Category: A Drash to Start the Day

Speaking Can’t be Erased

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There is a story I once heard that provides the basis for today’s message.

If you prefer to watch a video, click on this link: Watch the video.

A man once spread gossip about his Rabbi. Later, he felt bad about it and went to his Rabbi to apologize. He asked if there was anything he could do to make it better, and the Rabbi asked him, “Do you have a feather pillow?” The man, a little taken back, said that he did. The Rabbi told him “Take the pillow into a large field of grass on a windy day, split the top open and swing the pillow around your head. Then, come back to me.”

The man did as he was told, and when he went back the Rabbi asked what happened. The man said, “It was really beautiful, Rabbi. The feathers floated here and there, everywhere, and it looked like snow. But, Rabbi…what does this have to do with my spreading gossip about you?”

The Rabbi said, “Go back out to that field and pick up all the feathers.”

Gossip isn’t the only thing we do that cannot be taken back. Angry words, nasty comments, and a discompassionate attitude are all things that, once done, cannot be retracted.

Oh, yes- we can apologize, and we may be forgiven, but for most people, the rule is “Once bitten, twice shy.” And many people, to their own detriment, will take the attitude that once you do something to them they don’t like, they will never have anything to do with you, at all.

Forgiveness doesn’t mean trusting again, it doesn’t mean loving again, and it doesn’t mean wanting to be friends again. Forgiving others who hurt us is something we must do, not for their sake but for our own. We will never get past the hurt until we forgive. But, as I said, forgiving doesn’t mean having to re-establish the previous relationship. I can be forgiven for saying something, but that person doesn’t have to trust me or even speak to me, ever again.

The Bible is clear that we must always watch what we say. We read about it in Proverbs, in Psalms, in the Gospels and the Epistles. We must always be wary of what we say and how we say it, if not only to avoid hurting someone but (more importantly) not to do or say anything that will dishonor God.

Remember in Psalm 51, when David asked God to forgive him for the sin he committed against Uriah, the Hittite and with Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba? He said (Psalm51:4):

Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight;

Any and all sins we commit are, first and foremost, against God because we have done something he said we must not do. And when we ask for forgiveness, it must first be from God. When we come to judgment, it will be God who is the judge, so we better make sure we have nothing for him to hold against us. If we only go to the one we sinned against to ask forgiveness, even if he (or she) forgives us, they are not God.

When God forgives us, we have re-established our relationship with him; when someone else forgives us, it doesn’t have anything at all to do with our relationship with God. It affects their relationship with God, but not ours.

No one other than God can forgive your sins, and because there is no longer any temple in Jerusalem (where the Torah commands we must bring our sin sacrifice) the only way to receive forgiveness of our sins today is through the substitutionary sacrifice that Yeshua ha Maschiach made for us.

Therefore, be very, VERY careful what you say. Always think before you speak, and if you have even the slightest doubt that what you are saying (or writing) may be taken the wrong way, then shut up!

I say this not as someone who knows how to shut up, but as someone who has made a profession of not shutting up in time.

I know all about sin because I have so much experience doing it. God forgive me for my weakness and strengthen me to sin less each day.

Amen!

Thank you for being here and please share me out to help this ministry to grow. I never ask for money, I just want to spread the truth about God so that people can make an informed decision, based not on their religious doctrine but on what God says.

Until next time, L’hitraot and Baruch haShem!

You Don’t Deserve Squat

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Normally, I turn the sound off when a TV commercial comes on. So many times what they say is such an insult to someone’s intelligence. One of the worst things, in my opinion, is how they constantly try to sell you on the idea that you deserve what they have for you, and don’t let anyone take it away.

If you prefer to watch a video, click on this link: Watch the video.

You deserve this coverage, you deserve to feel better, you deserve more interest, you deserve a better car, you deserve to feel loved, you deserve…actually, if you listen to this drek, you deserve anything and everything you want.

The truth is you don’t deserve squat… unless you earn it.

