The end of the book...

Every story has some basic components that are universally agreed on.

• A beginning
• A midpoint
• An ending
• Setting
• Plot
• Characters
• Conflict
• Theme

Your story, my story, our story - this does not differ. When/how/where these components are laid out - that can very. One component that is universally the same: we all have the same author.

Hebrews 12:2  (NASB)

2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

We are not an accident. We have a purpose. God has known us since before our birth. I remember hearing recently that the word "formed" doesn't give the right context - we miss what is being conveyed. Several translations imply knit (as with 2 knitting needles), but actually it is more along the lines of crochet.

Neither of which is exactly easy, both require a great deal of focus and attention.

Did you get that? When God made you, made me, in our mother's womb - it wasn't just cells bumping together by chance. God crocheted our form together with great focus and detail - making us a unique individual.

Jeremiah 1:5 (NASB)

5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,

And before you were born I consecrated you;

I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

Where am I going with all of this?

Our story will one day end: by death or Jesus returns.

If you have not read the Bible, you might be confused about what I means when I say Jesus returns. There is rich book of the Bible that is filled with description of a vision the Apostle John had. It is at the end of the book. It is the last book of the books of the Bible.

The Book of Revelation.

Yes, singular. The Apostle John saw many things, but it was a single revelation, a single event occurrence. 

I came to salvation through the preaching and teaching of the Book of Revelation at a revival when i was 13. Since then, I have read it numerous times individually, had it preached through (all 22 chapters) once, done the Precept study on it (took 2 years), and am again listening to it preached from the pulpit. 

The Book of Revelation outlines events yet to come (prophecy). God has outlined His plan to redeem Israel and the events that must occur for that to happen. What kicks off this redemption of the apple of God's eye, is the church being raptured - where Jesus meets believers in the air before the wrath of God is poured out in order of seals, trumpets and bowls. 

Zechariah 2  (NASB)

God’s Favor to Zion

2 Then I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, there was a man with a measuring line in his hand. 2 So I said, “Where are you going?” And he said to me, “To measure Jerusalem, to see how wide it is and how long it is.” 3 And behold, the angel who was speaking with me was going out, and another angel was coming out to meet him, 4 and said to him, “Run, speak to that young man, saying, ‘Jerusalem will be inhabited without walls because of the multitude of men and cattle within it. 5 For I,’ declares the Lord, ‘will be a wall of fire around her, and I will be the glory in her midst.’”

6 “Ho there! Flee from the land of the north,” declares the Lord, “for I have dispersed you as the four winds of the heavens,” declares the Lord. 7 “Ho, Zion! Escape, you who are living with the daughter of Babylon.” 8 For thus says the Lord of hosts, “After glory He has sent me against the nations which plunder you, for he who touches you, touches the apple of His eye. 9 For behold, I will wave My hand over them so that they will be plunder for their slaves. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent Me. 10 Sing for joy and be glad, O daughter of Zion; for behold I am coming and I will dwell in your midst,” declares the Lord. 11 “Many nations will join themselves to the Lord in that day and will become My people. Then I will dwell in your midst, and you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent Me to you. 12 The Lord will possess Judah as His portion in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem.

13 “Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord; for He is aroused from His holy habitation.”

All believers in this current age, The Age of Grace, The Church Age need to reconcile with is the fact that yes God set about to redeem all of mankind - Jew and Gentile, but Israel is the apple of His eye. And though we gentiles have been adopted into the family, and receive all the richness and glory and blessings of salvation - Israel is set apart. Israel has been sanctified apart from all the other nations. And even though they have repeatedly turned their back and fist towards God, He has never, not once given up or stopped pursuing them. And the end of the book tells us how He plans to redeem them, bring them back to them. 

In the next few days and weeks I will share my notes on the Book of Revelation from the sermon series we are going through.I do have notes that I will share from other sources that enriches the notes I have from my pastor. I do not currently have sermon notes on the letter to the churches - our pastor plans to do those at the end of the sermon series. But, I do have notes from the precept study I did, and will share those. We believers need to be familiar with all parts of scripture, even the end of the book because we have a duty as watchmen to warn others about what is coming. 

Ezekiel 3:16-21 (NASB)

16 At the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 17 “Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman to the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from My mouth, warn them from Me. 18 When I say to the wicked, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to warn the wicked from his wicked way that he may live, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. 19 Yet if you have warned the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered yourself. 20 Again, when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I place an obstacle before him, he will die; since you have not warned him, he shall die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require at your hand. 21 However, if you have warned the righteous man that the righteous should not sin and he does not sin, he shall surely live because he took warning; and you have delivered yourself.”

FUTURE: Ezekiel 38 & 39

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas. My family had a great time. My children were over abundantly gifted - their recently purged rooms are a bit full again. The Christmas decorations have come down. Family has returned home. And looking forward is a new year. Celebrations, return work/school, very cold weather (possibly snow again!).

