“Shall the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? He who rebukes God, let him answer....” Job 40:2 When one reads and understands this, he will come to realize how absurd the very thought is. How can any mortal man correct God?! In this chapter in the book of Job, the Lord reveals his awesomeness, his power and his glory. He is the one who controls everything in creation. He says that it is he who keeps the stars in the heavens. It is he who has imparted to every species of animal the instincts they live by. How do the birds know to fly to warm places before winter sets in? How does the squirrel know to store up food for winter? Who told the birds or the squirrels that indeed there IS a winter coming? This chapter in the book of Job not only speaks to the greatness of God's power to create, but to the greatness of his power to sustain it all, as he is Lord over all the very intricacies in all of creation. Yet… Yet mortal man loses sight of the greatness and glory of God, and when a problem comes up or a question of doubt is suggested to his mind, he enters into a mindset of challenging God. And it is to this that the Lord answers: vs 8: “Would you indeed annul my judgment? Would you condemn me that YOU may be justified?" The Lord continues the list of all the marvelous things he is in control of, and asks Job which of them he could perform in his own strength and wisdom - and that if Job thinks he can, let him try - and only if he succeeds, says the Lord, then God will back down: vs 14: "Then I will also confess to you that your own right hand can save you." No, our own right hand cannot save us. Wisdom begins when a mortal human being realizes just how dependent he is on his Creator. Unless one can match the glory of God in sustaining his vast creation, it is a good idea to not contend with God in any matter, but to live a life of glorious and joyful dependency upon him, in faith-filled surrender, giving to him the glory that he rightly deserves. Just as God has detailed everything in all he has created, so he has also detailed everything in our lives. There is nothing that happens to us outside of the pre-determination of God. His Word says we are to bring praise and thanksgiving to him "in all things." ALL things. "In EVERYTHING give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." 1st Thessalonians 5:16-18 In EVERYTHING! Does the word "everything" include hard things, painful things, terrible things? Well it does if "everything" means everything. We will bring praise to him, once we come to an understanding of how God uses “everything” in our lives for specific purposes in maturing us and raising us up. It is important to finally come to understand that God has a plan for each individual he has brought into the world, and that plan includes the hard things that, IF handled correctly, will bring about God's will and purpose in that person's life. When one truly understands this, his heart will rise up in wondrous praise and thanksgiving to the great Creator who holds our next breath in his capable hands, and whose will for each one is that person's good. "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11
Where are we headed?
Can we stop or even delay the global agenda?
If we take out Iran's nuclear facilities, will that prevent nuclear war?
Does the Bible have anything to say about nuclear war?
If it does, would you believe it?
If you believe it, do you believe it will be a long time in the future?
Anyone who thinks there's a chance of winning against the global agenda is sadly mistaken.
Yes, the Bible does have something to say about it. It predicts a time of nuclear holocaust.
Look into Mathew, the 24th chapter vs 21-22, in which Jesus is speaking about the time of the end. He said there would be a time of tribulation greater than anything the world has ever experienced to that time, or will thereafter.
Tribulation greater than anything the world has ever experienced?
Worse than the flood of Noah?
Worse than the Holocaust?
He gave another clue. He said that if those days weren't shortened, no flesh would survive.
Mathew 24:21-22
No flesh would survive? What could possibly be so horrendous that it has the ability to destroy all life on earth? Well, it could be a world-wide plague. Or an asteroid hitting the earth. So why think it's a nuclear holocaust? Because there are other passages that speak of it and give more information.
Yes, there WILL be a nuclear war:
"Their flesh shall dissolve while they stand on their feet,
their eyes shall dissolve in their sockets,
and their tongues shall dissolve in their mouths."
Zechariah 14:12
Their flesh will melt off their bodies while they're standing on their feet?
Their eyes will dissolve in their sockets?
This isn't a plague of sickness. This is something that happens suddenly. Something that takes them by surprise while they're standing on their feet. This is an accurate description of nuclear war.
Survivors will say afterwards, "why didn't we get it when the entire generation watched the 'nuclear arms race'? Did they think nuclear armaments were just for assuring the enemy wouldn't attack because it would mean mutual destruction? Why didn't we get it when the buildup of armaments was reported in our newspapers and on our tv's continuously throughout our generation? We got so used to hearing it that we became desensitized to it.
There's another clue, given by the prophet Ezekiel. He is speaking of the time AFTER this nuclear war and he describes the cleanup. People at that time will be told that when they find a bone or body part, they are not to touch it, they are to put a marker by it, and then professionals will come and dispose of it.
Why?
Think "radioactivity."
“They will set apart men regularly employed, with the help of a search party,
to pass through the land and bury those bodies remaining on the ground,
in order to cleanse it. At the end of seven months they will make a search.
The search party will pass through the land; and they see a man’s bone,
he shall set up a marker by it, till the buriers have buried it in the Valley of Hamon Gog.”
Ezekiel 39:14-15
What else do we know about this inferno to come?
