“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”Hebrews 4: 12
Now I don’t like to brag, but I’m a gourmet cook. My specialty is Mexican corn bread made with Jiffy Mix, whole kernel corn, oil, jalapenos and a few other ingredients which I usually find in Margie’s refrigerator.
My other specialty is pancakes made with premix, mixed with milk and cooked in real butter. Served with cooked apples and whipped cream and lots of syrup they’ll get you through until the 10 am break.
While most of us at least occasionally live in a fairy tale world like imagining my gourmet cook status, at times those fairy tale worlds lead people in the wrong directions.
I’ve heard that an expert is one that lives at least twenty-five miles from home. Actually, I’d like to update that by saying in today’s world the “expert” status is afforded to the person behind a microphone or in front of a camera.
Truthfully, that’s a misguided impression but many buy into the belief that someone that manages to write a book or column, appear on a talk show or broadcast news is some kind of special intellectual that knows more than the average clod. Consider that as dead wrong and anyone can have a book published if he/she is willing to pay the printer.
It’s amazing to me that Jesus said three times in the Olivet Discourse, to beware of false prophets and false teachers and such-a-one might be considered an expert. At times those false teachers are very convincing because they believe they are right. If their opinion does not correspond to the Word of God, it’s wrong!
The Discourse is the conversation Jesus had with the Disciples the week before the crucifixion documented in Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21. The Disciples asked Jesus “What will be the signs of your return and the last days?”
Jesus told them there would be “wars and rumors of wars, famines, pestilences and earthquakes in diverse places.” Could Jesus possibly have been making a lucky guess? Not likely!
These conditions are being witnessed around the world at this moment and will likely continue. Wars are being fought on two major fronts. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is an imperialistic act but I suspicion there is more to that than the news is reporting or realizes.
By possessing Ukraine, the massive Russian army, navy and other factions of war have an open (water) route to the Middle East and specifically Israel. Israel’s coast would provide an excellent place to build a seaport for the Russian Navy and some geologists suspect there is a massive oil reserve under Israel.
The Israel-Hamas war is a tragedy beyond imagination but that conflict goes back nearly 4000 years and shows no sign of ceasing until Jesus returns. Isaac and Ishmael had very few differences but their mothers were a different story.
Sarah and Hagar started this perpetual war and it all began because of a streak of jealously and the resulting hatred (Genesis 16-21). The Old Testament Bible stories are interesting when we see the power of God when the Hebrews were both obedient to Him and at other times disobedient. Sarah was disobedient when she persuaded Abraham into a sinful relationship.
Famines are happening in several places on the planet and several circumstances could lead to a much broader food shortage. With the current emphasis on restricting the use of fossil fuels, one of those situations could result very soon.
Pestilences seem to be emerging more often than we would prefer. Covid, monkey pox and various strains of flu are manifesting themselves all too often. There will be more and the ever increasing world population combined with the movement of migrants will be a catalyst in this developing situation. Old diseases re-emerging, once thought contained, are once again taking lives.
We do not have to be experts to see what is happening. The conditions of the end-times are before us and showing no signs of ending soon. These conditions proliferate and accelerate themselves by their nature.
Prophesies in the Holy Bible telling us of the end-time events are too numerous to list but reality will bite really hard to the nonbeliever. To the believer in our Jesus and His sacrifice for us, we are seeing a cherished result the other will never understand.
Because of the developing situation in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, it certainly appears the War of Gog and Magog could happen in the next few months or years (Ezekiel 38 and 39).
God will defend Israel and destroy the attackers. Ezekiel 39: 6-7 “I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD. So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.”
Genesis 12: 3 “And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curses thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” God kept his word that all the world would be blessed. Jesus was and is the Savior of the world and the only eternal salvation is attained by a faith based belief (Ephesians 2: 8) in Christ Jesus crucified (Matthew 27: 35) for the remission of sin (1 John 1: 9) and resurrected (Matthew 28: 6).Van Yandell is a retired Industrial Arts teacher, an ordained gospel evangelist and commissioned missionary.