The fulfillment of Isaiah 61

After Jesus fasted forty days and nights, and after He was tempted by the devil in the wilderness, He went into his home town and proclaimed the year of Jubilee on The Day of Atonement (the only day you can proclaim a year of Jubilee every 50th year):  
Luke 4:16-22 
"He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they asked."
This is the scripture He was reading from:
Isaiah 61:1-3 
"The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor."  
He stopped reading at the word "favor", and told them that that scripture had been fulfilled in their hearing.  The last half of the scripture verses 2 and 3 (and on really) ...will not be fulfilled until His second coming. The Day of vengeance will be carried out on non-believing Jews on the Day of Atonement 10 days after His Second Coming on The Feast of Trumpets/ Yom Teruah. To understand the rest of the verse, I suggest reading Ezekiel 9: 1-6:
"Then I heard him call out in a loud voice, 'Bring near those who are appointed to execute judgment on the city, each with a weapon in his hand.' And I saw six men coming from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, each with a deadly weapon in his hand. With them was a man clothed in linen who had a writing kit at his side. They came in and stood beside the bronze altar. Now the glory of the God of Israel went up from above the cherubim, where it had been, and moved to the threshold of the temple. Then the Lord called to the man clothed in linen who had the writing kit at his side and said to him, 'Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it.' As I listened, he said to the others, 'Follow him through the city and kill, without showing pity or compassion. Slaughter the old men, the young men and women, the mothers and children, but do not touch anyone who has the mark. Begin at my sanctuary.' So they began with the old men who were in front of the temple."
So you see those who are newly His, after seeing that He was indeed who He claimed to be, will be mourning after the rapture and then will be comforted after that Day of Atonement.
Zechariah 12:10:
“And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son. On that day the weeping in Jerusalem will be as great as the weeping of Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo."
...and so the remnant of Israel will be saved. 
Palms 102:13:
"You will arise and have compassion on Zion, for it is time to show favor to her; the appointed time has come." (Appointed time = "Moed"= festival... one of God's 7 appointed festivals, obviously here referring to the same I mentioned before (The Day of Atonement) or the one directly following 5 days later (The Feast of Tabernacles... when Jesus will begin his millennial reign).

 

Seven Feasts Fashion Show

It's happening! I'm finally on the ground running. April 27th (2013) will be my first presentation (for strangers) since I completed all of my gowns for the fashion show.  I have spoken at a few churches already with only 1-5 dresses done, but all 12 are complete now and so is my message. Although saying the message is complete will never be entirely truthful, as whenever I learn new things or find a better way to say something... it'll change.  But I am very excited and wanted to share and get the word out as I hope to take the show around to many many churches. In my mind the best settings would be at a women's annual tea, or even as the focus of a retreat. I also plan to take it to the secular world without the "preaching", but with a handout that explains things for those interested. Who knows, maybe one day I'll be an interim act at a huge event like a Women of Faith conference. Here's a little flyer I put together that showcases the Passover gown.
 

Rack Cards by Vistaprint

In my message, I start with Genesis and Leviticus and what the Hebrew word “moed” means. 

I talk about how the spring feasts: Passover, Unleavened bread, First Fruits, and Pentecost, were fulfilled by Jesus Christ in the final year of his life here on earth, and how we are awaiting the fulfillment of the fall feasts in His Second Coming. (The Feast of Trumpets, The Day of Atonement, and The Feast of Tabernacles.) I say that I believe just like the spring feasts were all fulfilled in the same year that the fall feasts will also all be fulfilled in the same year. 
 I talk about the Jubilee year and the Sabbath and how both tie in to a young earth theology. 
For each feast I give scripture and Jewish tradition information... not an overwhelming amount but just enough to whet an appetite for further study. 

My idea is not to have people walking away feeling like they know everything now and never have to give it a second thought. The idea is to wake people up to this vast subject that is missing from most people's study of the Bible, and have them walking away saying, "I want to know more." "I want to dive into this." The next time they open their Bibles I want them to clearly see the Feast references and begin to unlock some of the mysteries that in the past may have confused them, or caused them to skip passages entirely.
I want people to not be afraid of eschatology, and instead of cowering in fear when they see things happening around the world in the next years to "look up, and lift your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh." 

CitizenLink Report: Savage Journalism

CitizenLink Report: Savage Journalism

Just a little something to remind us that the tables are turning; mocking Christianity is now what is being applauded.

The Three Angels of Revelation 14 {in Order}

Let's just jump right in and I'll put parenthesis throughout:
Revelation 14:6-20 "I saw an angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation, tribe, language and people. He said in a loud voice, )“Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come." (An angel talking in a loud voice in midair... perhaps a natural disaster from heaven, announcing that the tribulation has started. Or started or not, now it's getting serious.) "Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.” A second angel followed and said, “‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great,’ which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries.” (I mentioned in my last post that I believe Mystery Babylon is Saudi Arabia.) (See that post for my reasoning.) (So Saudi Arabia falls after the Tribulation has started but before the next angel.) A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives its mark on their forehead or on their hand (The mark of the beast is in the final 3 1/2 years of the tribulation) they too will drink the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. They will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. (This says "will" (a future tense); We know from Revelation 19:20 that the day they are thrown into the lake of sulfur is the day of Christ's second coming.) And the smoke of their torment will rise for ever and ever. There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name.” This calls for patient endurance on the part of the people of God who keep his commands and remain faithful to Jesus. (Patient endurance by Christian's during the tribulation.) Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.” (What a great promise and encouragement for us as we endure the tribulation.) I looked, and there before me was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one like a son of man (Jesus) with a crown of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. Then another angel came out of the temple and called in a loud voice to him who was sitting on the cloud, “Take your sickle and reap, because the time to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” So he who was seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested. (This is the rapture of the Church when we meet Christ in the air). Another angel (not Christ) came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. Still another angel, who had charge of the fire, came from the altar and called in a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, (called with fire from Heaven) “Take your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the earth’s vine, because its grapes are ripe.” (Grape harvest is in the Fall.) The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God’s wrath. They were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses’ bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia. (In Ezekiel 9:4-7 the angel of death is told to start the killing in the middle of Jerusalem.)
So we see the order of things. #1 and #2: disaster from heaven, and the beginning of the "hour of judgment" #3: the fall of Saudi Arabia, #4: the mark of the beast, #5: saints patiently enduring the Great Tribulation, #6: the rapture, and #7: Wrath, starting in Jerusalem and spreading from there effecting all of those who do not repent following the rapture.

