On Oct. 19, 2023, a reader sent me an e-mail titled “Waiting, Watching and Rejoicing – As the world is preparing for war – Heaven is preparing for a wedding.”

• Those who believe in the promises of our Lord will become the Bride of Christ. They anxiously wait for their special day. Our Lord must long for His Bride as well. His love for her was and is much deeper than our understanding allows us to grasp its fullness. He came to die for her and now is ready to bring all the Father gave Him to the wedding, sparing her from the wrath soon to come. Our job is to pass on the message of salvation, its simplicity, and the special nature of God’s love of sinners.

The Bride of Christ (Church) is on earth now, but heaven is preparing for a wedding between the Church and the Bridegroom (I Thess. 4:13-18: Rev. 19:7-9).

Dr. Thomas Ice, Executive Director of the Pre-Tribulation Research Center, commented on this.

• The bride (which is made up of the corporate and collected members throughout the church age taken to heaven at the rapture) makes herself ready for an impending event. How is the bride or the church made ready? She is made ready by clothing herself in the “fine linen bright and clean,” which is said to be “the righteous acts of the saints.” This statement means that by this point in history (right before the second coming), the sum total of the bride, the body of Christ, is in heaven and has already gone through the bema judgment where church-age believers are to be evaluated for their faithfulness to Christ during this present age (Rom. 14:10; 2 Cor. 5:10).

The result of going through the judgment seat of Christ results in the bride being given fine linen that Revelation 19:8 says “is the righteous acts of the saints.” This is how “His bride has made herself ready.” Ready for what? She has made herself ready for the marriage of the Lamb. Thus, within the framework of the symbolism being used in this passage, it means that the marriage (marriage ceremony) takes place right before the second coming.

I will add that this is one reason to believe in the Pre-Tribulation Period Rapture.

The Church will be in heaven before the Second Coming.

The events that are going on with Israel and her neighbors seem to indicate that time is short.

Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023

• The Israeli government urged its Israeli citizens in Turkey to leave immediately.
• There are bomb threats in many nations.
• Drones and rockets targeted a U.S. base in Iraq that hosts U.S. and UN troops.
• Rioting Muslims set fire to the U.S. embassy in Beirut, Lebanon.
• Rioting Muslims injured at least 65 police officers in Berlin, Germany.

Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023

• Israel’s Defense Min. went to Israel’s border with Gaza and urged Israel’s troops to get organized and be ready for an order to move in.
• A U.S. warship shot down three missiles and several drones that appeared to be fired at Israel from Yemen.
• The fighting intensified near Israel’s border with Lebanon, and the U.S. State Dept. issued a rare Worldwide Caution alert urging all Americans in foreign countries to exercise caution due to increased tension in the world. Other nations (U.K., Germany, etc.) issued similar alerts.
• Nearly 500,000 Jews have been driven out of their homes near Israel’s border with Gaza (and more have been displaced near Israel’s border with Lebanon).
• Iran said her proxies will launch a coordinated attack on Israel from all sides (from Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen) in a matter of days if Israel keeps ignoring Iran’s demands for Israel to stop the attacks on Gaza (this sounds a lot like Psa. 83 and Isa. 17 are shaping up).
• The EU Parliament passed a resolution calling for the elimination of Hamas, declaring that the taking of hostages is a war crime, calling for the release of all hostages and the release of the bodies of all hostages.
• The chairman of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee used Hamas documents captured from terrorists to urge the U.S State Dept. to classify the Hamas attack on Israel as genocide. The U.S. has proof that killing innocent women and children was a pre-planned Hamas goal.

Friday, Oct. 20, 2023

• Militias under Iran’s control in Iraq may join the attack on Israel.
• The UN is rushing to get aid into Gaza before Israel’s ground attack begins.
• Israel is pounding Gaza ahead of an expected ground attack.

Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023

• Israel vowed to attack Iran and wipe the Ayatollahs off the face of the earth if Hezbollah attacks Israel.
• An Israeli Rear Admiral said Israel is trying to eliminate as many Hamas targets in Gaza from the air as they can before they send in ground troops.
• Attacks on Israel from Lebanon were increasing, and Prime Min. Netanyahu said if Hezbollah launches a major attack on Israel, “We will cripple it with a force it cannot even imagine, and the meaning for it and for the state of Lebanon is devastating.”
• Israeli jets struck a Muslim mosque on the West Bank that Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists were using as a base for killing Israeli citizens.

Sunday, Oct. 22, 2023

• The U.S. State Department issued a travel advisory to US citizens that said, “Do not travel to Iraq due to terrorism, kidnapping, armed conflict, civil unrest, and Iraq’s limited capacity to provide support to US citizens.”
• Egypt and Jordan (two nations that have a peace treaty with Israel) harshly criticized Israel for its attacks on Gaza (but I saw no mention of the fact that Hamas is still firing rockets—about 7,000 to date—into Israel).
• Israel said one Israeli soldier was killed and three others were wounded when an anti-tank missile was fired at an Israeli tank inside Gaza. The main invasion has not started, but Israel has sent in a limited number of troops to search for bodies of missing troops and to prepare for the main invasion.
• Israel created and authorized a new group to identify, hunt down, and kill every Hamas terrorist involved in any way in the Oct. 7, 2023 attack.
• Israel’s Defense Min. said this war will end when there is no more Hamas.
• Israel said they have found instructions on the bodies of Hamas terrorists for making and using chemical weapons.

Monday, Oct. 23, 2023

• Israel posted unedited videos on X (formerly called Twitter) taken from bodycams of killed and captured Hamas terrorists to provide the world with proof of what Hamas did. The videos were also shown to about 100 members of the foreign press and were so gruesome that some press members asked for Israel to turn them off.
• There are an estimated 20-30,000 terrorists in tunnels in Gaza.
• Negotiations have been going on between Hamas, Egypt, Qatar, and Israel over the release of 50 hostages. Hamas wants fuel deliveries, but Israel is saying Hamas must release all hostages before they get any fuel.
• Israel shot down a drone from Lebanon that entered Israel by the sea.

Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023

• Hamas launched a massive barrage of rockets at cities in Israel.
• Netanyahu told elite troops in the IDF we will not stop until Hamas is destroyed.
• Two rockets were fired at Israel from Syria.

Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023

• In response to two rockets fired from Syria, Israeli Jets bombed infrastructure and rocket launchers belonging to the Syrian army.
• Turkey’s Pres. Erdogan said he is canceling his planned trip to Israel because of Israel’s inhumane war against Hamas militants in Gaza.
• Israel agreed to delay its invasion of Gaza to give the U.S. time to get defensive missile systems in place to protect U.S. troops in several nations, to allow the U.S. to get more forces in the area, and to try to get more hostages released.

Here are more reports from this week’s news:

One, I have great respect for Jonathan Brentner (he is certainly one of the best and most reliable prophecy writers today), and here is something he wrote that I think is very important (dated Oct 20, 2023):

• The pain and overwhelming grief caused by the current attacks on Israel will make the peace plan offered by the antichrist all the more appealing. This is the covenant that kicks off the seventieth week of Daniel (Daniel 9:27), which we refer to as the seven-year Tribulation.
• The leaders of Israel will believe that the terms offered by the man of lawlessness will save them from another devastating war, but he will betray them after three and a half years, which will cause many of them to flee for their lives (Matthew 24:15-21). If the rebuilding of the third temple is part of the deal, it will make his covenant all the more inviting.

Wars and rumors of wars in the Middle East (and the world) are far from over, but the current war could eventually lead to a worthless seven-year covenant of peace and the rebuilding of the Temple.

If this current war leads to the Battle of Gog and Magog, readers should know that good prophecy teachers differ on whether that is before the Tribulation Period or during the Tribulation Period, but they all agree that it is an end-of-the-age event.

