The Three Elijahs |
There were three
Elijah’s,
|
Chapter Nine
Legal
License
To Murder
The Defenseless
Keeping in mind this heinous and horrible sin of murdering the unborn in today’s society, along with the sacrificial offerings of newly born babies in ancient Israel, should enable one to understand WHY God would send to His people Israel the prophet Elijah at that critical juncture in time, and another prophet Elijah in that same spirit and power in this critical juncture of time!
Both men were sent with the same message of
returning to God with heartfelt repentance lest
He should STRIKE
the earth with utter
destruction (Malachi
4:6).
Mankind would be standing at the brink of extinction each time
–
then, and now, had there not been a sufficient turnaround each time!
The parallel is that of the pre-Flood world
of Noah! All of mankind perished by
drowning from a worldwide Flood that God brought upon them
because of their
abominable sins (Genesis
6:3-13). They were
beyond redemption in
this mortal life.
That world’s population has been estimated
from 1 to 15 billions of people. All drowned
except eight people. This is how perilously
close Israel and all of mankind came to perishing,
as can be seen by the last verse of Malachi 4:6; a Scripture that
speaks of our
time today.
Today’s society is so conditioned to what is
now taking place they hardly even give a real thought to the murder
of these little ones, along with all of the other terrible sins!
That is why the extreme seriousness of these
brutal murders must be emphasized and stressed for there is NO REAL DIFFERENCE between
the BORN babies who were sacrificed with the
approval of the kings of
Israel in that time, and the abortions of the UNBORN
in our time!
The
Born and Unborn Babies Sacrificed to Demons
Though it is not realized these unborn babies
are sacrificed by their mothers to the god of this world, Satan and his
demons!
By way of explanation, as the god and ruler of
this world, Satan exudes his invisible spirit that permeates the
earth’s
atmosphere and actively broadcasts his attitudes of selfishness
and vanity that enters into the minds of the majority
of these women as well as all other people (Ephesians 2:2; 6:12; John
12:31; II
Corinthians 4:4)!
Slouching Towards Gomorrah, Page 180, Judge
Robert Bork: “But
it is clear, in
any event, that the vast majority of all abortions are for convenience.
In
those cases, abortion is used as merely one more technique of birth
control. A
1987 survey of the reasons given by women for having abortions, made by
researchers with the Alan Guttmacher Institute, which is very much
pro-abortion, demonstrated this fact.”
There is no question but that convenience
is another word for the act of vanity and
selfishness; thinking only of self; it is evident that there
is no real
caring thought to the little precious life within her body!
The difference of that time and today is that
then the parents
literally and
deliberately offered their babies in sacrifice to the pagan god, called
Molech. Though it
was not realized by these parents
they were in actuality offering their babies in sacrificial worship to
demons:
“They
even sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons” (Psalm 106:37;
Leviticus
17:7; Deuteronomy 32:17).
In principle the same is true today! These women also are responding to the broadcasting of Satan
and then sacrifice these
little unborn ones by abortion due to their own vanity and selfishness which is an attitude, among other
attitudes, that Satan broadcasts to
this world that belongs to him.
Children
Belong to God
It is a Scriptural fact that children, born or unborn, belong to God! However they are given to us to rear for Him in His way of life; and in time to come would realize their awesome potential of being born into the Family of God as Spirit Beings.
“Behold,
children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb is His
reward . . .
happy is the man who has his quiver full of them . . .”
(Psalm 127:3,
5).
This Scripture makes very clear the fact that
whether born or unborn these babies belong to God. They are intended by
Him to be
on loan, so-to-speak, to their parents.
By realizing life outside the womb these
precious little ones would have had the potential of becoming members
of God’s
family just as those who are born alive from the womb and later grow
into adulthood!
Scripture makes this very clear: “Moreover
you took your sons and daughters, WHOM YOU BORE TO ‘ME’
(GOD), these you
sacrificed to them (demons) to be devoured (by
the
fire and the killing by the slayers
of the unborn) Were your acts of
harlotry a small matter that YOU
HAVE SLAIN
‘MY’ (God’s) CHILDREN and OFFERED
them up to them by causing them to PASS THROUGH THE FIRE?”
(Ezekiel 16:20-21)
God brings a very serious indictment against
Ephraim for this very reason: “Ephraim
will bring out his children to the murderer (Hosea 9:13).
(Scripture reveals Ephraim, which is
identified as Britain, is a leading tribe of Israel and sometimes used
in name
for all Israel as it would appear here; for all the tribes of Israel
are
bringing forth their children to the murderer via of abortions as well
as in
other ways.)
The
Fire
of Painful Deaths
For those who have experienced the terrible
and excruciating pain from a real burn to the flesh
can understand to a small degree
what the babies experienced while
being roasted to death in the red-hot heated arms
of this pagan idol, Molech!
Terrible anguished pain was experienced by them for they did not die
immediately!
At the same time from doctor’s related accounts
the excruciating pain the unborn experience
by having their little skulls crushed or
sliced open by a murdering doctor, is even more intense than what the born babies
experienced before they died!
Satan does NOT
want the unborn to ever realize their awesome potential! That
is why it is his avowed purpose and intent to try and destroy not only
them,
but the whole human race in any way he can.
A
video of an abortion taking place is available at
http://www.abortionno.org/
Please
be advised this video is EXTREMELY
GRAPHIC
if this is a difficult thing for you, we suggest you do not view this
video.
Because of not
seeing or hearing the anguished cries of the unborn babies as
they are being murdered by the murderer, people do not want to believe
they
have no real life inside the womb, and further feel no pain while they
are
being killed.
It is with this in mind that it seems
necessary to repeat the closing comments from chapter 8 to emphasize when the beginning of life takes place;
and God’s purpose for it:
A NOTED COMMENT FROM
THE
PERSONAL AIDE of Mr. Armstrong: “HWA [Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong] and I
had some long
discussions about this "at conception or first breath." If it was at
first breath, then was Christ not the son of God till birth?
Short form .
. . He was from conception by God through the Holy Spirit.
Why MOA [Mystery of the Ages] says
what it
says.”
The
Mystery of the Ages, Page 110, Mr. Herbert W.
Armstrong: "The human spirit enters the human
embryo at conception. It is this spirit that may, upon
adult conversion,
be united with the Holy Spirit from the great Creator God, impregnating
that
human with God-life as a child of the living God, in a state of
gestation,
though as yet unborn. To destroy an embryo or a fetus in a mother's
uterus is
to MURDER a
potential future God Being. Therefore, abortion is murder."
It is also interesting to read what King David was inspired by God to write of the beginnings of the little ones within their mother’s wombs while noting that God controls the existence and development of the human embyro:
“For
you have
formed my inward parts (internal organs);
you have
covered (margin: woven,
bones, sinews and skin) me in my mother’s
womb. I will praise You
for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; (And reflecting on
the marvels of
the human body, he said :) marvelous are
Your works, and that my soul knows very well.