There is a degree of certainty and uncertainty in the year to come. We anticipate:

• my husband graduating from the police academy
• paying off as many bills as possible
• fixing our fence and electrical issues
• all of us getting a year old

The questions we have going into the year ahead:

• how far Brock will go in the department
• how our church will continue to grow beyond the walls of the building
• will our children accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior (pretty sure Abigail is close)
• will the LORD return this year

On November 29, 1947 the United Nations General Assembly passed Resolution 181, which formally established a Jewish nation in the land.  War broke out immediately between Jews and Palestinians, which culminated in the establishment of the State of Israel on May 14, 1948. On this date, Israel was re-established as a nation.

Let us look at the parable of the Fig Tree: Matthew 24: 32-41

32 “Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; 33 so, you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door. 34 Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.

36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. 37 For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be. 40 Then there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left.

There is general agreement that the Parable of the Fig Tree that Jesus told His disciples in His Olivet Discourse was a prophecy of the rebirth of Israel because the fig tree represents national Israel in Scripture.

• 1 Kings 4:25
• Jeremiah 24:5 
• Hosea 9:10
• Matthew 21:18-20
• Mark 11:12-14
• Luke 3:7-9, 13:6-9 
• John 1:47-49  

The immediate context of the parable was the Time of Jacob's Trouble, also known as the Tribulation. In other words, the generation that sees Israel reborn and the fig tree "put out its leaves" is the same generation that will see the completion of the Tribulation and the return of Jesus Christ.

The fig tree withered during Jesus' first coming because the nation rejected their Messiah. The Jewish people put to death their own King:

• Matthew 27:37
• Mark 15:2
• John 19:19
• Acts 2:36

Verse 34 of Matthew 24 says this generation will not pass away. A biblical generation is 70 years, and we are coming upon that this coming May. If you have read my blog for some time, you know I believe we are in the very last seconds of the Church Age. I believe and yearn for the return of my Savior, Jesus Christ, Emmanuel - God with us. I have studied Revelation, and know that His return for His bride is glorious for her (the Church), but that it triggers a minimum of 7 years of wrath, judgement, and woe on those who have not accepted Him. And that makes me mourn. For only God, Yaweh, knows that hearts of man, and knows who will be raptured and who will remain. There is grace in the time of Seals, Trumpets, & Bowls, salvation can be had, but at a much heavier price than in all times before.

But recently I became aware of a prophecy that must take place first, before the Church hears the trumpet call and is united with her Groom. There will be a war. All nations will turn against Israel, all. The stage has been set with the Trump administration. He is challenging every nation that doesn't stand with Israel, calling them out. North Korea is unstable (the nation and its leader) and is war of words with our President, which everyone believes will spill over onto the world stage. 

I believe that those that stand with Israel will be wiped out, or so decimated that they will be unable to defend Israel, who will then be attacked. 

But, Israel will not be defeated in this attack. The leaders of that attack though, will suffer loss unlike any other. Ezekiel 38 & 39 outline this war, and the outcome. This scripture has not come to pass yet. The prophecy will happen I believe in the months to come. Please read it below, see what is to come, and prepare your hearts. Friends the Church will be on earth for this, but I believe after this war, sometime soon after, the trumpet will call, and the bride will see her Groom.

Ezekiel 38 (NASB)

Prophecy about Gog and Future Invasion of Israel
38 And the word of the Lord came to me saying, 2 “Son of man, set your face toward Gog of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him 3 and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am against you, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal. 4 I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them splendidly attired, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them wielding swords; 5 Persia, Ethiopia and Put with them, all of them with shield and helmet; 6 Gomer with all its troops; Beth-togarmah from the remote parts of the north with all its troops—many peoples with you.

7 “Be prepared, and prepare yourself, you and all your companies that are assembled about you, and be a guard for them. 8 After many days you will be summoned; in the latter years you will come into the land that is restored from the sword, whose inhabitants have been gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel which had been a continual waste; but its people were brought out from the nations, and they are living securely, all of them. 9 You will go up, you will come like a storm; you will be like a cloud covering the land, you and all your troops, and many peoples with you.”

10 ‘Thus says the Lord God, “It will come about on that day, that thoughts will come into your mind and you will devise an evil plan, 11 and you will say, ‘I will go up against the land of unwalled villages. I will go against those who are at rest, that live securely, all of them living without walls and having no bars or gates, 12 to capture spoil and to seize plunder, to turn your hand against the waste places which are now inhabited, and against the people who are gathered from the nations, who have acquired cattle and goods, who live at the center of the world.’ 13 Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish with all its villages will say to you, ‘Have you come to capture spoil? Have you assembled your company to seize plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to capture great spoil?’”’

14 “Therefore prophesy, son of man, and say to Gog, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “On that day when My people Israel are living securely, will you not know it? 15 You will come from your place out of the remote parts of the north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great assembly and a mighty army; 16 and you will come up against My people Israel like a cloud to cover the land. It shall come about in the last days that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me when I am sanctified through you before their eyes, O Gog.”