Wait a minute, Steve! What about our inalienable rights? The U.S. Constitution says we deserve them.

No, it doesn’t. It says you have the right to them, but we didn’t deserve the freedom to exercise those rights until after we earned it through warfare and bloodshed.

The current generation is known as “Millennials”; they all seem to have a sense of entitlement (of course, not all Millennials fit this description, but certainly, enough do to justify the stereotype), and I believe a lot of this is due to their having been brought being told they deserve whatever they want. I want a new car, well, I deserve it. I want better insurance rates, well, I deserve them. I want a better insurance plan, well I deserve one.

Get real, people! You don’t deserve anything you haven’t earned, but there are many things available to you. If I work hard and save my money, or if I invest wisely, then I can say I deserve to have those things because I have earned them.

By definition, if I already deserve something then all I should have to do is ask to receive it, right?  What do you think will happen if you go to your insurance company and tell them you deserve better rates? Do you think you will get them without giving up some benefits or paying more? If you go to a car dealer and offer to give them your car for that better car you deserve, will they accept your old car and give you the better one at no additional cost?

No one deserves anything that they haven’t earned.

What about salvation? Yeshua died for our sins, and haven’t we been told by our religious leaders that all we need to do is ask and we shall receive? If we can get it simply by asking, doesn’t that mean we deserve it?

You would think so. Even by my own definition, something that we deserve we should be able to get with the asking. Yeshua did die for our sins, and he did make salvation something that we can have simply by asking, but it isn’t something we deserve.

It is available to us, but we haven’t, and (frankly) none of us ever will, deserve it. That is the reason Yeshua had to die – no one can earn salvation.

What about blessings? Doesn’t God give blessings to everyone even when they are sinful? Doesn’t it say in Matthew 5:45 that God sends rain to the just and unjust alike?  If that is true, then we must all deserve blessings.

It is true that God will bless even those who reject and curse him, which he does because he is a loving and compassionate God. But we don’t automatically deserve a blessing; however, blessings can be earned by obeying God’s instructions in the Torah (Deut. 28.) God promises that when we are obedient to his instructions he will bless us, and God always keeps his word.

Yeshua earned his salvation through a lifetime of perfect obedience to God’s instructions, something none of us can do. He did that so salvation could be available to all people. We do not deserve it, but we can have it.

I’ll finish with this: we can’t earn and we don’t deserve salvation, but we can have it; the hard part is deserving to keep it. And that, my friends, is for another message.

Thank you for being here and please subscribe if you haven’t done so already. I welcome comments and look forward to our next time together, so until then…L’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!

Right Relationship is More Important Than Being Right

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I just had three wonderful days with my two sisters visiting me. One from North Carolina and the other from Austin, Texas. I am the middle child (which probably explains a lot) and we each had our differences growing up, although my (8 years) younger sister didn’t have the same “issues” with either of us as my (2 1/2 year) older sister and I had.

If you prefer to watch a video, click on this link: Watch the video.

We all three have different ideas about many things, and each of us, separately, has been upset by or upset with each other about one thing or another over the years. But here’s the point: we forgive each other and continue to work on having a good relationship instead of dwelling on whatever thing had upset us.

The important thing for everyone is to be able to forgive automatically so that we can maintain our family (and other) relationships, even through tough times. This is also a biblically correct thing to do, as we are not commanded to ask for forgiveness, but we are commanded to (or, at least, warned we’d better) forgive each other.

Most of us know the “Lord’s Prayer” in Matthew 6:9-13, right?  “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come, thy will be done”, ….got it?  Well, do you remember what Yeshua said after he gave that template for prayer? Let me help you; it’s Matthew 6:14-15:

For if you forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will not forgive yours.

Forgiveness is one of the most important things we can do for ourselves, and it is the glue that holds people together when certain acts or words try to tear them apart.

I am so very, very grateful to God for always giving me a forgiving heart, even before I knew him. I was able to reconcile with my mother long before she passed away, and have been able to maintain friendships for decades, more than a handful going all the way back to elementary school, all because I have learned to forgive people.

