Category: Resources

Bible Verses about the Antichrist

#1) The Antichrist will come in his own name and be accepted –

John 5:43 I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive.

In this verse Jesus told the Pharisees, the religious leaders of his day, that although they rejected him, someone else would come in his OWN name and be accepted.

The Antichrist will not only arrive on the scene having already achieved worldwide fame, thus coming in his own name, but he will be widely beloved throughout Israel.

And in a dual fulfillment of this verse, many Christian religious leaders will also accept the Antichrist as being chosen by God and even tout him as savior.

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#2) The Antichrist has the mouth of a lion –

Revelation 13:2 Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority.

This verse is reinforced by Daniel 7:4, The first was like a lion, and had eagle’s wings. I watched till its wings were plucked off; and it was lifted up from the earth and made to stand on two feet like a man, and a man’s heart was given to it, and the meaning is that the Antichrist will roar like a lion, letting everyone know that HE is the king of the beasts. The mouth of the Antichrist is one of his definitive qualities, and just like a lion, it is used to assert his dominance and defend his territory.

In an ironic twist to this prophecy being fulfilled, 1 Peter 5:8 describes Satan as a lion walking about seeking someone to devour.

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#3) The Antichrist is arrogant, and magnifies himself above others –

Daniel 8:25 “Through his cunning
He shall cause deceit to prosper under his [m]rule;
And he shall exalt himself in his heart.
He shall destroy many in their prosperity.
He shall even rise against the Prince of princes;
But he shall be broken without human [n]means.

This verse is reinforced by Daniel 11:36, “Then the king shall do according to his own will: he shall exalt and magnify himself above every god, shall speak blasphemies against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the wrath has been accomplished; for what has been determined shall be done,

and both of these verses talk about the Antichrist as being extremely arrogant; someone who is filled with excessive pride about himself, and utter contempt for others.

His arrogance will be on full display whenever he speaks. He will denigrate others in order to elevate himself, and he will view himself as superior to those around him.

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#4) The Antichrist is extremely boastful –

Daniel 7:8 I was considering the horns, and there was another horn, a little one, coming up among them, before whom three of the first horns were plucked out by the roots. And there, in this horn, were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking [c]pompous words.

Revelation 13:5 And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to [c]continue for forty-two months. 

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#5) The Antichrist will throw truth to the ground –

Daniel 8:12 Because of transgression, an army was given over to the horn to oppose the daily sacrifices; and he cast truth down to the ground. He did all this and prospered.

The meaning of Daniel 8:12 isn’t just that the Antichrist will be a liar, but that truth itself holds no value to him. He casts it to the ground as if it was worthless or irrelevant.

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#6) The Antichrist will deny the Father and the Son –

1 John 2:22 Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son.

By asking who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ, this verse is not only telling us that the Antichrist will deny the Father and the Son, but that he will do so not out of ignorance, but because he rejects the truth. He is a liar. He will KNOW that Jesus is our savior, but will deny him anyway.

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#7) The Antichrist will be a vile person –

Daniel 11:21 And in his place shall arise a vile person, to whom they will not give the honor of royalty; but he shall come in peaceably, and seize the kingdom by intrigue.

Contrary to the popular belief that the Antichrist will be well-liked and charismatic, the bible says he is actually to be a vile person. Vile is defined as lacking class or decency. He’s simply repulsive – a sordid, crass, vulgar and despicable person.

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#8) The Antichrist will honor the god of forces –

Daniel 11:38 But in their place he shall honor a god of fortresses; and a god which his fathers did not know he shall honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and pleasant things. 

Revelation 9:11 And they had as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is [c]Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name [d]Apollyon.

This verse is telling us that the Antichrist, in his estate, shall honor the god of forces with gold, silver, precious stones and pleasant things. God of forces is translated as god of fortresses in versions other than the King James. So who is this god of forces? It’s a name we all know well.

During the 5th century BC, Apollo became known as the sun god, the symbol of which was often used in ancient battles to represent the god of forces. Apollo is also a derivative of the name Apollyon, who we see referenced in Revelation 9:11.

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#9) The Antichrist is connected to gold –

Revelation 13:18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666.

This famous verse about the number 666 is actually pointing us to another figure in the bible, and that figure is King Solomon. The reason it does so is because when Solomon was older he became a type of antichrist as his heart turned away from the Lord and toward pagan gods.

King Solomon was obsessed with gold, having hundreds of shields made out of hammered gold, all of his drinking vessels made out of gold, and to directly connect the number 666 in Revelation to Solomon, we read that he received 666 talents of gold in one year.

All of the pagan gods that Solomon worshiped in his later years are themselves variations of and subservient to the one pagan god that nearly every culture in history has placed above the others: the sun god. And over and over again the sun god is symbolized by one specific thing: gold.

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#10) The Antichrist is called the Little Horn –

Daniel 7:8 I was considering the horns, and there was another horn, a little one, coming up among them, before whom three of the first horns were plucked out by the roots. And there, in this horn, were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking [c]pompous words.

One of the more descriptive names given to the Antichrist is the “Little Horn”, which we read about in the book of Daniel. This is a reference to a shofar, which is literally a little horn, being made from the horn of a small animal, usually a ram. The shofar was an early version of our modern trumpet.

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#11) The Antichrist has a covenant with many –

Daniel 9:27 Then he shall confirm a [k]covenant with many for one week;
But in the middle of the week
He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering.
And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate,
Even until the consummation, which is determined,
Is poured out on the [l]desolate.”

One of the more well-known prophecies involving the Antichrist is that he will put together a 7 year agreement between Israel and her neighbors, referred to as the covenant with many (perhaps even worldwide – peace treaty). Halfway through those 7 years the Antichrist will break the agreement, and enter the 3rd temple.

Incidentally, some teach that Daniel 9:27 is a reference to Jesus, but that is impossible because its covenant lasts for only one week, whereas the New Covenant is everlasting. So the fact that the covenant with many lasts only one week is telling us that it’s the false covenant from the Antichrist.

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#12) The Antichrist will disguise himself as an angel of light –

2 Corinthians 11:15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.

For those who believe the Antichrist will be Islamic or an atheist or clearly anti-Christian, the bible says to expect just the opposite. As one of Satan’s ministers, he will in fact be transformed into or disguised as an angel of light.

Thus, rather than being clearly anti-Christian – the bible is teaching us that we should expect the final Antichrist to come on the scene as a strong supporter of Christianity and of Israel. He will masquerade himself as a force for good, and as a defender of Christian values.

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#13) The Antichrist will love money as it’s the root of all kinds of evil –

1 Timothy 6:10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

It’s noteworthy that the Bible doesn’t make such a proclamation about any other sin as being at the root of all kinds of evil. Not murder, not lying, not stealing, not lust, nor anything else. It’s specifically the love of MONEY that’s referred to as the root of all kinds of evil.

This love of money can best be defined as greed – an overwhelming desire to possess more than what we need, especially with respect to material wealth. This greed for money is the root cause of so much sin, and there’s a specific reason why.

You see, the love of money, and all that money brings, is at its heart, a desire for the things of this world. And because of that, the love of money is describing the predominant character trait of the Antichrist. He is all about loving money and possessing the things of this world.

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#14) The Antichrist is revealed by the falling away –

2 Thessalonians 2:3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of [b]sin is revealed, the son of perdition,

A remarkable and yet often overlooked meaning behind this verse is that the “falling away” – or those that leave the faith – will be tied in with the revealing of the man of sin. In other words, these two events are related, as those who fall away from the faith will fall TOWARDS the man of sin.