My frame was NOT hidden from You, when I was made in
secret (within
the womb), and skillfully wrought (Literally:
embroidered, alluding to
the
veins and arteries which are like colored
threads
running through the body) in the lowest
parts of the earth. Your
eyes SAW my
substance (embryo) being YET
unformed and in Your book they all were written, the days that were
fashioned
for me, when as yet there were none of them” (Psalm 139:13-16).
My Personal Comments
In view of the above understandable comments by Mr.
Armstrong, and
David writing of himself from his conception to his birth, and
connecting this
with God’s book of life, it would appear all of the unborn are
also
written in it as well.
Is it too hard to believe that all human life, the unborn as well as the born are all so-to-speak in God’s book of human life in view of the fact of what the following Scripture reveals to us of the awesome greatness of God’s mind:
“He COUNTS the number
of the stars;
He calls them all BY NAME. Great
is our
Lord and mighty in POWER;
His
understanding is INFINITE (limitless,
Psalm 147:4-5).
Consider further the awesome greatness and complexity of God’s
incredible mind in designing and planning His
creation in regard to
what scientists have come to understand about DNA;
no human being, no creature, no leaf on a tree, no snow flake,
etc., etc, is like any other; each one is different. AWESOME!!!
It is with all of this in mind that this writer’s
personal opinion is that
in THAT
BOOK OF LIFE the unborn are
also written and will
experience life outside of the womb
in the Great White Throne Resurrection.
If this is correct thinking, consider the shame,
the embarrassment, all
those would have been mothers will then feel coming face to face with
the full
realization of what they actually did by aborting their
lovely and precious babies.
Indeed, this would be a time of broken-hearted
weeping while expressing
their sorrow in real repentance. And all who are cut
to the heart for what they have done in this life will have
their
repentance accepted by Jesus Christ and their sins will be forgiven.
It should be realized that Scripture teaches us
that because of the
awesome love that God has for His creation of mankind, He sent His
beloved Son Jesus
Christ into this world to save sinners (John 3:16-17).
And the wonderful blessing is that all of mankind
will be saved after
they fully turn to God with their whole repentant hearts (Joel 2:12-13;
Amos
5:14-15; Romans 11:26).
The Complacency of Today’s Society
However during this time society for the most part
has become complacent
and calloused! It is so bad there is no
real public OUTCRY of
this
ongoing practice of the murder of these
little ones who are yet within
their mother’s wombs!
It is hard to grasp that that times have changed
society’s thinking so dramatically
from just a few
short years ago to what is being witnessed in our day and time; as one
can see
from the following historical account that took place during World War
II.
The Angel
of Death of World War II
One needs to realize there is
little
difference in what is taking place now with these murders and what the
Nazi
Doctor Josef Mengele, called the angel of death, an instrument of Satan
the
devil, practiced on little
children
in the death camps of Auschwitz/Birkenau during World War II.
From the internet:
“During the last
two years of World War II Josef Mengele (1911-1979), a German
physician,
conducted atrocious medical experiments and sent tens of thousands of
Jews to
the gas chambers at Auschwitz/Birkenau, a concentration camp in south
western
Poland. In 1949 he fled Germany for Latin America where, 30 years
later, he
died by drowning. He was never apprehended and thus was never
prosecuted as a
war criminal.
Mengele was interested in eyes. He sent pairs of
different colors to
Verschuer, who after the war said he had not known that they had come
from
persons killed for their sake. Also, in order to see if it were
possible to
change the color of the iris, Mengele
gave dozens of children eye injections, causing agony,
at least one
case of partial blindness, and the death of a newborn
baby.
His primary interest
remained twins. Mengele
studied their similarities and differences under conditions
unprecedented in
his field: the circumstance, for example, of both twins dying at the
same time
from the same cause - such as an injection, according to the postwar
testimony
of his autopsist, of chloroform
into the heart.”
The people of this country and others were appalled at what was done to those
little children during that time; but the passing of years has brought
about a
dramatic change in attitude and thinking that does not now correspond
to what
that infamous doctor did to those
little children at that time!
This is largely due to the shrouding
of complacency that has led to
the tolerant acceptance of the evils now being practiced.
Murder Made Legal Then and Now
This is all the more reason WHY God would
send an end-time Elijah, though not by actual name, but in the same SPIRIT and POWER as that of the Elijah
in that ancient time with the loving plea made by both men for
repentance that
would lead to a dramatic change in thinking and practice.
The babies were legally murdered by
rule and example under the reign of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel; and it
is very
sad that the same has been made legally possible by the lawmakers in
Congress
and upheld by the Judiciary all the way to the Supreme Court of the
United
States.
A bill was barely passed by Congress three times during the eight-year tenure of President Clinton (1992-2000) to ban the late-term abortions; he vetoed it each time.
Eye-Opening
Factual Accounts
To enable the reader to grasp
the real horrors of the slaughter of the unborn, it seems
necessary that more of the gruesome and
lurid details of the murdering of the unborn
be further detailed in this chapter from knowledgeable sources of this
ongoing
practice. We MUST
understand
the critical seriousness of it and the only way of doing so is to read
in depth
what others have written about it.
And by having a greater understanding of what
these people are doing should enable all of us to really be able to
sigh and
cry for these horrendous evils being legally practiced today (Ezekiel
9:4).
In addition to this writing it is highly
recommended that the reader purchase the book written by Judge Bork, Slouching Towards Gomorrah. It
will
not only give one a greater in-depth understanding of the graphically
detailed
accounts of this heinous legalized ongoing practice of the uncaring and unfeeling murder
of the unborn, but he also makes known other major problems
in this country
as well.
The
Excruciating Painful Deaths Experienced by the
Unborn
Please note the following excerpt as well as
other related excerpts from Judge Bork’s book on this subject:
Slouching
Towards Gomorrah, 1997 Printing, by Robert H. Bork, former United
States Court
of Appeals Judge, pages 173, 174, 175, 180, 182). “There is
fetal pain
involved! Once its nervous
system has
developed in part, the FETUS that is DISMEMBERED or POISONED in the
womb FEELS
EXCRUCIATING
PAIN,” so wrote Judge Bork and verified by
pediatricians! Further he
wrote, “It is impossible to say that the killing of the organism AT
ANY MOMENT AFTER IT
ORIGINATED is not the killing
of a human being!”
(My emphasis)
This is a fact-filled and well-documented book written by a well-known former United States Appeals Court Judge of the United States who was nominated to be placed on the Supreme Court but rejected by the dominant liberal members of the Judiciary Committee of Congress.
It is commendable that such a high-ranking
man in this country would write in no uncertain terms about this
unconscionable
horror of killing the unborn babies! Such a man as he is extremely rare
in
today’s society.
The Elijah of this end
time was raised up by God as His personal representative
to warn
Israel that these and other terrible sins
being committed by His chosen people are soon going to exact
their penalties in horrors that will be mind-defying (Matthew
24:21; Daniel 12:1)!
Mr. Armstrong made it very clear that
abortion is MURDER!
And by so doing he showed no fear of
speaking out about the hot-button
social issues!