Well ...we know who the players are. Consider what the prophet Ezekiel tells us about them:
According to Ezekiel, Iran and Russia, and Turkey are the leaders of a confederacy. What is true of Iran and Russia? Nuclear weapons. What is the world shouting at them about, even right now, in recent news? That their nuclear weapons development must be stopped. Will it be stopped? No. According to the Biblical prophecies, it is going to precipitate a time of tribulation greater than anything the world has ever known. As mentioned above, it's a time that will so pollute the earth, that afterwards it will take specialists just to go near bodies and body parts to collect the bones from which their flesh melted off as they stood on their feet and bury them.
Is diplomacy, or threats, or punitive action against Iran or Russia going to succeed?
No.
Is there anything we can do to stop it?
No.
The Biblical prophecies WILL come to pass. And the scenario is right now set up exactly according to what was prophesied by the Bible's ancient prophets.
When?
Jesus said to watch for the generation that sees the return of the Jews to Israel, the "budding of the fig tree," the Biblical symbol of Israel, and that has happened in this generation. He said it would be a generation of wars, rumors of wars, earthquakes, famines, and pestilence (disease) - all coming together at the same time, like birth pains.
Is anything presently missing out of that list? No. It's all in front of us and on our tv screens daily. It's all there. It could begin tomorrow.
Why am I telling you this? To scare you?
If only! If only you were scared enough to realize that you might not have a future. If you knew that for certain, what do you think your reaction would be? Hopefully for many it will be the realization that our life here is short, it will soon be over one way or another, and there is nothing, NOTHING as important as finding out what God has said about your eternity, because that's where you're going to spend most of your existence. A few years here. Maybe 70 or 80? More or less ...possibly coming to an end shortly and suddenly.
Eternity is a very long time to risk spending it in misery.
Do you think you're going to heaven? If so, on what basis do you think that? Hoping they grade on the curve? I assure you, the Word of God makes it very clear that they do NOT grade on the curve. If you're thinking you were more good than bad, so you're ok, you've been sadly deceived. "ALL we like sheep have gone astray..." "There is none righteous, no not one."
But many, in fact most, are blind and deaf:
"...seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear
...for the heart of this people has grown dull.
Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed,
lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears,
lest they should understand with their heart..." Matthew 13:13-15
God provided a savior, ONE savior, who came to bear the judgment due on our sin. When Jesus Christ hung on that cross, he was the righteous one hanging in death for sinners. Those who receive him will have eternity with him in heaven. Those who refuse him ...hell.
Turn to him now and surrender your life to the Savior. Think on your future and realize there's nothing more important in life than that. And ...don't put it off.
"A man’s heart plans his way,
but the Lord directs his steps."
Proverbs 16:9
Have your plans ever been changed on you and there was absolutely nothing you could do about it?
Many years ago I found myself a single mother and realized I would have to go to work. But I wasn't trained for anything. There was a government program at the time, for help in this very thing. I applied for training and they offered me a course in computer technology. But computers were just coming out and I thought they were offering me training in some kind of electronics and I knew that I was not suited for that at all. A terrible fear came over me.
I was a member of a prayer group at the time, so I asked the group to plead with God for me that he open another door - anything but this. I told the officials at the agency that this was not a good fit for me, and wasn't there something else I could train in? No, they said, this was the only door open at the time.
I was beside myself. I felt trapped with no way out. There was absolutely nothing I could do. So I went, dragging my feet behind me. And you can probably guess the rest of the story - it wasn't what I thought! During the second week of the course I knew this was "a God thing," because I loved every single thing about that course, and the computer field was going to establish my way for the rest of my life. Every job I held after that was in the computer department, and then ...the Lord led me into blogging ...and the rest is history. I now have three websites!
The point in this story was the inexpressible horror and fear that filled me when this story began. As I pleaded with God to open another door, I can imagine him sitting there watching me, chuckling and shaking his head. There's no way now that I can adequately thank him for not giving me my way and for closing every other door so that I would be forced into his will for the rest of my life.
If you belong to God, if you are a born-again believer, then NOTHING happens to you without a specific purpose. When you come to know the Lord and understand the unfathomable ways that he works in our lives, then the fight inside stops because you know he has prepared the way for you as a Father plans for his child - and he knows what he is doing. Often, if not usually, any change in your life may seem confusing or even fearful. How many times have we cried, "WHY, Lord?" How many times have we resisted his will? How many times have we doubted his good will toward us? And it's all because the right way isn't apparent to us; we don't know the future, but HE DOES.
If you are in a situation that confuses you, if you have no way out, my advice to you is to begin praising God for his faithfulness. Later, perhaps even MUCH later, you will look back and understand what the purpose for your situation was. And when you remember the resistance with which you tried to find a way out, you will praise God for not giving you your way, because his way is far, FAR better and will yield results for eternity.
Nothing with God is willy-nilly, there is a pre-planned and definite purpose in it. Don't resist it, but ask the Lord to help you come to the right response to it. There are people whom the Lord plans to bring into your life, and there are people who he wants to remove. To fulfill God's purpose in your life you need to be in the right place at the right time. Don't resist him when he chooses to change things so that can happen.
You can spend your time commiserating about your situation, or you can trust the Lord and praise him for his predetermined will for your life. The choice is yours. Make the right choice.
Suggested reading:
"Prison To Praise" by Merlin Carothers
"Power In Praise" by Merlin Carothers
These two books changed my life.