Thus, it is the falling away that reveals the Antichrist, as we simply need to look at those who have fallen away from the faith and see WHO they are gravitating towards. It’s not simply a falling away for the sake of leaving the faith, but a falling away FROM Jesus Christ and TOWARDS the Antichrist.

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#15) The Antichrist has the ultimate ego to call himself God –

2 Thessalonians 2:4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits [c]as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

In this remarkable verse, we are told that the Antichrist will be so full of himself, will magnify himself in his heart to such a degree, and will possess such an out of control ego, that he will actually proclaim himself to be God.

Perhaps this proclamation will come in the form of announcing that he is the savior of the world, since after all, the Antichrist is not only anti-Jesus Christ, but he also looks to replace Jesus Christ.

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 #16) The Antichrist is named the Man of Sin –

2 Thessalonians 2:3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of [b]sin is revealed, the son of perdition,

In this verse we find the Antichrist referred to as the Man of Sin, or to put it another way, sin incarnate. The sins that the Bible refer to over and over again are those are related to vanity, to dishonesty, to lust, to greed, to envy, and to wrath.

The Antichrist will not only live an extremely sinful life by the Bible’s standard, but he will actually brag about his lust, his greed, his desire for vengeance.

The Antichrist will not only be an extraordinarily sinful man, he will even take pride in his sinning. He will seemingly view his character flaws as badges of honor, as if each sin of the Bible were on his personal bucket list waiting to be checked off.

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#17) The Antichrist is named the Lawless One –

2 Thessalonians 2:8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. 

In this verse the Antichrist is described as not being constrained by ANY law, whether the laws of man or the laws of God. It’s not that he’s simply a lawbreaker – but that he considers himself to be above the law, or a law unto himself.

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#18) The Antichrist does as he pleases –

Daniel 11:36 “Then the king shall do according to his own will: he shall exalt and magnify himself above every god, shall speak blasphemies against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the wrath has been accomplished; for what has been determined shall be done. 

In this verse the Antichrist is described as doing whatever he wishes, and it expands upon him being the Lawless One. He will not feel restrained by law.

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#19) The Antichrist works deceitfully –

Daniel 11:23 And after the league is made with him he shall act deceitfully, for he shall come up and become strong with a small number of people.

This verse is reinforced by Daniel 8:25, and these two verses together tell us that the Antichrist’s modus operandi – or habits of working – are filled with deceit. Deceptiveness is simply part and parcel of how he operates.

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#20) The Antichrist understands dark sentences –

Daniel 8:23 “And in the latter time of their kingdom,
When the transgressors have reached their fullness,
A king shall arise,
Having fierce [k]features,
Who understands sinister schemes.

This verse gives us one key insight into the intelligence of the Antichrist: he understands “dark sentences.” Other translations render this verse as “understanding sinister schemes”, and it’s a window into the innate intelligence of the Antichrist.

He is a master of intrigue. Intrigue is defined as machination, which is a scheming or crafty action intended to accomplish some usually evil end.

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#21) The Antichrist attains the kingdom by flatteries –

Daniel 11: 21 And in his place shall arise a vile person, to whom they will not give the honor of royalty; but he shall come in peaceably, and seize the kingdom by intrigue.

Some translations render this verse as intrigue, reinforcing Daniel 8:23’s reference to “dark sentences”, but the context of this verse goes in a bit of a different direction.

Looking at Strong’s Concordance, we see that the word used for “flatteries” in Daniel 11:21 more closely means smoothness, slipperiness, or fine promises, which tells us that the Antichrist will attain the kingdom because of his scheming with a small group of people, as Daniel 11:23 references.

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#22) The bible speaks of nationalism –

Matthew 24:7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, 

One of the more famous bible verses about the end times speaks of nation rising against nation and kingdom and kingdom. Nation versus nation is the inevitable result of nationalism, which has swept the world in recent years.

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#23) The Antichrist will amaze the world –

Revelation 13:3 And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast. 

This verse tells us that that the Antichrist will be such a unique person, that the entire world will be amazed by him. They will wonder after him, asking who is like he is?

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#24) The Antichrist will succeed in all that he does –

Daniel 8:24 His power shall be mighty, but not by his own power;
He shall destroy [l]fearfully,
And shall prosper and thrive;
He shall destroy the mighty, and also the holy people.

This verse gives us background on John 5:43, which says that the Antichrist will come in his own name. In short, it tells us that the Antichrist will arrive on the scene having already been a worldwide success.

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#25) The Antichrist has a stout look –

Daniel 7:20 and the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn which came up, before which three fell, namely, that horn which had eyes and a mouth which spoke [i]pompous words, whose appearance was greater than his fellows.

This verse gives us an intriguing description of the physical appearance of the Antichrist, saying that he looks more stout than his fellows. Stout is defined as haughty, full of oneself, and even heavyset.

Haughty, of course, is an absolutely perfect description for the Antichrist – as it describes someone who is scornfully and condescendingly proud, and also arrogant and overbearing. He is full of himself to an extreme, as Daniel 8:25 also stated.

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#26) The Antichrist sows discord –

Proverbs 6:14 Perversity is in his heart,
He devises evil continually,
He sows discord.

Proverbs 6:12-15 A worthless person, a wicked man,
Walks with a perverse mouth;
13He winks with his eyes,
He [g]shuffles his feet,
He points with his fingers;
14Perversity is in his heart,
He devises evil continually,
He sows discord.
15Therefore his calamity shall come suddenly;
Suddenly he shall be broken without remedy.

Commonly referred to as “The Wicked Man”, Bible scholars generally consider the descriptions in these verses as a reference to the Antichrist.

Verse 14 tells us that one notable trait of the Antichrist is that he will sow discord. The inference being that he is intentionally dividing one person or one group against another for his own benefit. He isn’t simply divisive, but he purposely sows divisiveness to reap the rewards.

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#27) The Antichrist is a unique, unstoppable force that can’t be fought against –

Revelation 13:4 So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?”

This verse tells us not only of how incredibly singular the Antichrist is, “who is like unto the beast”, but it also tells us that he is a literal force of nature: no one is able to fight against him.

The Bottom Line

There’s a reason that the bible has given us this many descriptions of the Antichrist, and that reason is so that we are NOT deluded by him, and we don’t end up following him down the road to perdition.

If we simply pay attention to what the bible says, we may learn that there might be someone on the world scene right now who matches those descriptions.

Discover the Book Academy

https://dtbma.org/

Discover the Book Academy is a free resource to study books of the Bible, helping us to understand God’s Word more clearly through courses and lessons. This study is presented by John Barnett, a gifted teacher and minister. His historical studies background surpasses most others who teach. We have found this resource to be invaluable as we share the love of God with all of you.

The Deadliest Form of Fake News, and How to Identify Reliable Information

12.5.2023

No one likes to learn that there may be errors or falsehoods in their religions, traditions, churches, or personal beliefs. We should find ways to determine the accuracy of our research, use those that we trust, and seek to understand what religions teach or believe to accurately discuss or write concerning those subjects.

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An article How to Identify Reliable Information, addresses this topic: 

https://www.stevenson.edu/online/about-us/news/how-to-identify-reliable-information/

 “Whether you are a journalist, researcher writer or someone in the professional fields, it is important to know how to identify real information and use it accurately. That is our real challenge in the 21st century – Lee E Krahenbuhl, Communication Studies Program Coordinator

With the infinite amount of information online, it can be difficult to decipher what is true and accurate and what is not. Once you know the trick to identifying reliable information, you can quickly determine if what you are reading is accurate or not.

What is reliable information?

