The Impossible Coalition :: By Daniel Payne

Who was Jamal Khashoggi? Jamal Khashoggi was a Saudi Arabia dissident and Washington Post journalist, noted for his blunt and truth-exposing reports which sometimes embarrassed the Saudi Arabian government. He was apparently murdered by Saudi Arabian operatives in the Saudi Arabian consulate in Turkey.

Some think he was murdered by the Saudis in retribution for his brash reporting and his potential in the near future to expose a supposed secret plot between the United States and Saudi Arabia. What makes his case interesting is that it is serving as a catalyst for the seemingly impossible.

Ezekiel makes note of a particular end-times coalition that will attempt to invade the land of Israel sometime near the Tribulation period. The coalition—as laid out by Ezekiel—has been thought of in times past as being nearly impossible to assemble.

Why would a majority Sunni Muslim nation (Turkey) ever want to join forces with a majority Shia Muslim nation like Iran? Answer: They will have a common enemy—Saudi Arabia.

The same can be said about the miraculous alliance of Saudi Arabia and Israel… yes, that’s right… Israel. Why would Saudi Arabia ally with Israel? Because they have a common enemy: Iran.

After Jamal Khashoggi’s apparent murder in Turkey by Saudi Arabian operatives, Turkish President Recep Erdogan came out blasting Saudi Arabia’s role in his murder. This fits perfectly within the framework of the Gog-Magog coalition:

Rosh—Russia.

Magog—Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, etc.

Persia—Iran

Cush—Sudan

Put—Libya

Meshech, Tubal, Gomer, and Beth-Togarmah—Turkey

Notice how Saudi Arabia, who is predominantly Sunni Muslim, is not mentioned in the Gog-Magog alliance. That is likely because they are working in tandem with western nations such as the U.S. and other nations like Jordan, etc. to broker a peace deal in Israel between the Israelis and the Palestinians (the so-called “two-state solution”).

Russia and Iran have already been allies in Syria against Israel and her Western allies. The Russian—Iranian—Syrian alliance has only grown stronger over the last decade. A lot has already been said about the “hook in the jaw” of the leader of the cursed coalition.

The leader of course is “Gog—the prince of Rosh,” otherwise identified as the leader of Russia. Putin has all the reason in the world to restore Russia to its former place of power and prestige by invading Israel for oil and natural gas (the hook?), etc.

And now, with Turkey coming out so strongly against Saudi Arabia—all the while the Saudis are working with Israel—it is another indicator of just how soon the Gog-Magog invasion may come to pass.

As usual, current events continue to point—at a rapid pace—to the coming events that will happen just before and during the Tribulation.

Thank God that He declared that He will take His Bride up to be with Him in heaven prior to the coming Tribulation:

“If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:3).

“Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:51-52).

“Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming” (Matthew 24:42).

“But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near” (Luke 21:28).

“Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth” (Revelation 3:10).

 

Will He Even Find Truth? :: By Daniel Payne

TRUTH ?

“…when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8b).

It’s been a long, hot, summer day outdoors, and you’ve had next to nothing to drink. Then someone offers you a fresh bottle of ice cold water—with a twist. A single drop of poison has been added to the frosty treasure—will you still drink it? Odds are you’d turn it down if you knew beforehand that it was poisoned, even if your skin was sunburned red and your throat was dry as a desert.

There’s no escaping the simple fact that just one drop of poison added to a bottle of clean water turns the entire vessel toxic.

Have you ever heard someone tell you what you already knew was a lie before they were even finished talking? Most of what they said was true but they used the truth to tell you a lie. If someone knows the water is poisoned, then they shouldn’t offer it to someone else—yet that is exactly what some people do when they intentionally lie.

No matter what strand of truth is used to start weaving a basket—once all the lies are woven in—the entire thing is a basket of lies. And so is our world of “information” today—thick ropes of biased lies joined with an occasional thread of truth.

