, when has that situation ever been different? Israel has always been surrounded by implacable enemies. We we do know how to read a map and we do know that at some point every single one of those enemies abutting the tiny nation of God's people will attack. Many prophecy interpreters believe that battle is prophesied in Psalm 83.

Psalm 83 is an imprecatory psalm, imprecatory meaning calling a curse upon someone or on a nation. In Psalm 83 Asaph is calling for God to intervene against a coalition of nations which are colluding to attack Israel.

The reason some interpreters think this is an unfulfilled prayer is that the particular configuration of nations who are colluding and attacking have never joined up to attack Israel in history past. Though parts of the psalm have been fulfilled and now are history, the psalm has not seen fulfillment in the exactly as described. So they believe it is still future. Here are the first 8 verses to the Psalm:
A Song. A Psalm of Asaph.

1 O God, do not keep silence;
do not hold your peace or be still, O God!
2 For behold, your enemies make an uproar;
those who hate you have raised their heads.
3 They lay crafty plans against your people;
they consult together against your treasured ones.
4 They say, “Come, let us wipe them out as a nation;
let the name of Israel be remembered no more!”
5 For they conspire with one accord;
against you they make a covenant—
6 the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,
Moab and the Hagrites,
7 Gebal and Ammon and Amalek,
Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre;
8 Asshur also has joined them;
they are the strong arm of the children of Lot. Selah

The nations named also in today's modern language, are:

• Edom & Moab, are southern and middle Jordan.
• Ishmaelites, Hagrites, and Amalekites are descended from Hagar and Ishmael, and settled in southern Jordan and Saudi Arabia. (Map shows Amalekites being solely in Egypt, again, this is another interpretation)
• Ammon is norther Jordan. Its capital today is still Ammon.
• Gebal & Tyre are in Lebanon.
• Philistia is Gaza.
• Asshur is northern Iraq and western Syria (Assyria)

So in reading the map, we see that Asaph is pleading for deliverance from a coalition which intends to wipe Israel from the map.

Be advised that there is a lot of disagreement about the purpose of this psalm (imprecatory only? partially prophetic?) and its fulfillment's timing, (past? present? or still far future?)

One thing I like to do is look at the bible's end and work backward. We know that in the end, all nations will be against Israel. (Zechariah 12:3). Backing up some, we know that in Ezekiel 38-39 another, different coalition attacks Israel while Israel is dwelling securely. We know that battle is going to take place in the latter days because it says so in Ezekiel 38:16. Also, in Ezekiel 38:22 God says He will rain down sulfur on the hordes coming to attack Israel. This has never happened.

So the coalition named in Ezekiel's attack are are non-abutting neighbors of Israel. Israel's abutting neighbors are all named in the Psalm 83 prayer. It is thought that the victory given Israel over the Psalm 83 coalition nullifies them and takes them out of action. So when the second waves of attacks comes in Ezekiel's coalition, it is subsequent to Psalm 83 because none of the nearer inner circle is named. Logic dictates they would be part of this attack if they could be. Others wonder about Israel dwelling securely, without bars or walls. What could make Israel lower their security vigilance? Perhaps the fulfillment of Psalm 83, where Israel vanquishes all her abutting enemies and is dwelling safely in the land? (Ezekiel 39:26)

If you think of satan's attempts to get rid of Israel, as Israel being the bulls eye, and Psalm 83 being the first wave, then Ezekiel 39-39 being the widened wave of a larger and further-afield coalition of enemies, and then culminating in Armageddon with all the world coming against her, this seems to be the prevailing thought on the successive prophesied battles of the latter days.

Mr Lieberman is right. Anybody looking at a map can see that Israel is surrounded, small, and in all likelihood, going to be obliterated. However, that is not in God's plan. As surprising as it is and as it will be to those who dwell on the earth, Israel is in fact an immovable rock, and those who try to dig her up or push her over will themselves be injured. (Zechariah 12:3).

