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Normal Life: They Were Eating and Drinking – By Zachary Everett
The Lord Jesus has put it in my heart to share this to give people peace in these dark days. We read and listen to every news, story, and video from around the world and see the fabric of society coming undone. In the last few weeks, we have seen the Silicon Valley Bank collapse, the major unrest within Israel, inflation, the fear of Iran acquiring nuclear weapons, and the Ukraine-Russia war getting ever worse even as this article is written.
As Terry James has mentioned in his writings, the fear of World War III is present in the minds of believers. Even those who prep with haste for the coming end seem to believe the bank failures are the sign of the impending collapse of the economy. But as this fear grows, the Lord Jesus Christ has reminded me with the slightest of nudges to share something important:
For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark. (Matthew 24:38)
When you walk or drive and visit parks, malls, stores, and theaters, do you not see how calm people are—the normal life that people continue to project around you? Every day I walk to a park called Magic Island, and I see families and children playing, barbecuing, fishing, marrying, and swimming as if tomorrow will come again. No matter if the news yells “war” or “economic crisis,” people continue on without a thought of it.
Please read Matthew 24:38 one more time:
For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage.”
It was peaceful until the end—right up until the Flood came and God rescued Noah. I know the events around us weigh heavy on our souls, but have you also seen the hand of Jesus Christ at work? No matter how earth-shaking an event may, be the world continues. Even though Silicon Bank has collapsed, the economy is once more returning to a sense of normalcy. Even though experts say Iran will have nuclear capabilities in days just ahead, and Russia and the West are close to conflict, it’s still peaceful in the minds of many. I was reminded of this Scripture:
And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist. (Colossians 1:17)
The Lord Jesus’ hand holds everything together. Peace will still reign—up until the Rapture of the Church. There can be no worldwide, catastrophic chaos before that glorious event. People will still be going about their routine daily life before the trumpet sounds. These are not my thoughts, but the Words of the Lord Jesus Christ telling everyone from His Holy Book, the Bible, about what is to come.
We’re almost there. These signs show us that here, at the tip of this age, normalcy continues…but the foundation that keeps this false sense of normal is almost gone.
In closing:
Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? (Matthew 6:25–27)
Trust in the Lord Jesus that He has everything in hand. He has you in His hands and knows what you’re facing. The end is near, and the most amazing event is about to happen. Just remember:
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (Matthew 6:33)
God Bless
Zachary
Lazarus and Rapture
In thinking on the topics about which I write, I’m blessed to have close friends of spiritually infused intellect and insight who sometimes help inspire commentaries. We speak on the phone occasionally throughout any given week about various topics of possible Bible prophecy import. Thus it was in conversation this week when such a friend presented a fascinating matter that spawned the title you see above.
My friend of many years is clued in to many things going on within cutting-edge technologies. As a matter of fact, he works closely within some of these technological stratospherics as consultant during various phases of development. At least that’s the take from my perspective. He tells no more than he can divulge in order to remain faithful to confidentiality.
So, it is with great interest that I pay attention when he brings forth information of an unusual sort. I listen carefully when I sense he wants me to consider those insider developments in writing these articles meant to look into what’s going on while we obviously are closing in on the very end of the age.
When we discuss things along these lines—well, when I mostly listen, because my thinking process can’t always quite engage due to complexity involved—my friend usually prefaces his comments with: “I don’t quite know what to do with this.” He then says something like: “But isn’t that interesting?”
It usually most certainly at the very least interesting. More like somewhat mystifying and, on occasion, stupefying.
The past week or so this friend wanted to give me a heads-up on something that had come to his attention that he thought I would find fascinating. He said his information came to him from a familiar intel channel/forum. It is obviously one he holds in high regard.
The intel involves something called The Lazarus Project.
My friend said someone, under the cloak of anonymity, posted, in part, the following on February 23, 2023.
I’m a Meta insider working on Project Lazarus. We’re building an AI that can take over a deceased persons social media accounts and continue making relevant posts as if that person is still alive. This includes age progressed photos, interacting with other people’s content and everything else needed so that person continues on in the digital realm after physical death. We were originally told this would be a service offered to people struggling with the loss of loved ones and people who had missing children. Seemed like a decent idea. Things are getting weird now and I’m having second thoughts about what this is actually going to be used for. The AI is extremely capable of impersonating people. It doesn’t take as much initial input as one might think to train the AI how a certain person interacts with the digital world. It’s very convincing. An entire island of people could go missing and with little to no downtime the AI could take over all of their social media and the world wouldn’t have a clue that life wasn’t just continuing as usual. A lot of the project is becoming more compartmentalized. Things have taken a dark turn it feels like. They’ve forbidden communication between people working on different things. Something isn’t right and I don’t know what I should do. I’m not going to post any personally identifiable information but I will try to answer questions that won’t expose my role within the project…
The AI came up with stuff that ranged from absolutely hilarious to completely horrifying. I guess that’s pretty accurate for the human experience. That’s more along the lines of a traditional bot but it goes to a much deeper level than a bot just reposting the current talking point. It’s when we have it live data on real individuals that things truly took off. It’s astoundingly accurate with reproducing real individuals”
Now my sensitivity meter is the first to start squawking when so-called reports come across cyberspace that seem bogus and or contrived in any way. If it were not my friend of many years, who interacts within circles to which most of us haven’t entry, I might easily dismiss this insider’s concern as just another fictional creation. However, my friend doesn’t waste his time or mine with fiction. As a matter of fact, I doubt he has read any part of even one of my own novels. So I feel my thinking along these lines is worthwhile for us to consider.