(My opinion: The solution to the Middle East conflict is for both the Muslims and the Jews to accept Jesus as their Saviour. The Jews will do that at the Second Coming, the lost will be removed, and there will be 1,000 years of peace, justice and righteousness on earth.)

Time will tell about how all of this plays out, but people need to be prepared for the wedding (be saved) just in case things accelerate and these events are sooner than expected.

Two, concerning the Battle of Gog and Magog: on Oct. 20, 2023, Joel Rosenberg, editor-in-chief of All-Israel News and All-Arab News, said he believes Israel may launch a pre-emptive strike on Iran before Israel finishes off Gaza.

Rosenberg opined that Iranian officials said they will attack Israel if Israel invades Gaza, so if Israel is going to have to fight Iran anyway, why not take out Iran first.

Many world leaders would like to see Iran’s nuclear facilities taken out, and Iran is giving Israel an excuse to do it.

Three, concerning the war in Israel: on Oct. 20, 2023, Israel’s Defense Min. said Israel is operating under a three-phase plan for the war that is focused on eliminating Hamas, destroying its military, and destroying its influence over the government of the Gaza Strip.

• Phase I is underway now, and it involves airstrikes to destroy Hamas terrorists and the infrastructure they have put in place to wage war against Israel.
• Phase II will be a lower-intensity war to destroy the pockets of resistance and infrastructure the airstrikes didn’t get.
• Phase III will be to turn the government of Gaza over to new leaders who won’t attack Israeli citizens.

Four, concerning the prophecy that Israel will have a great military at the end of the age: on Oct. 20, 2023, it was reported that thousands of ultra-orthodox Haredi Jews that have long claimed that they are exempt from military service (supposedly because their job is to study the Scriptures) have suddenly signed up.

Israel’s already powerful military is suddenly becoming more powerful.

Five, concerning world government, the decline of America, and deceit: on Oct. 20, 2023, Dave Hodges (The Common Sense Show) reported that sources in the U.S. Department of Human Services (DHS) said the U.S. Border Patrol intercepted hundreds of people on the U.S. terrorist watch list today at America’s southern border, and the Border Patrol was ordered to release them into the U.S.

Hodges said he confirmed the story with a second source.

Six, concerning world government: on Oct. 21, 2023, during a campaign speech in Washington, DC, Pres. Biden said:

• The current U.S.-led world order has sort of run out of steam.
• We need a New World Order in a sense.
• I think we have an opportunity to do things if we’re bold enough and have enough confidence in ourselves to unite the world in ways that it never has been.

So, Pres. Biden has hit the 2024 campaign trail talking about a New World Order that will “unite the world in ways that it never has been.”

It sounds kind of Biblical to me.

(My opinion: The current U.S.-led world order didn’t run out of steam. There has been a deliberate fundamental transformation of America and the world since the “Transforming our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” went into effect on Jan. 1, 2016.)

Seven, concerning the ancient vessels that were removed from the Temple before the Romans destroyed it in 70 A.D.: on Oct. 23, 2023, it was reported that a Jewish rabbi in Rome said a leading Italian parliamentarian from Italy’s ruling party said Rome has the Temple vessels and wants to return them to Israel.

According to the article, the Italian parliamentarian said:

• “We have in Rome the implements of the Jewish Temple. The Golden Menorah and many other Temple vessels and tools that we took from Jerusalem 2,000 years ago. With these vessels, you brought light into the whole world. They are with us. By keeping them, perhaps we’re preventing you from fulfilling your destiny. If so, we will return them to you. If you want them – take them. It won’t be easy, but if this is what will enable you to fulfill your Divine role, then please, they are yours. They are lying in our cellars. We aren’t doing anything with them.”

I do not know the facts, and this is the only report I have read about it, but if this is true, it is truly amazing.

Eight, concerning world government and the decline of America: on Oct. 24, 2023, it was reported that the U.S. Customs and Border Protection is warning that members of Hamas and Hezbollah may try to enter the U.S. at America’s southern border.

