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Saturday, February 28, 2009

The Watchmen Will See Eye To Eye

"Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the LORD shall bring again Zion."
-Isaiah 52:8

Over the years I have become acquainted with a number of "watchman" ministries, many of which are very good. I have always been drawn to Jude vs. 3 which says "Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints." For those that might not be familiar with the term, a "watchman" ministry is one that considers itself to be on the lookout for false teachers/religions/prophets/teachings, etc. It is based upon a couple of passages (primarily) in Ezekiel, such as:

"Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me."

"Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman:
If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people; Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul. But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take [any] person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand. So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me."
(Ezekiel 3:17 and 33:2-7 respectively)

The idea being that the "watchman" today is on the lookout for invading teachers/teachings, etc. that seek to overtake God's people, and to warn the people of God of such error. A very noble, right, and godly ministry indeed. There have been many criticisms over time toward these watchman ministries, mostly in the vein of them being too nit-picky, too judgmental, etc. I must agree, many times they can be just that. But they are also a very valuable part of the body of Messiah in that they often reveal issues within popular teachers/teachings/books etc. that are missed by the majority. One case in point was the "Todd Bentley" fiasco. Another was/is the very popular book "The Shack." For that, praise God for the "watchman" ministries. However...

One glaring problem that I find within the "watchman" movement is that they often don't see "eye to eye" in many cases, especially in regard to "the anti-christ", "the rapture", "the millennium", and other such things. I believe it is because so many of these issues have happened, are happening, and are yet to be, and yet it is not always easy to discern them until they are upon us. Ones biblical interpretation plays a large part as well. For example, the ministry of Hank Hanegraaff (CRI), and the ministry of Jacob Prasch (Moriel Ministries) are very much at odds with each other, and yet both would consider themselves within the "watchman ministries" movement. What to do...?

Isaiah 52:8 says that in the day that the LORD "bring[s] again Zion", the "watchmen" will see "eye to eye" and together they will lift up the voice and "sing" (or "shout").

It is noteworthy that the two ministries that I mentioned above (CRI and Moriel) have very, very different views regarding "Zion" being brought back.

Previous to 1948, when Israel became a Nation once again, the popular view among the Christian churches were that the "Church" had replaced Israel in regard to the promises made to Israel in the Hebrew scriptures, and to some degree it seemed reasonable because many of the New Testament promises applied to the "Church" are the very same ones given to Israel in the Hebrew scriptures. Furthermore, ever since 70 A.D., when the Romans destroyed the city of Jerusalem, and the Temple, and the Jews were dispersed from the region (at least, those that did not die in the siege), there didn't seem to be any way that the promises given to Israel could happen, since they were no longer dwelling in the land of Israel (to large degree), but rather, were dispersed all over the world. To many even, it appeared that God had clearly forsaken His chosen people.

1948 proved to the world that this was an incorrect assumption however (though there are still many Christians who do not accept the modern state of Israel as a fulfillment of biblical prophecy, but rather, a secular outworking by secular Jews, and secular Gentiles forming such a state). Beyond all reasonable comprehension, not only did God restore the land of *Palestine to the Jewish people, but when it was forming, it's newly restored government chose to name the country "Israel." Furthermore, when seeking to choose a national language, to the surprise of most, their leadership decided to make Hebrew the language of the land (a language that for all intents and purposes was "dead").

1948 began a move that will culminate in the final and complete ingathering of God's people; an ingathering from the four corners of the earth; an ingathering that, according to Jeremiah (16:14,15) would be so magnificent, so unbelievable that the former exodus from Egypt would be no longer mentioned in place of the second, greater exodus.

YHVH is indeed going to "bring again Zion." It will be so magnificent that it will be missed by no one. It is in the day of Zion's return that the "watchmen" will see "eye to eye." It will be such a great event that those that are the LORD's, as well as those of the world, are going to see and understand.

**What a glorious day that will be!

.j.


*This is a misnomer - "Palestine" is the English form of the Latin word "Palaestina", which is the name that Rome gave to the region after the Jewish revolts of the 1st and 2nd centuries. "Palaestina" is the Latin form of the word "Philistine", the ancient enemies of the Israelites, and was intended by the Romans to be a mockery of the Israelites. Since the Philistines became extinct as a people group, how is it possible to be a "Palestinian" today? Just something to think about in light of the current "situation" in the Middle East today.

**If you are a Christian, this has significance for you as well. In a later post, I will share why. In the meantime, it would behoove you to scour the scriptures, primarily the New Testament (Romans and Ephesians in particular) in order to find out who you are, according to God's word. It will be worth your time.




Friday, February 20, 2009

Sinking of Titanic...Picture of America?

Bill Cloud of Shoreshim Ministries wrote a very good article that can be downloaded as a PDF at his website about some correlations he found between the story of the Titanic and America as we are today. Just click here to go to his website, and then click on the link on the right side that says "Download current copy of our printed newsletter." It is worth the read.

.j.

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Yep!

I have found this to be the case as well.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Are You a Friend of the World?

"What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, "He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us"? But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you."

Ya'acov ("James") 4:1-10