My friend acknowledges that anything coming across even closely guarded, private communications can be of false origin. It has been my experience and observation through these many years, however, that his sense of what has credence and what doesn’t is exquisitely keen. Here are some of his thoughts about this Lazarus Project matter:
1) The project has a biblically significant name: Lazarus; (2) Lazarus is said to be very good at impersonating people; (3) Lazarus is supposed to be strong enough to pass the Turing Test; (4) Meta is developing Lazarus to mimic the missing, dead, or otherwise unavailable; and (5) Meta is developing Lazarus under extreme secrecy (small, compartmentalized teams under NDA).
Regarding his reference to the Turing test, a mathematician/cryptographer/pioneering computer scientist by the name of Alan Turing developed in 1950 what he called “the imitation game,” but what is now better known as the Turing test. It is a widely accepted test of the power of AI. The Turing test involves two human beings and a machine (computer) having AI. One human being serves as an interrogator. While the other human being and the machine are located out of the interrogator’s sight, the interrogator is tasked with interacting with the other human being and the machine and discerning from those interactions which is the machine and which is the human being. The machine passes the test if the human is unable to discern between the two. A machine passing the test is known as a “Turing machine.” Passing the Turing test does not mean that the machine is as intelligent as the human being, only that the machine appears in that interaction to be as intelligent as the human being. The Turing test is not the only test of AI, but it is by far the best-known.
Even were the posts false, Lazarus is plausible. First, Mark Zuckerberg has publicly announced that Meta will focus on major AI development. Second, Facebook’s user base has been seriously eroding, meaning that Facebook is in desperate need of content to retain and encourage its remaining users; AI is well-suited to generate this content. Third, with the World Economic Forum and World Health Organization working hard to create and conceal mass casualties, simulating an enduring social media presence by the departed would help. Fourth, the powers-that-be would be strongly motivated to conceal an act of God that resulted in the sudden disappearance of many millions of people.
From this, I gather that the purpose of Lazarus is to cover the mass disappearance or death of people due to one or a very few major events. It may not be able perfectly to conceal the absence of people, but it probably can conceal their absence for a short time and should at least create confusion and doubt and provide the basis of an official narrative that the event or events did not occur. It’s intriguing and plausible.
My friend and I frequently discuss the rapid development across the spectrum of stage-setting for prophetic fulfillment. Spectacular progress in artificial intelligence add to stage-setting, not only for the fulfillment of prophecy about the coming Tribulation, but also about stage-setting for the narratives that will be floated when millions of people vanish from the nation and world. In that light, the Lazarus Project is indeed most interesting, as my friend would have it.
Nuclear Neurosis and Prophetic Prognosis
Author’s note: I have been asked again by a number of our RR family to address the anxiety building in regard to fears of World War III and all-out nuclear cataclysm. I agree that it is more than worth a look in these days when there seems to be an unstoppable march toward war among the nuclear powers.
But there is Someone who can—and I believe will—stop that march, at least stop such a catastrophic conflict this side of the Rapture of God’s people. The fear of nuclear war is now again on the rise, according to email I’m getting. So I’m reposting the article originally posted May 2 of 2022. My thinking hasn’t changed as I pray on the matters involved and search the Scriptures.
Nuclear Neurosis and Prophetic Prognosis
The diplomats of the world are making noise about Russia more and more looking like it will come to the nuclear option in finally defeating the Ukrainians. Thus, more and more people are becoming nervous that we are headed for World War III.
The worry—the threat—has always been that, once a nuclear weapon has been used, things will escalate until all-out atomic war results. All the big nukes on all the tips of the ICBMs and other delivery systems will be unleashed. Planet earth will be turned into a cinder–or at the very least, it will be made inhabitable.
Russian President/dictator Vladimir Putin, among wanting more control and power in his region of hegemony, wants to secure the wheat and other grains of Ukraine to add to Russia’s considerable grain possession. In this way, he will control the food of the world—at least to a considerable extent.
It is said that, even now, Putin and his top adjutants are hunkered in underground facilities for protection from the nuclear exchanges that are to come. Of course, a lot of things are said these days about a lot of things.
In fact, a lot has been said about a lot of things for a long time. We have heard that economic collapse is coming within days for—literally—years, even decades.
We have been told that the polar ice is melting at a rate that would bring the edges of New York harbor to downtown Manhattan and up to the first or second floor of the Empire State building within anywhere from twenty to forty years. Actually, the levels in New York Harbor haven’t changed significantly since the warnings were issued.
All of that is not to say nuclear exchanges couldn’t happen. I believe, as do many who believe in God’s Word, that at least one city of the world is going to experience perhaps a nuclear strike. I’m referring, of course, to Damascus, Syria, which will become a heap of rubble within a very short time.
This doesn’t mean necessarily that it will be a nuclear weapon that does the destruction. It might be a meteorite, or even possibly one of the planet’s greatest earthquakes ever.
But Damascus is going to cease being a city, and in a very short moment of time. God’s prophetic Word has said so. It will happen, according to the prophecy in Isaiah chapter 17.
And God’s prophetic Word is the only reliable source to depend upon when it comes to future events. Everything else is just guesswork. The guesswork might be based upon strong evidence, but it’s still guesswork.