Please note the following accounts by others of the pain experienced by the unborn in the following excerpts:
Judge Permits
Testimony About Fetus Pain
Worldmag.com
stated: “Dr. Anand took the stand this morning and testified for hours
that
UNBORN babies can FEEL
PAIN EVEN MORE VIVIDLY THAN ADULTS OR EVEN INFANTS.” [as
to why] He said that by 20 weeks fetuses
have developed all the nerve and brain functions to feel pain, BUT NONE of the coping mechanisms that help
infants and adults to deal with the sensation.
According to Dr. Anand’s research, handling
the fetus in the womb, delivering the child UP TO IT’S HEAD AND SLICING
OPEN IT’S SKULL AND SUCKING OUT
the brains would all PRODUCE ‘PROLONGED AND EXCRUCIATING PAIN TO THE FETUS!
The evidence of fetal pain is NOT
new. Dr. Anand studied expressions of pain in unborn and neonatal
children as
early as the 1980s . . . The article adds that the courtroom remains
virtually “journalist
free” due to “the gruesome nature of what goes on inside those
clinics.” (My
emphasis throughout.)
Other doctors have also written of their research regarding the pain experienced by the unborn fetuses:
The
Record, Friday, July
8, 1994 A7 HEALTH
Even the Unborn Feel Pain
The
Associated Press
London – Even the unborn feel pain,
according to preliminary evidence by British researchers. The findings suggest
fetuses should have
pain-relief when undergoing invasive procedures, such as blood
transfusions,
said Dr. Nicholas Fisk, the investigator at Queen Charlotte’s and
Chelsea
Hospital in London . . . “Five or ten years ago people thought newborns
didn’t
feel pain, and new analgesia for newborns is widespread . . . Fisk and
his
colleagues found a dramatic rise in fetal-stress hormones when they
inserted a
needle into fetuses for blood transfusions. . . .”
Estimates are that 3 out of 10 conceptions end in the very painful death of the fetus!
Yet another finding based on much research over many years is as follows:
The Secret Life
of the UnBorn Child by
Thomas Verney, M.D. with John Kelly, “YOU CAN GIVE YOUR BABY
A GREATER CHANCE FOR HEALTH AND HAPPINESS – MONTHS BEFORE BIRTH!
“A pioneering physician gives startling new
evidence based on two decades of medical research.
“Your unborn baby is:
1) Capable
of learning
2)
Able
to warn you of
medical problems you and your doctor may not be aware of
3)
Able
to hear and
respond to voices and sounds – including music
4)
Sensitive
to his parents’ feelings
about him
5)
Capable
of
responding to love
6)
An
active, feeling
human baby”
Published by Dell Publishing Company, INC,
1982
Skilled
Wording Hides the True Facts
To hide the stark reality of the murderous,
excruciatingly
painful deaths of these little ones, very careful and well thought out
language
is used to cover up the grievous heart-breaking naked truth of it!
As a result of this deceptive
language, Christian churches
are sleeping a comfortable, undisturbed sleep regarding abortions and
other
evils committed in this and other nations; and also keeping their eyes
closed
to the very likelihood of this being done by some of their own
parishioners! And
by so doing they are giving their tacit approval to
this evil.
To their credit there were two well-known
Protestant ministers in this country that did speak out about these
terrible
sins while associating them to the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers
on 9-11-2001. From
the Internet, we read:
September
11th attacks
After the September 11, 2001 attacks,
[Jerry] Falwell
said on the
700 Club, "I really believe that the pagans,
and the
abortionists,
and the feminists,
and the gays and the lesbians
who are
actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU,
People For the American
Way, all of
them who have tried to secularize
America. I point the finger in their face and say:
“You helped this happen!" Fellow evangelist Pat
Robertson concurred with his sentiment. After heavy
criticism, Falwell
apologized, though he later said that he stood by his statement,
stating
"If we decide to change all the rules on which this Judeo-Christian
nation was built, we cannot expect the Lord to put his shield of
protection
around us as he has in the past."
They
received
so much critical flack from high places they backed off! Nothing
further was
said by either of them publicly on the subject as far as I know at that
time.
To the credit of Jerry
Falwell, a month or so
before his recent death, was interviewed and asked concerning what he
had said
at that time after the September 11th attack: he
told the reporter
that he still felt the same way.
For the most part people in this generation do
NOT want to know about the details
of
the killing of the unborn anymore than did the German populace during
World War
II when 6,000,000 Jewish
people (men, women, little
children and babies) were shot or gassed to death and burned to ashes in the ovens.
Ironically, some of those same German people
lived very close to those death camps and denied knowing anything about
what
was taking place there. It is hard to understand why they did not know
what was
going on. There was the daily smoke from the furnaces and the stench of
burning
human flesh that permeated a very
large and wide area and
covered a great distance. Also there were the trains coming and going
all the
time bringing their overloaded rail cars filled with men, women, and
children.
After the war the German people who lived in
the villages near the death camps of Auschwitz, Dachau, Buchenwald, and
possibly others, were forced by the American soldiers to walk inside
some of those
camps and view the bodies
that had not yet been
cremated, as well as to see the emaciated survivors.
By so doing they came face to face with the reality of
what they
were trying to hide from themselves.
From
the Internet:
The
Russians and the Allies
liberated the concentration camps and the death camps and were shocked
by the
horrors they found. The corpses, piled high as the Germans tried to
destroy the
evidence of their crime by accelerating the killing, were all over the
camps.
Eisenhower toured Ohrdruf Concentration Camp, immediately ordered the
German
civilians to be forced to see what had gone on in their backyard.
Surviving
prisoners helped the Allies pick out guards that were hiding in their
ranks.
The time is soon coming when the rest of
society will also be forced to face the
tacit approval they are
now
giving in allowing a woman to choose whether or not she wants to have
her
unborn baby aborted – meaning she
is within
her legal rights to have the unborn baby that she is carrying
inside her
womb murdered!
It was reported that what was seen in those death camps by American and United Kingdom soldiers was so gruesome that even General Eisenhower and soldiers of the American army actually wept; some vomited! (Please think about some of the most revealing pictures of that time – and not all that many years ago, and know that far worse is soon to come to pass.)
Please note the following comment from the
internet:
“I
saw Eisenhower go to the opposite end of the road and vomit. From a
distance I saw Patton bend over, holding his head with one hand and his
abdomen
with the other. And I soon became ill. I suggested to General
Eisenhower that
cables be sent immediately to President Roosevelt, Churchill, DeGaulle,
urging
people to come and see for themselves. The general nodded.”
--Lewis
H. Weinstein, Lieutenant Colonel and chief of the liaison section of
General
Eisenhower's staff, April 1945
“I
have never felt able to describe my emotional reaction when I first
came face
to face with indisputable evidence of Nazi brutality and ruthless
disregard of
every shred of decency . . . I visited every nook and cranny of the
camp
because I felt it my duty to be in a position from then on to testify
at first
hand about these things in case there ever grew up at home the belief
or
assumption that the stories of Nazi brutality were just propaganda.