If only Mr Lieberman knew that his nation has the only perfect and strong protector! What comfort that would be as all the missiles are aimed at her, as all the hordes storm the mountains like insects. As the bombs come down, the Lord will personally bat them away! (Ezekiel 39:3)

"The fish of the sea and the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the field and all creeping things that creep on the ground, and all the people who are on the face of the earth, shall quake at my presence. And the mountains shall be thrown down, and the cliffs shall fall, and every wall shall tumble to the ground." (Ezekiel 38:20).

Not that Israel won't be harmed at all during the Tribulation, she will, (Zechariah 14:2) but the Lord God Almighty will not let His people nor His designated land be overrun or destroyed at the hands of the Gentiles. He keeps His promises. Though we do see by the map that tiny Israel is beleaguered, beset, and besmirched, she will prevail in the end. That is because God always prevails in the end.

“And my holy name I will make known in the midst of my people Israel, and I will not let my holy name be profaned anymore. And the nations shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel." (Ezekiel 39:7)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

further reading

Fears of a Larger War in the Middle East
"Will the phrase “Guns of August” one day refer not only to the prelude to World War I in 1914 but also to the prelude to a Middle East war in 2013?  That is the ominous question posed by Roger Boyes, the diplomatic editor of the Times of London and a foreign correspondent for the past 35 years.  “The direction of events in Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Iran should keep us awake at night. History is taking a dangerous turn,” he writes. “The region certainly cannot sustain two wars — Syria’s bloody insurgency and a near-civil war in Egypt — without wrecking established peace treaties and the normal mechanisms for defusing conflict.”

Iran, N. Korea run operations room in Syria

Iran, N. Korea run operations room in Syria

Evidence: Intercepted calls, satellite imagery & first-hand doctors accounts point to Assad regime role in chemical attacks, officials say.

Reblogged from  flashtrafficblog.wordpress.com
 
In Uncategorized on August 28, 2013 at 1:01 pm

Does the evidence prove President Bashar al-Assad and his regime are guilty?

(Washington, D.C.) — Is the President of the United States certain chemical weapons were used to kill innocent civilians in Damascus last week, and is he certain that the Assad regime was, in fact, responsible for the attack? Is the evidence clear and compelling? Will such evidence stand up in the court of public opinion? The U.S. administration thinks so, and will make the evidence public soon.
We are told such evidence will include:

• Intercepted telephone calls between Assad regime officials and military leaders discussing the chemical attack, picked up by U.S. intelligence
• Intercepted communications from the Syrian military picked up by Israeli intelligence
• Satellite imagery
• First-hand accounts from doctors who treated thousands of victims in Syria

“The Obama administration believes that U.S. intelligence has established how Syrian government forces stored, assembled and launched the chemical weapons allegedly used in last week’s attack outside Damascus, according to U.S. officials,” reports the Washington Post. “The administration is planning to release evidence, possibly as soon as Thursday, that it will say proves that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad bears responsibility for what U.S. officials have called an ‘undeniable’ chemical attack that killed hundreds on the outskirts of the Syrian capital. The report, being compiled by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, is one of the final steps that the administration is taking before President Obama makes a decision on a U.S. military strike against Syria, which now appears all but inevitable.”

I’m looking forward to seeing this report. It is important that the American people have a chance to examine the evidence that has led the administration to be so certain that chemical weapons were used, and that the Assad regime was, in fact, responsible.
There are many Americans who deeply distrust this administration. There many who distrust the American government as a whole these days, and not without cause. No country should casually launch military attacks, certainly not the leader of the free world.

That said, it is worth noting that President Obama was a strong opponent of using military force in Iraq over the alleged threat of weapons of mass destruction. So while the President has very little credible with a large percentage of Americans who deeply disagree on all or most areas of policy, it is important to at least consider the notion that Mr. Obama has been a long-time skeptic of U.S. intelligence claims about WMD in the Middle East and the need to use force to deal with such threats. He has also been disinclined to involve the U.S. militarily in Syria for the last two years.

I deeply disagree with this administration on many issues. But I refuse to be a cynic. I refuse to disbelieve anything that comes out of their mouths. I will listen carefully on each and every issue. If the evidence is clear and compelling, I want to see it with honest eyes and make a fair and well-reasoned conclusion. If the Assad regime really did use chemical weapons to murder innocents, then I believe they should be punished severely — in part so that no Syrian government ever uses chemical weapons again, and in part so that no government uses chemical weapons in the future.

