IsraRan? (Part 1)

 See the series here

Don’t worry. My title is merely a portmanteau to draw attention to what might be a generally unknown, yet-fulfilled hint in The Book of Genesis. First, some background. 

 

Got problems at home?! Start a war elsewhere!! That’s a familiar response of governments and militaries that likely dates back to ancient, post-global flood times, and it is certainly happening TODAY! I wonder whether that may have been a factor in the first ‘international’ war recorded in The Bible, when armies from the far east, led by Elam (the western part of current Iran) traveled an exceptionally long distance to raid tribes across Canaan, in Palestine. In the heat of battle, they captured Lot, Abram’s nephew. In response, Abram led a group of 318 trained servants to ambush those armies. They recaptured both Lot and ALL of the booty they had looted! ¹

 

VOILA! I regard that as the first recorded interactions between a future Israel (in Abram’s loins), and a future Iran (which much later absorbed ancient Elam). Since then, their relations have been like a roller coaster, and today, they’re at their lowest point on that wild ride!! But possibly not for long!! Hang tight…

A Failure to Imagine

Unlike any other of The Lord’s creations, I believe humans are tremendously blessed with an unlimited ability to imagine — in 3-dimensional pictures and videos! Sadly, it is a travesty that the overwhelming majority of us abuse this incredible gift, by imagining creative ways to sin against the very Person who blessed us with it.

 

As if to point our imaginations in an acceptable direction, He uniquely captured and preserved a long series of historical events in His Book, The Bible. Collectively, those events paint a clear, panoramic perspective of what He deems as highly acceptable and utterly detestable human behavior. Moreover, He uses those historical events and panoramic perspectives as a vast springboard from which to project His uniquely knowable view of future events — events He personally guarantees WILL transpire over the remaining ages of human history! Imagine that~

 

So effectively, The Bible is Heaven’s Imagination Book. And guess what? It is designed to trigger deeply personalized, flexible imaginations! I can never perceive what you imagine, nor can you perceive what I imagine when we read the same passage. Depending upon the nature and quality of our personal relationship with The Lord, His Spirit speaks to us — through conscience and through our personalized, flexible imaginations. Imagine that~

 

Reflecting on this, it dawned on me that we may tend to use our Bible-inspired imaginations to ‘major on the minors’, possibly missing the MOST SIGNIFICANT matters upon which The Lord might desire us to focus. The clearest example may be the primary commission of the 3rd-age church — Gospel evangelization. Have you noticed that the majority of Apostle Paul’s writings do not center on that point? Rather, they focus on running the Christian race in a manner worthy of The Lord’s high calling. ¹

 

Ponder this: The Bible paints clear pictures of substantial degradation of righteousness on Earth during the closing years of each historical, and predicted future age. Genesis 6 summarizes that point as the 1st age was about to end. The Old Testament provides similar insights as the 2nd age closed. Numerous prophecies describe how this current age — and the 4th and 6th ages — will conclude. ²

 

Yet The Bible is uniquely silent about how The Millennial Reign age—the 5th age of human history, will end, apart from stating that satan (i.e., his full kingdom of devils and demons) MUST be released from the bottomless abyss into which they will have been cast at the close of the 4th age, or start of the 5th. By that, The Lord may have silently invited us to imagine how that age might end, based on human nature and history, and the iterative patterns He has revealed and predicted for the other 5 ages of human history on this current version of Earth. ³

 

Given this context, and overwhelming evidence that we may be transiting the closing part of this current age, when the fruits of evangelization may have significantly dwindled, what might possibly be the best focus for us NoW?

 

I perceive it is preserving the Lord’s pending harvest from spoilage! During the Covid pandemic, news reports spiked across the West about Christian defections—lukewarmness, backsliding, apostasy, and the rise of so-called ‘nones’—former Christians now professing no faith. My intent is not to dive into that morass. Rather, it is to suggest that ‘majoring on the minors’ might need to give way to what I call, ‘majoring on the miners’!