“We
are constantly finding
German camps in which they have placed political prisoners where
unspeakable
conditions exist. From my own personal observation, I can state
unequivocally
that all written statements up to now do not paint the full horrors. In
view of
these facts, you may think it advisable to invite 12 congressional
leaders and
12 leading editors to see these camps. If so, I shall be glad to take
these
groups to one of these camps. Such a visit will show them without a
trace of
doubt the full evidence of the cruelty practiced by the Nazis in such
places as
normal procedure." General Dwight D. Eisenhower, telegram to US Chief
of
Staff Marshall, 19 April 1945.
Newspaper
reporters
on tour of Buchenwald, April 25, 1945
In view of our abominable sins, is it any
wonder – WHY –
there is such a terrible CURSE on
Israel and why Jesus Christ is going to punish mankind in the
soon-coming Great
Tribulation and a little later Armageddon?
Jesus Christ said what is coming will be far worse than
what occurred in
WWII or at any other time in past history (Matthew 24:21; Daniel 12:1).
Where
is the OUTCRY from Religion?
Those of us who are older well
realize the RELIGION of today is far different than it was just a few
short
years ago.
Scripture reveals that religion is supposed to cry out against sin and what the end will be for those practicing it! It is supposed to be an authoritative cry for repentance based on the Scriptural teachings of God’s laws with the desired effort of contributing to the health of the individual and of the nation.
Due to the changing times it just isn’t happening, as the following article makes known!
2007 Trends
Analysis: Americans Reformulating Christianity
By Audrey Barrick
Christian Post
Reporter
Tue, Dec. 04 2007 09:34 AM ET
As fewer Americans
identify themselves with
Christianity, research indicates that those who remain Christian are
redefining
what "Christian" means.
Study:
Christianity No Longer Looks Like Jesus
Younger generations are
not bound by
traditional parameters of the Christian faith and instead are embracing
values
that are not necessarily based on biblical foundations, according to a
recent
analysis by The Barna Group.
Although faith is an
acceptable attribute and
pursuit among most young people, their notions of faith do not align
with
conventional religious perspectives or behavior, the research group
reported .
. .
Young Americans have
adopted values such as
goodness, kindness and tolerance, but they remain skeptical of the
Bible,
church traditions, and rules or behaviors based upon religious teaching.
They are also
reformulating the popular
notion of what the Christian life means. Traditional activity such as
integrating discipline and regimen in personal faith development is
becoming
less popular; repeating the same weekly routines in religious events is
increasingly deemed anachronistic, stifling and irrelevant; and
rigidity of
belief, including the notion that there are absolute moral and
spiritual
truths, is perceived by many young people as evidence of
closed-mindedness.
Concluding from an
earlier Barna study in
May, David Kinnaman, president of The Barna Group, had noted that most
Americans
do not have strong and clear beliefs largely because they do not
possess a
coherent biblical worldview. The study found that fewer Americans were
embracing a traditional view of God and the Bible.
"They lack a consistent
and holistic
understanding of their faith," he said.
New faith practices that are now in vogue include pursuing spiritual
diversity
in conversations and relationships;
embracing racial
diversity and tolerance; valuing interpersonal connections above
spiritual
education; blending all forms of the arts and novel forms of
instruction into
religious events; and accepting divergent forms of spiritual community.
"The result is a
nouveau form and
structure for the Christian faith that will have broad-based
consequences on
the practice of Christianity for years to come," the latest report
stated.
The image of the
Christian faith has also
taken a beating.
Media criticism,
"unchristian"
behavior by church people, bad personal experiences with churches,
ineffective
Christian leadership amid social crises and the like have given rise to
this
"battered" image, according to the report.
A September study had
found that young
Americans outside Christianity have more negative perceptions than
positive of
the Christian faith. A majority say that Christianity is judgmental,
anti-homosexual, hypocritical, old-fashioned and too involved in
politics.
At the same time, 91
percent of evangelicals
believe that Americans are becoming more hostile and negative toward
Christianity.
Analysis of interviews
conducted over the
past year identified several other patterns significantly affecting the
development of American culture, including Americans' unconditional
self-love
and parenting trends.
Americans have a high
opinion of themselves,
Barna studies underscored. Most describe themselves as loyal, reliable,
an
independent thinker, supportive of traditional family values, clear
about the
meaning and purpose of their life, making a positive difference in the
world,
and well-informed about current events. A majority also say they are
open to
new ideas and easily adapt to change.
"Most Americans, it
seems, are willing
to change as long as the pathway promises benefit and enjoyment, and
generally
avoids pain, conflict and sacrifice," according to the report.
The data also revealed
some oddities of
Americans. While Americans increasingly require unique personal
applications
for the things they experience, they also want to be seen as being in
the
mainstream of what's happening in society. And although Americans
regularly strive
to be connected to a substantial number of other people (via social
networking
on the Internet, text messaging, phone calls, and frequent appearances
at common
hangouts such as Starbucks), they still possess a nagging sense of
loneliness,
isolation and restlessness.
“When it comes to
raising children in this
culture, the Barna surveys found that most parents underestimate the
influence
they can exert on their children. Many parents, even those who are
born-again
Christians, also overlook the need to foster deeper a connection
between their
children and God, or to enhance the child’s worldview as a critical
component
of their decision-making skills,” the
report
stated.
"It is a
well-established fact that our
society is continually re-inventing itself. The outcome of such
innovation and
change, however, is largely dependent on the guidance provided by
cultural
leaders," George Barna, chairman of the research group, noted. "It is
the core function of a leader to help people apply their creative ideas
and energy
to reinvigorating society in alignment with a positive and preferable
vision of
the future. Without a shaping influence that produces a common good, we
devolve
into anarchy.
"Our society is running
the risk of
becoming so independent and self-absorbed that we will abandon our
responsibility to society and to making the world a better place," he
added. "2008 will be an important year as America chooses future
political
leaders, pursues new spiritual forms, and shapes critical social
policies. The
choices will greatly influence the character of America for years to
come.
Hopefully, Americans will choose to apply their levels of personal
influence in
ways that generate social good, not just personal security and
satisfaction.
Identifying what each of us can do to avoid radical self-interest in
favor of a
more compassionate and collaborative society should find a place on
everyone’s
list of New Year’s resolutions."
Another Hot-Button
Issue
Presently
there is another very vocal hot issue that is
labeled – "the
constitutional separation of church and state."
Very few even
realize that one cannot find the word "separation" or
"church" or "state" in the First Amendment.
For
150 years after the Bill of Rights, the First Amendment phrasing about
an "establishment
of religion" meant the federal government would not
impose a
national church, a particular denomination, on the states.
As
Mr. David Kupelian said in his speech,
“It
is coming to be so bad at this present time that saying something about
God,
the Bible, Ten Commandments or, Heaven forbid, praying on public
property,
constitutes an illegal "establishment of religion."
And religion has come to accept this perversion
of truth. It has
bowed at the feet
of Caesar with no real gumption as a whole to take a stand vocally and
legally
against the few who are pulling the teeth from the mouth of religion
and
destroying them as a force from the pulpit and the voting booth.
Legislation
has
been enacted making it against the law for a minister to even speak in
a political
way while addressing his congregation.
At the same time there appears to be no
will for the ministry to struggle against what is being done in this
country.