Reliable information must come from dependable sources. According to UGA Libraries, a reliable source will provide a “thorough, well-reasoned theory, argument, based on strong evidence.”

 Widely credible sources include:

  • Scholarly, peer-reviewed articles and books
  • Trade or professional articles or books, magazine articles, books, and newspaper articles from well-established companies
  • Other sources like websites and blog posts can be dependable but require further evaluation.

You may be asking yourself, “what source is best for me?” Depending on the type of information you need, your sources may vary. Look at journal articles and research-based reports. This is because those types of sources typically include more information on the topic at hand.

How to identify reliable sources

What makes the source reliable?

To determine whether a source is reliable or not, you must look at certain criteria. That criteria are as follows:

Authority:

  • Who is the author?
  • What are their credentials?
  • Do they have knowledgeable experience in the field
  • What is their reputation?

Accuracy: Compare the author’s information to that which you already know is dependable.

  • Are there proper citations?
  • Is the information biased?
  • If so, does it affect research conclusions?

Coverage: Is the information relevant to your topic and does it meet your needs? Consider what you need such as statistics, charts, and graphs.

Currency: Is your topic constantly evolving? Topics in the news require sources that are up to date.

The importance of reliable information

The Internet is scattered with biased, misleading, and altogether incorrect information and that is why it is important to follow the above criteria. The importance of using reliable sources truly boils down to effective communication. If your knowledge is based on unreliable information, you will not be a trustworthy asset.

Credible communication is key in discussing a subject. That is why you should not just grab any information off the Internet. Using unreliable sources results in negative consequences.

Credibility is especially important because using unreliable data can cause questions that may undermine your reliability and may cause others to rely solely on their own opinions rather than factual data.

Using credible sources for information will increase your reputation and trustworthiness. An article by the Ivy Business Journal supports this idea by expressing that trust is a key factor in building loyalty, increasing credibility, and supporting effective communication. It is important to develop your skills in identifying reliable resources, because it will help you become an effective communicator, reader, and/or writer.

Is once saved, always saved biblical?

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once saved always saved
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ANSWER

Once a person is saved are they always saved? Yes, when people come to know Christ as their Savior, they are brought into a relationship with God that guarantees their salvation as eternally secure. To be clear, salvation is more than saying a prayer or “making a decision” for Christ; salvation is a sovereign act of God whereby an unregenerate sinner is washed, renewed, and born again by the Holy Spirit (John 3:3; Titus 3:5). When salvation occurs, God gives the forgiven sinner a new heart and puts a new spirit within him (Ezekiel 36:26). The Spirit will cause the saved person to walk in obedience to God’s Word (Ezekiel 36:26–27; James 2:26). Numerous passages of Scripture declare the fact that, as an act of God, salvation is secure:

(a) Romans 8:30 declares, “And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified.” This verse tells us that from the moment God chooses us, it is as if we are glorified in His presence in heaven. There is nothing that can prevent a believer from one day being glorified because God has already purposed it in heaven. Once a person is justified, his salvation is guaranteed—he is as secure as if he is already glorified in heaven.

(b) Paul asks two crucial questions in Romans 8:33-34 “Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.” Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? No one will, because Christ is our advocate. Who will condemn us? No one will, because Christ, the One who died for us, is the one who condemns. We have both the advocate and judge as our Savior.

(c) Believers are born again (regenerated) when they believe (John 3:3; Titus 3:5). For a Christian to lose his salvation, he would have to be un-regenerated. The Bible gives no evidence that the new birth can be taken away.

(d) The Holy Spirit indwells all believers (John 14:17; Romans 8:9) and baptizes all believers into the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:13). For a believer to become unsaved, he would have to be “un-indwelt” and detached from the Body of Christ.

(e) John 3:15 states that whoever believes in Jesus Christ will “have eternal life.” If you believe in Christ today and have eternal life, but lose it tomorrow, then it was never “eternal” at all. Hence, if you lose your salvation, the promises of eternal life in the Bible would be in error.

(f) In a conclusive argument, Scripture says, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38–39). Remember the same God who saved you is the same God who will keep you. Once we are saved, we are always saved. Our salvation is most definitely eternally secure!

The Key to Daniel’s 70th Week Revealed

For those of you who are interested in prophecy…

https://prophecyunfolding.org/2021/08/07/the-key-to-daniels-70th-week-revealed/

sharinHislove's avatarProphecy Unfolding

I’ve studied prophecy since I was 12 years old, so to find something NEW is very exciting. This video is a fresh and distinct approach. I, personally, am unable to verify the calculations that are revealed here, but they are sufficiently presented in continuity to certainly give pause and reflection to them.

(NOTE) Jesus as the teacher, had the best interests of His students at heart; always, the subject of His teaching was the absolute and unchanging truth of God. We also have the best interests of our readers at heart. However, as we seek to share, we do not claim that we are qualified to be called teachers per se.

Having been given the gift of the desire to teach, doesn’t qualify us to state that we are teaching the absolute and unchanging truth of God. It is our hope, and intention, however, to be as accurate as humanly…

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The perils of disapproving God

NOVEMBER 8, 1998

The Perils of Disapproving God

Paul’s teaching about why a society degenerates into unrestrained, debauched, destructive evil is unlike any analysis you would read today. One of the reasons for this is that when a society is sinking into moral decay, one of the traits of that decay is the inability to see what is happening. The social mind becomes so defective in the moral decadence that it doesn’t have the categories or the framework to recognize evil for what it really is.

We do live in such a day. The inability to render sound moral judgments is evident almost wherever you look. Which makes this passage of Scripture one of the most relevant and needed texts in all the Bible for our day — precisely because it seems so foreign. Today, if something doesn’t seem spiritually or morally foreign, it is probably part of the blind and decadent atmosphere we breathe, and therefore of no real use to us, no matter how good it makes us feel.

What we need is a word from outside our defective world and our depraved thinking. We need a word from God. And we may certainly expect such a word to be very strange, because we have become strangers to the reality of God in a very self-absorbed age.

What we have in today’s text is a list of twenty-one ways of sinning or twenty-one kinds of evil. And what I think we should do is notice, first, why Paul gives us this list and where such evil comes from. Then we should look at the list itself and ask why it’s here. Then we should ask what the solution is to these kinds of things.

Why Do We Have to Deal with Evil?

So, first, where do the evils listed in verses Romans 1:29–31 come from? It all started back in verse 18 where Paul gave the reason for why the gospel of the gift of God’s righteousness is so desperately needed. You recall that he said in verse 16 that the gospel is “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”

“We need the righteousness of God because it is the only thing that can protect us from the wrath of God.”TweetShare on Facebook

Why? Verse 17: “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘But the righteous shall live by faith.’” In other words: The gospel is the power of God to save believers because in it God gives us what we need and could never produce on our own, namely, his own righteousness. The righteousness that he demands from us he freely gives to us, if we will trust him. This is the great biblical truth of justification by faith.

Then in verse 18, he tells us why this gospel of the gift of God’s righteousness is so desperately needed: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.” We need the righteousness of God because it is the only thing that can protect us from the wrath of God. And we need to be protected from the wrath of God because we are unrighteous by nature and suppress the truth of God. By nature we don’t like God and we don’t want him in our lives. I tremble just to say it.

The Effects of Suppressing the Truth of God

So what Paul does in the following verses is describe for us the effects of suppressing the truth of God. He wants us to see all the evil of the world as a river that flows from this spring. Reject God, suppress God, distort God, recreate God in your own image to your own liking, and the effect is worse than we expect. And the thing that is worse than we expect is that God joins our crusade against God, as it were, and delivers us into the debasing effects of our own rebellion against him.