The truth works the same way as the sealed bottle of purified water—it’s only pure as long as it’s uncontaminated. The entire bottle becomes impure after only one drop of poison, let alone after vials of poison are poured in.

Many people rely solely upon their mind to tell them what’s true. However, sometimes our mind tells us something is true when it’s not true. At other times when something is true—we refuse to believe it—based entirely upon our perception.

Our minds love repeating patterns—such as quasi-fractals. Symmetry is everywhere but not everything is truly symmetrical. The face of someone you find attractive may appear to have true reflectional symmetry—when in fact it does not. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Quasi-fractals are everywhere but not everything is a true fractal. A true fractal has a detailed arrangement over an extensive and unlimited range of magnification levels. A quasi-fractal is a likeness of a true fractal—it has detailed arrangement over a large but limited range of magnification levels. Although the patterns of a quasi-fractal are not unlimited—as the human eye cannot perceive such small details—quasi-fractals appear pleasantly and persuasively fractal.

We may think that our eyes see the physical world like a camera without filters, when in reality we perceive the physical world through the filters of emotions and experiences.

In contrast to the world which refuses to deal with absolutes and permits perception based solely upon the weakness of the mind—those who are sealed with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13) rely entirely upon the strength of the truth—through the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Berean Jews were noted for being very earnest in their diligence to search out the truth of the message of salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ:

“The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. Therefore many of them believed, along with a number of prominent Greek women and men” (Acts 17:10-12).

And just think—they were given the Truth, yet they were still diligent to verify that it was the truth. As a result, many of them were genuinely saved through confident belief (blessed assurance). How much more should we be diligent to search out the truth when we know that we’re surrounded by lies and deception?

Something is either true or it’s false—it’s either right or it’s wrong—it’s either on or it’s off—this is sometimes referred to as Boolean Logic. The 19th century mathematician George Boole profoundly understood this fundamental principle. Boolean Algebra—as detailed within his book “The Laws of Thought”—gives us Boolean Logic—which is the exclusive foundation of all computer-processing logic.

Boolean Algebra as defined by wiki:

“Boolean algebra is the branch of algebra in which the values of the variables are the truth values true and false, usually denoted 1 and 0 respectively.”

The following is a fascinating look at how computers cannot function apart from the law of truth at their core. (Unfortunately what starts out as truth in the core doesn’t always end up the same on the screen.)

The most common tool used in microprocessing is called an “And Gate.” The And Gate truth table consists of two inputs (A & B) and only one output (the result). Each input receives one each of only two possible values—one and zero. One represents “True,” and zero represents “False.”

Here is a simple diagram of the And Gate truth table (hopefully the text format is legible):

A —|

———— Result

B —|

 

1 = True

0 = False

 

A    B | Result

0    0 |  0

0    1 |  0

1    0 |  0

1    1 |  1

 

Lie + Lie = Lie

Lie + Truth = Lie

Truth + Lie = Lie

Truth + Truth = Truth

The only result that’s true is when both inputs A & B receive the truth. Every other result is false—even if it’s mixed with truth—the result is still false.

The And Gate is a lot like the Ten Commandments—if one is broken—then they’re all considered broken:

“For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:10).

Even though microprocessors can only work according to the principle of uncorrupted truth, the world still offers water poisoned with “half-truths” and deception:

“The wicked strut about on every side when vileness is exalted among the sons of men” (Psalms 12:8).

But the Word of God is pure—and alive with truth:

“The words of the LORD are pure words; As silver tried in a furnace on the earth, refined seven times. You, O LORD, will keep them; You will preserve him from this generation forever” (Psalms 12:6-7).

Be careful navigating through dark alleys along the information superhighway. You may find yourself going in circles—spiraling back to the same unavoidable agendas and never arriving at the truth.

Avoid drinking the poisoned waters of deception.

“Then He said to me, ‘It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son’” (Revelation 21:6-7).