God’s prophetic utterances are 100 percent reliable. And it is for this reason that we can examine the nuclear neurosis going around these days under God’s stethoscope in order to get a 100 percent accurate prophetic prognosis about whether all-out nuclear conflict will occur in the days just ahead.
First, we look at a news item from a less-than-reliable source the majority of Americans still go to for news.
Vladimir Putin has been ignoring those in his inner circle who warn of economic ruin if his invasion of Ukraine continues, it has been claimed.
Kremlin officials are becoming “increasingly” worried Vladimir Putin could use limited nuclear weapons as part of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Officials at high levels of government spoke to Bloomberg, claiming they believed the invasion was a “catastrophic” mistake which will set Russia back years.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the Kremlin sources said there is no sign Putin will change his mind and faces no direct challenge within the walls of the Kremlin.
He has also repeatedly ignored those who have attempted to warn him of the crushing effects his war could have on Russia’s economic and political future, destroying two decades of growth…
Some said they share fears voiced by the US that Putin will turn to a limited nuclear war, in which two nuclear superpowers engage in a direct confrontation which does not end in either a surrender or massive destruction.
However, US officials have clarified there is “no practical evidence” nuclear weapons will be used imminently.
The CIA said Putin could turn to using a tactical or low-yield nuclear weapon out of “potential desperation” to claim a small victory. (“Putin officials ‘increasingly worried’ he could unleash limited nuclear weapon,” News Yahoo.com UK)
The gist of the news story, in my view, has a specific purpose: to ramp up fear of a nuclear conflict to divert the attention of voters from other issues of political importance to the globalist power brokers. But that is a story for another time. The thing to look at here is that God is completely in control—not the power brokers who can, and will eventually (during the Tribulation), unleash war…of the nuclear sort.
So, looking at the matter of the nuclear neurosis through the heavenly stethoscope, we come to Jesus’ words I’ve brought to our attention many times. They speak directly to our day. Jesus’ words do not equivocate on the condition of the world when He will next make His presence known to all on the earth. It will be the Rapture that will occur in times exactly like they were in the time of Lot in Sodom.
There is no indication whatsoever, prior to the catastrophic intervention by Christ, of nuclear war that devastates the planet.
Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. (Luke 17: 28–30)
Rapture resource from Lion of Judah Ministry
It is important to share with others that there is going to be an any moment call from Christ to believers. This resource can be used as a simple, yet resounding, wake-up alert so that no believer is caught by surprise. It Is also an easy to understand explanation resource to share with non-believers about that great event so that they will be informed about how to not be left behind.
There are many today who have heard about the Rapture but have mostly questions about it instead of answers. What exactly is it? Where can it be found in the Bible? Will it occur before, during, or after the great tribulation? Did Jesus ever teach about the Rapture? How soon is it likely to take place?
These questions and more are answered in this 41 page booklet. “The Promise of the Rapture” booklet is to provide hope that we can believe that at any moment the Lord will sound the Trumpet and we will see Him face-to-face.
Those interested in acquiring this resource can email to the following email address.
Or send a donation of $10 or more to the following.
to Lion of Judah Ministry
PO Box 681505
Franklin, TN 37068
Bringing Back Dave Breese – Part II
Dr. Dave Breese was my personal friend, but he was much more than that to the believers who were blessed to be beneficiaries of his monumental spiritual and intellectual dissection of God’s Holy Word. In his scholarship and understanding of biblical prophecy–particularly from the pre-Trib, premillennial view, he had no superiors and few peers.
He was on-air host of The King Is Coming television ministry viewed weekly throughout the US and abroad. You may remember that, until his recent death, Dr. Ed Hindson was Dave’s successor to that program. Both were great servants of God, and I’m thankful to have had them in my life as mentors and friends.
Here we continue with Dr. Breese’s answers to the many questions on the Rapture he received throughout his many years of ministry.
Questions and Answers about the Rapture
Why is the Rapture not mentioned in the Old Testament? The prophets of the Old Testament were not given the revelation of the Church, the Body of Christ. Neither were they told of the Rapture of the Church. This is particularly a New Testament revelation. The Scripture speaks of the message of salvation by grace, given to the Church to preach to the world, and testifies of the concern of the prophets. It says,
Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when he testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into (1 Pet.1:10-12).
So, the Church and its message was a mystery in the Old Testament. Paul says,
For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, If you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward, How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery, (as I wrote afore in few words, Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel (Eph. 3:1-6).
Does Israel then have a different calling and destiny from that of the Church? The Scripture teaches that Israel is the heir of the world (Rom. 4:13). But it teaches that the Church is the heir of the universe. “All things” are the inheritance of the Christian, of the Church (1 Cor.3:21-23).
If the Kingdom is now, why the Rapture? Why can’t the Church just grow and take over everything? There are various kinds of “kingdom now” teachings in the world. The fact, however, is that the Kingdom was rejected by Israel and will not be instituted in the world until Christ comes in power and great glory. The Kingdom in its external form is not promised to the world in our time. In this day and age, God represents Himself in this world via the unseen body of Christ and through the seen, observable lives of individual believers. The program of God becomes “visible” in Christians who testify for the Lord Jesus and live holy lives before the watching world. The Kingdom, by the way, will not “grow in the world,” but it will come suddenly, imposed upon the world by its King, the Lord Jesus Christ. [Read Dan 2:44-45]
Where does the Rapture fit into the “big picture” of history? The Rapture ends the day of grace and begins the day of the Lord, which begins with the Tribulation. It will end a day of grace, the time of divine forbearance, and begin a time called the day of the Lord, in which God is at liberty to work with His promised program of judgment upon the world.