We’ve seen it three times. In verse 23, we exchange the glory of God for images, and verse 24 says, “Therefore God gave them over to the lusts of their hearts.” In verse 25, we exchange the truth about God for a lie, and verse 26 says, “For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions.” And today in verse 28 we see it again: “They did not see fit to acknowledge God (or literally: they did not approve to have God in their knowledge), [therefore] God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper.”

This is what Paul means by the wrath of God being revealed (verse 18): God’s wrath is being revealed against the world, as human beings all over the world set their affections on other things more than on God. God’s response to this worldwide disloyalty and treason against our Creator is not, first, to send us to hell, but to see that we sink into the swamp we have chosen.

This is what I was referring to at the beginning when I said that Paul’s teaching about why societies often degenerate into unrestrained, debauched, destructive evil is unlike any analysis you would read today. Today you might hear someone say: “Okay, America, you have built your bed of secular, God-belittling relativism and amorality, so now sleep in it.” But that is not what Paul says here.

He says something far more horrifying about God’s wrath. He gives us his analysis of our situation in four steps. Just take verse 28 from today’s text to see all four. First, he says that the root problem is that we don’t like having God in our knowledge. “They did not see fit to acknowledge God.” That is the fundamental problem in the world. That is the essence of the human condition. We don’t want God. We want self-determination and self-exaltation. That was the first sin in the garden. And that is the root of all evil today. We do not want to know God or have him in our lives.

The Depth of our Sin Deserves Divine Judgment

The second step of God’s analysis is that God, in an act of judgment (recall the revealing of “wrath” in verse 18), withdraws his common restraints on our rebellion and gives us over to sink in the swamp we have chosen. This is what you will not hear in any social analysis today. Who today has the God-centered realism to say: The depth of our sin does not just deserve divine judgment, it is divine judgment? That is what Paul says. You can’t really understand America (or any other country) today without this revealed truth. Even if we tried to boast over God that at least we have our self-determination in rebelling against God, God would answer, “You think so? Think again.”

“Wherever we are sinking in sin, it is because we have jumped off the rock of the glory of God.”TweetShare on Facebook

The third step in Paul’s analysis (in verse 28) is that the effect of God’s giving us over and removing his common restraints (see Genesis 20:6) is that we are imprisoned by a “depraved mind.” “God gave them over to a depraved mind.” Our minds become more and more defective in sin. Not only do we use them to sin, but we can’t even think clearly about sin. We can’t recognize it. It’s as if we turned away from God and fell in love with the African black fly that carries the roundworm that causes river blindness, and then God gave us over to the fly and the worm — and the blindness — so that all we can do now is fondle the fly (of sin!) and keep trying to convince ourselves that it’s a precious tuft of velvet.

The fourth step of the analysis (in verse 28) is that our defective mind produces all kinds of evils. Paul goes on to list twenty-one of them as samples. So now we have our answer to the first question, namely, where does such evil come from? It comes from: (1) our desire not to have God in our knowledge; and (2) from God’s judgment on mankind to give us over to sink in the swamp we love; and (3) from the depraved or defective mind that we sink into.

Failure to Love God Breeds Evil

So now we can ask the question: What is this list of evils? What are we to make of this long list and why is it here? Let’s read it again. Verse Romans 1:28–31:

God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful.

Of course, a person could raise an objection against Paul here: This is not the way all unbelievers are. Some are very conscientious, law-abiding, philanthropic, courteous, decent people. Yes, that’s true, and Paul knew it was true. He was quite aware, for example, of the Stoics of his own day — people like Seneca and later, Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius, who prided themselves in not being like this list of evils, and yet, who were not Christians.

Downward Spiral

No, the point of this list is not to say that every society that refuses to love the true God will look just like this. We know this because, in verses 26–27, Paul says that homosexual desire is also a result of not loving God above other things, and being handed over by God, and yet Paul clearly does not think that every unbeliever has homosexual desires.

Similarly, here in verse 28–31, when he says that all these sins are the result of refusing to acknowledge God, and he doesn’t mean that every unbeliever, or group of unbelievers, has all these sins or in the same measure. Instead, these are samples. They are the sort of thing that comes from rejecting God, and the more God gives a people up to their own unrestrained depravity, the more their society will have these sins in greater and greater measure.

Sunk in Sin

So what’s the point of listing all these sins? The point, I think, is to give us enough examples to show that virtually every form of evil has to do with God and comes from failing to know him and approve him and love him above all things. In other words, he gives us a sweeping array of evils to awaken us to the fact that the ruin of any area of life is owing to the abandonment of God. Verse 28: they did not want God in their knowledge, therefore . . . and then he gives his list of evils.

In other words, the point of the list is to connect God with every sin in the world. And we’ve seen that the connection is twofold: every sin is rooted in our preferring something else to God; and every sin gets worse as God takes away his restraints and gives us up to sink in the swamp we have chosen.

If America has the highest murder rate in the western world, it has to do with God. If our executives are greedy, it has to do with God. If our politicians are deceitful, it has to do with God. If we gossip about each other behind the back, it has to do with God. If our talk show hosts are insolent and boastful, it has to do with God. If our children are disobedient to parents, it has to do with God. If we are untrustworthy and don’t keep our marriage vows, it has to do with God. If we are blind to obvious wrongs and are unloving and unmerciful, it has to do with God.

That’s the point of this list. Wherever we are sinking in sin, it is because we have jumped off the rock of the glory of God.

How Do We Battle Destructive Evils?

Which brings us finally to the third and last question: What is the solution? How shall we battle back against these destructive evils in our own lives and in our culture? The answer is what the whole book of Romans is about. But let’s close by looking at three great reversals.

  1. We need the reversal of God’s wrath against our unrighteousness.
  2. We need the reversal of God’s handing us over to a depraved mind.
  3. We need the reversal of our mind’s moral decay so that it can be renewed for right and proper use in God’s service.

The good news is that God has provided every one of those reversals. You do not have to sink any further if you will embrace God and his provision. The key verse for the reversal of God’s wrath against us is Romans 1:17: In the gospel of Christ, “the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’”

In other words, the righteousness that God demands from us, he freely gives to us, if we will turn back to him and trust him to be our greatest Good. And if you have the righteousness of God, you are not under the wrath of God anymore — a very happy reversal!

God Grants Righteousness

The key verse for the reversal of God’s handing us over to a depraved mind is Romans 6:17: “Thanks be to God that, though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were handed over [same word as Romans 1:28].”

“The righteousness that God demands from us, he freely gives to us.”TweetShare on Facebook

This is the exact reversal of the handover in Romans 1:28. Here it is to a form of teaching that is true and holy, not false and dirty. And notice that it is God who does it. “Thanks be to God,” Paul says, that you became obedient to this teaching. God gives us over to truth and righteousness as much as he once gave us over to sin.

Finally, the key verse for reversing the defectiveness of our minds is Romans 12:2: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Receive the Reversal

When God has given us his righteousness by faith in Jesus, and when he has handed us over to a new teaching of truth and begun to make us obedient to it, then, little by little, we are transformed in the renewing of our minds and the long list of sins in Romans 1:29–31 becomes shorter and weaker to the glory of God.

This is the key to life. This is the message that we take to the neighborhood and to the nations. I call you and urge you to receive these three reversals from the hand of God by faith: (1) the reversal of God’s wrath through the gift of God’s righteousness; (2) the reversal of being handed over to depravity through being handed over to truth; and (3) the reversal of a depraved mind through the transformation of a renewed mind.John Piper (@JohnPiper) is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. For 33 years, he served as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is author of more than 50 books, including Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist and most recently Providence.

