POPHECY II

As Christians, we desire to know as much as possible about
prophecy and the future. The last book in the bible is a recap of
church history by Christ followed by a picture of the end times.
We are concerned about our place in the future and our
prospects for escaping tribulation.

   To understand prophecy, we have to go all the way back to
Genesis, where God made a promise to Abram that was a
prophecy--Gen. 12:3, "I will make you a great nation; I will bless
you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing." (V
4)" I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who
curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be
blessed."

   You may say things didn't look that way from the mid 1930s
through World War II when Germany attempted to destroy the
Jews and the Jews had no homeland. But as God usually does,
He had a multi-plan of action. The  Germany of that day was
judged and destroyed. A homeland was arranged for the Jews
after the war's end, and the United States repented its ways of
the Roaring Twenties to take leadership in preserving the Jews
and assuring freedom for developed countries.

   There was judgment, there was punishment, there was
repentance, and there was redemption. From Genesis
throughout the Old Testament, we see over and over the four
stage cycles of achieving prosperity, enjoying prosperity,
forgetting prosperity's source, judgment and accompanying
punishment.

    If you think anything has changed in God's basic plan, you will
be wasting your time studying Daniel or Revelation. As the world
becomes an ever enlarging playing board, the multiplicity of
God's plan is evident. The key, however, is the activity of Israel
and Christians (basically the United States).

   In the Book of Judges, we see Israel disobeying God over and
over, and as the Lord raised up judges for Israel, the people fell
into disobedience after the judges died. Judges 2:19, "And it
came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they reverted and
behaved more corruptly than their fathers, by following other
gods, to serve them and bow down to them, they did not cease
from their own doings nor from their stubborn way."

   The main departure from God by the Israelites was the worship
of other gods. There are many things that are worshiped,
including beauty, physical ability, entertainers, deceit,
dishonesty--and worst of all--money and the power it delivers. We
will talk about this subject a bit later.

   God brought forth prophets to warn the people when they
entered the third stage of forgetting who had blessed them, and
now were not following God's guide for living. Prophets such as
Isaiah were directed by God to confront the people, exhort and
warn them they were on the road to judgment and punishment.
Needless  to say, most of the people not only did not listen, but
hated the prophets and treated them very badly. People, we do
not want anyone telling us our mistakes and sins.

   Few people believe in prophets today, largely because there
have been so many fakes and deranged people making ridiculous
claims or "forecasts". There are some real ones, but we live in a
day and age, when most people who pray do so without actually
expecting miracles to happen. Little or no faith=no miracles.
There is no gala celebration or special worship to mark a
prophet's introduction to his work. To see how Isaiah comes
about, read Isaiah 6:1-8 to see how he  became a prophet.  
Before closing your bible, continue through verses 9 and 10.

   "And He said, 'Go, and tell this people: Keep on hearing, but do
not understand; Keep on seeing, but do not perceive. Make the
heart of this people dull, And their ears heavy, And shut their
eyes; Lest they see with their eyes, And hear with their
ears, And understand with their heart, And return and be
healed.'"

   Having studied the bible and other references for many years, I
know full well that we see (read) right over truths without seeing
them, until a later reading has the same words jump out at us and
teach us something. These verses from Isaiah are some of the
most important verses in all of scripture. They tell us exactly what
our problem is, and how it can be corrected.

   The tragic and serious part of this study is contained in the
verses 11-13, when Isaiah asks, "Lord, how long?" Read verses
11-13, and see the carnage we bring upon ourselves. A tenth will
be saved. Friends, if the same measure holds true this time, it
means only one in ten of Jews and Christians will be recognized
as committed to the Lord. The marriage feast may not be as
crowded as I once thought.

   We need to go one more place in scripture to get an
understanding of where we are right now. This, too, will be
explained a bit later. Go to the very last book before Revelation,
the Book of Jude. It is a short book, and you should carefully read
every word. Jude warns that the final step before judgment is
the blind following of apostate teachers.

   I go back to the First Commandment, "Thou shalt have no other
gods before me." Further descriptions of other gods follow in the
Second Commandment. There are many types of graven images,
including any sign for money. I stress that, because while money
is not evil, the pursuit and love of money is exactly worship of a
graven image (symbol).