I know people who have not reconciled with family, and when the opportunity to do so was gone, they realized what they missed. The fact that once someone is dead you can never fix that relationship can often be devastating.

And here is another important fact: forgiving people is not supposed to be a reaction to someone asking for it. You are to forgive those that hurt you whether they ask for it or not!  

That’s right- you are to forgive them whether they want you to or not, whether they even care if you do or not. Your forgiveness of them doesn’t have anything at all to do with what is going on between them and God, but it has everything to do with what is going on between YOU and God.

My older sister and I have very different views on many things, especially politics, and we tend to walk gingerly when we discuss them. And often the room starts to heat up, and when that happens we simply agree to not agree. Because, even when things get a little “heated”, we will not allow it to affect our feelings for each other or our relationship because for us, being together is more important than being “right.”

What is important is that you maintain your good relationships, try to reconcile the bad ones, and remember that you don’t need to be right with people but you do need to be right with God.

And the only way to do that is to read the Bible so you know what God wants from you.

Thank you for being here and please don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE. Share me out and I always welcome comments, I only ask that you be nice.

Until next time, L’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!

Abortion is More Than Just Murder

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(No video today)

Do you know of the Canaanite god called Molech? There are a few different spellings of the name, but he is the god of the Ammonites to which the people sacrificed their children by making them go “through the fire.” Our God called Molech an abomination.

There’s no argument that this was a form of murder, but the act of murder was superseded by the atrocity of killing one’s own child.  In other words, it wasn’t just a murder, it was more than a murder: it was a heinous crime that no God-fearing person would ever even contemplate.

Abortion is taking something that is alive and killing it. Since the living entity in the womb is a human being, that is what we call murder. But it is more than murder, isn’t it? It is killing one’s own child, and with the current political movement throughout the states which allows abortion in the third trimester, this is not just abortion- it is child sacrifice.

I searched for the reason that people would sacrifice their children to Molech and this is the best answer I could find:

When a couple sacrificed their firstborn, they believed that Moloch would ensure financial prosperity for the family and future children.

That’s pretty much why people get an abortion, isn’t it?

Now, before someone starts to attack me and bring up rape and incest, etc., and other more “socially acceptable” reasons to abort a child, let me say that the vast majority of abortions are not the result of trauma or some other form of copulation that was not consensual. The majority of abortions are done is because either the mother (or both parents) decided that the time isn’t right to have a child, or that they don’t want to have the child, or that the pregnancy was a mistake. Or any combination of these excuses.

That means, to me, that they want to abort (isn’t abortion so much nicer a word than murder?) their child so that they can have a better future and maybe more kids later on. That is no different than saying I am sacrificing this child I am now carrying so that I won’t have the expenses of a child (i.e., to have financial prosperity) and we can always have another (benefit future children.)

Do you see? Abortion is sacrificing to Molech. Maybe the clinics aren’t shaped like a giant with his hands outstretched to hold the child, as the ancient sacrificial altar was formed, but it is the same act. And, for that matter, whether the father is there or not, his absence is silent approval.

If anyone thinks we aren’t nearing the spiritual lows of the ancient days, or that the End Times are not rapidly approaching, talk to them about the abomination called Molech and child sacrifice.

Today, all that has really changed is the altar of sacrifice and it has been rebranded as Abortion.

Thank you for being here, and please don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE and share me out.

Until next time, L’Hitraot and Baruch HaShem!

When Do We Stop?

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Today, as I was reviewing Facebook, someone posted this message:

In life, it’s important to know when to stop arguing with people and simply let them be wrong. 

If you prefer to watch a video, click on this link: Watch the video.

I thought about this with regard to the many times I have seen a discussion devolve into an argument, all because one person wouldn’t stop trying to get the other person to agree. The exchange of ideas was corrupted into an exchange of insults because of one person’s stubborn pridefulness not allowing the other person to have their own view.