17 ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Are you the one of whom I spoke in former days through My servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days for many years that I would bring you against them? 18 It will come about on that day, when Gog comes against the land of Israel,” declares the Lord God, “that My fury will mount up in My anger. 19 In My zeal and in My blazing wrath I declare that on that day there will surely be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. 20 The fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the beasts of the field, all the creeping things that creep on the earth, and all the men who are on the face of the earth will shake at My presence; the mountains also will be thrown down, the steep pathways will collapse and every wall will fall to the ground. 21 I will call for a sword against him on all My mountains,” declares the Lord God. “Every man’s sword will be against his brother. 22 With pestilence and with blood I will enter into judgment with him; and I will rain on him and on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, a torrential rain, with hailstones, fire and brimstone. 23 I will magnify Myself, sanctify Myself, and make Myself known in the sight of many nations; and they will know that I am the Lord.”’

Ezekiel 39 (NASB)

Prophecy against Gog—Invaders Destroyed
39 “And you, son of man, prophesy against Gog and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am against you, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal; 2 and I will turn you around, drive you on, take you up from the remotest parts of the north and bring you against the mountains of Israel. 3 I will strike your bow from your left hand and dash down your arrows from your right hand. 4 You will fall on the mountains of Israel, you and all your troops and the peoples who are with you; I will give you as food to every kind of predatory bird and beast of the field. 5 You will fall on the [d]open field; for it is I who have spoken,” declares the Lord God. 6 “And I will send fire upon Magog and those who inhabit the coastlands in safety; and they will know that I am the Lord.

7 “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 will know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel. 8 Behold, it is coming and it shall be done,” declares the Lord God. “That is the day of which I have spoken.

9 “Then those who inhabit the cities of Israel will go out and make fires with the weapons and burn them, both shields and bucklers, bows and arrows, war clubs and spears, and for seven years they will make fires of them. 10 They will not take wood from the field or gather firewood from the forests, for they will make fires with the weapons; and they will take the spoil of those who despoiled them and seize the plunder of those who plundered them,” declares the Lord God.

11 “On that day I will give Gog a burial ground there in Israel, the valley of those who pass by east of the sea, and it will block off those who would pass by. So they will bury Gog there with all his horde, and they will call it the valley of Hamon-gog. 12 For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them in order to cleanse the land. 13 Even all the people of the land will bury them; and it will be to their renown on the day that I glorify Myself,” declares the Lord God. 14 “They will set apart men who will constantly pass through the land, burying those who were passing through, even those left on the surface of the ground, in order to cleanse it. At the end of seven months they will make a search. 15 As those who pass through the land pass through and anyone sees a man’s bone, then he will set up a marker by it until the buriers have buried it in the valley of Hamon-gog. 16 And even the name of the city will be Hamonah. So they will cleanse the land.”’

17 “As for you, son of man, thus says the Lord God, ‘Speak to every kind of bird and to every beast of the field, “Assemble and come, gather from every side to My sacrifice which I am going to sacrifice for you, as a great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel, that you may eat flesh and drink blood. 18 You will eat the flesh of mighty men and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, as though they were rams, lambs, goats and bulls, all of them fatlings of Bashan. 19 So you will eat fat until you are glutted, and drink blood until you are drunk, from My sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you. 20 You will be glutted at My table with horses and charioteers, with mighty men and all the men of war,” declares the Lord God.

21 “And I will set My glory among the nations; and all the nations will see My judgment which I have executed and My hand which I have laid on them. 22 And the house of Israel will know that I am the Lord their God from that day onward. 23 The nations will know that the house of Israel went into exile for their iniquity because they acted treacherously against Me, and I hid My face from them; so I gave them into the hand of their adversaries, and all of them fell by the sword. 24 According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions I dealt with them, and I hid My face from them.”’”

Israel Restored
25 Therefore thus says the Lord God, “Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for My holy name. 26 They will forget their disgrace and all their treachery which they perpetrated against Me, when they live securely on their own land with no one to make them afraid. 27 When I bring them back from the peoples and gather them from the lands of their enemies, then I shall be sanctified through them in the sight of the many nations. 28 Then they will know that I am the Lord their God because I made them go into exile among the nations, and then gathered them again to their own land; and I will leave none of them there any longer. 29 I will not hide My face from them any longer, for I will have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel,” declares the Lord God.

Once last thing, if you have time, I recommend you read this book. 

Epicenter 2.0 by Joel Rosenberg

I found it a great book on what has happened in the middle east for the past decade and what is still to come. If you have followed me for some time, you know that I am a fan of Joel Rosenberg. Him and Anne Graham Lotz have a phenomenal series on the Book of Joel that you can find on YouTube (search harbingers).

God Bless & Happy New Year friends.