Too Many Obsessing over the Identities of the Two Witnesses!

If the two witnesses were the actual and original Moses and Elijah, would you recognise them?  What about Enoch and Elijah?  Moses and Aaron?  John and James?  Lazarus and Joseph of Arimathea?  How about a couple of random blokes from Gwenu and Dunedoo?

Get the picture... or actually, see how one cannot get the picture when concerned with the who and not the what or the why?

The complete irrelevance of who they are is lost on the majority of people because of a perverse obession with personality.  Who they are is utterly irrelevant.  What they are and why they come is of the utmost relevance, but again, this is not in itself the central theme as so many have made it.  The central theme is, of course, Christ Yeshua, and it is Christ to whom the two witnesses point, just as the two pointers point at the Southern Cross, and as it rotates about the southern celestial pole, the two pointers always follow.  This is the truth of the two witnesses.  No matter where the Lord goes, they will follow.

Who are they?  Who cares!  I would wager that they don't.

If the Holy Spirit is truly within then one will recognise the two witnesses by their character, and not by their names and most definitely not by their faces.  Therefore, the only way to ensure that you know them when they come is to know Christ first.

A Note on Travel in Daniel

I have read in many places and heard many voices proclaim that where Daniel speaks of running to and fro merely refers to the great amount of general travel that goes on amongst human beings upon the Earth.  However, this view ignores details, which is often the reason for wrong headed thinking regarding the scripture.  The details are there for a reason and are not merely "literary spackle."

The actual statement made is as follows:

Dan 12:4 KJVR  But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.

Dan 12:4 YLT  And thou, O Daniel, hide the things, and seal the book till the time of the end, many do go to and fro, and knowledge is multiplied.'

Dan 12:4 ASV  But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.

This states that many "do go to and fro" or "shall run to and fro".  Although the old saying goes, "The devil is in the detail", actually it is the truth which is in the detail but the devil is in its ignorance.

This is referring specifically to commuting and not merely to any form of travel.  Before the post-industrial era (roughly pre-1930's), commuting, especially to and from a place of work, was relatively uncommon and, going back into the 19th century and prior, it was the extreme exception, whereas now it is the norm.  Note that this change took place as a result of the remarkable fall in the cost of transport and its necessary energy, and all of this was possible with, and paralled, a dramatic and unprecedented increase in scientific knowledge which, itself, has preceded the rise of the understanding of scriptural prophecy, thus bringing to fulfilment in our day the unsealing of the sealed book of Daniel.

Prior to the 1930's, the majority of people were relatively poor and, generally, lived at, or were walking distance from, their place of work, if they had any.  The industrial era revolutionised energy availability and transportation so that as mankind entered the post-industrial era, the use of cheap transportation grew dramatically to fill the needs of burgeoning economies whose growth was predicated on the growth of scientific knowledge and a concurrent pursuit of wealth by a new class, the middle class.  Although there is still great disparity in wealth across the globe, this is not equivalent to a lack of wealth (whatever form that wealth may take) and therefore does not negate the facts heretofore stated.  Commuting became an often necessary burden and was even welcomed by many for it brought with it the capacity to learn more (more access to schooling and universities), see more and experience more, bringing for many the power to negotiate with their prospective employers since they were no longer confined to one small geographical region as was the case for the vast majority of mankind in the preceding millennia.

As the economies of nations such as China, Korea, Vietnam and even middle eastern and some African nations enter that same condition of wealth, impact and global reach as has been enjoyed by western economies for decades, the complete fulfilment of the prophecies of Daniel also approach.  Many now run to and fro like never before.  Commuting is no longer restricted mostly to cities and states but people now commute globally.  Astonishing!  Those who lived a mere 100 years ago would never have imagined what we take forgranted.

It is noteworthy that the change took place around about the time of the re-emergence of Israel as a nation.  Thus, the prophecy of Daniel 12:4 falls in line with the parable of the fig tree.

Mat 24:32 ASV  Now from the fig tree learn her parable: when her branch is now become tender, and putteth forth its leaves, ye know that the summer is nigh;

We are at the time of the end, for as said the Lord...

Mat 24:34 ASV  Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all these things be accomplished.

