America, Iran and The End Times

The growing trouble that Iran is causing in the world today isn't an aberration. It was foretold nearly 2,600 years ago by the Hebrew prophet Daniel while he was in exile with the Israelites in ancient Babylon.

The Israelites were taken into exile in about 586 B.C. by Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar who was used by God to administer judgment against the Jewish nation for her chronic rebellion against Him and her antipathy to His laws. The Persians later succeeded the Babylonians and continued to hold the Jews captive until about 445 B.C. when Darius II issued a decree to allow them to return home.

While the Jews were still being held in Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar's son, King Belshazzar, Daniel received an allegorical vision from God concerning a distant future time when Persia would become a powerful nation that would threaten the entire world. In the vision, Daniel saw a powerful two-horned ram take on and defeat all of its challengers until a shaggy, one-horned goat arrived from a distant land to destroy it.

Here's what Daniel saw and described: "In my vision I saw myself in the citadel of Susa in the province of Elam; in the vision I was beside the Ulai Canal. I looked up, and there before me was a ram with two horns, standing beside the canal, and the horns were long. One of the horns was longer than the other but grew up later. I watched the ram as it charged toward the west and the north and the south. No animal could stand against it, and none could rescue from its power. It did as it pleased and became great." (Daniel 8:2-5)

The Ulai Canal was located in the ancient Persian city of Susa. Daniel recognized the geography, but he was puzzled by the symbolism of the two-horned ram.

Then, the vision continued: "As I was thinking about this, suddenly a goat with a prominent horn between its eyes came from the west, crossing the whole earth without touching the ground. It came toward the two-horned ram I had seen standing beside the canal and charged at it in great rage. I saw it attack the ram furiously, striking the ram and shattering its two horns. The ram was powerless to stand against it; the goat knocked it to the ground and trampled on it, and none could rescue the ram from its power. The goat became very great, but at the height of its power the large horn was broken off, and in its place four prominent horns grew up toward the four winds of heaven." (Daniel 8:5-8)

After the goat's horn was broken off, Daniel saw a small horn sprout up among the four horns that replaced the prominent horn on the goat. Here's how Daniel described it: "Out of one of them came another horn, which started small but grew in power to the south and to the east and toward the Beautiful Land. It grew until it reached the host of the heavens, and it threw some of the starry host down to the earth and trampled on them. It set itself up to be as great as the commander of the army of the Lord; it took away the daily sacrifice from the Lord, and his sanctuary was thrown down. Because of rebellion, the Lord's people and the daily sacrifice were given over to it. It prospered in everything it did, and truth was thrown to the ground." (Daniel 8:9-12)

Daniel was puzzled by the vision until the archangel Gabriel appeared and explained it to him: "I am going to tell you what will happen later in the time of wrath, because the vision concerns the appointed time of the end. The two-horned ram that you saw represents the kings of Media and Persia. The shaggy goat is the king of Greece, and the large horn between its eyes is the first king. The four horns that replaced the one that was broken off represent four kingdoms that will emerge from his nation but will not have the same power." (Daniel 8:19-22)

The fact that Gabriel appeared and interpreted the vision to Daniel means the prophecy had special significance. Gabriel is one of the Lord's most powerful angels who stands in His presence. And he brings extremely important messages from the Lord concerning major events that will take place on the earth. It was Gabriel who appeared to Mary to announce that she would give birth to the Messiah Jesus Christ. (Luke 1:26) Thus, Gabriel's visit to Daniel tells us that the vision the prophet received was vital and necessary to be recorded for future generations to study and understand.

Gabriel then finished interpreting the vision with these words: "In the latter part of their reign, when rebels have become completely wicked, a fierce-looking king, a master of intrigue, will arise. He will become very strong, but not by his own power. He will cause astounding devastation and will succeed in whatever he does. He will destroy those who are mighty, the holy people. He will cause deceit to prosper, and he will consider himself superior. When they feel secure, he will destroy many and take his stand against the Prince of princes. Yet he will be destroyed, but not by human power." (Daniel 8:23-25)

What relevance does Daniel's vision have for today? It has extreme relevance because the vision is being fulfilled in our time. Gabriel revealed that the two-horned ram represented the kings of Media and Persia. Those two ancient kingdoms were located in what is now Iraq and Iran. The ram also represents Islam while its two horns represent Shia and Sunni Islam. But who does the one-horned goat represent?