Come visit all our sites

Living on the Borderline in Bipolarville 

This site deals with sharing our unique paths through mental illness. I just started this site, so it’s a work in progress. I’m very excited about people contacting me already with an interest in these subjects. So come on over! We’ll sort these things out together. (Note: Back in the early 2000’s I was an assistant manager for a 1200 member bipolar disorder website. I’ve dealt with a lot of different people, so hopefully that will comfort you some. lol)

The Wildlife Art of Sharon Rule

Well, this is just my fun little site that mostly just has my oil paintings that I do to support my daughter’s African Wildlife Sanctuaries that provide education for the children of the wildlife workers. I’m not such a great artist, but my heart is in the right place!

Prophecy Unfolding 

This may not be interesting to many people, but it is especially interesting to me since I’ve been searching this topic since I was  12 years old. Hey, it may not be terribly exciting, but it certainly relates to what’s going on in our world today.

sharinHislove.com

We created this site in an effort to share with people who need a little extra love and encouragement. We all need that, huh? Started in 2006, this site has reached many people around the world from really unexpected places. Over 289,000 visits confirms that the encouragement and inspiration that we generate and share really is helping. We hope you will join and share your thoughts with us.

We are the World! Happy New Year!

Praying for blessings to all of you around the world. May we all come together to find what is best in each of us. Love surely is better than hate. Working together, standing together, loving together will make the difference. If you are upset about something, find your voice. Go on Twitter, Facebook, start a Website, care and share positive ideas and progressive thinking instead of crying in a corner. We can all light the place where we stand and that light will shine enough to change things.

Be blessed with much love, joy, and happiness!

Sharon & Erick

We are the world!

There comes a time when we heed a certain call
When the world must come together as one
There are people dying
And its time to lend a hand to life
The greatest gift of all

We can’t go on pretending day by day
That someone, somehow will soon make a change
We are all a part of Gods great big family
And the truth, you know,
Love is all we need

We are the world, we are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So lets start giving

Losing my religion for equality

Although this article was published in 2015, when I discovered it today, I thought it important to share. ~ Sharon Rule

Jimmy Carter
Published: April 27, 2015 – 11:12AM

Women and girls have been discriminated against for too long in a twisted interpretation of the word of God.

I HAVE been a practising Christian all my life and a deacon and Bible teacher for many years. My faith is a source of strength and comfort to me, as religious beliefs are to hundreds of millions of people around the world. So my decision to sever my ties with the Southern Baptist Convention, after six decades, was painful and difficult. It was, however, an unavoidable decision when the convention’s leaders, quoting a few carefully selected Bible verses and claiming that Eve was created second to Adam and was responsible for original sin, ordained that women must be “subservient” to their husbands and prohibited from serving as deacons, pastors or chaplains in the military service.

This view that women are somehow inferior to men is not restricted to one religion or belief. Women are prevented from playing a full and equal role in many faiths. Nor, tragically, does its influence stop at the walls of the church, mosque, synagogue or temple. This discrimination, unjustifiably attributed to a Higher Authority, has provided a reason or excuse for the deprivation of women’s equal rights across the world for centuries.

At its most repugnant, the belief that women must be subjugated to the wishes of men excuses slavery, violence, forced prostitution, genital mutilation and national laws that omit rape as a crime. But it also costs many millions of girls and women control over their own bodies and lives, and continues to deny them fair access to education, health, employment and influence within their own communities.

The impact of these religious beliefs touches every aspect of our lives. They help explain why in many countries boys are educated before girls; why girls are told when and whom they must marry; and why many face enormous and unacceptable risks in pregnancy and childbirth because their basic health needs are not met.

In some Islamic nations, women are restricted in their movements, punished for permitting the exposure of an arm or ankle, deprived of education, prohibited from driving a car or competing with men for a job. If a woman is raped, she is often most severely punished as the guilty party in the crime.

The same discriminatory thinking lies behind the continuing gender gap in pay and why there are still so few women in office in the West. The root of this prejudice lies deep in our histories, but its impact is felt every day. It is not women and girls alone who suffer. It damages all of us. The evidence shows that investing in women and girls delivers major benefits for society. An educated woman has healthier children. She is more likely to send them to school. She earns more and invests what she earns in her family.

It is simply self-defeating for any community to discriminate against half its population. We need to challenge these self-serving and outdated attitudes and practices – as we are seeing in Iran where women are at the forefront of the battle for democracy and freedom.

I understand, however, why many political leaders can be reluctant about stepping into this minefield. Religion, and tradition, are powerful and sensitive areas to challenge. But my fellow Elders and I, who come from many faiths and backgrounds, no longer need to worry about winning votes or avoiding controversy – and we are deeply committed to challenging injustice wherever we see it.

The Elders are an independent group of eminent global leaders, brought together by former South African president Nelson Mandela, who offer their influence and experience to support peace building, help address major causes of human suffering and promote the shared interests of humanity. We have decided to draw particular attention to the responsibility of religious and traditional leaders in ensuring equality and human rights and have recently published a statement that declares: “The justification of discrimination against women and girls on grounds of religion or tradition, as if it were prescribed by a Higher Authority, is unacceptable.”

We are calling on all leaders to challenge and change the harmful teachings and practices, no matter how ingrained, which justify discrimination against women. We ask, in particular, that leaders of all religions have the courage to acknowledge and emphasise the positive messages of dignity and equality that all the world’s major faiths share.

The carefully selected verses found in the Holy Scriptures to justify the superiority of men owe more to time and place – and the determination of male leaders to hold onto their influence – than eternal truths. Similar biblical excerpts could be found to support the approval of slavery and the timid acquiescence to oppressive rulers.

I am also familiar with vivid descriptions in the same Scriptures in which women are revered as pre-eminent leaders. During the years of the early Christian church women served as deacons, priests, bishops, apostles, teachers and prophets. It wasn’t until the fourth century that dominant Christian leaders, all men, twisted and distorted Holy Scriptures to perpetuate their ascendant positions within the religious hierarchy.

The truth is that male religious leaders have had – and still have – an option to interpret holy teachings either to exalt or subjugate women. They have, for their own selfish ends, overwhelmingly chosen the latter. Their continuing choice provides the foundation or justification for much of the pervasive persecution and abuse of women throughout the world. This is in clear violation not just of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights but also the teachings of Jesus Christ, the Apostle Paul, Moses and the prophets, Muhammad, and founders of other great religions – all of whom have called for proper and equitable treatment of all the children of God. It is time we had the courage to challenge these views.

Jimmy Carter was president of the United States from 1977 to 1981

May 4 2015

Want equality for all? Then spurn organised religion.

This story was found at: The Age

Change Is Our Choice: Creating Climate Solutions

12/06/2016 Climate ChangeThe science has long been settled: climate change is real and it’s happening all around us right now. Our new five-session discussion course on climate action will help you take action to increase resilience and mitigate the impacts of climate change. Presented in an interactive ebook, this new discussion course experience integrates video, audio and printed content with action plans that help you roll your sleeves up and get started taking action toward a better tomorrow.“Hope is a verb with its sleeves rolled up. In contrast to optimism or despair, hope requires that one actually do something to improve the world. Authentic hope comes with an imperative to act. There is no such thing as passive hope.” – David Orr, introduction to Hope Is an Imperative: The Essential David Orr

The science has long been settled, climate change is real and it’s happening all around us right now. Our lifestyles are not only a contributing factor, but the root cause, despite what many politicians and talking heads would have us believe.  Those of us hoping for real solutions often despair at the unnecessary political gridlock and the lack of traction for widespread solutions.But there is reason to hope: many ordinary citizens desire to make positive change in their daily lives, in their communities, and in the world at large.