Which generation?  Some think He was speaking of those standing around Him but this misunderstands speech and sentence structure as used in the era of the apostles.  The reference is to the immediate prior subject, that being a reference to those who would see and experience the things that Yeshua had only just been speaking about, those things that would happen at the time of the end.  He was talking about our generation, ours because we have seen the rebirth of the fig tree.

However, a generation does not pass away in seventy years.  It is true that a "standard" lifetime was declared as three score and ten (ie. seventy) years, but we do not automatically die at exactly seventy years.  Some die younger and some older, even as much as 120 years, but we do know that no given generation has ever lasted less than seventy years, so we can say that upon reaching the mark of seventy years since the rebirth of Israel as a nation, a time of uncertainty is upon us.  This is the time when the Lord will return though none of us knows the day or the hour, but it is the season, that much we can be certain of.  We can also be sure that in this time will come the great tribulation.  It could have occured before this time but since we are now almost at the average duration of a generation since Israel re-emerged, it is certain that the tribulation must come and do so at any moment.  Sadly, it shall catch most unexpectedly.  Truthfully, it has already begun as we see the dramatic rise in Christian persecution worldwide.  We are entering the time of sudden destruction as the Lord withdraws from the world the restraint He has placed upon evil since the day that Noah came to rest upon the mountains of Ararat.  Upon the completion of the "feast of weeks" this year (Shavuot, at the end of May, 2017), the world will have seen the passing of seventy such feasts since the return of Israel, and this may well be the marker for the time of the end.

Get your house in order, that is, get into right standing with God for the darkness is now upon us and the great day is almost come.

Long Shadows

The sun sets on Babylon.  The old head of the eagle is gone and only the right and left wings remain.  The new head will never be able to reunite the old wings.  As the light lowers and the shadows dramatically lengthen, darkness has come upon the land of the free and home of the brave.  A fathomless schism has appeared, a great quake has ruptured the nation and split it into two.  Never again the twain shall meet.  Truth beckons to one, delusion to the other.  Life to the one, death to the other.  Can you serve both God and mammon?

At the midnight hour, the wicked one shall finally show his true form.  A devil hidden in a man.  The beast he commands rises to greet him and all applaud as he calls forth the beast to devour his enemies, the sons of truth.  Three beasts spring forth and guttle all the sheep, tearing all to pieces in a savage attack and a violent rampage.  The whore wipes her wine-sodden lips and declares, "I sit as queen and nobody can oppose me."  She knows not that the very serpent she rides must consume her flesh.  It is the nature of evil, it is self-annihilation, for evil is the birth of death and the offspring of a lie, and a lie is that which is not.  It must be that it turns to nothing, for it never was.

Truth is eternal, true life cannot end.  Let the dead bury their own dead.
You..... follow Christ.

A Comet, a Penumbral Lunar Eclipse and the Crown of Glory

Interesting events in the next few days, are they not?

Firstly, let's make something perfectly clear.  A so-called "snow moon" is NOT any kind of special celestial event.  It is just the name given to a full moon in North America during February, because snow is expected.  It has NO biblical significance, being merely a name given based on the traditions of men.  Calling this a heavenly sign in the sky (that is, relating it to biblical prophecy) is ridiculous.  It is just a full moon.  That is all.

Right then, now for some actual, potentially meaningful, celestial events.

The obvious one is the passing of comet 45P, a relatively small comet, making its closest approach to the Earth around Saturday, February 11th, a sabbath no less.  The presence of this comet, in and of itself, is not all that interesting.  What IS interesting, however, is that it passes within 24 hours of a penumbral lunar eclipse and, on top of that, it directly crosses the middle of the constellation, Corona Borealis, on the 12th.

Now, we know that God placed the stars in the heavens with purpose, more than that which is obvious, and many of us are familiar with the Mazzaroth, that is, the constellations known as the zodiac but in their original form and meaning.  So, this is not about astrology, but it is about the story of our salvation written in the stars from time immemorial.  Clearly, the Southern Cross (Crux) is the constellation representing the crucifixion of our Lord and Saviour.  The two pointers are the two witnesses.  The constellation of Leo is about the lion of the tribe of Judah, and so forth.  We know these things because the interpretation of many of the constellations as various kinds of objects or animals or events is common to many disparate cultures across the globe, ancient cultures with no clear record of encountering each other.  The only way that they could have any substantial commonality in their perception of each constellation, given that the constellations look nothing or very little like the objects they are said to represent, is that the meanings and names of these constellations come from an ancient, common source.  Not only are there constellations with the same meanings in diverse cultures, but many of the stars in those constellations have names that carry the same or a very similar meaning across those diverse cultures, especially where the meaning relates to the constellation as a whole and, more so, as it relates to the story of salvation.