Here's where the prophecy gets interesting. The goat represents a coalition of gentile nations, with the prominent horn, according to Gabriel, representing "the king of Greece." We know the modern identities of Media and Persia. But Greece? Isn't modern Greece militarily weak and financially insolvent? How could that nation possibly fulfill the prophecy? It can't. The prophecy is so baffling that many biblical scholars believe that it was fulfilled in 331 B.C. when Alexander the Great invaded and conquered Persia.

But that event couldn't have fulfilled the prophecy because it wasn't the time of the end. When Alexander invaded Persia, Christ's appearance on earth was still over three centuries away. How then can we explain the prophecy? Was it flawed, or was it false? It was neither.

In order to interpret the prophecy, we have to understand that Greece was the most prominent gentile nation on earth in the ancient times. The gentiles were often referred to as Greeks and vice versa. In fact, the apostle Paul occasionally interchanged the two in his epistles. Here's an example: "There is neither Jew nor Greek (gentile), slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:28)

Another relevant factor is the proximity of literal Greece to Iran. Literal Greece exists to the northwest of Iran while the nation identified as Greece by Gabriel in Daniel's vision comes from the far west to confront Media and Persia. Furthermore, Daniel witnessed the metaphorical goat come from a distant land without touching the earth. (Daniel 8:5) This indicates that Iran will be attacked either by fighter jets and or long range missiles.

But who is this nation? That nation is the United States that still possesses the most potent military and nuclear arsenal on earth. And some U.S. military officials have admitted in recent years that the only way to stop Iran from threatening the world is via a military invasion. And Iran recently became a much bigger threat to the world with the terrible deal the U.S. negotiated with the Islamic regime.
The deal lifted economic sanctions and arms embargoes against Iran, and allowed the regime to dictate the terms of inspections of its nuclear facilities.

It was a horrible deal that strengthened Iran and brought us closer to the fulfillment of Daniel's vision. Certainly, under the Obama administration, the U.S. will never launch an attack against Iran because the Obama administration loathes war. But another president in the future--perhaps the next one--will be forced to confront and destroy Iran before the Islamic regime begins launching missiles against Israel, Europe and the United States.

It's important to understand that Daniel's vision also reveals that the "king of Greece" will be "broken off" after its successful invasion of Iran. That means the U.S. is going to fall as a world superpower and be replaced by four nations. (Daniel 8:22) What nations could those be? They will likely be Russia, China, India and either France, Germany or Italy.

It's also important to understand that the Antichrist will eventually come from one of these four nations. (Daniel 8:9-12) The nation that this wicked ruler is likely to come from is Russia that's identified by both Daniel (Daniel 11) and Ezekiel (Ezekiel 38-39) as the major source of trouble for Israel and the world in the last days.

It's no secret that under President Vladimir Putin, Russia is upgrading its military and nuclear arsenal. Putin has predicted that Russia is going to become the most potent military force on earth. Despite Russia's sagging economy, Putin's administration has committed to spending $700 billion to renovate and upgrade Russia's military, nuclear arsenal, fleet of nuclear subs and ICBM technology by 2020.

But don't the Russians and the Iranians have close economic and political ties? They do. Then why would Russia sit back and allow the U.S. to invade Iran? Because Russia's relationship with Iran is mainly an economic one. The Russians need money and they sell military hardware and nuclear technology to Iran for economic purposes. The Russians will only allow the U.S. to take out the current Iranian regime if Russia is allowed to rebuild Iran and select its new government that would be controlled by Moscow.

What role will Israel play in these events? The Jewish nation is going to survive because the Islamic regime in Iran is going away. That's God's purpose in raising up the U.S. to destroy Iran. And after the U.S. falls from power, Israel will likely seek a new powerful political partner in Russia. Remember that the Antichrist will eventually defile the rebuilt Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. (Daniel 9:27, Matthew 24:15, 2 Thessalonians 2:4)

So Israel is going to play a significant role in end time world affairs leading up to the return of Jesus Christ.

But before that happens, the United States and Iran have a date with destiny, as foretold by the prophet Daniel nearly 2,600 years ago.