Yes, climate change is already happening. Yes, it is getting worse. But people working together to take action can find real solutions.The choice is ours – take action now or react to even larger systemic problems later.Climate Change link

Source: Change Is Our Choice: Creating Climate Solutions

Worried Enough to Pray?

by Max Lucado
Last week’s blog struck a nerve. I wrote a piece entitled “Decency for President.” The premise was a simple one. Shouldn’t a presidential candidate who claims to be Christian talk like one? When a candidate waves a Bible in one speech and calls a reporter “bimbo” in the next, isn’t something awry? Specifically, when Donald Trump insists that he is a Christian (“a good Christian” to use his descriptor) and then blasts, belittles, and denigrates everyone from Barbara Bush to John McCain to Megyn Kelly, shouldn’t we speak up?

If the candidate is not a Christian, then I have no right to speak. But if the candidate does what Trump has done, wave a Bible and attempt to quote from it, then we, his fellow Christians need to call him to at least a modicum of Christian behavior, right?

Again, I struck a nerve. More than three million of you read the article in the first 36 hours! Thousands of you weighed in with your comments. They were fascinating to read. (Not all of them pleasant to read, mind you. The dozens of you who told me to stick to the pulpit and stop meddling in politics– I get it. By the way, I’d like to invite you to attend our services. My upcoming message is “Kindness”.) Detractors notwithstanding, your comments were heartfelt and passionate.

I detected a few themes.

You have a deep sense of love for our country. Patriotism oozed through your words. You cherish the uniqueness and wonder of the USA. You have varying opinions regarding leadership style, role of government, and political strategy. But when it comes to loving the country, you are unanimously off the charts.

You have an allergy to “convenient” Christians. You resist people who don the Christian title at convenient opportunities (i.e., presidential campaigns). You would prefer the candidate make no mention of faith rather than leave the appearance of a borrowed faith that will be returned to the lender after the election.

You are concerned, profoundly concerned, about the future of our country. The debt. Immorality. National security. The role of the Supreme Court. Immigration. Religious liberty. The list is as long as the worries are deep.

So where does this leave us? When a person treasures the country, but has trepidation about its future, what is the best course of action?

Elijah can weigh in on this question.

He lived during one of the darkest days in the history of Israel. The Northern Kingdom had 19 kings, each one of whom was evil. Hope had boarded the last train and optimism the final flight. The leaders were corrupt and the hearts of the people were cold. But comets are most visible against the black sky. And in the midst of the darkness, a fiery comet by the name of Elijah appeared.

The name Elijah means, “My God is Jehovah.” And he lived up to his name. He appeared in the throne room of evil King Ahab with a weather report. “‘As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word’” (1 Kings 17:1).

Elijah’s attack was calibrated. Baal was the fertility god of the pagans, the god to whom they looked for rain and fertile fields. Elijah called for a showdown: the true God of Israel against the false god of the pagans. How could Elijah be so confident of the impending drought? Because he had prayed.

Eight centuries later the prayers of Elijah were used as a model.

“The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops” (James 5:16-18).

James was impressed that a prayer of such power came from a person so common. Elijah was “a human being” but his prayers were heard because he prayed earnestly. This was no casual prayer, comfortable prayer, but a radical prayer. “Do whatever it takes, Lord,” Elijah begged, “even if that means no water.”

What happened next is one of the greatest stories in the Bible. Elijah told the 450 prophets of Baal: You get a bull, I’ll get a bull. You build an altar, I’ll build an altar. You ask your god to send fire; I’ll ask my God to send fire. The God who answers by fire is the true God.

The prophets of Baal agreed and went first.

“At noon Elijah began to taunt them. ‘Shout louder!’ he said. ‘Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.’

“So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention” (1 Kings 18:27-29).

(Elijah would have flunked a course in diplomacy.) Though the prophets cut themselves and raved all afternoon, nothing happened. Finally Elijah asked for his turn.

“Then Elijah said to all the people, ‘Come here to me.’ They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the LORD, which had been torn down. Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD had come, saying, ‘Your name shall be Israel’” (1 Kings 18:30-31).

Elijah poured four jugs of water (remember, this was a time of drought) over the altar three times. Then Elijah prayed.

“LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command.   Answer me, LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, LORD, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again” (1 Kings 18:36-37).

Note how quickly and dramatically God answered.

“Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, ‘The LORD—he is God! The LORD—he is God!’” (1 Kings 18:38-39).

“Pow!” the altar was ablaze. God delighted in and answered Elijah’s prayer. God delights in and answers our prayers as well.

Let’s start a fire, shall we?

If your responses to my blog are any indication, you are anxious. You love this country, yet you are troubled about the future. You wonder what the future holds and what we can do. Elijah’s story provides the answer. We can pray. We can offer earnest, passionate prayers.

It’s time to turn our concerns into a unified prayer. Let’s join our hearts and invite God to do again what he did then; demonstrate His power. Super Tuesday, March 1, is the perfect day for us to step into the presence of God.

Dear Lord,

You outrank any leader. You hold sway over every office. Greater is the occupant of Heaven’s throne than the occupant of the White House.

You have been good to this country. You have blessed us in spite of our sin and guarded us in spite of our rebellion.

We unite our hearts in one prayer. Let your kingdom come. Let your will be done. Please, speak through the electoral process to reveal your leader.

This we pray in the name of Jesus,

Amen

© Max Lucado
February 29, 2016

The Babylonian Empire 606-536 BC

Located in The Tigris-Euphrates Valley, Babylon has been referred to as “the cradle of the human race” for a good reason – the Garden of Eden was located somewhere in it.

The Old Babylonian Kingdom was at its peak at about the time of God’s calling of Abraham, who was from Ur of the Chaldees.

However, after many centuries of conflict, the old Babylon Empire eventually became subject to the Assyrians, from about 885 to 607 B.C. It was during that period that the Assyrians conquered and took into captivity the northern kingdom of Israel, from which the “Lost Ten Tribes” never returned.

Babylon was divided into Accad to the north, and Summer (“Shinar” of the Old Testament) to the south. Along with Ur and the city of Babylon itself, other major cities were Uruk, or Erech (Genesis 10:10), Larsa, or Ellasar (Genesis 14:1), Sepharvaim (2 Kings 17:24), Eridu, and Calneh (Genesis 10:10).

The New Babylonian Empire, which existed from 606 to 536 B.C., fully conquered the southern kingdom of Judah in 586 B.C. It was then that the Babylonians under the rule of King Nebuchadnezzar completely devastated the city of Jerusalem, looted and burned the original Temple of God, built by Solomon and carried the people of Judah, including the prophets Daniel and Ezekiel, off into captivity.

In 536 B.C., after 70 years of supremacy, the Babylonian empire, the “head of gold” in Daniel’s Statue, came to an end when it fell to the Persians. A future Babylon is referred to in the Book of Revelation and has many prophetic applications that have yet to be completed (Revelation 18:1-24).

The Babylonian Empire

 

The Babylonian Empire was a civilization of Babylonians in Lower Mesopotamia (central and southern Iraq), with Babylon as its capital. The Persian Empire later grew near the Babylonians region.

Babylonia emerged when Hammurabi (1696 – 1654 BC) created an empire out of the territories of the former kingdoms of Sumer and Akkad.

The Amorites being a Semitic people, Babylonia adopted the written Semitic Akkadian language for official use, and retained the Sumerian language for religious use, which by that time was no longer a spoken language. The Akkadian and Sumerian cultures played a major role in later Babylonians culture, and the region would remain an important cultural center, even under outside rule.