Along these lines, I’m interested in an exclusive story in on the Foreign Policy blog this morning, describing intercepted telephone calls.
Key excerpts from the Foreign Policy article:

• Last Wednesday, in the hours after a horrific chemical attack east of Damascus, an official at the Syrian Ministry of Defense exchanged panicked phone calls with a leader of a chemical weapons unit, demanding answers for a nerve agent strike that killed more than 1,000 people. Those conversations were overheard by U.S. intelligence services, The Cable has learned. And that is the major reason why American officials now say they’re certain that the attacks were the work of the Bashar al-Assad regime — and why the U.S. military is likely to attack that regime in a matter of days….
• American intelligence analysts are certain that chemical weapons were used on Aug. 21 — the captured phone calls, combined with local doctors’ accounts and video documentation of the tragedy — are considered proof positive. That is why the U.S. government, from the president on down, has been unequivocal in its declarations that the Syrian military gassed thousands of civilians in the East Ghouta region….
• However, U.S. spy services still have not acquired the evidence traditionally considered to be the gold standard in chemical weapons cases: soil, blood, and other environmental samples that test positive for reactions with nerve agent. That’s the kind of proof that America and its allies processed from earlier, small-scale attacks that the White House described in equivocal tones, and declined to muster a military response to in retaliation.
• When news about the Ghouta incident first trickled out, there were questions about whether or not a chemical agent was to blame for the massacre. But when weapons experts and U.S. intelligence analysts began reviewing the dozens of videos and pictures allegedly taken from the scene of the attacks, they quickly concluded that a nerve gas, such as sarin, had been used there. The videos showed young victims who were barely able to breathe and, in some cases, twitching. Close-up photos revealed that their pupils were severely constricted. Doctors and nurses who say they treated the victims reported that they later became short of breath as well. Eyewitnesses talk of young children so confused, they couldn’t even identify their own parents. All of these are classic signs of exposure to a nerve agent like sarin, the Assad regime’s chemical weapon of choice. 
• Making the case even more conclusive were the images of the missiles that supposedly delivered the deadly attacks. If they were carrying conventional warheads, they would have likely been all but destroyed as they detonated. But several missiles in East Ghouta were found largely intact. “Why is there so much rocket left? There shouldn’t be so much rocket left,” the intelligence official told The Cable. The answer, the official and his colleagues concluded, was that the weapon was filled with nerve agent, not a conventional explosive.
• In the days after the attacks, there was a great deal of public discussion about which side in Syria’s horrific civil war actually launched the strike. Allies of the Assad regime, like Iran and Russia, pointed the finger at the opposition. The intercepted communications told a different story — one in which the Syrian government was clearly to blame.

Evidence: Syria gas attack work of U.S. allies

Evidence: Syria gas attack work of U.S. allies

Iran warns Israel will be ‘first victim’ of U.S. attack on Syria. Netanyahu vows to hit Syria hard. US developing target list.

Reblogged from flashtrafficblog.wordpress.com

In Uncategorized on August 27, 2013 at 7:23 pm
 

The alliance between Iran’s Ayatollah Khamenei and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is closer than ever.

(Washington, D.C.) — An Iranian-Syrian alliance preparing for a war with Israel involving weapons of mass destruction?  An Israeli Prime Minister threatening to strike? An American President vacillating over what to do even as the situation gets more and more dangerous by the hour? Sounds like a scenario ripped from the pages of my recent political thriller, Damascus Countdown. Unfortunately, this scenario is playing out in real life and in real time in the heart of the Middle East.
Here are the latest developments:

1. Though no final decision has yet been made, a Western military strike on the Assad regime in Syria could happen within days — “Western powers have told the Syrian opposition to expect a strike against President Bashar al-Assad’s forces within days, according to sources who attended a meeting between envoys and the Syrian National Coalition in Istanbul,” reports Reuters. “The opposition was told in clear terms that action to deter further use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime could come as early as in the next few days, and that they should still prepare for peace talks at Geneva,” one of the sources who was at the meeting on Monday told Reuters.”
2. The Pentagon says it is ready — “The U.S. Defense Department has presented military options to President  Barack Obama, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said, without outlining them,” reports the Wall Street Journal. “Defense officials have said the U.S. is considering cruise-missile strikes from navy ships in the Mediterranean.  ‘We are ready to go,’ he said. 
3. Iran warns Israel will be the “first victim” of retaliation if the U.S. and other Western allies attack Syria — “A senior Iranian lawmaker said Israel would be the first casualty of any U.S.-led strike on Syria, according to regional media reports,” reports the Washington Beacon. “Hossein Sheikholeslam, the director general of the Iranian parliament’s International Affairs bureau, claimed the United States would not dare attack Syria but said that if it does, ‘the Zionist regime will be the first victim.’” The lawmaker added: “No military attack will be waged against Syria. Yet, if such an incident takes place, which is impossible, the Zionist regime will be the first victim of a military attack on Syria.” The Beacon adds: “Iran has been one of embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s chief allies. It has sent Hezbollah reinforcements to battle rebel forces and acted as Assad’s chief defender in the Middle East….Mohammad Esmayeeli, a member of the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, claimed Washington is not ready for any new military invasion. He said that if the Obama administration does decide to launch an attack, Moscow will support Damascus. Russia has consistently thrown its support behind Assad, providing him with advanced weapons and blocking concrete action at the United Nations.”
4. Israel is on full alert, and Netanyahu warns he is ready to hit Syria hard if threatened — Israeli military forces and civil defense authorities are on full alert, looking for any sign that Syria is about to attack, especially with chemical weapons. Netanyahu warned Israel will hit hard if a Syrian threat is detected. “The State of Israel is ready for any scenario. We are not part of the civil war in Syria but if we identify any attempt whatsoever to harm us, we will respond and we will respond in strength,” Netanyahu said on Tuesday after a meeting with his security advisers, his second in as many days.
5. The White House has made no final decision, but is looking specifically at how to prosecute an attack, what targets to hit, and what weapons systems to use – The New York Times is reporting that “President Obama is considering a range of limited military actions against Syria that are designed to “deter and degrade” the ability of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime to launch chemical weapons, Pentagon officials said Tuesday. Although no final decisions have been made, it is likely that the attacks would not be focused on chemical weapons storage sites, even though the Obama administration says the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian military is the trigger for the planned attack. They said any effort to target chemical sites risks an environmental and humanitarian disaster and could open up the sites to raids by militants. Instead, the American assault would be aimed at military units thought to have carried out chemical attacks, the rockets and artillery that have launched the attacks and the headquarters overseeing the effort, the officials said.” The Times also notes: “An American official familiar with the military planning said that the initial target list has fewer than 50 sites, including air bases where Syria’s Russian-made attack helicopters are deployed. The list includes command and control locations as well as a variety of conventional military targets, official said. Like several other military officials contacted for this report, the official agreed to discuss planning options only on condition of anonymity. Planners said that although suspected chemical weapons depots are seductive targets, they are too risky. ’That is a hairy business,’ the official said. ‘Our interest is in keeping the chemical weapons secured. You hit a bunker that holds chemical weapons and all of a sudden you have chemical weapons loose.’”

Update on the situation in Syria

Reblogged from Elizabeth Prata´s the-end-time.blogspot.com 

Here is a quick update on the situation in Syria. It seems that it is becoming more tenuous by the day. Below, an explanation of what the bible says about the future of Damascus
August 21