Reincarnation or Resurrection?

The Wheel of Karma

What is reincarnation? It's the belief that after a person dies, his or her soul will inhabit a new body. And, according to this belief, the human soul is immortal and can inhabit several bodies over the course of time.

Where does reincarnation come from? It comes from the eastern religions, specifically Hinduism that teaches that souls must continually reenter the so-called Wheel of Karma to be reincarnated until they achieve perfection. According to this teaching, a person who commits a crime such as robbery or murder in this life must come back in another life and become the victim of a robbery or a murder in order to atone for the transgression.

As you can see, such a system--if it's true--perpetuates evil rather than solves it. Why? Because those who commit a transgression in their current life must become the victim of the same transgression in their following life, committed by a perpetrator who will then have to become the victim of that transgression in their next life.

Is reincarnation biblical? Of course it isn't. The Bible clearly teaches that we are given only one life to live on this planet and no more. We don't get a second or multiple chances to get right with God after death. (Hebrews 9:27) Those who die in their sins outside of Jesus Christ are consigned to hell to await God's final judgment. 

The Bible teaches us that on Judgment Day, the righteous will be resurrected by Christ to inhabit new, immortal bodies that will never grow old, get sick, decay or die. (Isaiah 26:19, Daniel 12:2, Luke 14:14, John 6:40) However, the unrighteous will be raised by God to face eternal damnation for committing evil. Though millions of people will plead with God on that day to give them another chance, it'll be too late. They'll be doomed.

If reincarnation is true then why did God institute the sacrificial system for sin under the terms of the Mosaic Covenant? That system mandated that the blood of animals such as bulls, goats and rams be sacrificed in order to cover the sins of the ancient Israelites. The Bible clearly says that "In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness." (Hebrews 9:22)

Certainly, the system of animal sacrifice was temporary and insufficient. It was put in place until God's Son Jesus Christ came into the world to become the final and everlasting sacrifice for all sin by His death on Calvary's cross. The Bible says this: "Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest (Jesus Christ) had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy." (Hebrews 10:11-14)

For nearly 2,000 years, the Christian church believed that message. And for good reason, because that message was backed by the factual evidence of Christ's resurrection from the dead. However, in recent decades, more and more Christians have begun to doubt the Bible in favor of pagan myths such as reincarnation.

Though no recent polls have been conducted, a Gallup poll taken in 1999 reported 20 percent of professing Christians claimed to believe in reincarnation. That means two of every 10 Christians embraced an unbiblical pagan religious belief 16 years ago. That figure's probably much higher today.

One man who professes to be a Christian, wrote this: Many Christians have the misconception that the concept of reincarnation holds that, at the time of death, people reincarnate immediately and do not have any experiences in the spirit realms in between Earth lives. Near-death experiences prove this misconception to be untrue. Because time does not exist in the spirit world, a person can spend an "eternity" in the spirit realms, if they wish to do so, and have the freedom to decide if they want to reincarnate or not. The ultimate goal of reincarnation is to learn enough lessons from Earth lives that reincarnation is no longer necessary.

Reincarnation is a demonic lie. It's a myth, and an extremely dangerous one. It's designed to give people the false hope that if they live bad lives punctuated by decadence and immorality, they'll be given another chance or chances to get it right. But they won't. Concerning Satan's lies, the apostle Paul wrote this: "The (Holy) Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons." (1 Timothy 4:1)

It's understandable that the world would embrace such a pagan myth. But professing Christians? That's a tragedy. It proves just how badly the church has been straying from the Bible in the times we're living in.

Evil People and Their Wicked Causes

Louis Farrakhan

While millions of people throughout the world remain in shock over the recent murders of WBDJ7 news reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward, few folks are probably aware of something that occurred three weeks prior to their deaths that may have triggered the tragedy.

What was that? It was a Facebook posting made by Louis Farrakhan, an arch-racist and the leader of the of black militant Nation of Islam who wrote this: Retaliation! If the government won't intercede in our affairs, then we must rise up and kill those who kill us; stalk them and kill them and let them feel our pain.  