The earliest mention of Babylonians in the city of Babylon can be found in a tablet from the reign of Sargon of Akkad, dating back to the 20th century BC. Following the collapse of the last Sumerian “Ur-III” dynasty at the hands of the Elamites (2002 BC traditional, 1940 BC), the Amorites gained control over most of Mesopotamia, where they formed a series of small kingdoms.

During the first centuries of what is called the “Amorite period”, the most powerful city states were Isin and Larsa, although Shamshi-Adad I came close to uniting the more northern regions around Assur and Mari. One of these Amorite dynasties was established in the city-state of Babylon, which would ultimately take over the others and form the first Babylonian empire, during what is also called the Old Babylonian Period.

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‘Passion of the Christ’ star Jim Caviezel says playing Jesus sunk his career

Despite a long list of woes that include being labeled an anti-Semite, having a violent temper and allegedly breaking the teeth of the mother of his youngest child—Mel Gibson has a friend in Jesus—or, at least the actor who played him in 2004’s “Passion of the Christ.”

“Mel Gibson, he’s a horrible sinner, isn’t he?” Jim Caviezel asked members of the First Baptist Church of Orlando, FL during an appearance Saturday night. “Mel Gibson doesn’t need your judgment, he needs your prayers.”

Caviezel, 42, spoke at the 14,000-member church in a speech the local paper described as “giv(ing) witness to his faith, (urging) others to share it and to sell a new all-star audio production of the Bible that he has produced.”

The staunch Roman Catholic recalled when Gibson first offered him the role of Jesus, he warned that it could end his career.

“(Gibson) said, ‘You’ll never work in this town again,’” Caviezel explained. “I told him, ‘We all have to embrace our crosses.’”

During the 20-minute talk, Caviezel said he was “called” to be an actor, noting that it was no coincidence that “in my 33rd year, I was called to play Jesus.”

He even joked about his initials– J.C. –with Gibson during casting, which “freaked [the director] out a little.”

Caviezel said taking on the role of the Son of God limited his career, saying that he was “rejected in (his) own industry.”

“Jesus is as controversial now as he has ever been,” Caviezel said. “Not much has changed in 2,000 years.”

But Caviezel has no regrets, saying “We have to give up our names, our reputations, our lives to speak the truth,” and adding that he’ll get his reward in heaven.

 

Remembering the Holocaust: Never Again!

By Joel C. Rosenberg

Today in Israel, and around the world, we stop to remember the evil that was perpetrated during the Holocaust, pray for the survivors and their families, and recommit ourselves to the principle: Never Again.

“A two-minute siren sounded across the country at 10 am Thursday in memory of the six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust,” reports Ynet News. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a moving address honoring Holocaust Remembrance Day, and applied its lessons to the current showdown with Iran. Israeli President Shimon Peres also discussed Iran today in light of the Holocaust. I commend these to your attention.

Last November, I had the opportunity to travel to Poland with two pastors and their wives to visit the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camps for the first time. My son, Caleb, and I produced a short video of that trip which might help you and your family and friends get a brief glimpse inside the tragedy and what it means.

Most of all, please pray for these survivors, that the Lord would draw them close to His heart and heal their memories and show them His amazing grace and mercy. As the Hebrew prophet Isaiah wrote, “How lovely on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who announces peace and brings good news of happiness, who announces salvation, and says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!’” (Isaiah 52:7)

How do you explain God to an atheist?

We are needing guidance on this subject. We have a friend who is an atheist. We’ve explained what we know from the Bible, and from our own personal experience with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Because he has done much research and study on the subject of God, creation, the Bible, etc., he doesn’t feel God is real.

The oddity is that he is one of the most loving people we know. That seems to conflict with our thoughts, since we know that God is love, and all love comes from him.

Rather than go into all of the research we’ve done, we’re reaching out to you to give us insight and guidance. Any website addresses, Bible passages, or resources that you feel would be helpful would be greatly appreciated. Your prayers are needed as well as your personal support.

He is 87 years old, has been a professor in college, and is an avid reader.

Thanks so much.

Middle East Burning

 

A riveting and timely survey of things to come!

 

Widespread revolutions in multiple Arab nations. New powers rising to challenge entrenched despots and ruling bodies. Bitter new conflicts further enflaming the many already in place. And a pall of uncertainty over how it will all play out.
Indeed the Middle East is burning.

How can we make sense of it all?

At first glance the many hotspots may seem without a pattern, without rhyme or reason. But Bible prophecy expert Mark Hitchcock takes a look at Scripture and helps paint a clear picture of what’s taking place, giving insight on current events in Egypt, Libya, Sudan, Russia, Turkey, Iran, Syria, and more.

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(Sharon’s note:)  To read an excerpt from this book, click on the link below. I think you will find it very interesting, as we relate it to our study of prophecy.

http://harvesthousepublishers.com/media/epr/excerpts/9780736939966_exc.pdf

 

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God’s Daily Promise #1

Malachi 3:6 

“For I, Yahweh, don’t change;
therefore you, sons of Jacob, are not consumed.
(World English Bible)

Promise #1: I am the Lord your God and I never change. 
It is important for us to be reminded of this simple truth…  The Lord our God does not change. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. Every promise that He has made is secure and will last forever. Since we live in a world that is constantly changing, the promise of our Father’s rock-solid commitment to us is very reassuring.
Today is a new day for us to be able to experience the Lord’s continued faithfulness in our lives. He will never leave us or let us down. He loves us with all His heart and each one of His promises that is true today will be true in a million years from now.I pray that this truth will bring a deeper level of comfort and security to each one of our lives. May we look forward to all of the ways that our Father will show Himself faithful to us in 2012. May you be blessed beyond imagination!

AuthorBarry Adams

Gush Etzion Region – Israel

 

“People will again say in the Land of Judah and in its cities when I return their captivity,

‘May God bless you, O Abode of Righteousness, O Holy Mountain!’”
JEREMIAH (31:22)

Today’s photograph is a gorgeous scene of a community in the Gush Etzion region

in the Judean mountains, near Jerusalem.

Is Netanyahu’s Patience with Iran Running Out?

Posted: January 24, 2012 in Uncategorized
by Joel C. Rosenberg

Does Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu think the West is taking decisive action to stop Iran from getting the Bomb, or does he think the West is fiddling while Tel Aviv runs the rising risk of burning? That’s the Big Question as tensions continue to mount in the epicenter this week. Iran is making new threats to close the Strait of Hormuz to oil shipments, just days after test-firing missiles over the Strait. The U.S., Britain and France are sending additional naval forces  into the Gulf. The European Union is taking new steps to impose an oil embargo on Iran. The U.S. is taking steps to sanction Iran’s third largest bank, though dragging its feet on actually sanctioning Iran’s Central Bank. Adding to the regional tensions, Russia is lashing out at the EU and selling $550 million worth of arms to one of Iran’s key regional allies. Will such Western moves be enough to stop Iran from building an arsenal of nuclear weapons? Personally, I’m not convinced. Such moves would have been good a few years ago. Now they strike me as too little too late, especially after the Obama White House disastrous decision recently to cancel joint military exercises with Israel for fear of being “too provocative” towards Iran. But it doesn’t matter what I think. What matters is what Netanyahu thinks. If he decides the West isn’t doing enough and Iran is going to get the Bomb, then he is going to hit Iran hard, soon, and without warning.