I recommend a book called The Two Futures, which will give you a presentation of “the big picture.
The Glory to Come
Let each of us be finally reminded that the story of the future is not simply that of one day after another ad infinitum. No indeed! There is a glorious future for the Church, and there is a dismal future for the world. The sojourn of the Church in this world will come to an instantaneous end, at which time every believer will be taken from this dark planet to the glory which is to come.
At the moment of that transition, each of us will receive a new body, a glorified body that is not unlike the body of Christ himself. We will at this point be given the capacity to feel, to appreciate, to enjoy all of the unspeakably wonderful things that will be ours in eternity. The Scripture says, “In thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16:11).
So great will be the delights of heaven that they are impossible to describe under the constraints, the limitations of human language. It may, therefore, be well to exercise a sanctified imagination, to ask the question, “What will it be like when Jesus comes?” The answer, of course, is that it will be like nothing we can imagine in all of life. There is no human experience that resembles in any but the palest fashion the ecstasy that will be ours when we step across the great divide into the fadeless light of heaven.
What is heaven like? The answer must be that heaven is not exactly like anything that we know in this world. We do well to take the greatest joys of earth and multiply them by a thousand times. Only then do we have even the beginning of the joys that will be ours in heaven.
The Christian is invited to use his “sanctified imagination” to think of golden streets, ivory palaces, a city where there is no night, and endless “pleasure forever more.” In heaven also, we will have the opportunity to meet the saints who have gone before and, of course, loved ones who have in earlier days moved from the Church militant to the Church triumphant. How wonderful to contemplate that golden moment when the Church will be translated from this world to the world to come. What a moment that will be!
The real point is that we be prepared for that moment. The preparation is that we must be Christians. A Christian is one who believes the gospel of Jesus Christ, who has accepted the Son of the living God as personal Saviour. Because of the shed blood of Jesus Christ, the sufficient sacrifice for sin, each person in all of the world is invited to receive the free gift, the gift of God, which is everlasting life. The single requirement is faith alone. By believing in Jesus Christ – who He was and what He did for man on the cross – by that act of faith I receive the gift of God, which is life eternal.
Meanwhile, in these days, let us gather together at the cross, recognizing Jesus Christ as the Saviour whose sacrifice made eternal life possible. While laboring for Him here, let us also anticipate the sound of the trumpet when we will be caught up to be with Him.
To follow up on Dave’s call to heed God’s invitation to become part of His eternal family, we again present here God’s formula–the only way—to bring you into that relationship with the Heavenly Father forever.
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Romans 10:9–10)
Iranian Nuclear Nightmare
The last time we looked in this column at the prophecy about an apparent Persian/Iranian nuclear-type disaster was a number of years ago. At the time, it looked very much like the Iranian regime was on the verge of attaining the technology and obtaining the fissionable materials in sufficient amount to produce a nuclear weapon.
Israel looked to be at that time about to take out Iran’s nuclear production centers within the Bushehr Mountains by military strikes. However, the program seems to have been disrupted by something called a Stuxnet worm—a cyber virus introduced by Israel’s IDF into Iran’s nuclear development computer system.
Still the rumors persisted that the Iranians were on the verge of producing a nuclear bomb. The claim always seemed to indicate it would happen within several months, at most.
The bomb, of course, was never demonstrated to have become fact, and yet the same claims are made today. Iran is on the cusp of creating a nuclear weapon, and they promise to use it to eliminate Israel when the capability comes into being.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in power during most of those earlier Bushehr Mountain threats. We know how the Israeli government has gone in and out of various stages of political ideological phases since. And now, in 2023, Netanyahu is once again in power, and everything coming out of his government’s inner circle indicates the Iranian threat to complete its nuclear weapons program is about to come to fruition. Netanyahu continues to vow—as when he was in power in those earlier days—that Israel’s blood-vowed enemy will never be allowed to achieve nuclear weapons capability.
This would seem like a ho-hum moment, in that we’ve seen it before and nothing came of it. That they will once again come up with a Stuxnet-type technological worm to infiltrate and destroy Iran’s project before it can be completed is at the heart of the sense of not to worry.
There is an entirely different feel to these matters this time, however. This is particularly true among those of us who look at all other developments in Bible prophecy progression and see all the things mentioned by Jesus and the prophets as coming together into profound convergence. This factor and the obvious ratcheting-up of Israel’s military planning and Netanyahu’s strong words might indicate the Elam prophecy given by Jeremiah the prophet could be close to fulfillment.
Analyzing from a biblically prophetic perspective of the dangerous situation presented by Iran’s threats has been the mission of my friend Bill Salus of Prophecy Depot Ministries. He wrote in a 2014 article about a report outlining that danger.
The war-weary world is watching with worrisome eyes as Iran assembles a uranium enrichment arsenal that now numbers about 19,000 centrifuges. This many centrifuges spinning 24/7 can produce a nuclear weapon within about six weeks Perhaps even more startling is the June 9, 2014 headline below from The Washington Free Beacon:
“Israeli Official: Iran to Have 50–100 Nuclear Warheads by 2024.” (“Elam: Iran’s Forgotten Prophecy: Middle East,” Bill Salus, Koinonia House, June 2014)
Well, the year 2024 is almost upon us. And, like all other prophetic signals on the immediate horizon, our headlines at the moment blaze with news from Israel.