   In the New Testament we come upon John the Baptist. He is the
New Testament version of a prophet. He tells people of the
coming of the Messiah and the need to repent. The wilderness
that John was preaching in was the ungodly people of the day,
not bushes and trees. The leaders of the day-- priests, kings and
such, were corrupt (things never change). The people were
following Mosiac law, but as the priests interpreted it, and the
kings of that day had no godly religion. But John was sent to warn
the people. The coming of Christ would open the door to eternal
life to all mankind. But, there was a little hurdle in the presence of
sin and the need to listen to the Son of God.

   With this overview of prophecy, we are prepared to look at
ourselves and our society, the other countries of the world,
religions, governments, wars, commodities, finances and
apostate teachers. We will examine some national sins and see
why we are being judged now as tribulation continues to darken
our doorways.

Rev. Walbear
CLICK HERE TO READ PROPHECY I

The Search For God II

   In our previous message we saw that man's search for God didn't work
because man was taking leadership for something he was totally unprepared
to do. God, however, was conducting His own search, seeking an intelligent
man with an open mind to listen. God found that man in Abram.
       Even Abram sometimes had a problem in listening, but he tried his best, and God was
patient with him. If you missed the previous message, you missed the key to finding God.
God had to find a man who would listen. Mankind all over the world are still searching for
God, but never seem to understand that God is superior to man and must be the leader,
not the follower of any man-inspired substance placed to supersede God.
       Man has the propensity to keep believing he can make everything better. Note the
commercialism of "bigger", "improved", etc., used to bring consumers to the purchase. I
had a professing Christian tell me scientists would create a product better than milk.
While there are some substitutes for milk that help when a person has an allergy or other
problem with milk, God wouldn't have screwed up in giving milk as the basic food for
infants and most species. This person was a very nice
man, in church every week, but I have to wonder his questioning God's
perfection.
       Returning to Genesis, we see that God had found His man, and as we go
through the Books of Exodus, all the way to Samuel, He also had found His
Chosen people. They are still His Chosen people, because no where in scripture are we told
otherwise. There are some denominations today who claim Israel has been replaced by
Christianity. Christians have been grafted into the tree of life, Israel. God gave His Son to
provide this opportunity for everyone. Christ is a Jew, and we have eternal life through
Him, no one else.
       These denominations claiming Christians are now God's Chosen, cannot provide any
scripture explaining the change. What they do provide is a whole set of man-made claims,
rules and regulations. This places the men in these denominations in a special
status--almost like being a god. They also forget God's promise to Abram in Gen. 17:7,
"And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you  in
their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants
after you."
       I have not gone into detail about the Books I mentioned above, because I want to
move directly to God's Chosen as they made their terrible mistake. Up to the Book of
Samuel, Israel was ruled in an ideal manner. God spoke directly to priests or specially
chosen individuals to guide His people. They made mistakes, and had to be "rescued"
many times. But they were always preserved through their faith and God's power.
       In 1 Samuel, we find Eli serving as the judge (priest, leader) of Israel. Eli was a Godly
man, but his sons were corrupt. In his old age, he was mentoring Samuel. Please go to 1
Samuel and read about Samuel's birth, 1 Samuel 1:8 through chapter 2:11. This judge had
a special calling as did John the Baptist and Christ.
       Next, we go to one of the most stirring chapters of scripture, 1 Samuel 3:4 to the end
of the chapter. God spoke out loud to Samuel, and gave him his first prophecy. Like most
prophesies, it was not one Samuel wanted to deliver. God still does speak out loud to
people on very rare occasions. Like Abram, the listener must be receptive to hearing god's
words. It is possible for God to speak to someone surrounded by other people, but they will
not hear God's words.
       Samuel was a Godly judge, but, like Eli, his sons were ungodly. They turned aside
after dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice. (1 Sam. 8:3) Sound familiar in
today's world? Because Samuel's sons were corrupt judges, the people came to Samuel and
asked that they could have a king like other nations. This is the mistake I referred to
above. 1 Samuel 8:4-5, "Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to
Samuel at Ramah, and said to him, 'Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your
ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.'"
       Here we see a combination of activities, all of which are wrong, yet put together as
the basis for their request. They, or their ancestors, had seen the leadership of the God of
Israel and anointed judges deliver them time after time from the oppression  of other
nations who had kings. There were scores of miracles other gods could not perform. They
did not ask God to provide a new judge to replace Samuel's sons. Samuel should have
corrected his sons long before they served as judges, but he made the mistake of many
parents today, not using tough love and teaching God's Word.