 

Curiosity piqued??

Stay tuned for Part 2

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¹ See: 1 Corinthians 9:24 and Philippians 3:14

² See what I imagine: Age-ending Stock-taking (Series) and Mid-ages Musings (Series).

³ See: Earth’s Next Versions (Series).

The Last Army-like Church-Types (Part 2)

 

See the series here.

Part 1 lists what I perceive are Heaven's 'army-like' church types—groups it would create, commission and command to sustain righteousness, first in Heaven, then on Earth, and finally, eternally in Heaven. Here is the list of these groups as I perceive them:

 

1. An innumerable company of holy angels

2. Adam—and through him, humanity in general

3. Seth and his 1st-age righteous descendants ¹

4. Israel, as a set-apart ‘holy’ nation

5. The current, post-cross, 3rd-age church

6. The tribulation, 4th-age church

7. The post-Millennial-Reign, 6th-age church

 

The first 5 are historical. The last 2 are prophetical. The Bible, history and current day news reveal the relatively poor performances of the first 5 groups. ² 

 

Let's consider the how and why of the performances of the 6th church-type.

Personal VENGEANCE!

'Vengeance is MINE. I will repay', says The Lord.
(Deuteronomy 32: 35, Romans 12:19, Hebrews 10:30)

See the series here

It might feel good to take personal vengeance in response to a perceived wrong against us, that is until ...those against whom we take vengeance, perceive our vengeance as a wrong against them, and they become determined to take their vengeance upon us! And the downward spiral continues! 

The BIGGEST problem with vengeance is our personal perceptions of wrong actions taken against us, leave no room for an objective judgment. We personally become the victim, prosecutor, judge, jury and enforcer of our judgment against our perceived perpetuators!

Heaven Humbles Hegemons

Since the creation and rapid growth of sovereign city sates and nations during the 2nd age of human history, Heaven has been regularly humbling them, especially hegemons—the biggest, ‘badest’ and MOST PROUD ONES that ‘out-grew their britches!’, so to speak. ¹

 

To recognize this doesn’t require any faith in The Bible, though it accurately records and promises a continuation of its ‘humbling practice’. It only takes a basic understanding of history, especially of hegemon history, plus humility to discern and learn from what is palpably apparent. Sadly, those are traits that most of us lack, and that governments shun because of their myopic focus on short-term objectives, plain ole greed and corruption.

How NEVER to Die!

Got your attention?!

 

There are incalculable benefits from not reading and studying The Bible as merely a collection of 66 books and 1,189 chapters! Perceiving it like a lengthy itinerary for a very long journey, broadens my mind to the multi-millennial arc of its story line, chock full of valuable insights. Reading and studying it with a narrow chapter/verse mentality, guarantees we will miss its unwritten inferences and nuances that communicates far more than just what’s written in print. For that reason, The Lord, Who inspired and preserved it over the ages of our history, makes the Spirit of His Mind—the Mind of Christ, available to his bona fide saints. His mysteries remain unavailable to, and unperceived by all others. 

 

A key set of inferences and nuances relate to death, namely:

 

There are 2, uniquely different types of death, 

and 2 ways some humans will avoid both types of death!

Imagine that!

anti-Christ Missed Insights (Part 3)

See the anti-Christ Missed Insights series here 

Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’, do not believe it.

For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders

to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand.’

(Jesus, Matthew 24:23-24)

 

Part 1 introduces the concepts of ‘people warnings’ from The Lord, tailored to get our attention when we persistently ‘miss His mark’ for our lifestyles. Such warnings may or may not have specific messages, but their presence ‘on the stages of our lives’, speaks volumes, directly or indirectly. 

 

Part 2 introduces and discusses a truly unique type of people warning that I call the ‘parade of anti-Christs’. Marching across the world’s stage since the first AD decade, this exceptionally long parade can best be understood when dissected into its 3 sections. Part 2 discusses the first 2 sections. Let’s consider the 3rd and predicted final section. 