For those who profess to be Believers, meaning people who are supposed to be God-fearing, respectful, compassionate, and loving of others to argue about things to the point where their pride takes over is a very poor way to represent God. It doesn’t glorify him, at all! What makes it worse is that the person who refuses to stop arguing will, more often than not, say they are just telling the truth, which they proclaim justifies their rude behavior.

Shaul tells us that righteous anger is fine, and it is, but it is no excuse for being nasty or disrespectful to someone. The same goes for telling the truth; as far as I am concerned, if you are unable to tell someone your understanding of “the truth” without having to yell at or insult them, then not only have you already lost the argument but your truth might not really be the truth.

Now, someone may say that Yeshua insulted the Pharisees and Scribes and Torah-teachers often, and that is true. My answer to that point of fact is this: you ain’t Yeshua! And when he spoke, even those who were against him could not argue with him because his truth was God’s truth and stood on its own. When you or I discuss God with others and they don’t accept what we say, or tell us we are wrong,  before we start to insult them we might consider that if what we say isn’t strong enough to stand on its own, maybe what we think is right is actually wrong. Or maybe what we are saying is right but we are saying it in a wrong way.

I learned this lesson many years ago when I received a left-handed compliment from my boss. I was a Sales Manager for Home Depot’s At-Home Services and the Senior Vice President I was working for told me that what I say is almost always correct, but (here comes the down-side) it becomes impotent because of the way I say it. You see, I was just telling the truth, but the way I told it rendered it useless because it made people upset.

God gave each and every one of us Free Will because he wants us to choose to worship him. We also can choose to reject God and all he says. That means God, himself, allows someone to be wrong if they choose to be wrong. So who are we to disallow that which God allows?

Your truth may not be my truth, and (truthfully) both may still be true. What is important is that we don’t tell someone the truth in order to show how correct we are, but to help them come closer to God. It is all about bringing people into proper relationship with God and Messiah, so when someone chooses to reject what you say, go ahead and make an argument without arguing. Allow them a minute or so to take it in, and if they are willing to continue to listen then you are doing well. If they reject what you say, and refuse to accept any proof from you, then before the discussion becomes an argument, do as God does and allow them to be wrong.

One last point: remember how God told the prophets that if they did not tell the people to repent, then their blood would be on his head? But, if after telling them to repent, they decided to reject God’s warnings and continued to sin, then the prophet would be free of their blood and it would be on their own heads? This rule holds true for us, as well. We are to try to bring people into the Kingdom of God but not by force, coercion, fear, or bribery (such as telling them about all the blessings they receive for being Believers.)

As purveyors of God’s truth, your job and mine is simply to tell the truth as God has shown it to us and allow people to make up their own minds.

Thank you for being here, and please share this out to your friends and family, and SUBSCRIBE so that when I post you will be notified. And I always welcome comments, all I ask is that you be nice.

Until next time, L’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!

Acknowledging God is Not Worshiping God

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If you hadn’t noticed, I was off all last week. Donna and I were on a cruise with relatives who got married on the ship. It was very nice.

If you prefer to watch a video, click on this link: Watch the video.

Many times we have heard our religious leaders tell us that all we need to do is call on the name of the Lord, and we will be saved. They got that from Romans 10:13; just call on God for salvation and it’s yours. What is implied is that you actually believe God exists and that you also accept that Yeshua (Jesus) is the Messiah.

Believe in God, believe in Yeshua as the Messiah, ask for salvation and that’s that! Saved! Easy enough, right?

I am afraid I will have to bust your bubble because, as the old song goes, it ain’t necessarily so.

Do you think that King Nebuchadnezzar was saved? No? Why not? He recognized and lauded the God of Daniel. He wrote letters (this is all in the book of Daniel, of course) proclaiming the sovereignty of God and even threatened to tear down the house and kill anyone, including their entire family, who did or said anything against the God of Daniel (Daniel 3:31-33 and Daniel 4:31-34.)