As stated many times in these commentaries: No matter in which directions the cameras and microphones might be turned at the moment, they always swing right back to focus on Jerusalem and Israel as the center of controversy.
That truth continues to be in play. The following portrays the seriousness of the moment.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday evening, at the Hartog National Security Conference at the Setai Hotel in Tel Aviv-Jaffa, was interviewed by Prof. Walter Russell Mead, Professor of Foreign Affairs and Humanities at Bard College, and the ‘Global View’ Columnist at the Wall Street Journal…
In response to the question: What would the policy be on Iran, on the assumption that the US administration claims that the 2015 nuclear agreement is completely finished, and in light of reports that Iran has enriched its uranium to 84% just below nuclear level, Prime Minister Netanyahu replied:
“Ask a question. How do you stop a rogue nation from acquiring nuclear weapons? Let’s see. I mean, there have been some examples, so we can maybe deduce a rule.”…
“The only thing that has credibly stopped rogue nations from developing nuclear weapons is a credible military threat or a credible military action. You can couple that with crippling economic sanctions, but that’s not a sufficient condition. A necessary condition, and an often sufficient condition, is credible military action. The longer you wait, the harder that becomes. We’ve waited very long.”
“I can tell you that I will do everything in my power to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. That is not merely an Israeli interest; it’s an American interest; it’s in the interest of the entire world.” (“PM says stopping Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons in interests of the entire world, not just Israel,” Arustz Sheva, Israel National News, February 21, 2023)
While Mr. Netanyahu lays out the nightmare for the entire world if Iran is allowed to develop its nuclear weapons program, it is the nightmare for the Persian people, sadly, that is in view from God’s prophetic perspective.
God, through Jeremiah, foretells that the Persians’ bow (its military capability) will be broken. There will be such a disaster as a result that the people of the region will have to scatter to the four winds to survive the carnage. I believe that carnage is nuclear radiation because of the facilities destruction.
Here is what Jeremiah said:
Against Elam I will bring the four winds From the four quarters of heaven, And scatter them toward all those winds; There shall be no nations where the outcasts of Elam will not go. (Jeremiah 46:39)
As I say, this is sad—tragic—if looked at as happening before the Rapture. There is a tremendous number of Christians in Iran, and reports have it that the number is growing spectacularly despite the evil regime’s efforts to stamp out believers in Christ. This might well be one more reason to add to the Rapture taking place before this prophecy is fulfilled—meaning that, with the seeming assault by Israel coming very soon, the great Rapture event might be sooner than even the most ardent Titus 2:13 watchman can imagine!
Bringing Back Dave Breese – Part I
One of my most cherished aspects of the Lord’s bringing me into prophetic ministry is the tremendous teachers, broadcasters, preachers, and Bible scholars I’ve been blessed to know over these many years. None is more beloved, profoundly memorable, or respected in every way than the late Dr. David Breese.
Dave was one of the most brilliant thinkers, writers, and speakers, with that golden voice possessed by only a few of God’s men. He was as intellectually gifted as any—secular or Christian—yet possessed humor and warmth that made him instantly someone you knew was genuine and transparent in relationship.
In thinking on Dave, the thought of Samuel the prophet came to mind. Samuel was brought back from his eternal rest to deliver a message of condemnation to King Saul. In my prompt from, I believe, the Holy Spirit, Dr. Dave Breese needed to be brought back in the spiritual memory sense in order to deliver a message of edification to those of us who long for Jesus to call us in the Rapture.
Dave presented a series of thoughts on the Rapture in a book of mine many years ago, for which he wrote a powerful chapter. The following are those questions and answers presented in that chapter. They are as solid and encouraging as when I first received them from my great friend.
Questions and Answers
There are hundreds of prophetic questions that live in the minds of people. Many of them are asked openly at prophetic conferences, on radio programs, and certainly in private conversations. We do well to deal with some of the frequently asked questions, believing that the answers will be helpful to us all.
What qualifies a person to be caught up in the rapture of the Church? The Word of God teaches that Christ will return again for the delivering of His Church. Everyone who is among those called “brethren” (1 Thess. 5:10) is a member of the body of Christ and will be the object of the deliverance that will come at the Rapture. The single qualification, therefore, is that an individual be a Christian. A Christian is one who has believed the gospel of Jesus Christ and knows God’s Son as his personal Saviour.
What prophetic events must be fulfilled before the Rapture? There are no prophetic events that must precede the Rapture. The predicted events of prophecy have to do with the period of time following the Rapture leading up to the glorious return of Jesus Christ. Therefore, the Rapture could take place at any given moment. It is well for the believer to regularly tell himself, “Perhaps today!”
How shall I prepare for the Rapture? Surely the greatest experience in life will be to be brought into the presence of God as a good soldier, a faithful servant. The essential preparation for the Rapture is that I be a Christian. Then, the fact that I could be taken to heaven at any given moment should motivate me to exemplary Christian service. Earnest prayer, faithful witnessing, godly living – all of these will be a part of the approval that can come in heaven. We all must so live so as to hear Jesus say in that day, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
When the Rapture comes, what will happen to the children of Christians? All children who have not yet reached the age of accountability are counted as “believers” under the doctrine of prevenient grace. We, therefore, conclude that the children of unbelievers will also be included with the children of believers and taken home to be with the Lord. As one person said, “‘All the children of the world will be taken to heaven and all the unborn children of the world as well.”