Farrakhan's a notorious race-hustler who blames whites and Jews for the predicament of blacks in America. It's very possible that Vester Lee Flanagan, the man who shot Parker and Ward to death on August 26 while they were on assignment in Moneta, Virginia, was inspired by the fire-breathing minister. 

Farrakhan posted his inflammatory Facebook message in response to the tragic shooting that took place in Charleston, South Carolina on June 17 when white supremacist Dylann Roof murdered nine African-Americans at a church in that town.

Though Farrakhan's now an old man, his racist fire seems to have been rekindled since Barack Obama was elected to the presidency in 2008. Here are some of his more notorious quotes: 

• "The Jews don’t like Farrakhan, so they call me Hitler. Well, that’s a good name. Hitler was a very great man."
• "You see everybody always talk about Hitler exterminating six million Jews. That’s right. But don’t nobody ever ask what did they do to Hitler."
• "America is in trouble, and I say God is about to wipe this nation from the face of the Earth. I’m not crazy, I’m not drunk, how long do you think a nation can do evil and not face the wrath of god?" 
• "White people are potential humans – they haven’t evolved yet."

One of Farrakhan's closet friends is the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the incendiary pastor who led Chicago's Trinity United Church until he retired about five years ago. Wright promoted Black Liberation theology, a racist ideology that teaches that blacks will never prosper and be free until they become completely independent of whites. Of course, BLT blames whites for the predicament of blacks in America and in other parts of the world.

One of Trinity United's members during Wright's tenure was Barack Obama who attended that church for 20 years until he was elected to the Oval Office. Wright wasn't the only person who influenced Obama. America's 44th president was also an ardent admirer of Harvard professor Derrick Bell, one of the founders of Critical Race Theory. Bell saw America as a hopelessly racist nation where blacks would always be considered inferior to whites.

Since Obama was elected to the presidency in 2008, race relations have deteriorated significantly in America. Am I suggesting that Obama and his administration created the climate for the Moneta tragedy? You bet I am.

Not only have we seen the rise of the New Black Panthers and the Black Lives Matters Movement since Obama took office, we're now seeing an uber-racist movement called F**KYOFLAG. This is a movement that encourages blacks to attack and kill whites. Here are two comments by members of this radical movement:

• "When those mother f**kers are by themselves, that’s when when we should start f***ing them up. Like they do us, when a bunch of them ni**ers takin’ one of us out, that’s how we should roll up.”  He said, “Cause we already roll up in gangs anyway. There should be six or seven black mother f**ckers, see that white person, and then lynch their ass. Let’s turn the tables."
• "Find a mother f**ker that is alone. Snap his ass, and then f***in hang him from a damn tree. Take a picture of it and then send it to the mother f**kers."

The escalating racial violence in America and across the world is part of the increasing evil that biblical prophecy warns us will prevail in the last days. (Matthew 24:12, 2 Timothy 3:1-5) And sadly, some of that racial unrest has been created by a man who promised to heal the planet and bring people together.

Barack Obama claims to be a "Christian." If he truly believes that he is, then he ought to be familiar with this statement that Jesus Christ made 2,000 year ago: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God." (Matthew 5:9) True peacemakers bring people together. But evil people with wicked intentions create strife and foment violence. What best describes Obama?

The Great Fall of China?

Has China's economic boom come to an end?

I've written quite extensively for several years about the power shift from the western world to the eastern world. We've seen that in the steady rise of Russia as a military power and the explosive rise of China, Hong Kong, India, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan as economic powers.

The shift in power from the west to the east is prophetic. Nearly 2,600 years ago, the Hebrew prophet Daniel received a prophecy from God concerning the rise in the end times of two powerful nations he described as northern and southern kingdoms. (Daniel 11)

I believe those kingdoms are China and Russia, and I wrote about that before either nation began to grow economically, militarily and politically. China's economy has grown so rapidly that the Red Nation is poised to supplant the United States as the world's premier economic superpower.

However, in recent months, China's economy has cooled off to the point where the international markets have been rattled. China reacted by devaluing its currency in an effort to make its products cheaper and more affordable so that business would rebound. Obviously, that hasn't happened. 

China's currency manipulation has infuriated Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump who's convinced that the Red Nation is murdering the U.S. economy by devaluing the yuan. Here's what he said in a recent interview with CNN: "I've been telling everybody for a long time China's taking our jobs, they're taking our money. Be careful, they'll bring us down. You have to know what you're doing. We have nobody that has a clue." 