Daryevesh (also called Darius), the king of the Persians, also proclaimed the God of Daniel as the living God who endures forever (Daniel 6:26-28), yet do we think that Daryevesh sits in the presence of the Lord for all eternity?

And what about every demon under the authority of the Son of Perdition, that old lion HaSatan?  They certainly aren’t saved, yet not only do they believe in God and know (absolutely) that Yeshua is the Messiah, but they have actually seen them both! Are they going to be saved because they acknowledge and believe in God and Yeshua?

Of course not. Not until they: (1) genuinely repent of their evil, (2) ask forgiveness by means of Yeshua’s sacrifice, and (3) return to a righteous existence.

It’s the third step in this process which is the difference that makes a difference: believing isn’t enough, and repentance isn’t enough, we need them both AND we also need to do T’shuvah– turn from sin.

Sin is a very easy thing to define: it simply means going against the instructions God gave us all to follow, which are found in the Torah.

The things that Yeshua’s Talmudim (Disciples) say and the things that Shaul (Paul) says, and the things that are written in the Prophets and other writings that tell us what God wants us to do (or not do) are all based on what God said in the Torah.  Anything you have been told that even implies any of the rules, laws, commandments, regulations, or statutes found in the Torah are no longer valid is going against what God said, which, by definition, is a sin.

Yeshua obeyed his father. He tells us this over and over…and over…throughout the Gospels. More than any other book, in the Gospel of John Yeshua constantly says that he says only what the Father tells him to say and he does only what the Father tells him to do. And, since we all know God is the same today, yesterday, and tomorrow, that means Yeshua obeyed everything that we are told to do in the Torah. And more than that, he taught us that we should do everything we are told to do in the Torah.

There is a slight problem with that, though- we can’t do everything God tells us to do. We aren’t perfect, we are infused with iniquity from birth, and we cannot live a sinless life, as Yeshua did. Does that mean we shouldn’t even try? Of course not!

If you want to be saved from the eternal punishment that being an unrepentant sinner will bring, then you must try, and try your best. I often say we can’t be sinless, but we can always sin less. That is the goal to attain- not being sinless, but simply sinning less each day.

I feel sorry for those that have been taught the lie that just calling on God, asking for forgiveness and being a “good person” is all they need to do. What is worse is that this incomplete teaching is usually followed up with another lie, which is that the Torah is just for Jews and we are saved by the Blood of Christ.

I wonder what a Priest, Minister, Pastor, or even a Rabbi would say if someone asked, “What do I need to do to be considered a good person by God?”

Would they answer by quoting Yeshua’s answer to that question, which is found in Matthew 19:17:

“Why ask me about what is good?” Yeshua replied. “There is only One who is good. But to answer your question—if you want to receive eternal life, keep the commandments.”

Next time you come across someone who believes that being a good person is all you need to do, please remind them of what Yeshua said, and try to get them to realize that asking isn’t enough- we must prove our repentance through actions, or what James calls good works.

I learned a long time ago that people don’t mean what they say, they mean what they do. I try to live my life saying what I mean and doing what I say, and I say I want to be less sinful. I am not doing that every day but I am always trying.

God knows our heart and mind, and even when we fail if we are constantly trying to follow his instructions that, in and of itself, is a good work.

Thank you for being here, and please don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE and share me out to all you know. I welcome comments and whether you agree or disagree, all I ask is that you be nice.

Until next time…L’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!

How to Defeat Pridefulness

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Many believe that pride is a bad thing, and it usually is, but it doesn’t have to be. We can be proud of a job well done; we can be proud of our country, our friends, or even our way of life. We can be proud of the accomplishments we have achieved during our lifetime.

If you prefer to watch a video, click on this link: Watch the video.

I believe there is a difference between being proud of something and being prideful. Being proud is simply feeling good about what you have accomplished, knowing that you did it skillfully. Pridefulness is thinking that because your skills are superior, YOU are superior.