Though I came across this many years ago, finding it in the writings of two particular people dating back well over a century, I have been reluctant to talk about it because of the narrow-mindedness of many "believers" who believe in a very limited "god" who could not or would not do such a thing as put the story of salvation in the stars.  Clearly, I do not know their god.  The God that I serve is eternal and infinitely transcends all that can be imagined.  The accusations are usually related to astrology and are the result of ignorance about God's handiwork and the origins of astrology, itself.  Astrology was, of course, the ancient Babylonian practice of divining by the stars, and the belief in this comes about as a corruption of the knowledge that the stars and the constellations are a prophetic revelation written in the heavens.

In any case, we know that Corona Borealis represents the crown of the conquering king, the crown of the Lord, complete with its seven stars for the points of seven horns.

So, comet 45P makes its closest approach to the Earth at the same time that there is a penumbral lunar eclipse and what I found in addition to that is that the area across the Earth where the comet will be visible after sunset and before sunrise pretty much coincides with the area that the lunar eclipse will be visible (Africa, most of America, Eurasia but not Australia, New Zealand and nearby islands).  On top of it all, the following day the comet passes directly across the constellation, Corona Borealis.

Well, make of that what you will.  Although we have no biblical basis for the claim that a comet is a portent of a great event, other than it being an irregular celestial event, a sign as alluded to in Genesis chapter 1, comets are often associated with coming calamities, often some years later but, given the spate of comets in recent years, I would suspect that the warning is that the time is at hand.  That the comet makes its closest approach during a lunar penumbral eclipse suggests that some bloodshed is on the cards, possibly increased war (especially as relating to Israel) or, maybe, a sudden and significant escalation of natural calamities, and that the comet then crosses the constellation, Corona Borealis, suggests that the calamity is from the crown, that is, sent by God, in that the calamity points to the coming of the Lord.  All true bliblical prophecy points to the Lord.  These celestial events alone really do not amount to all that much but the recent series of lunar eclipses and solar eclipses, the obvious (to all but the most willfully blind) increase in natural disasters, the dramatic increase in earthquakes, volcanism, large meteorite impacts, close encounters with large asteroids, and so forth, all coming in waves as indicated in the Lord's own words, all these things taken together cannot be ignored and written off as "coincidence".  Personally, I do not believe in coincidence; I simply believe that we are incredibly ignorant.

We know that a great war and various terrifying natural cataclisms must occur prior to the public appearance of the two witnesses.  A pair of comets a while back suggested that the two witnesses were already present but just hidden from public view (the comets passed by within a day of each other and very close to the Earth but neither was quite visible to the naked eye).  So, is this the year of "men fainting for fear, and for expectation of the things which are coming on the world"? (Luke 21:25).  The secular and Hebrew calendar year numbers, 2017 and 5777, respectively, are certainly very suggestive, as is the view that we are up to the final Jubilee year before the return of Christ and we are almost up to the 70th year (average span of a generation) of Israel existing once again as a nation.  I have an expectation that the temple mount will soon be reclaimed, but it is only a suspicion.  Perhaps all that happens is that the temple is rebuilt but, whatever occurs, we know that it must exist again in order that the son of perdition reveal himself for what he really is, the great liar.

On a personal note, I was born on Israel Independence day in 1965, modern Israel's 17th birthday by the Hebrew calendar.  Because of numerous incredible events throughout my lifetime, I know that the Lord has a particlar plan for me that is, perhaps, a little different to most, although I cannot say what it is, and it may eventually seem to be something quite small and inconsequential but we must always remember in our walk with the Lord that we should NEVER despise the day of small things.  The Lord can wipe out an army with a breath of wind, set massive stars in the heavens, shake and crack the Earth with a word, and construct atom by atom, electron by electron, the most incredible and exquisite biological entities that, even on the simplest level, still defy our attempts to properly understand them.  What is to stop Him using even the least of us for great things?  We simply need to have faith in Him and walk with a humble and contrite heart before the Great and Eternal One, and let Him decide where, when and how to lift us up, if ever.  Remember, it is not about you or me, it is about Him.