Certainly, Trump was referring to the bumbling and inept Obama administration that's allowed American businesses and manufacturing jobs to relocate to China while getting nothing in return except cheap products that were once manufactured in the United States. 

As Trump has aptly pointed out, China's economy has been built by American dollars. What he hasn't pointed out is that China's military is being built on the interest payments from the $1.3 trillion America has borrowed from the Red Nation. 

And so, the proverbial $64 trillion question is this: What does China's recent economic downturn mean? Is the communist nation going to collapse? If China does collapse, that would send shock waves across the world, beginning in Russia that's heavily invested in China's economy. 

While a lot of people would love to see that happen, China isn't going to collapse. Economic downturns happen everywhere and China's experiencing something that the older, western economies have experienced before. Remember that China's free-market economy is still relatively new. 

Why has China's economy slowed down? Because people aren't spending as much money as they did a few years ago. And that's because they don't have the money to spend. And when the money isn't there, the products don't get bought and sales go down. The industries that typically get hit the hardest in economic downturns are the manufacturing, restaurant and retail industries.

When the sales go down, companies reduce their inventories and they lay off employees because they can't afford to pay them. And when people lose their jobs, they don't have the money to buy those products that keep those factories going in places such as China. That's what's hurting China along with the heavily taxed and over regulated economies that are stifling economic growth in Europe and the United States. It's really that simple.

China will rebound. It may take several months or even a year or two. But the communist nation will bounce back as long as it continues to keep its currency low and offer incentives to companies to relocate to China. 

After all, socialism doesn't work. That's why China turned to capitalism. If you want to become a premier global economic and military superpower, you need money. And as long as nations such as the United States keep passing free trade agreements, companies will keep moving to places such as China where they'll be able to keep more of their money. That's good for them and good for China. And that's bad for the world.

Heading Towards Hell

A website for adulterers

Does anyone still remember the 10 Commandments? And of those who do, how many of them can you name? For example, what does the seventh commandment say?

It says this: "You shall not commit adultery." (Exodus 20:14) Adultery is such an egregious sin in God's eyes that he condemned it and warned His creation never to engage in that detestable practice. What is adultery? It's when a married man or woman cheats on their spouse by having sex with someone they aren't married to. 

Why is that so detestable to God? Because it's a statement of unfaithfulness and a violation of one's marital vows. According the terms of the Mosaic Covenant, those who were caught and proven guilty of the sin of adultery paid the ultimate price: "If a man commits adultery with another man's wife--with the wife of his neighbor--both the adulterer and the adulteress are to be put to death." (Leviticus 20:10)

There are those who'll claim that the adultery law only applied to the Jews and to no one else. But that's a fallacious argument because the Law that God revealed to Moses applies to everyone. Certainly, God commanded the ancient Israelites to apply the death penalty to those who were convicted of adultery. But even though we aren't under the Mosaic Law, we're all under God's transcendent moral laws that condemn such sins as adultery.

That's a point the apostle Paul made in his first epistle to the early church in Corinth when he wrote this: "Do you not know that evildoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God." (1 Corinthians 6:9-10) Though the Corinthians weren't Jews, Paul informed them that they were still under God's law. 

And so, what happens to those who commit adultery? Unless they repent of that sin and never commit adultery again, they'll be condemned to hell once their life ends. And it matters not whether a person claimed to be God-fearing and church-going. It matters not whether they claimed to believe in Jesus Christ. If they were adulterers and adulteresses, they will go immediately to hell when they die.

Tragically, we're living in a godless, depraved time when sin is celebrated as virtue. There's even a loathsome website (Ashleymadison.com) that encourages married folks to cheat on their spouses. Though I'm extremely reluctant to give this site any publicity, I have to mention it just for the shock value that it elicits in those who still fear God and follow his commands. 