The public as a whole has no heart or backbone to
change the wrong, and
the ministry has accepted the will of the public.
And so the clergy has fallen prey
to the dictates and political will
of the people and, for the most part, they try to entertain their
congregations
and speak about soft and smooth things
so as not
to upset anyone. Therefore they have failed the
people and the
religion they practice is of no real value to the
person or the nation.
In essence, religion has closed
its
eyes to the evils of abortion, sodomy (a Biblical term), and a host of
other
evils! As the result, we see the demise of the
human family and this
evil age coming to a terrible and horrendous end!
Marriages
Between the Same Sex
We are now reading of
marriages taking place
here in America between men and men, and women with women. There is no
unified vigorous outcry from
religion to those in authority to put
a stop to all these terrible things that are bringing the
wrath of God upon us!
When we draw the comparisons
between Israel at the time of Elijah and the evil practices we see
about us
today, there is no real difference in the political, judicial, and
religious
areas of our society than during the time of the kings of Israel.
There are voices of opposition in
this society but too few in comparison. As the result, their voices are
drowned
out and unheard! These same protestors are looked down upon by a
society that
is largely in agreement with these heinous evils that are supported by
the
legal system, and as such they are regarded as people out of step with
society
and are disdained!
Some few years ago the most
famous and renowned evangelist of the Protestant religion, Billy Graham, was reported to have said
that unless God did
deal with this nation for our sins, He would need to apologize to Sodom
and
Gomorrah for what He did to them for their sins.
From his own fairly recent statements to a
newspaper reporter he made known that he no longer will publicly
comment on the
same social issues. In that interview that took place before an
evangelistic
campaign in which he was to preach in New York City, he was asked
whether he
would preach about the social issues: He was reported to have said, “I do not give advice and will not touch
the hot-button social issues!”
Social issues that are confronting this nation and the world will bring about the wrath of God that will end this age! Based on this statement that was printed in the newspaper, I daresay he would still say the same today, even though there are very ample reasons for him to speak out against the hot-button social issues.
The Compassionate
Faithful Are Being Singled Out by God
If this writing serves no other purpose than
to make the reader fully aware of these horrors to the point of sighing and crying for the evils that are ongoing and have corrupted
this nation, as
well as the other tribes of Israel, it will have been worth the effort!
Unless we are compassionate and
hurt for these little ones,
and
all the other evils perpetrated on others, there is the possibility God
may not
spare any of us, as Scripture implies (Malachi 4:6).
God commanded His angel to put A MARK on His people (and is undoubtedly
already being done) who are
visibly and emotionally distraught because of these heinous evils:
And the LORD said to him, "Go through
the midst of the city (Jerusalem -- representative of all Israel),
through the
midst of Jerusalem, AND PUT A MARK
on the foreheads of the men WHO SIGH AND CRY OVER ALL THE ABOMINATIONS
that are
done within it." To the others (angels)
He said, "Go after him through the city and kill; do not let your
eye spare, nor have any pity. Utterly SLAY old and young men, maidens
and
little children and women; BUT DO NOT COME NEAR ANYONE WHO HAS THE MARK; AND
BEGIN AT MY SANCTUARY." (Ezekiel 9:4-6; Revelation
11:1).
God
told the angel to BEGIN
at
My Sanctuary, meaning His
Church! This is very scary
when we think of what is soon to come. Scary that some of us might NOT have THE
MARK that will be
required in order to be spared due to
being passive and unmoved by these deplorable sins that are being
practiced on
a daily basis.
I well realize
there are those who do not like to hear or read about
the heinous and gruesome details of the murders of these little ones
and cringe
when they do; little ones who will never experience life outside their
mother’s
womb this side of their possible resurrection in time to come!
However, writing
as much about it as I am doing, and in such graphic and
lurid detail, should at least make us think soberly about whether we
are also hiding our faces from
the evils that occur every day and night as is the
majority of society. And, tragically, it only gets worse!
God does not say
we are to take part in carrying signs of protest, but
we certainly should be so affected emotionally by it that we are
praying all
the harder – "Thy
Kingdom
Come!"
The Forgiveness of Sin
It
is necessary and very important to add that some who read this book may
very
well have had abortions, and they hurt
and cringe because they did it without full
comprehension and understanding of it
and its consequences to them, mentally, and spiritually.
God
makes known there is no
sin that is committed that cannot be forgiven, with
the lone exception of blaspheming against His Holy Spirit. He will also
forgive
the sin of abortion and all the other sins of the practicing
homosexuals and
lesbians once forgiveness is sought from the heart and the change made
in their
life-style (Matthew 12:31).
This
can clearly be seen by what the apostle Paul wrote to the Church at
Corinth:
“Do you NOT know that the
unrighteous will NOT inherit the Kingdom of God?
Do NOT be deceived.
Neither [practicing] fornicators, nor
idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals nor sodomites, nor thieves,
nor
covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit
the
Kingdom of God. And such were some of you (now
members of the Church having repented of those sins). But you have had
yourselves WASHED, but you
were sanctified, but you were justified (forgiven) in the name of the
Lord
Jesus and by the Spirit of our God” (I Corinthians 6:9-11).
This
will also include all those involved in the worship of Baalism
(idolatrous worship) upon
real godly repentance. And once God sees true repentance, He will
forgive and remember
the sin no more (Psalm 103:11-12).
One
should realize at the same time what repentance really means: Scripture
defines
it as having a true godly sorrow that cuts
to the heart for past sins, and NO
longer committing any of them (Acts 2:36-37)!
This
is made known by what Jesus told the woman who had been caught in the
act of
adultery (John 8:10-11). Christ told her that He did not
condemn her, but said for
her, “to go and sin no more!”
What
a wonderful, merciful, and loving God, He shows Himself to be when
repentance
takes place in the heart and life of anyone. God our Father and Jesus
Christ
rejoice in front of the heavenly host when real godly repentance does
indeed
take place:
“I say to you that likewise
there will be more joy in heaven over one
sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no
repentance .
. . Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels
of God
over one sinner who repents”(Luke 15:7, 10).
The Coming
Punishment on all of the
Tribes of
Israel
There
is the thought and question as to why would God bring about His severe
punishment on all 12 Tribes of Israel; while knowing there are many
within each
of these nations who have not been involved in abortions, sodomy, etc.?
Simply
stated, it is because of their TACIT
APPROVAL of the evil; which is the closing of
their eyes and pretending
not
to see or know what goes
on all around them. As the result they will also experience the wrath
of
God for their own violation of God’s laws in other areas!
The
punishment will also come about because of their idolatrous worship in
the
religion of Baalism
and
Astarte in
their churches, and observance of pagan holidays, etc.
Consider
what God has to say about people who in essence close their eyes to
these
evils:
Then the LORD spoke to Moses,
saying, "Again, you shall say to the
children of Israel: ‘Whoever of the children of Israel, or of the
strangers who
sojourn in Israel, who GIVES any of his descendants to Molech, he shall
surely
be put to death . . . and IF
the people of the land SHOULD IN
ANY WAY HIDE THEIR EYES from the
man [tacit approval], when he
gives some of his descendants to Molech, and they do NOT kill him, then
I will
set My face against that man AND AGAINST HIS FAMILY; I WILL CUT HIM OFF
FROM
HIM, AND ALL WHO PROSTITUTE THEMSELVES with him to commit harlotry with
Molech
. . . Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am the LORD
your God.
