August 14, 2014

Scattered

I’ve been listening to reports of Iraqi Christians being told to choose between renouncing their faith and becoming Muslim; leaving their homes with only the clothes on their back; or facing death at the hand of the terrorists. While it’s tragic, it has a familiar ring. Saul of Tarsus watched and gave his approval to the stoning of Stephen, “On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison” (Acts 8:1-3 NIV).

1 comment:

Steve Corey said...

Gail;

-----This should also have a different familiar ring. And that ring becomes all the more distinct with the more one learns about Muslim eschatology and the current Muslim population. There have been eleven Mahdi’s, or supreme imams, in Islamic history. Some of them have been truly small figures in the size and scope of their accomplishments. But their accomplishments were timely and relevant in key ways to the advancement of Islam. Both Sunni and Shiite Muslims look for the Twelfth Imam to deliver the entire world into one Islamic state, though they view him somewhat different from each other. What’s really interesting, though, is that when he does arrive, Jesus will also return and point to him as the savior (so they err.) This Jesus will direct the world’s worship toward the Mahdi, annihilate all the pigs, end the jizzya tax (protection money non-Muslims must pay to live safely,) and behead everyone who does not convert to Islam (especially Jews.) There will be no escape, of course, because the entire world will be claimed for Allah, the loving brute. Sound familiar? Moreover, this Mahdi will execute a seven year peace agreement with “Rome”, as they call the Western world, to be signed by a Cohen (member of the Israelite priestly family.)
-----John sees the beast rise up out of the sea. The sea is a Biblical metaphor for the mixing, roiling, unguided mass of humanity. The Yazidis showed us that people will not fall for the Islamic “charm” immediately. The Islamic State showed us plenty stomach for massive and cruel persecution. This charming flow will ebb like a few US bombs hindered their bloody work on Mt. Sinjar. But Islam is like the Borg -resistance is futile. And after more displays of the grotesque reality of their penchant for severing heads, falling in line with them will come into the kind of vogue we see in rallies around the world for Gaza‘s safety and the freedom Hamas expresses with missiles in Israeli skies. Through the persevering efforts of the Muslim Brotherhood, many cities around the world are already politically swayed by Muslim majorities. And while most of the rest of the world limit themselves to a couple children per family, on average, Muslim mommies are popping out little beheaders seven, eight, and nine apiece. I’ve read projections claiming the US Muslim population will be able to control our politics within a couple decades. Makes me bleed at the neck.
-----Six of the seven heads on the beast of Revelation can be identified as Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Macedonia, and Rome. They each share two common traits: 1) each controlled God’s Holy Land at one time, and 2) except Egypt for obvious reasons, each either defeated or came from the one before it. This would seem a clue for identifying the seventh, which died and came back to life. Byzantium was the surviving Eastern half of the Roman empire. In 1453, the Ottoman’s defeated that last vestige of the Roman Empire. In 1517 they took control of Jerusalem. World War I killed this head. 1923 was it’s formally documented demise. Three years later a handful of men formed an organization specifically directed towards bringing that empire back to life: the Muslim Brotherhood.
-----Moreover, all of these areas embroiled in battle in the Middle East, including Crimea, the Ukraine, Russia, the Sudan, and Libya are named in Ezekiel 38 as they were known to the ancients.
-----These times are getting interesting. It’s time to start examining every cloud carefully to see if it turns out to have a Jesus lining.

Love you all,
Steve Corey