In that context, it’s worth noting a speech Netanyahu gave Tuesday warning his nation that the world has not internalized the lessons of the Holocaust. ”Speaking at the Knesset just days before  International Holocaust Remembrance Day (January 27), Netanyahu reasoned that the Jewish people must not put their fate in the hands of the  international community,” reported the Jerusalem Post. “Posing a rhetorical question, Netanyahu asked, ‘How does the world react to the calls for genocide against the Jews today? Seventy years after the shoa [Holocaust], Iran is calling for us to be wiped off the map, Hezbollah is calling for our extinction, as are many in Hamas….The Jerusalem Mufti [Sheikh Muhammad Hussein] called on Sunday for Jews to be killed wherever they are…echoing his predecessor Haj Amin Al Husseini, who actively helped Hitler and Eichman,’ he said. ‘I do not hear the international community condemning this. I hear them  condemning buildings in the West Bank. But I don’t hear them condemning  this incitement,’ said Netanyahu.”

Could Netanyahu be signaling that his patience — and that of the Israeli government and military – is running out?

Worth noting: “Two Iranian lawmakers on Monday stepped up threats their country would close the strategic Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s crude flows, in retaliation for oil sanctions on Tehran,” reports Haaretz. “The warnings came as EU nations agreed in Brussels on an oil embargo against Iran as part of sanctions over the country’s controversial nuclear program. The measure includes an immediate embargo on new contracts for Iranian crude and petroleum products while existing ones will be allowed to run until July. Iran has repeatedly warned it would choke off the strait if sanctions affect its oil sales, and two lawmakers ratcheted up the rhetoric on Monday….For its part, the United States has enacted, but not yet put into force, sanctions targeting Iran’s central bank and, by extension, the country’s ability to be paid for its oil. Some 80 percent of Iran’s oil revenue comes from exports and any measures or sanctions taken that affect its ability to export oil could hit hard at its economy. With about 4 million barrels per day, Iran is the second largest producer in OPEC.”

Two Mistakes Regarding Iran

by Joel Rosenberg

 

>> Rating the GOP presidential candidates on the Iran issue

The White House has made two new and serious mistakes on Iran in recent days:

  1. The Obama administration has just canceled joint military exercises with the Israelis.
  2. The Obama administration has both denied killing a top-ranking Iranian nuclear scientist and condemned the scientist’s assassination.

Given that U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta says Iran could have the Bomb by the end of 2012, the U.S. should intensifying pressure on the evil regime in Tehran. This would include dramatically escalating covert ops inside Iran, and making preparations for possible air strikes if there are no other alternatives to neutralizing the Iran threat. Instead, the senior team at the White House just blinked — twice — showing weakness instead of resolve. They have also made it more likely, not less, that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu may conclude this year that he has no other choice but to launch a massive first strike against Iran. Thus: “The United States has stepped up contingency planning in case Israel launches a military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. According to the report, U.S. defense officials are becoming increasingly concerned that Israel is preparing to carry out such a strike.” At the moment, Army General Martin Dempsey, the new Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is heading to Israel for talks about Iran.

Meanwhile, “Israeli Cabinet Minister Moshe Ya’alon said Sunday he was disappointed that the U.S. has not expanded sanctions to further damage Iran’s central bank and its energy industry. He also suggested that the Obama  administration hasn’t been as forceful as Britain and France in  imposing sanctions. ‘In the United States, the Senate passed a resolution, by a majority of 100-to-1, to impose these sanctions, and in the U.S. administration there is hesitation for fear of  oil prices rising this year, out of election-year considerations,’ Ya’alon told  Israel Radio, according to Haaretz newspaper. ‘In that regard, this is certainly  a disappointment, for now.’”

This is exactly why I’m saying we’d better keep praying for peace, while preparing ourselves for war.

 

CAR BOMB KILLS IRANIAN NUCLEAR SCIENTIST

Posted: January 11, 2012 in Uncategorized
by Joel Rosenberg

>>  Iranian president arrives in Cuba; U.S. warns of ‘dangerous alliance’

UPDATED: Another headline this morning ripped from the pages of my two recent novels, The Twelfth Imam and The Tehran Initiative. This one from the BBC: Iran car explosion kills nuclear scientist in Tehran. Excerpt: “A university lecturer and nuclear scientist has been killed in a car explosion in north Tehran. Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan, an academic who also worked at the Natanz uranium enrichment facility, and the driver of the car were killed in the attack. The blast happened after a motorcyclist stuck an apparent bomb to the car. Several Iranian nuclear scientists have been assassinated in recent years, with Iran blaming Israel and the US. Both countries deny the accusations….” FLASHBACK FROM DEC 2011: COVERT WAR HEATS UP IN IRAN AND MIDEAST: Will it be enough to neutralize nuclear threat, or will Israel launch preemptive strikes in 2012?

Sorting coins until God says I’m good

By Jon Walker

Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. Romans 3:20 (NIV)

I once went to one of those coin-sorting machines today and poured in a huge bag of change that had accumulated in a cup kept on the chest of drawers in my bedroom.

The total came to $22.31. I took the receipt to customer service and the cashier gave me 22 dollars in bills . . . and then 31 cents.

So I still have change and I paid the machine eight percent of the total to count those 31 cents (why it rejected the rubber band and the guitar pick that also poured out of the cup is beyond me).

Hmmm, I think I need some chocolate to help me think this through. Perhaps this is how you get hooked into an addiction; you always have change left over, so you eventually have to come back.

I know, I could count out the exact amount of change to total an even dollar amount, like $22.00 and no cents, and then pour that into the coin-sorting machine.

But then I’d be counting the change myself and I might as well not be at the machine. Aarghhhh!!!!

I definitely need some chocolate to reach a cosmic revelation on this. Anybody got change for a candy bar? I seem to be a little short . . .

When we try to live by the law, it’s like we’re pouring change into a coin-sorting machine, always trying to hit an even dollar amount. The law serves a useful purpose in that it shows us how impossible it is to reach God-righteousness by our own efforts.

The frustration we feel when we stumble and fail is absolutely normal. In truth, it’s part of God’s plan. “Through the law we become conscious of sin,” (Romans 3:20 NIV) and by realizing how far we fall short, we’re able to admit, “I can’t; God can.”

Once there, we’re able to live by the Holy Spirit at work within us.

Studying Biblical Prophecy

The study of prophecy is not to Scare us,

but to Prepare us.

Studying Biblical Prophecy has been a passion of mine since I was a teenager. My first exposure to the subject was from a book entitled “The Bible and Tomorrow’s News”.

Studying prophecy can bring confusion and fear to a lot of people. I think that is because it is hard to understand.

We are attempting to wade into the study of prophecy a little at a time on our blog. We think it will be interesting for our readers to understand the basics as you follow each day’s news and how they are related.

The study can also be a source of encouragement and inspiration.  As we understand the relationship of knowledge of the scriptures and motivate our call to share the gospel, it will strengthen all of us.

I have included direct links below to the categories on our blog that will help us as we study.

We encourage comments and discussion of this wealth of knowledge that God has given us in His word.

Blessings,

Sharon & Erick

 

Related Articles:

https://sharinhislove.wordpress.com/category/studying-prophecy/

https://sharinhislove.wordpress.com/category/maps-biblical/

https://sharinhislove.wordpress.com/category/current-events-in-light-of-bible-prophecy/

https://sharinhislove.wordpress.com/category/headlines-to-track/

https://sharinhislove.wordpress.com/category/historial-maps/

https://sharinhislove.wordpress.com/category/israel-interesting-information/

https://sharinhislove.wordpress.com/category/maps/

https://sharinhislove.wordpress.com/category/maps-in-light-of-biblical-prophecy/

https://sharinhislove.wordpress.com/category/world-information/