And you shall KEEP MY statutes, and perform them: I am the LORD who
sanctifies
you" (Leviticus 20:1-2, 4-5, 7-8).
The Exacting
of the Death
Penalty
Please
realize that no one, whether as an individual, or as a collective group
or church,
is required by God to exact
the death penalty today
(Matthew 5:21; Exodus 20:13). Christ shows this to be true in many
Scriptures. To
take the law into one’s own hands would be a terrible sin before God,
as well
as being guilty of breaking man’s laws that could be punishable by
prison or death.
Jesus
Christ Himself will exact the death penalty when He establishes His
Governmental reign after He returns to this earth unless there is
heartfelt repentance
sought from God. Until then, only the established lawful governments
can
legally exact the death penalty (Romans 13).
It
was different in the time of Elijah, for all Israel was subject to the
exacting
of the penalties for transgressing the laws of God by the kings of
Israel and
Judah, as well as by the judges and the prophets.
In
reading the first five books, along with Joshua, Judges, and the books
of the
Kings, we can see where God Himself intervened and saw to it that
people died
for their disobedience to Him and His holy and righteous laws.
In
New Testament times, Jesus Christ has only given license to exact the
death
penalty by the duly established governmental agencies and no one else.
Restoring
the Identity of the True God
The
commission to Elijah from God in his time was to RESTORE
to Israel the identity
of the true God
and
to the knowledge and
obedience
of His laws, just as it was prophesied to
be in the end time, our
time today (Malachi 4:4-6).
To
get their attention, God had Elijah make known to King Ahab that a severe famine
was
coming on the land that would affect the whole nation severely!
At
the same time the effort would be put forth by God through Elijah to RESTORE
the family relationship by
ending the heinous, barbaric sacrificing of babies, as well as other
areas that
needed to be corrected. Had this not taken place, God further said: ". . . lest I
come and strike the earth with a
curse" (Hebrew: with utter destruction (Malachi 4:6).
Due
to the miracle that God performed after listening to Elijah’s prayer,
the many people
of Israel gathered there came to realize that the God Elijah
represented was
the true God, and not Baal;
and that led to their
repentance. Because of this turnaround no terrible destruction came on
them at
that time.
The Punishment
of Israel
after
Elijah’s
Removal by a Chariot from God
As
to be expected, there was no lasting effect of the right and good
changes that
God brought about during the time of Elijah! As she had done in past
times,
Israel turned back to her abominable ways over the following years
(approximately 125 years).
Then
the time arrived when the wages of their horrible and wicked sins came
to the
full and they paid a terrible price
for their
rejection of God and His laws (Genesis 15:16; I Kings 21:26; II Kings
21:11-12).
The
following Scriptures reveal the consequences
of their evil ways even
though they had been warned time
after time what would befall them unless
they were to repent and then continue in the teachings of God:
In the 9th
year of Hoshea (king
of Israel), the king of Assyria took Samaria and carried Israel away to
Assyria
. . . For so it was that the children of Israel had SINNED against the
LORD
their God, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt . . . and they
had
FEARED other gods, and had walked in the statutes of the nations whom
the LORD
had CAST OUT from before the children of Israel . . . for they served
idols, of
which the LORD had said to them, ‘You shall not do this thing.’ Yet the
LORD testified
against Israel and against Judah, BY ALL OF HIS PROPHETS, namely every
seer,
saying "Turn away from your evil ways, and keep My commandments . . .
Nevertheless, they would not hear, but stiffened their necks . . . and
they
REJECTED His statutes and His covenant . . . and they followed idols .
. . and
served Baal. And they caused their sons and daughters to pass through
the fire [sacrificed
to an excruciating painful death while being ROASTED
in the red-hot
metal arms of a pagan idol] . . . therefore the LORD was
very angry
with Israel, and removed them from His sight; . . . (II Kings 17:6-7,
12-18).
Once
again, God will remove Israel from His sight, and for the same reasons,
as He
did at that time! One should know that God does not change; He is the
same
yesterday, today and forever (Malachi 3:6; Hebrews 13:8; II Peter 2;
Jude).
There
are numerous prophecies that make known the horrors of famine and the epidemic
of disease,
among other things, are now close at hand! They have been prophesied to
begin
taking place just a very few short years prior to the return of Jesus
Christ to
this earth. And we are now seeing the evidence of all of them being
very close
at hand (Luke 21:29-33).
These
approaching bad times will come very close to completely destroying
Israel this
time (Zechariah 13:8-9; Amos 5:1-3; Isaiah 1:9; 6:11-12)!
The
Prayer of Elijah
Elijah’s
commission to Israel is made very clear when we read the words of his
prayer to
God that he made
before the king and the 450
prophets of Baal:
Elijah the prophet came near and
said
(prayed), "LORD God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, LET IT BE KNOWN THIS
DAY
THAT YOU ARE GOD IN ISRAEL, and that I am Your servant, and that I have
done
all these things at Your word. Hear me, O LORD, hear me, THAT THIS
PEOPLE MAY
KNOW
THAT YOU ARE THE LORD
GOD, AND THAT YOU HAVE TURNED THEIR HEARTS BACK TO YOU AGAIN"
(I Kings 18:36-37).
God
answered Elijah’s short prayer in such a miraculous manner the children
of
Israel who were gathered there to observe could not help but know the
God that
Elijah represented was indeed the true God!
Though
the 450 prophets of Baal
had cried out to him
for several hours to hear them, as expected they received no answer
from this
dumb pagan idol (I Kings18:26-29).
At
the command of Elijah, the Israelite
observers then executed
the 450 prophets of Baal by
fulfilling the law given by God that was to be
carried out in Old Testament times (I Kings 18:40; Deuteronomy 13:5-10;
18:20).
Numerous
Scriptures reveal Jesus
Christ Himself will bring about the punishment of Israel in this end time by using enemy
nations during the Great Tribulation!
Names with
Biblical Meaning
The
Holy Bible makes well
known that names were important to the people of Israel as a whole.
This can be
seen in Scripture as well as in life today. Some parents want their
children to
have names that convey Biblical meanings – names that would bear a
desired
meaning in life.
Names
were also very important
to God for those He chose to use to fulfill missions for Him. And this
can be
seen in the name changes Jesus Christ made with special men He had
chosen to
fulfill major responsibilities toward the ultimate salvation of all of
mankind.
And each change would have a long-range meaning in the ongoing history
of
Israel and the Church of God.
Though
there is no Bible proof
that God gave the name of Elijah to this ancient prophet directly, as
He had
done with others, however when we consider the meaning of it along with
his
very important mission, there is no question but that God saw to it
that this
prophet would have this particular name.
Abraham and
Sarah
Among
the very beginning of
those name changes was that of a very special man and his wife, Abram
and
Sarai.