Here's some of the advertising you'll find on this detestable site: Ashley Madison is the most famous name in infidelity and married dating. As seen on Hannity, Howard Stern, TIME, Business Week, Sports Illustrated, Maxim, USA Today. Ashley Madison is the most recognized and reputable married dating company. Our Married Dating Services for Married individuals Work. Ashley Madison is the most successful website for finding an affair and cheating partners. Have an Affair today on Ashley Madison. Thousands of cheating wives and cheating husbands signup everyday looking for an affair. We are the most famous website for discreet encounters between married individuals. Married Dating has never been easier. With Our affair guarantee package we guarantee you will find the perfect affair partner. 

Married Dating. Is that what they call it? Rather, it's called adultery and it will condemn your soul to eternal damnation. Sadly, there are many professing Christians today who aren't bothered by such trash. And that speaks volumes about their so-called faith.

Such depravity that's occurring in the time we're living in isn't an anomaly. It's prophetic and it's what happens when people turn away from God. Nearly 2,000 years ago, Paul wrote this: "But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people." (2 Timothy 3:1-5)

Indeed, have nothing to do with those who mock God and defecate on His laws. Certainly, pray for them to repent of their sins and accept Jesus Christ into their lives as their Lord and Savior. And certainly, try to warn them. 

But if they refuse to listen, then treat them as lepers and get away from them. Because if you don't, you may end up like them. And you may end up going to the same place they're going.

Sowing and Reaping

Jimmy Carter

Unless you're an evil person, you experience sadness whenever you learn that someone is seriously ill with cancer. And that's how I felt when I learned that former President Jimmy Carter was diagnosed with brain cancer.

Though Carter is scheduled to undergo radiation therapy to treat the malignant tumor in his brain, he's resigned to the fact that at age 90, he's probably not going to be around much longer. Here's what he said: "I've had a wonderful life. I've had thousands of friends, I've had an exciting, adventurous and gratifying existence. So I was surprisingly at ease, much more so than my wife was."

I believe in being honest and blunt, so I'm not going to sugarcoat my words concerning Carter. Even though I'm saddened that he's ill, Carter was a terrible president who caused significant damage to the United States and the world during his only term in the White House from 1977-1981. And he's caused significant harm to the nation of Israel since he left the Oval Office.

Though he claims to be a Southern Baptist, Carter's an anti-Semite who's chronically sided with Israel's enemies that seek to destroy the Jewish nation. Under his leadership as America's 39th president, the U.S. suffered domestically and internationally. The U.S. economy choked under high taxes and inflation that led the the term "stagflation."

Thanks to Carter's atrocious foreign policy, the Iranian Revolution occurred in 1979 because Carter refused to come to the aid of the Shah of Iran who was under siege from the fanatical supporters of the Ayatollah Khomeini. Though the Shah pleaded with Carter to help him put down Khomeini's rebellion, Carter ignored him and Iran became an Islamic theocracy after the Shah was overthrown. Thanks to Carter's ignorance, Iran has now become a grave threat to the entire world.

And now, even though this is going to infuriate some people, I'm going to say it anyway: Carter is reaping what he's sown. That' not my opinion. That's a biblical tenet. Here's what the apostle Paul wrote in his epistle to the early church in Galatia: "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life." (Galatians 6:7-8)

While Paul was speaking about God's judgment on those who willfully disobey Him by breaking His laws, the apostle referenced a spiritual truth that everyone ultimately gets what they deserve. To the early Roman church, Paul wrote this: "To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For God does not show favoritism." (Romans 2:7-11)

Carter's anti-Semitism is legendary. Until Barack Obama occupied the White House, Carter was the most anti-Israel president in the history of the United States. Rabbi Shmuley Boteach wrote this for the Observer about a year ago: Mr. Carter said in 2006 that Israel’s policies in the West Bank were actually worse than apartheid South Africa. He followed this disgusting libel with his infamous 2009 book “The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy,” in which he claimed that due to “powerful political, economic, and religious forces in the U.S., Israeli government decisions are rarely questioned or condemned, voices from Jerusalem dominate our media.” We’re skirting awfully close to a protocols-of-Zion style argument here, that the Jews control the media and American foreign policy.

In 2006, Carter also made this preposterous claim during an interview with Der Spigel: I don't think that Israel has any legal or moral justification for their massive bombing of the entire nation of Lebanon. What happened is that Israel is holding almost 10,000 prisoners, so when the militants in Lebanon or in Gaza take one or two soldiers, Israel looks upon this as a justification for an attack on the civilian population of Lebanon and Gaza. I do not think that's justified, no.