FYI: God does not send anyone to Hell (all of us are born with a sin nature and destined to go to Hell because we sin), but God has provided a way (Jesus) for everyone to go to Heaven (and He is the only way to get there; John 14:6).

Finally, are you Rapture Ready?

If you want to be rapture ready and go to heaven, you must be born again (John 3:3). God loves you, and if you have not done so, sincerely admit that you are a sinner; believe that Jesus is the virgin-born, sinless Son of God who died for the sins of the world, was buried, and raised from the dead; ask Him to forgive your sins, cleanse you, come into your heart and be your Saviour; then tell someone that you have done this.

duck_daymond@yahoo.com

 

Most Bible students are familiar with these famous words of King Solomon:

• To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace (Eccl. 3:1-8).

It is my opinion that this is a philosophy that Solomon tried out for a short time in life to see if it made him happy.

• If someone died, he would say, “Oh well, it was time for them to die.”
• If someone broke something, he would say, “Oh well, it was time for that to break.”

It was a Que Sera, Sera (whatever will be, will be) attitude.

Some people call this “fatalism,” and ultimately, Solomon abandoned that philosophy.

In addition to philosophy, he tried entertainment, wine, owning a lot of buildings and vineyards, planting gardens and orchards, servants, many wives, accumulating silver and gold, buying anything he wanted, etc., but it didn’t make him happy.

He eventually said, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil” (Eccl. 12:13).

If you want to be happy, reverence God and do what He said.

Anyway, Solomon said there is “a time of war,” and six days after the demonic, religious fanatics called Hamas invaded Israel, decapitated babies, shot children in the head, raped women, etc., Israel’s Defense Min. Gallant said, “Now is a time for war.”

(FYI: God sometimes decides that a nation or people needs to be destroyed. He used Assyria to destroy the northern kingdom of Israel; Babylon to destroy the southern kingdom of Judah; the Medes and Persians to destroy Babylon; and the Roman Empire to destroy Israel in 70 A.D.)

Prophecies about Wars

Here are some of the things I have seen in the news, and as you read them, I encourage you to watch for the words Russia, Iran, Turkey, Syria, Damascus, Lebanon, and Jordan because there are prophecies about wars that they will be involved in at the end of the age (possibilities include Israel’s neighbors in Psa. 83, the destruction of Damascus in Isa. 17; the destruction of Iran’s nuclear facilities in Jer. 49:34-39; the Battle of Gog and Magog in Ezek. 38-39).

(Do not forget that Jesus was asked about the signs of His coming and the end of the age, and He said there will be wars and rumors of wars. Also, know that we do not know whether the Rapture is before or after some or all these wars. We may be here and we may not, but if we are here, they will be a sure sign that the Rapture is close.)

Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023

• Israel formed a new war cabinet. Prime Min. Netanyahu said, “Every Hamas member is dead.” Israeli Defense Min. Gallant said, “Hamas—the Islamic state of Gaza—will be wiped from the face of the earth.”
• Hezbollah (in Lebanon) will not sit idly by why Israel destroys Hamas.
• Ynet News reported that France relayed a message to Hezbollah saying the “IDF will destroy Damascus and target Syrian President Assad if Hezbollah joins the war.”
• Israel decided to release videos and photos of burned bodies, deceased women in Hamas vehicles, Hamas setting fire to homes, etc.
• Turkey’s Pres. Erdogan condemned Israel for bombing civilians in Gaza, but he has been bombing Kurdish civilians in Syria and Iraq for months.
• Former Hamas leader Khaled Mashal called upon Muslims in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Egypt (but also other countries) to enter Israel any way they can and fight the Jews.

Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023

• Gloating Hamas terrorists filmed and broadcast video of their members killing Israelis, raping women, beheading babies, etc.
• Israel showed video of Hamas atrocities to the NATO defense ministers.
• Israel’s Defense Min. told NATO he went house to house in some of the places that had been attacked and saw bodies of Jews that had been burned alive and bodies of Jewish children that had been tied up and shot.
• He told NATO, “Young girls were raped violently, kidnapped or killed, and dragged to Gaza while blood was dripping down their legs.”
• After seeing the evidence, several NATO allies pledged support for Israel.
• The photos were shown to the international media, and the Jerusalem Post verified that they had seen photos of babies being burned and babies being decapitated.
• The photos were shown to U.S. Sec. of State Antony Blinken and have been posted on Twitter.
• Prime Min. Netanyahu said one group of Israelis was burned alive using tires to fuel the fire.
• Defense Min. Gallant said Jews haven’t endured anything like this since the Holocaust.
• Concerning forcing the Palestinians to leave Gaza, Amir Tsarfati (a well-known Messianic Jewish prophecy teacher) said they are not victims of the IDF; they are victims of their own leaders.
• Tsarfati said Israel is fighting on three fronts (Syria under the influence of Russia and Iran, Lebanon under the control of Hezbollah, and Gaza.
• Tsarfati said he has seen the pictures and heard the stories, and it is a second Holocaust, not in numbers but in brutality and depth of evil.
• The U.S. reported that 27 Americans have died and 14 are missing.
• There are 1.1 million people in Gaza City, and Israel asked the UN to urge all of them to evacuate in the next 24 hours.
• The Israeli military urged everyone in Gaza, including UN officials, to get out in the next 24 hours.

Friday, Oct. 13, 2023

• S. officials expressed concern that the war could spread, with Iran warning of a response from its allies, which include Hamas and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
• An untold number of Israeli tanks and armored forces entered the Gaza Strip to strike localized Hamas sites and set the stage for a full-scale invasion.
• The leaders of Hamas have gone into hiding, and many of the Hamas terrorists have dressed in civilian clothes and are trying to hide among Palestinian citizens.
• The Jews near Israel’s border with Lebanon and Syria were told to have a safe place to hunker down and to have a three-day supply of food and water.
• An untold number of Israeli drones struck Hezbollah sites in Lebanon.
• Russia’s Pres. Putin said an Israeli ground attack in Gaza would result in a level of civilian casualties that would be absolutely unacceptable, and he said the conflict can only be resolved through the creation of an independent Palestinian state.

Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023

• Due to international pressure and a request by the U.S., Israel is delaying her attack on Gaza to allow more time for citizens to get out.
• Israel is using the extra time by sending in special teams to search for landmines and boobytraps in Gaza City and the Gaza Strip.
• Iran sent a message to Israel through the UN, saying Iran does not want further escalation in Israel’s war with Hamas, but Iran will have to intervene if the Israeli operation in Gaza
• It is understood that Iran is saying if Israel invades Gaza, Iran will get involved, the conflict will spread to other nations, and the war will become a regional war.
• An Israeli official said Iran is trying to deploy strategic weapons to target Israel in the north.
• Prime Min. Netanyahu visited Israeli troops in the south. He asked them, “Are you ready?” and told them, “The next stage is coming.”
• Netanyahu addressed the nation and said, “This is just the beginning. Our enemies have only begun paying the price, and I will not say more.”

Sunday, Oct. 15, 2023

• On Meet the Press, Sen. Lindsey Graham said, “If Hezbollah, which is a proxy of Iran, launches a massive attack on Israel, I will consider that a threat to the State of Israel, existential in nature. I will introduce a resolution in the United States Senate to allow military action by the United States in conjunction with Israel to knock Iran out of the oil business. Iran, if you escalate this war, we’re coming for you.”
• Israel reported that the exchange of fire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon is growing more intense.
• Israel’s military estimated that 600,000 people have left Gaza City (another 500,000 still need to leave).
• Iran has more than 100,000 troops in Syria.
• Israel evacuated 28 communities near its border with Lebanon in case war breaks out there.

