-------Observations------

Hezbollah, a Muslim terrorist organization, went into into Israel and kidnapped Israeli soldiers then demanded the release of over 1,000 terrorist prisoners held in Israeli jails. Would you release the prisoners? This is a violation of United Nations agreements. The United Nations did nothing. Why? Because most of the members of the UN are Muslim. Israel did what they had to do in striking the Hezbollah soldiers in Lebanon.

There are two Muslim terrorist groups, Hezbollah and Al Qaida. The terrorist groups and the Islamic nations have made it clear that they don't want peace with Israel, they want Israel wiped off the face of the earth. Yet, when Israel defends itself against those who attack it, the world asks, "Why is Israel so mean?" Why is the world so blinded to the obvious?

3 But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4 whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. 2 Cor. 4

Satan is the god of this age and everyone who does not have a saving relationship with Christ is a child of the devil and will be manipulated by him. He is the enemy of the church and will blend in lies with the truth to lead the world astray. He did it in the garden of Eden and he is still doing it today.

A study of Ezekiel Chapters 35 - 38 show that Russia will lead a group of Muslim nations in an all out assault on Israel only to have God Himself destroy the attacking armies. I feel that the current conflict in Lebanon is leading up to the fulfillment of Ezekiel's prophecy.

Last year, we had a record number of super storms and this year seems to be relatively quiet in comparison. 25 "And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; 26 men's hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of heaven will be shaken.

As we get nearer to Messiah's return, we will see more and more superstorms come upon us. That does not mean they will happen every year. This year has set a record as being the warmest year on record. We are still seeing weather extremes but I feel that, just like a woman experiencing birth pangs, we will see periods of relative quietness followed by periods of superviolent and superstrong storms. It really depends on how close we actually are to the return of Christ.

If Christ called His church home today, many who call themselves Christians, would be very surprised. Prophecy is not being taught in the churches. One third of the Holy Bible deals with prophecy so pastors of churches should spend one third of their time dealing with prophecy. Most churches do not teach prophecy period.

Well meaning but misguided church members will say that if you have caught the prophecy bug then Satan has gotten a hold of you. Others will say that is just Millennial fever. They claim that this happens every 1,000 years. The problem is that there has only been 2 millenniums since Christ was here. There is really not much history to go on. The biggest difference between this millennium and the first millennium is that Israel did not exist at the close of the first millennium and therefore could not have fulfilled prophecy to the letter had He came during the first millennium.

All the pieces are in place now for the soon return of Christ but there are still things that must happen before He can return to Earth. There is nothing that must happen first before Christ resurrects His church. That could happen at any moment.

One point to remember is that the signs that will signal the return of Christ will occur during a time of great trouble and distress called the tribulation. This simply means that most of the remainder of the prophetic word will find its fulfillment during the tribulation. What we are seeing today are types or shadows of what is to come. As far as evil goes, the world is going to get a lot worse. Also, the world will steadily move toward peace but it will be a false peace and will not last.

Is the world becoming more evil? I think a better question would be is it becoming increasingly immoral? What are some of the things happening today? The killing of unborn children then convicting people of a double murder when a pregnant woman is killed. The rampant growth of sexual immorality including the ordaining of homosexuals as ministers of God. The complete disregard of the value of a human life as suicide bombers so aptly demonstrate. The continued growth of drug addiction. The breakdown of the family. The increasing persecution of Jews and Christians. Blaspheming the name of God on public radio and television while censoring toilet words. The world has always had evil but we have more people today than ever before so we will have more evil as a result.

Scripture says the devil will incarnate himself as a man (whom we call the antichrist) will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, 2 Thess. 2:3 In this case the falling away could mean a departure from the Christian faith or a departure from planet Earth. I think it means both.

People will turn from the Christian faith and put their trust in fables opening the door for the man of sin. Yet, the ones who truly know Christ would be able to expose the Antichrist for what he really is so God takes His church home so the prophecies concerning the tribulation can be fulfilled. Remember, when the church was born, Israel and the church co-existed for a brief period of time. In AD 70, Israel ceased to exist as a nation when the Roman armies destroyed Jerusalem and the temple.

When Israel ceased to be, God concentrated on building His church. The church is about complete and will be called home the moment that last person of the finite number that makes up the church accepts Christ as Lord. Once the church is complete, then God again will deal with Israel because Jerusalem, the capital of Israel, is destined to become the capital of planet Earth.

Satan is doing all he can to stop it. The church does not have much time left.

Copyright 2006 by Gary Goodworth