This feeling of self-importance and superiority is sinful, and the way to quell it is to be humble. Not false humility, but true humility.

As Shakespeare would say, “Ah! There’s the rub!”

As a Marine, I often say (what a United States Marines can rightfully say) “It’s hard to be humble when you’re the best!”

Of course, I am joking; yet, it does raise the question of how can anyone be humble when they know they are better at something than someone else? There is nothing wrong with being more skillful than someone else at a certain thing, or for that matter, nothing wrong with being less skilled than someone else.

God gave each of us certain gifts and talents, designed and meant to be used for his glory. The special gift or skill God gave doesn’t make you or me a better person than anyone else, it just means we can do something better than someone else. And maybe that is the best way to remain humble: realizing that no one is really any better a person than anyone else, it’s just that we each have different abilities, abilities which we did not give to ourselves but which were given to us.

I know people with advanced degrees in education who can’t boil water, and people with little more than a high school education who can finish the New York Times Sunday crossword puzzle in under an hour. Some people are capable of doing just about any kind of handyman work but can’t balance a checkbook, and others who have a mind for mathematics but can’t change a lightbulb.

I have achieved much in my life that many never could, and I have skills and abilities that many don’t. Because of this, I fight with pridefulness because I am also a human being, infused from birth with iniquity. It is only with God’s help through his Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) indwelling in me that reminds me I am nothing special. And I really, honestly know that to be true. I am not being falsely humble, and I can say that because God has provided me, and still does, many opportunities to realize just “un-special” I really am. I have been fired more than once, I have had a failed marriage, I have been bankrupt, my children disowned me ( thanks to God I have reconciled with my son), and I have many experiences that I cannot forget which demonstrated my immaturity, selfishness, and incompetence.

And I am truly grateful to God for putting me through this tsouris in my life in order to keep me in line.

Nebuchadnezzar is a great example of learning humility, and you can read about it in the Book of Daniel, Chapter 4.

The first step to defeating pridefulness is to recognize it in yourself, and here is a simple test:

When you feel proud of something are you thinking “Look at what I can do” or are you thinking, “Thank you, Lord, for the gifts you gave me which enable me to do these wonderful things”?  

Here is today’s final lesson: we can never really defeat pridefulness, we can only control it.

It is like any other sin, which means we are always subject to backsliding. People who have overcome drug addiction will not say they are cured, they will say they are “recovered” because they know that they could slide back into that dark and deathly lifestyle at any time if they do not maintain control.

I will finish with this: we are, every single one of us, a musical instrument and when we are played by God we can make beautiful music that can change the world.  On our own, we can’t do anything. Understanding, accepting and being thankful for this truth is how you can begin to defeat pridefulness.

Thank you for being here and please don’t forget to subscribe. I also welcome comments, all I ask is that you be nice.

Until next time, L’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!

Why Wait for Saturday?

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I am so brain dead today that I don’t want to do anything. I have to clean the house (it’s my turn this week) and I really don’t like doing that. I also have to work out but I may get a break since there are thunder and lightning storms due this afternoon and riding your bike in Florida during a lightning storm is tantamount to suicide.

If you would rather watch a video, click on this link: Watch the video.

So I am thinking I may take my Shabbat early this week. Being retired, that is much easier for me to do then those who are still wage-slaves, yet most companies allow a personal day.

The Bible says to do all your work on the 6 days you are given and rest on the seventh, but I never saw anything that said you HAD to work for 6 days. There is nothing that says we can’t have more than one Shabbat during the week, so long as we don’t become lazy and slothful.

So I am taking a Shabbat rest on this non-Shabbat day, and even if you have to work, I suggest you consider doing the same thing. If you have to plan for it, then plan for it.

When I was working on Wall Street as a Department Manager with the Securities Transfer Division, I often would be at my desk, feet up and resting. People would ask why I wasn’t working, and my answer was, “I am enjoying my emergency time. I always plan some time during the day for an emergency, and since I didn’t have one yesterday, I am taking that emergency time now.”