What impression will the Rapture make on the world? The answer, of course, depends upon the preoccupations and involvements in which the world finds itself at the time of the Rapture. Still, we must conclude that the disappearance of the Christians of the world and the children of the world will leave a stunning impression upon the minds of people. The Antichrist will be hard-put to come up with an explanation. In lieu of this, the dismay at the teaching of Scripture now being so well proved by the Rapture may well cause minions to come to faith in Christ during the Tribulation. They, as Tribulation saints, will face a time of fearful persecution.
Can we take anyone with us at the Rapture? Certainly not by holding on to them, as much as we might desire this. But, we can take all of our loved ones and friends with us to heaven if we will have led them to Christ so that they themselves have become Christians before the time of the taking away of the Church. When the Rapture comes, it will be too late to do any additional things in this world for Christ. The record of each person’s life will stand as indelible forever after that instant of translation.
How can heaven receive and process so many millions of individuals all arriving at the same time? This is no problem to God. The arrival of the Church, the body of Christ, at heaven will be a time of great reunion and rejoicing. A home in heaven will have long since been prepared for every individual by Christ himself (John 14:3). A place at the feast of welcome, of betrothal, called “the marriage supper of the Lamb,” will have been set for each one. No one will arrive at heaven as a stranger; rather, as a brother beloved.
Isn’t it cowardly to wish for the Rapture to deliver us from the problems of life? Anyone who does not particularly wish to be beheaded during the days of the Tribulation can certainly be expected to anticipate with a welcoming sentiment the rapture of the Church and the deliverance from the wrath to come. To want to go into the Tribulation is not courage; it is mere foolish bravado. The doctrine of the Rapture is true, unrelated to human attitudes. Especially remember that we are to love His appearing (2 Tim. 4:8).
Didn’t the doctrine of the Rapture come from a strange source? The doctrine of the Rapture comes from the Word of God. It is the apostle Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, who presents this marvelous truth. It is best to avoid silly stories, from whatever source, related by people who would draw our attention away from any doctrine of the Word of God.
What is the difference between the Rapture and the second coming of Christ? The Rapture is a very special mission by the Lord to deliver the Church from the awful scenes of the Tribulation. The Rapture, therefore, comes before the Tribulation and takes Christians out of this world before that seven-year period of the wrath of God. Notice that, in the Rapture, Christ does not come all of the way to this world. Rather, Christians are caught up to meet Him in the air (1 Thess. 4:17).
At the second coming of Christ, His glorious return, He comes with His saints. In fact, He returns with an army from heaven for the conquest of the world (Rev. 19:11-16). Remember, since this is an army of His saints (Jude 14), you and I will be a part of that glorious conquest that centers on the return of Christ in power.
You see from the above that Dave was a powerful messenger for the Lord’s service. His voice lives on in the marvelous teaching and biblical exposition he left with us. I’m looking forward to seeing Dave again in glory.
Next week we continue with God’s answers to prophetic questions through Dave’s recorded words that bless us all still today.
The Trigger
Many of you know I view Jesus’ words as recorded in Luke to be perhaps the most important of all prophetic teachings regarding the coming world collapse into what will quickly become the Tribulation—Daniel’s seventieth week.
Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. (Luke 17:28–30)
As stated in these articles many times, I believe the Lord was speaking to our time. Even more specifically, I believe He might have had our very nation in mind when issuing this foretelling. Further, I believe Jesus was indicating that it will be God Himself, not man, that will bring the more or less normal way of doing business crashing down into chaos.
His “revealing” will trigger this collapse, I’m convinced.
Again, the Lord could not be talking here about the end of the Tribulation, as He is preparing to come back to put an end to the wickedness of mankind and their governments of destructiveness. There will be a scant few people on earth at that time due to the Judgment, wrath of God, and of Antichrist’s reign that will destroy many. The people who are alive will be hiding in caves begging the rocks to fall on them and hide them from the face of the returning Christ. It will not be business as usual, as indicated in the Luke 17:28–30 account.
Jesus is speaking here to the Rapture of the Church, in my view. Like in Lot’s being taken from the doomed city of Sodom, Christians being swept into the clouds from the doomed planet will be kept from that coming hour of horror (as promised in Revelation 3:10).
It will be this event—the Rapture of the Church—that will trigger the collapse of everything on earth. It will be a trigger pulled by the God of Heaven, who will finally have had enough of man’s wickedness.
Pete Garcia and I have written a book that talks about the disastrous chaos that will result when God’s righteous anger is released once His family is removed in the Rapture. The book’s title is New World Order: Worlds in Collision and the Rebirth of Liberty.
We have addressed many times in these commentaries—and Pete has done the same in his great website, Rev310.net—the globalist elite making plans to bring into place their desired changed global order. It will be the Antichrist regime outlined in Revelation chapter 13.
In our new book, we do our best to describe in detail how this will all be triggered into taking place as prophesied once the Church is removed in the Rapture. The following is a brief excerpt from the book that gives some idea of what is coming, we believe, in the near future. There will be great societal collapse at every level, and Antichrist will implement controls draconian even beyond those conjured in George Orwell’s imagination.
This Luciferian new order will have one more ace up its sleeve in uniting all the worlds’ remaining religions—artificial intelligence.
“What you try to do a thousand years ago with the priest preaching from the pulpit you will be able to do in a far more invasive way in 10 or 15 years with all kinds of brain-computer interfaces and direct biological interventions (Yuval Noah Harari, Homo Deus).