UK Telegraph photo

Al Jazeera reported, "Hundreds reported killed in Syria gas attack"
"Opposition groups say hundreds killed when government forces fired rockets with chemical warheads into Damascus suburbs.'
August 22
The next day, "Aid group tallies 355 dead after Syria's alleged chemical attack; government blames rebels"
"Syrian state media accused rebels of using chemical arms against government troops in clashes Saturday near Damascus, while an international aid group said it has tallied 355 deaths from the purported chemical weapons attack earlier this week. Doctors Without Borders said three hospitals it supports in the eastern Damascus region reported receiving roughly 3,600 patients with "neurotoxic symptoms" over less than three hours on Wednesday morning, when the attack in the eastern Ghouta area took place. Of those, 355 died, said the Paris-based group. Death tolls have varied over the alleged attack, with Syrian anti-government activists reporting between 136 and 1,300 being killed."
The Havana Times reported, "Syrian Activist on Ghouta Attack: “I Haven’t Seen Such Death in My Whole Life”
"The alleged attack occurred just days after U.N. inspectors arrived in the country to investigate previous attacks. We’re joined from Syria by Razan Zaitouneh, a lawyer and human rights activist who works with the Human Rights Violation Documentation Center. “We couldn’t believe our eyes,” Zaitouneh says of witnessing the attack’s aftermath. “I haven’t seen such death in my whole life.”

U.N. chemical weapons experts visit a hospital where wounded people
affected by an apparent gas attack are being treated, in the southwestern
Damascus suburb of Mouadamiya, August 26, 2013.
Credit: Reuters/Abo Alnour Alhaji

August 23-25
Syria to let UN inspect 'gas attack' site
"United Nations inspectors are to be granted access to the site of an alleged chemical weapons attack near Damascus, Syrian state TV has said, with the UN saying that the Syrian government has also agreed to observe a ceasefire during the visit. It followed an agreement between the Syrian foreign minister and the head of a UN delegation to the country on Sunday. The agreement "is effective immediately and it will allow UN delegation to investigate allegations of using chemical weapons on August 22 in Damascus suburbs", the state TV reported."
August 26

Bashar Al Assad

Fearing a U.S. strike, Syria warns of global "chaos"
"A senior Syrian official said Monday that his country will defend itself against any international attack and will not be an easy target as the U.S. and other countries ramp up rhetoric in response to an alleged chemical weapons attack last week on a rebel-held neighborhood of the Syrian capital. In an interview with The Associated Press in Damascus, Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mikdad said airstrikes or other action against Syria would also trigger "chaos" and threaten worldwide peace and security."
August 26
Kerry Says Chemical Arms Attack in Syria Is ‘Undeniable’
US Secretary of State Kerry said today:

Secretary of State John Kerry

"Well, for the last several days, President Obama and his entire national security team have been reviewing the situation in Syria. And today, I want to provide an update on our efforts as we consider our response to the use of chemical weapons. What we saw in Syria last week should shock the conscience of the world. It defies any code of morality. Let me be clear: The indiscriminate slaughter of civilians, the killing of women and children and innocent bystanders by chemical weapons is a moral obscenity. By any standard, it is inexcusable and — despite the excuses and equivocations that some have manufactured — it is undeniable."
What does the bible say about Syria in the end times?
Syria is one of the nations that has been mentioned in the bible consistently since the beginning. The city of Damascus was first mentioned in Genesis 14:15. Abraham's servant Eliezar was from Damascus (Genesis 15:2). It is an ancient city and an ancient nation.
However, despite the 6000 years of history we can trace back to Damascus and the nation of Syria itself, there is one stark piece of prophecy which we can safely say has not come to pass within all that history yet: Isaiah 17:1 says that Damascus will be destroyed. Never has that ancient city been uninhabited. The prophecy says that the city will be razed and made into rubble, so that no one lives there. This has never happened to Damascus:
Behold, Damascus will cease to be a city and will become a heap of ruins. (Isaiah 17:1)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The prophecy of Isaiah speaks of a partial fulfillment in the next verses (vv. 2-3) when the Assyrians conquered Damascus in 732BC. However the city was never razed as verse 1 indicates. That is still to come.
The city of Damascus is slowly being ruined because of this two-year-old conflict in Syria. The prophecy seems to indicate that the final disposition of Damascus will be complete obliteration, desertion, and uninhabited.
If the US and other nations attack Syria, perhaps the president of Syria, Bashar al Assad will indeed unleash global chaos. Perhaps that time is now, if these unfulfilled prophecies we have been waiting so long to see will come to fruition soon. Not that we hope for people to die and go to their doom, but we do want to see the Lord come in justice and establish peace upon the earth. O, Lord, come quickly.
Meanwhile, keep watching events, but more importantly, keep reading your bible. That is the only barometer of truth.

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