Monday, Oct. 16, 2023

• Israel announced the evacuation of 28 communities near its border with Lebanon in case war breaks out there.
• Iran has more than 100,000 troops in Syria.

Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023

• Over the past decade, Iran has built up a formidable array of militias and proxies in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen in addition to Hamas, and all or any of them could be called on to open up new fronts.
• The commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said, “Another shockwave is on the way if Israel does not end atrocities in Gaza.

Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2023

• Jordan scheduled a meeting with Pres. Biden and leaders from Egypt and the Palestinians to find ways to end the war in Gaza and revive the peace process (draft a peace treaty to divide the land of Israel) and canceled it when a stray Islamic Jihad rocket aimed at Israel destroyed a hospital in Gaza.
• Massive protests broke out in Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Qatar, and Iran. Due to rioting, the U.S. issued a do-not-travel to Lebanon order and told non-essential employees at the U.S. embassy to leave.
• Following the destruction of a hospital in Gaza, Iran’s Foreign Minister said Israel is “running out of time,” and the Iranian embassy in Syria tweeted, “Time is up.”
• They were referring to a multi-front attack on Israel.

Here are some of my opinions about these events:

• Radical Islam believes in a world government and a world religion, but they believe it must be an Islamic world government and religion.
• Radical Islam is not just about killing Jews. They will kill anyone who opposes the spread of their Islamic world government and religion.
• God may have allowed Israel to be violently attacked a couple of weeks ago because it was beginning to look like Israel was going to give away some of the Promised Land to get a normalization agreement with Saudi Arabia. God gave all the Promised Land to Israel (not just some of it), and His Word must be fulfilled.
• Jehovah may be ready to impose a terrible defeat on Hamas to send the message that He is God, not Allah.
• The Apostle Paul said in the last days, perilous times will come. The situation is extremely perilous.
• This war could change the world. We must wait and watch, but it could happen in a matter of days.
• Some officials and pundits say the recent attack on Israel is the worst since the Holocaust. I am not saying that isn’t bad, but worse events are on the way (the destruction of Damascus, the defeat of nations in the Battle of Gog and Magog, etc.) and disasters worse than anything that has happened before (the Tribulation Period). People said nothing could sink the Titanic, but they were wrong. Some people don’t think these events will happen, but they are wrong.

Here are other events that seem to indicate that the end of the age is near:

• One, on Oct. 12, 2023, Rabbi Yehudah Glick (of Temple Fame) said the Arab murder of babies is not new.
  • Pharaoh did it 4,000 years ago, God intervened by protecting and raising up Moses, God sent ten plagues on Egypt, and Pharaoh was forced to let God’s people go, and they eventually wound up in the Promised Land.
• Two, concerning world government and America’s open borders: on Oct. 10, 2023, it was reported that the U.S. Border Patrol apprehended more than 24,000 immigrants from China in Fiscal Year 2023.
• Three, concerning America’s decline as a Judeo-Christian nation: on Oct. 10, 2023, it was reported that a self-described wizard is running for the school board in Manheim Township, PA, and the Democrat Party is endorsing him.
  • Who would have imagined that a wizard would have the support of one of the two main political parties in the U.S.?
  • Will they endorse a witch next?
  • On second thought, perhaps wizards and witches won’t make some school boards worse than they already are.
• FYI: God does not send anyone to Hell (all of us are born with a sin nature and destined to go to Hell because we sin), but God has provided a way (Jesus) for everyone to go to Heaven (and He is the only way to get there; John 14:6).

Finally, are you Rapture Ready?

If you want to be rapture ready and go to heaven, you must be born again (John 3:3). God loves you, and if you have not done so, sincerely admit that you are a sinner; believe that Jesus is the virgin-born, sinless Son of God, who died for the sins of the world, was buried, and raised from the dead; ask Him to forgive your sins, cleanse you, come into your heart and be your Saviour; then tell someone that you have done this.

duck_daymond@yahoo.com