As has been noted by numerous biblical scholars and teachers, the coming Antichrist’s Beast kingdom will have three legs to its political structure—economic, military, and religious. However, we believe this coming system will have a fourth leg that seemingly enables (or supercharges) the other three—the supernatural.
According to Scripture, the Beast will begin as a ten-nation/region imperial power that rises up at a time of great global crisis, and then imposes its political will over the entire earth… It’s not a stretch to see how this political power will then extend into its economic authority, to control all buying and selling everywhere. Militarily, the Beast will incorporate the latest and greatest technology information, surveillance, and deterrence weapons to enforce its iron-fisted political control over both people and economies.
Paradox Gained
Even though the public opinion or awareness of global governance has waxed and waned over the past hundred years, the plan has never wavered from the globalist mind. The continual push towards a singular, global government has wrought havoc everywhere it’s been implemented, and thus, as stated at the outset, their goal has been successful. The success is not in achieving global government, but in achieving geopolitical and societal destabilization necessary for the peoples of the earth to cry out for one. Thus, their relentless chipping away at the US Constitution has put us dangerously close to the tipping point. As of 2022, it wouldn’t take much for us to collapse nationally; a simple nudge would move us into any number of existential crises.
The COVID-19 crisis, and the political, economic, and social disruptions it has caused, is fundamentally changing the traditional context for decision-making. The inconsistencies, inadequacies, and contradictions of multiple systems—from health and finance to energy and education—are more exposed than ever amidst a global context of concern for lives, livelihoods, and the planet. Leaders find themselves at a historic crossroads, managing short-term pressures against medium to long-term uncertainties with one-size-fits-all solutions. (The New World Order: Worlds in Collision and the Rebirth of Liberty, by Terry James and Pete Garcia, set to release spring of 2023.)
Try as they have been striving to do, the diabolist New World Order minions haven’t been able to bring down the United States of America. And they must have America’s great assets and Americans’ compliance in order to achieve their one-world regime. We believe it is the restraining hand of God that has to this point prevented America’s utter collapse. If America falls, the rest of the world will follow into complete collapse, and there will be a worldwide call for a leader to bring things back to a degree of normalcy. Antichrist will be ready with answers to restore order. But it will be a hellish order full of enslavement, death, and destruction.
The Rapture is the trigger that will initiate the move toward man’s final war at Armageddon.
You don’t want to be on planet earth when God has pulled that trigger and removed His people to safety.
Here, again, is how to go to Christ when He calls the Church to Himself.
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Romans 10:9–10)
Satan’s Prepping Continues
“Preppers” are sometimes deemed wise, sometimes lauded, and often criticized as conspiracy theorists—and worse. Whatever their acceptance, praise, or condemnation, their very existence and proliferation gives credence, even validation, to their fear that “something wicked this way comes,” as Mr. Shakespeare would have it.
And whether one’s a prepper or not, even a non-Bible prophecy observer can recognize that there is growing wickedness in every direction on the cultural and societal landscape.
Prepping, of course, is gathering all sorts of things to prepare against hard times to come. Fear is prevalent and growing that there will be a complete fiscal breakdown—the dollar will massively lose value and be replaced by alternative economic systems worldwide. There is belief that society will collapse under the despotic hands of tyrants seeking to bring America down. Fear of attacks of cyber and even kinetic sorts are on the rise. There is trepidation that things like this are now being planned by the likes of Russia and China against a once well-protected America—a nation no longer secured against such destructive possibilities.
I admit to writing myself about these fearful prospects, in context of trying to be discerning about what God’s Word has to say about this generation as it approaches the time Jesus said will be the most horrific of human history (Matthew 24:21).
So a growing percentage of earth’s inhabitants are looking at what they see coming, and are trying to protect themselves and those they love from a possibly unprecedented assault against humanity. Some are intensively doing so, pulling out all stops.
The billionaires we hear about are doing things like buying up old, deserted missile silos and fixing them up for long-term living underground while the chaos of nuclear war and other deadly things occur on the planet’s surface. Lesser financially secured folks who are equally fearful of things to come are stockpiling foods, medical supplies, and all they think necessary to survive.
Of course, admittedly, the vast majority of the world’s populations, if they think at all about such dire possibilities, do so for only a fleeting moment. They are too busy doing life from one minute to the next.
There is one, however, who is doing a different kind of prepping. And he is doing so at breakneck speed. We can see his handiwork in that regard by simply observing the times and watching headlines unfold. It is as if he knows that he has a short time to prepare in consideration of his biblically forecast destiny.
I’m talking about, of course, Lucifer the fallen one. Satan is in an all-out phase of prepping, as I believe I and others who are watchmen and watchwomen can discern in these increasingly troublesome times.
The devil observably has his collars and chain around the necks of the dogs of government, military, economy, science, entertainment, and especially religionists.
We go over these matters every week in the many columns of those who present observations on Bible prophecy development.
In government we see developments shaping swiftly into the final, global entity Daniel the prophet spoke of to King Nebuchadnezzar. In military matters, we see war being threatened in areas of prophetic significance. World War III is considered almost a certainty by some of the most revered military affairs experts. In the economy there are developments that can be nothing less than preparing for the coming marks-and-number (666) system of Revelation chapter 13. In science, AI and all things digital are bringing all of humanity under surveillance and controls that will provide Satan’s man, Antichrist, everything needed to enslave a world—a world that obviously is already in a compliant mood to worship Lucifer.
Last week’s Super Bowl LVII made it clear, at least within the microcosm of that screaming throng, that the masses might be all in on welcoming the coming man of sin and his Beast state.