 

3. The Parade’s Tail-enders

 

Typically, the last sections of parades feature the welcomed, but least acclaimed participants. Parades that include animals, typically place them at the tail end, and ensure cleaners/scoopers are positioned to scoop up the animals’ smelly messes. That’s how we humans think. But The Lord warns of other plans for the tail end of this parade!

Heaven’s Key Sheltering Strategies (Part 1)

See the series here

A casual reading of Bible stories will reveal what might appear to us to be inconsistencies in whether, when and how The Lord shelters His saints from judgments upon others. Sometimes, He allows us to be exposed to, and even to become collateral damage of those judgments. Other times, in unlimited creative ways, He totally shelters from His judgments on others. Because of His boundless creativity, His ‘sheltering repertoire’ is limitless! So when I perceive repetitive uses of some strategies, my strategic mind perks up and ponders, ‘What’s going on?’ Two seemingly repetitive strategies are the ‘Goshen-effect’ (my term) protective sheltering, and raptures.

The ‘Goshen-Effect’

As expressions of The Lord’s Grace and Mercy, He sometimes extends protections to certain individuals and groups in order to shield them/us from His pending judgments on others. The Goshen Effect (Series) examines how He tailors special protections for those He intends to shelter from judgments on others. The most popular one is how He sheltered the Hebrews slaves from the impacts of the last 7 (of 10) plagues He rained down on ancient Egypt, before the exodus. Part 2 of that series explains why He likely did not shelter them during the initial 3 plagues: They were largely scattered across Egypt searching for hay to make bricks, after Pharaoh (in response to Moses’ initial ‘Let My people go!’ command) refused to let the Egyptians deliver hay to them in Goshen. (See: Exodus 5) They might have returned home, to the land of Goshen, after the national impacts of the first 3 plagues. The series also notes several subsequent ‘Goshen-effect’-type protections across The Bible, including some pending ones. 

The Reliance-Vengeance Trap

See the series here

How nations walk themselves into Judgment:

Alliance→Reliance→Defiance→Vengeance→Compliance! or Extinction!

 

My spirit cringes when I hear national leaders, including my own, boast about their economies, their militaries, and especially their alliances. That kind of boasting consistently reveals a dangerous ignorance of history, and of Heaven. Scripture and history testify to a pattern that has repeated across centuries, cultures, and empires. Nations are allowed to rise, prosper, arm themselves, and form alliances, but never for the reasons they assume.

The 6th Seal, Civilization’s Reset? (Part 1)

See the series here

NB: This series lays out an integrated conceptual framework: the context and implications of The Lord opening the 6th seal on His scroll, triggering a series of global judgments that may end this current 3rd age of our history—the post-cross age of free Grace to all peoples—and may also create conditions that lead to a one world government. This series is best read as a whole, pausing as needed to digest and reflect. I seek no agreement with my perceptions and intuitions. I encourage you to your own in-depth study of Scripture, and allow The Holy Spirit to shape your understanding of these predicted events.

~~◊~~

I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?’ (Revelation 6:12-17)

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Background

 

During Apostle John’s Revelation vision on Patmos Island, circa AD 95, The Lord twice promised to show him ‘things which must shortly take place’ on Earth, so John could inform The Lord’s servants—presumably the early Christians. History reveals how, shortly after John’s vision, some of the early predictions in Revelation 6, began to unfold across the Earth. Notably, Chapter 6 is the first chapter in Revelation that describes judgments with direct, observable impacts on the Earth; earlier chapters are largely contextual. Chapter 6 lists 6 unique sets of increasingly severe judgments against humanity—each released as The Lord opens a seal on His scroll. These six seals, however, do not exhaust Heaven’s judgments. They precede a final, 7th seal that will later unleash Heaven’s full set of apocalyptic judgments (Revelation 8–16), culminating in Christ’s return to rule the Earth, as depicted in Revelation 19:11–21.