       Samuel was not pleased with this request, and prayed to the Lord, and this was the
response: 1 Sam. 8:7, "And the Lord said to Samuel, 'Heed the voice of the people in all
that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I
should not reign over them.'" This act pretty well marked the beginning of the road to
tribulation and the rapture. God no longer led any country. He did, however, retain His
Chosen people and provide His Son so all mankind has the opportunity for eternal life.
       Pay close attention to the following verses, because you are seeing the
fulfillment of God's prophecy right now, today, although it will take some more time to
reach the rapture. These verses have come true in many foreign nations, and some are
already in place in America. There is not widespread recognition of these circumstances
yet for two reasons: our professing Christian leaders do not know scripture and pay no
attention to it, and our leaders enjoy an elite financial place that gives them no cause to
understand the ordinary citizens. You see, to understand prophecy and the end times, you
must know the Old Testament as well as Revelation.
       Here is what we get as a result of abandoning God as our leader on earth: Satan has
full access to walk to and fro on earth, gathering as many souls as possible to support his
political campaign. Christ has returned to heaven where He is preparing our ultimate
home. The Holy Spirit is with us to give us power "to overcome" temptation and sin. But,
Satan will win the battles until Christ returns and wins the war.
       All right, I've put off listing what we are getting NOW, and will continue to worsen as
we approach full tribulation. Study 1 Samuel 8:10-22. As you study,think of what's
happening in America. This is somewhat lengthy, but lays the groundwork for our study on
prophecy.
       Beginning with verse 10: "So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who
asked him for a king. And he said,"This will be the behavior of the king who will reign
over you: He will take your sons and appoint them for his own chariots and to be his
horsemen, and some will run before his chariots. He will appoint captains over his
thousands and captains over his fifties, will set some to plow his ground and reap his
harvest, and some to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. He will
take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, and bakers. And he will take the best of your
fields, your vineyards, and your olive groves, and give them to his servants. He will take a
tenth of your grain and your vintage, and give it to his officers and servants. And he will
take your male servants, your female servants, your finest young men, and your donkeys,
and put them to his work. He will take a tenth of your sheep. And you will be his servants.
And you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for
yourselves, and
the Lord will not hear you in that day.'"
       Verses 19-22: "Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel;and they
said, 'No, but we will have a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, and that
our king may judge us and go out before us and fight
our battles.' And Samuel heard all the words  of the people, and he repeated
them in the hearing of the Lord. So the Lord said to Samuel, "Heed their voice
and make them a king. " And Samuel said to the men of Israel, "Every man go
to his city."
       I have a strong feeling now that you may become somewhat confused by
this turning point in history. As you continue to study Samuel, you will see that
God selects the first king of Israel. While He has accepted His successor
leader of Israel as a man, God does not abandon His previous promises or
covenants. Israel still is His Chosen, and still will have its special place in the
world. He will still protect them and rescue them after they have placed
themselves in situations bordering on extinction.
       God is disappointed, but not surprised, at this change of heart by mankind.
As we see in the New Testament, although Christ and the Disciples did many
good works and miracles and harmed no one, they were continually under fire
by people, especially the leaders. It will always be the leaders, religious or
political, who will fight God. There is this matter of power and ego. But, remember
this: God is always in charge, and nothing will change His master plan for the
Kingdom of Christ and the eternal life of the saved. He knew this would happen
as man was given choice. Disappointed, yes; surprised, no.
        If you read on into 1 Samuel 9, you see how prophets (priests, leaders) were
treated by the people so long as God was in charge. That all changed after a king
was selected. The word of prophets was accepted as absolute truth before there
was a king. It was absolute truth.  Afterward, prophets were commonly hated
because God anointed prophets to serve as the people's conscience as well as
to prophesy the future. People do not like to be told their faults, especially the
professing Christians. If they are searching for money and power, they don't want
to change. They are working toward a material purpose driven life, not a spiritually driven
life. This is a major fork in the road. Do not be fooled by Satan's promises.
        We will continue this study on a happier note, as we see God still talking and
working with men and women who are willing to listen. Unfortunately, these people
have been found by God in His search, but common mankind has fallen back to the idea
that man can attain leadership over God. Virtually no one will listen to a
prophet today, but flock to preachers who promise a warm, fuzzy future and teach
such blasphemy as Chrislam, the new end time faith. More about this later.

Rev. Walbear
CLICK HERE TO READ SEARCH FOR GOD I