God
changed Abram’s name (=
exalted father) to Abraham (= father of a multitude of nations, Genesis
17:4-5).
Notes from Bullinger’s
(Companion) Bible:
“It is interesting that the change was made in both names with ONE
LETTER, the 5th letter changed to H. The letter H is common to both the
names
of JHVH and ELOHIM. (This letter H change was also made in the name of
Joshua, Numbers
13:16).
The added 5th
letter (H) has the meaning of GRACE. The Greek
for GRACE is a multiple of 5s. It
is
the leading factor in the Tabernacles measurements.”
God
even changed the name of
Sarai (= princely), Abraham’s wife, to that of Sarah (= Princess,
Genesis
17:15).
This
change in the names of
Abraham and Sarah was made at the very time that God made the physical
covenant
of circumcision to Abraham and his descendants that would b0e an
identifying
SIGN of a personal relationship between God and them.
Now the LORD has said to Abram:
“Get out of your country, from your
kindred and from your father’s house, to a land I will show you. I will make you A GREAT
NATION [Israel]; I
will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I
will
bless those who bless you and I will curse him who curses you; AND IN
YOU all
the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:1-3).
Notice
the two-fold promise
that God made to Abram in this Scripture:
“I will make of you A GREAT
NATION” verse 2] – the national, material promise that his
flesh-born
children should become a great nation – a promise of RACE. “And
in you shall ALL FAMILIES of the earth be blessed” verse 3] – the
spiritual
promise of ‘GRACE’ (emphasis mine).This same promise is repeated in
Genesis 22:18. “In
your seed shall of the nations of the earth be blessed” This
particular
‘one seed’ refers to Jesus Christ, as plainly affirmed in Galatians
3:8, 16, The United States and
Britain in Prophecy, page
22).
Please note: “I will make of you
A GREAT NATION” verse 2]
– the national, material
promise that his flesh-born children should become a great nation – a
promise
of RACE.
Interpreter’s
Dictionary of the Bible, volume, 1, page 15, Genesis
17-4-5.
Abram] “In the necessity of combining the two names of Israel’s first
patriarch, the priestly writer (Moses) found also a ready device for
emphasizing this important theological affirmation.
By changing Abram’s name to Abraham, he (Moses) has God
underscore the universal mission of Israel.
In accord with His covenant centered view of Israel’s
history linked
this change of name with the Abrahamic covenant.”
A Name Change
made with Jacob
Still
later, God appeared to
Jacob again (Abraham’s grandson), whose name was changed to Israel: And
God said to him, ‘Your name is Jacob; your name shall not be called
Jacob
anymore, but Israel shall be your name.’
So He called his name Israel.
And God said to him, ‘I am God Almighty, Be fruitful and
multiply; a
nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall
come
form your body’” (Genesis 35:10-11).
Israel
was chosen by God above
all other nations to be used in His Master Plan for the ultimate
salvation of
all of mankind (Romans 9-11). They were to be a chosen people by God to
fulfill
a service for him to all of the other nations of this earth (Exodus
19:4-6).
THE UNITED
STATES AND
BRITAIN IN PROPHECY,
page 227: “Yes, we
are God’s chosen people Israel! Think
what that means!
Chosen, not for favors
while we defy our God, but chosen for SERVICE we have failed to
perform.”
The
promise from God to
Abraham had a long-range meaning for it carried through to the New
Covenant as
well; he not only came to be the father of the nation of Israel but
also the
father of the faithful, the Church of God (Romans 4:1, 16).
The Apostle
Peter’s Name Changed
The
Apostle Peter’s name was
originally Simon Barjona but was changed by Christ to Peter to be both
a name and
a title making know that he was to be the leading or chief apostle of
the other
apostles (Matthew 16:17-18). For a further explanation, please read, Mystery
of the Ages, pages
221-222).
The Apostle
Paul’s Name Change
Before
God chose the Apostle
Paul to be used in serving His people, his name was Saul (‘asked for’),
and after
God brought him conversion, He changed it to Paul (‘little’).
The
thought occurs: why would
Christ change Paul’s name to ‘little’? Very possibly this change was
made due
to the great learning he had (Acts 22:1-3; 26:24). Other things are to
be
considered, such as knowing how Christ would use him as well as
spending much
time with Paul personally (Galatians 1:11-16).
He was also even taken up into heaven at one point in time
(II Corinthians
12:3-9).
All
this would continue to
help Paul to realize he was still ‘little’ in God’s sight and should be
in his
own sight as well. In fact, he was even given a thorn in the flesh to
help him
to remain, ‘little’
(II Corinthians 12:7; Galatians 4:13-15).
The Name of
Elijah
The
name of Elijah had the
meaning of a true representative of God, for it was a derivation of the
very
name of God, Elohim. This
name of itself should have at least made the
people of Israel wonder upon hearing his name.
They
should have linked Elijah
to ‘ELOHIM’ as His representative. Though it is realized by many that
the Name
ELOHIM is a Family Name, we need to also further understand its meaning
and in
so doing one can see that it also corresponds to the name of Elijah:
"EL" is
ELOHIM in all His strength and power, the OMNIPOTENT. In essence the
ALMIGHTY. "JAH"
is JHVH, the ETERNAL – GOD, the IMMUTABLE ONE, HE WHO IS, AND IS TO
COME, THE
EVERLASTING GOD (Genesis 21:33; Revelation 11:17).
With
the meaning of ELOHIM in mind we
can understand the
derivation of Elijah by putting the name together: El
(I) JAH. The letter
“I” makes the difference between the name of ‘ELOHIM’ and that of
Elijah.
In
addition to the three schools
of the prophets where Elijah taught from time to time there were
possibly others
of Israel who knew he was a prophet of God. However they probably did
not really
understand his mission was made known in the very meaning of his name
itself until
after the miracle came from God that made this very clear.
The Importance
of Understanding the NAME of ELIJAH
The
need of understanding the meaning
and significance of the name of ELIJAH, in regard to his very special
mission
to Israel, is far more important than most realize for it ties in
directly with
both the second and third men in their very special missions.
Failure
in doing so will
prohibit one from grasping with real comprehension and understanding as
to WHY Jesus Christ would have TWO
MEN to follow with the name of ELIJAH at key and strategic
times in the
ongoing history of Israel.
Elijah a Direct
Representative from God
The
following Scripture makes
known key points that should be seriously thought about regarding the
name of
ELIJAH and His standing with God that also carried through with the two
men who
would follow him in their times.
And Elijah the Tishbite (=
sojourner), of the inhabitants of Gilead
said to Ahab, As the LORD (= JHVH) God (= ELOHIM) of Israel lives,
before whom
I stand, there shall not be dew (= a
morning mist)
nor rain these years, except at my word” (I Kings 17:1).
As
can be seen in this
Scripture the name of Elijah bears both the names of JHVH
and ELOHIM. And “BEFORE
WHOM I STAND” makes known his
very close relationship as a direct representative from God; just as it
was
with Abraham and Moses.