At Super Bowl Halftime Show, Rihanna Keeps The Satanic Spirit Of Last Week’s Grammys Alive And Kicking In Demonic Aerial Display With Fallen Angels
Last week, we showed you how the Grammys invited to world to enjoy something “beautifully unholy,” and then cheered as Satan was prayed to, invoked and worshipped on international tell-a-vision, and “sponsored by Pfizer” no less. Moments ago, the 2023 Super Bowl Halftime Show opened with filth merchant Rihanna descending from the sky, surrounded by what could only be described as dancing fallen angels, and sang “Bi**h Better Have My Money.” What was the reaction? Cheering and applause so loud that it competed with the music for your ear. You can stop having that debate now on whether or not America is a Christian nation, we absolutely are not. (RR news story link/prompt Rapture Ready News, February 13, 2023, NTEB story)
In religion, there is movement of all religions (all belief systems) attempting to come together as one. Pope Francis is consistently seen at the forefront of the effort while he applauds and approves of the World Economic Forum (WEF) efforts to bring the world back to Babel. We witnessed a meeting on traditional Mount Sinai in Egypt, where globalist minions came down after visiting the top, bringing down (in a way that mocked God’s Ten Commandments), their ten commandments for dealing with climate change and other world problems.
All of this is Satan’s prepping. While the world preps to survive what they fear is coming, the devil is prepping with all at his disposal to bring on that very devastation the human preppers fear.
I believe one of the chief signs we see in Satan’s prepping is the activity going on with the unidentified flying objects for which nobody within the military command system seems to have an answer.
The question I have: Is the world, with this sudden rash of UFOs, being further prepared to accept a space-brother-visitation explanation for that stunning moment when the Rapture occurs? This sudden phenomenon, in conjunction with the insanity being perpetrated against children, gives reason, in my view, to wonder. As many who read these commentaries know, I’m convinced beyond any remedy that every child under the age of accountability will go to be with our Lord when He calls the Church. God is going to, I’m convinced, demonstrate how He hates the way the world has dealt with the helpless little ones. The judgment and wrath will be great on this collective sin, I have no doubt.
We can expect Satan’s prepping to become more intensive as 2023 proceeds. Perhaps part of the reason Jesus told us to keep looking up is that Satan’s prepping—the so-called UFOs, etc—will be a key indicator of the Lord’s very near call to believers.
And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. (Luke 21: 28)
This Rapture Generation
My commentary title this week will likely be construed by some as audacious. “This Rapture Generation” implies that people of earth alive now are those who will, without doubt, be the generation of believers who go to Christ in the Rapture, doesn’t it?
Those who have named specific dates for that stupendous event have earned consternation down through the years, and deservedly so. Jesus Himself declared that no one but the Father knows the day or hour when it will occur. And certainly, to date, that truth has played out exactly as the Son of God—who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life—said.
Yet, at the same time, the Apostle Paul implied himself to be part of the generation that would be raptured:
For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:15–18)
Paul obviously expected to be part of those who would be living when Christ calls believers to Himself in the Rapture. The pronouns used are pretty clear, aren’t they? Yet Paul has been dead for 2000 years or so, and the Rapture is still future, as we are all too aware.
So is God’s Word (the “Word” who, in fact, is the Lord Jesus Christ, according to John 1:1) less than truthful with us through the prophecy given Paul regarding the Rapture? We know the answer to that is a resounding “no.” God cannot lie, therefore we are to think through Paul’s words with our born-again, Holy Spirit-influenced discernment to understand the apparently audacious statement. Paul’s declaration was as audacious as my title for this commentary, I think.
So what is this seeming contradiction all about?
The answer, I believe, is found in another familiar statement by Paul, one we use frequently in studying the Rapture.
Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. (Titus 2:13)
I believe that wrapped up in this profound statement of faith is an instruction to all believers. During this Age of Grace (Church Age), we’re always to be earnestly expecting Jesus to snatch us from this fallen sphere at any moment. This instruction—this commandment—has been in effect since the Church was born (as presented in Acts chapter 2). Every believer since that time should treat the promise of the Rapture as if it absolutely will take place while we are still living on earth.
As a matter of fact, all who love the prospect of Christ’s appearing are promised a crown of righteousness.
With this in mind, the title, “This Rapture Generation,” is appropriate for those of us who are believers now. Jesus will come for us in the Rapture at any moment—perhaps today!
I hope to go much deeper in expressing this certainty. And we do go deeper with each and every article presented. At least that is our aim.
The signals are brilliantly projected for those with discerning spirits to understand. Our Lord is unfolding prophetic signals of such unmistakable significance that we would have to look in another direction to miss just how near we are to the Tribulation. The Rapture is thus right at the exit door of human history for believers in Jesus Christ.
Sadly, most who should be helping God’s children focus on the lateness of the hour continue to feed only pabulum about how to grow into Christian adulthood.
Such spiritual food isn’t bad, of course. The Scripture is necessary to spiritual growth. But there comes the time that requires us to take a deep look into just how late the hour is on God’s prophetic timeline. We are now very near that instant of Rapture about which we’re forewarning.
This is almost certainly the Rapture generation, and I cannot feel sheepish in declaring it.
Tell everyone you know, using your own words, the soul-saving truth encompassed by Paul’s Holy Spirit-given formula for going in the Rapture when Christ calls:
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Romans 10:9–10)
Terry James Prophecy Line 