No one knows how many prisoners Israel holds--not even Carter. And yet he concocted the figure of 10,000 to justify his contempt for the Jewish nation. For several years, Israel has been inundated with rocket attacks that have come from Lebanon and Gaza. Thus, the Jewish nation has bombed Lebanon and Gaza to destroy those rockets and the terrorists that launch them. Some of those rockets have destroyed schools, homes and businesses in Israel. That's a fact that continually escapes Carter.

Or, maybe Carter ignores that fact because he loathes Israel. Whatever his reasons are for habitually condemning Israel while siding with Israel's enemies, his reasons aren't based on factual and historical evidence. Rather, they're based on personal animus. 

I don't know where Carter stands with God. He promotes himself as a bible-believing Christian, but he doesn't sound like one. I hope he examines himself thoroughly during his last days on earth, because he has a lot of repenting to do. And I sincerely hope he changes his heart toward the Jews and Israel before he takes his final breath.

The Demonic and Evil II

Consider this prophecy Jesus Christ revealed concerning the end times: "At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved." (Matthew 24:10-13)

Christ tied the rise of evil in the last days with the fall of Christianity and the appearance of false prophets. We certainly see the correlation between the decline of true faith in God and the rise in evil. But what does the appearance of false prophets have to do with the rise in wickedness?

False prophets not only lead people astray by promoting aberrant doctrines that deny the true God of the Bible and His transcendent moral laws, but they also lead people into wickedness through spiritual deception. And when Christ warned of false prophets, he wasn't speaking about people such as Nostradamus or St. Malachi. 

Rather, he was speaking about people such as William Branham, Paul Cain, Paul Yonggi Cho, Kenneth Hagin, Benny Hinn, Bob Jones, Norman Vincent Peale, Robert Schuller, William Seymour and John Wimber. All these men have played a significant part in luring multitudes of Christians away from the true church to follow a counterfeit Christ and a false gospel.

How did they accomplish that? Let the apostle Paul explain it: "For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths." (2 Timothy 4:3-4)

These are just some of the false prophets that Christ warned us about. They deceive people by pretending to be Christian prophets and teachers, and then they introduce destructive heresies that point people toward hell. Here's what the apostle Jude wrote: "For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord." (Jude 1:4)

For example, Peale and Schuller denied the need for repentance and promoted a gospel of self-esteem. Cho promotes a new age gospel that claims everyone has the ability to create their own reality while Seymour and Wimber promoted a gospel that based salvation not on faith in Christ, but rather on one's ability to manifest miracles such as speaking in tongues.

But the decline and decay of the end time Christian church is just one manifestation of the rise of evil in the last days. Certainly, while crime has increased significantly since the mid-20th century, so has moral depravity in the form of sexual immorality, alcoholism, drug abuse and gambling.

There's a significant, although often overlooked factor in the rise of evil in the end times. And that factor is the increased contact that the world has made with the demonic. But how? Through hallucinogenic drugs, occult practices and eastern mysticism. How is the increase in evil related to these factors? Because they are conduits to Satan and his demons who spread their lies through people who make contact with them.

Certainly, Satan and his fallen angels hide their identities to those who encounter them. They will masquerade as Christ, Mary, Moses, Muhammad, Buddha, apostles such as Paul or Peter or Hindu avatars. And they will persuade people to reject God's revelatory word in the Bible for an amoral message that promotes hedonism and debauchery, and denies sin, judgment after death and the existence of hell.

Concerning those who willingly pursue falsehood, Paul wrote: "They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness." (2 Thessalonians 2:10-12)

Tragically, many people have embraced powerful delusions that come from the demonic. We see this in professing Christians who embrace new age and occult techniques disguised as Christian practices. We see this in those who consult with fortune-tellers and psychics, despite the fact that God's word condemns those who seek counsel from such people. And we see that in the growing interest in pagan and occult practices such as Kabbalah, Transcendental Meditation, Sufism, Wicca, necromancy and the Ouija Board.

The growing spiritual darkness throughout the world is indeed prophetic. And it's tragic as well. Paul gave us this warning: "Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, which some have professed and in so doing have departed from the faith." (1 Timothy 6:20-21)