Rest is good for the body and the mind, so make sure you plan for it. Too many of us get so obsessed with needing to do everything we can it becomes a drug that needs to be taken over and over. You know who I mean: the person who is always so busy they never get to do anything for themselves. They spend all their time doing for others until they are so burned out they can’t do anything, for anyone. That is not being a “good person”, that is being stupid and selfish, and self-destructive.

I guess I am going to have to clean the house, but I will skip the workout today. I usually work out 3 times a week, starting with a 15-minute metabolic exercise session, followed-up with working out on the gymnastics rings in the garage, finishing with an 18-mile bike ride. It’s a good workout, and I always feel better when I do it, but that ain’t happening today!  Today is a pseudo-Shabbat for me, and if you have the ability to do so, make it one for you, too.

Until next time, L’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!

 

The Signs of the Time (to Come)

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I rarely talk about political issues on this website because I believe in the separation of church and state, so to speak, and this ministry is a teaching ministry, not a political one.

However, I do want to talk about the political divisiveness in our country, as well as the socio-political upheavals within Europe.

If you prefer to watch a video, click on this link: Watch the video.

Many countries in Europe have been overrun with Muslims, and they are literally taking over the countries they have migrated into through social reforms (if you can call despotic Sharia law reforming) resulting in the existing governments beginning to capitulate to their demands. Their population is growing at a phenomenal rate, while the indigenous populations are not only growing much slower but in fact, are not even growing at a rate that will be able to sustain the population. Some have predicted that at the current rate of population growth in many European countries, within just a few decades the indigenous peoples will no longer exist in their own country.

In America, the divisiveness over whether or not the President is good or terrible (there doesn’t seem to be any “grey” in this argument) has caused many people, even from the moment he took office, to call for his impeachment. There have been a number of accusations, but in the end, none have been proven viable, and some of the accusers later admitted to having lied.

All of this is, to me, a spiritual sign of the time; not really the times as they are, but the times to come.

The Antichrist will first come as a sort of peacemaker, someone who will bring us together, promote peace and social communion, and offer a program of government that will appeal to everyone. This is always a good thing, but when it is promised within the current environment of social, political, and economic unrest, it is significantly more appealing. After all, if we are doing well as a country, who needs what we (seemingly) already have? However, when people are so divided that even within families they argue vehemently, the promise of a universal solution to all our problems is like a drink of cool water after being in the desert for a year.

The Antichrist is supposed to create peace for 3 1/2 years, then will expose himself (or herself) and demand to be worshiped as God. By then, the mark will have been distributed, those who remain faithful will be persecuted, and the world will follow the Beast.

All of this, I believe, will be predicated upon the entire globe looking for a solution to the social, political, and economic unrest it has been suffering for years. I believe what we are seeing now are the “birth pains” that Yeshua talked about in Matthew 24:8.  We are seeing the foundations for a one-world government and one-world economy already being poured and formed. Eventually, there will be a one-world religion, as well, which may not be religion as we think it is, but a different type of religion. Maybe technology will be our new god and become a new religion (I think that is a definite possibility, if not already here) or sports, or something else that unifies people and promises them worldly rewards and pleasures. Whatever it is going to be, when politics, economy, and religion are controlled by the Antichrist, it will be too late for anyone to do anything about it.

At that point, we will be able to do nothing but maintain our faith and wait for Yeshua to sort it all out.

So, that is all I wanted to say today. I see the end of the world, as we know it, sinking in the West and in the East, the world as Revelation tells us it will be appearing on the horizon.

What do you see?

 

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Please don’t hesitate to donate to the Ugandan Messianic Synagogue project I am running, which I will be closing at the end of this week. It is to send Bibles and Bible study materials to congregations in three Messianic synagogues in a rural section of Uganda, who all want to better know God and the Torah. Anything you send will help; here is the link to that Gofundme campaign:

Ugandan Messianic Help

Until next time, L’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!