Though
Elijah held such a
prominent and close relationship with God he was still a fallible human
man
just as were the two men who followed him:
“Elijah was a man
with a nature like ours, and he prayed EARNESTLY that
it would NOT rain; and it did not rain
on the land for three and six months. And he prayed again, and the
heaven gave
rain, and the earth produced its fruit” (James 5:17-18).
Even
though all three men were
fallible, made mistakes, even sinned unintentionally (I John 1:8-10),
their
hearts and dedication to God and their missions kept them in God’s
favor and
were all used by Him.
Messengers Sent
from God
The
following Scripture should
aid our understanding of the SPECIAL MISSIONS God had given the two men
who
were to follow ELIJAH while in the same Spirit and Power that God had
given him
to ancient Israel.
“Behold, I send My messenger,
and he will PREPARE THE WAY BEFORE
ME. And the Lord,
whom you seek, will
suddenly come to His Temple, even the Messenger
(Christ, the Messenger to
bring to mankind the message of the Gospel, Mark 1:1- ) of
the (new) Covenant, in
whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,” say the LORD of hosts (Malachi
3:1).
In
addition to the very
special messenger, the Messiah, there would be the 2nd
and 3rd
Elijah who would fulfill this prophecy in their missions at key times.
The Name of
John the
Baptizer
Now
we will consider the
mission given to the 2nd Elijah, John the
Baptizer.
Due
to a miracle from God, John
was born to his aged parents, Zacharias and Elizabeth who were beyond
childbearing age (Luke 1:7); just as Isaac was born to his aged
parents,
Abraham and Sarah (Genesis 17:17).
Remember Sarah laughed when she heard Christ say she was
going to have a
baby (Genesis 18:11-15). At her age of 90, she could not believe this
could be
possible!
When
the due date arrived of
John’s birth that corresponded to God’s time table (Luke 3:2),
Elizabeth gave
birth to her miracle baby who was to be named John; just as Zacharias
had been
instructed to do by the angel Gabriel.
The angel (Gabriel) said to him
(Zacharias), “. . . and you shall call
his name John” (Luke 1:13)
Why
the name John?
Clarke Commentary, volume 5, page 364, Luke 1:60
“ . . . he shall be called John”] “. .
. There is
something very remarkable in
the names of this family [a priestly family] Zechariah ,
the memory or
memorial of JHVH . . . Elizabeth
the
Sabbath or rest of my strong God: names
probably given them by their parents, to point out some remarkable
circumstance
in their conception or birth. And
John,
which should always be written Jehochanan or Yehochanan
the
grace or mercy of JHVH: so named, because he was to go
before and proclaim the God of
all grace, and the mercy granted through Him to a lost world, John
1:29; 3:16;
Mark 1:4.”
Clarke Commentary, volume 5, page 289 Mark 1:4,
John] “The original name is nearly lost
in its Greek meaning and in the Latin Johannes, and almost totally lost
in the
English John. The
original name is
Yehochanan, compounded by Yehovah chanan, the grace or mercy of JHVH: a
most
proper and significant name for the forerunner of the God of ALL GRACE. It was John’s business
(mission) to proclaim
the Gospel of the grace of God, and to point out that Lamb or sacrifice
of God
which takes away the sin of the world.”
It
was only in the hill
country of Judea where John’s parents lived that a few neighbors knew
that John
the Baptizer was also to be fulfilling a secondary role of Elijah in a
special
mission to Judea.
“. . . He (John) will also go
before Him (The Messiah) in the spirit
and power of Elijah. . . . (Luke
1:13-17).
From
The Name Book by Dorothy Astoria the Bethany
House Publishers,
the name John: Language/Cultural
origin: Greek. Its inherit meaning: God
is gracious. Spiritual connotation: Strength
of God. Scripture:
Psalm 118:14
NKJV “The LORD is my strength
and
song, and He has become my salvation.
The Name of
Herbert
Armstrong
Consider
the meaning of the
name given to Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong by his parents:
The name Armstrong has the meaning of: A "STRONG
ARM!"
From
The Name Book by Dorothy Astoria the Bethany
House Publishers:
HERBERT means:
"SHINING SOLDIER" Spiritual
connotation: "POWERFUL PROTECTOR."
Scripture, NKJV: Psalm
37:31 "The Law of God is in his heart; none
of his steps
shall slide."
Mr. Armstrong was
a very strong minded man and continued to stand up and protect the
Church of
God from those seeking to destroy it. Though others tried to change the
doctrinal teachings Christ had used him to RESTORE within His Church he
would
not let them do it as long as he lived (II Thessalonians 2:7).
He
continually
cried out for all of mankind to repent and begin OBSERVING God’s 10
Commandments, Statutes and Judgments, and by so doing he was following
in the
footsteps of Elijah and John the Baptizer, his predecessors (Malachi
4:4).
Needless to say,
all of us who really knew him came to know the meaning of his name, as
made
known by the Name Book, fitted
him perfectly!
Mr. Armstrong was
a man who was always filled with zeal for the work God had given him to
do. He never took a vacation over the many
years that I knew him. In addition, he would never compromise with
any of God’s truths that
had been revealed to him.
God not only chose
the right man but also one who would have the correct name. It would
seem that
his parents were led by God to name him as such from birth without
knowing why.
When we consider
his God-given mission, it should not be hard to realize that just as
God chose
Jeremiah and John the Baptizer before birth, He also did the same with
Mr.
Armstrong; for he was given the end-time mission of not only WARNING Israel but also PREPARING the way before
the return of Christ to this earth. And through the years of his youth
and
early manhood God prepared him for the mission he
would accomplish.
This
can be
understood when we study the early life of Mr. Armstrong in his, Autobiography, Volume 1.
While reading and
considering
his background and the years to follow in its complete context then it
should
become clear why his life was so directed in a very special way to
prepare him
to fulfill this most special mission for the end
time.
The
name Elijah was to have
great meaning for all three men for each was sent by Jesus Christ in critical
needed times in
the history of Israel then and now.
Though we know
nothing about Elijah before he appeared before King Ahab, one can be
confident
that he was equally prepared by God from birth to fulfill his mission
in a
similar manner as was John and Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong.
This can more
easily be understood when we consider other men used by God in their
time
(Jeremiah 1:4-5; Amos 7:14-17, etc.).
To
be continued.
The
quotes in this chapter and all of the other chapterss are intended for
educational purposes only.
Table of Contents
Chapter One THE
ELIJAH -TO COME!
Chapter
Two The
Three Elijahs
Chapter Three
The
Original Prophet –
Elijah
Chapter Four
The
Kings Ruling Israel
Led Them Astray
Chapter Five The
Primary Rulers And
Judicial System of the House of Joseph Have Legalized Sodomy And Murder
of the Unborn
Chapter Six A Review of the Background and the Escalation of Lawlessness
Chapter Seven Against This Background of Sin God sent to Israel the End-Time Elijah
Chapter Eight The Sacrificial Murder of Babies
Chapter Nine Legal License to Murder the Defenseless
Chapter Ten The Beginning Advances of Technology and the Work
Chapter Eleven The Mastermind of all Evil, Satan the Devil
Chapter Twelve The
First Stages of Famine