Mystery Babylon

"Mystery Babylon" is revealed in Revelation chapter 17 and 18. Those two chapters give us all we need to uncover the "mystery". But there are other chapters in the Old Testament about her as well. To distinguish if the actual Babylon or the "Mystery Babylon" of the End Times is meant in the Old Testament passages look for hints like these phrases: "in that day", and "burn forever, or be desolate forever". Obviously there is not a place in earth that is at present burning continuously, so you can be safe in assuming that is still a future prophecy. Jeremiah 50-51 and Isaiah 13, and 21 are chapters that I found about the "Babylon" of the End Times.

Going back to Revelation, let's look at Mystery Babylon's traits.
Verse 1:
great prostitute, who sits by many waters.
(In the Bible when a nation is called a prostitute it mearly means that they do not worship God, they worship a false god. The "many waters" on which she sits are explained by the angel in verse 15, "Then the angel said to me, 'The waters you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations and languages.")
Verse 2:
With her the kings of the earth committed adultery, and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries.
Verse 3:
sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns.
(In verse 9-13 the angel explains, “The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits. They are also seven kings. Five have fallen, {The 'beast nations' that had fallen by that time were Egypt,Babylona, babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece} one is {that was Rome}, the other has not yet come {this speaks of the Ottoman Empire that took over after the Roman Empire, today we see the resurgence of the Ottoman/Islamic Empire}; but when he does come, he must remain for only a little while. The beast who once was, and now is not, is an eighth king. He belongs to the seven and is going to his destruction. The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the beast. They have one purpose and will give their power and authority to the beast. {These could be any number of Islamic countries/kings, there are tons around today. We will find out soon enough which nations become the top ten. Note though that the prostitute was riding the beast, they are not one in the same. We see this explained in verse 16-18; "The beast and the ten horns you saw will hate the prostitute. They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire. For God has put it into their hearts to accomplish his purpose by agreeing to hand over to the beast their royal authority, until God’s words are fulfilled. The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth.” The other Islamic nations "hate" this nation that rules over kings of the earth. They will ultimately destroy her.})
Verse 4:
dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries.
(This is a nation of royalty, and of great wealth, and of perversion.)
Verse 5:
The name written on her forehead was a mystery: BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES, AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
(Being called the "mother" of prostitutes and of abominations is no small title. This is a place that is home to the center of false god worship, and the home of the most abominable things going on in the world today.)
Verse 6:
drunk with the blood of God’s holy people, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus.
(This nation seeks to kill Christians. They have zero tolerance for those worship the one true God.)

"Mystery Babylon" is Saudi Arabia. Home to Mecca, the center of Islam. The nations of the earth depend on her for oil, and she depends on them for every other product. She is a mass consumer. Saudi Arabia has three times the GDP of the UAE. She is by the sea. She is in the desert. She is home to royalty. She is a religious leader. She is an economic leader. "The kings of the earth committed adultery with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries.”
There is no other nation that matches all of the qualifications.

So... as we look into the future what can we be sure will happen to Saudi Arabia?

Revelation 18 says that she will be given "as much torment and grief as the glory and luxury she gave herself. ...in one day her plagues will overtake her: death, mourning and famine. She will be consumed by fire, for mighty is the Lord God who judges her. When the kings of the earth who committed adultery with her and shared her luxury see the smoke of her burning, they will weep and mourn over her because no one buys their cargoes anymore - cargoes of gold, silver, precious stones and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet cloth; every sort of citron wood, and articles of every kind made of ivory, costly wood, bronze, iron and marble; cargoes of cinnamon and spice, of incense, myrrh and frankincense, of wine and olive oil, of fine flour and wheat; cattle and sheep; horses and carriages; and human beings sold as slaves. {Sex slaves are a HUGE business in Saudi Arabia.} They will say, ‘The fruit you longed for is gone from you. All your luxury and splendor have vanished, never to be recovered.

Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a large millstone and threw it into the sea, and said: “With such violence the great city of Babylon will be thrown down, The smoke from her goes up for ever and ever.”

To end on a light note... "Take that Al Gore, 'smoke going up forever and ever' and yet the ozone survives another 1,000 years+."

Silenced and Mocked

I wanted to share a little something that happened last week.
No, not an earthquake or tornado, though this week has not been lacking in those departments. I wanted to share a Facebook incident.
When I see Christians being bashed on Facebook I like to speak up in their defense. So I did. This was not on a random acquaintance’s page, this was my sister's post. Her post (a link) and the comments from friends about the link spoke ill of Kirk Cameron and his "treatment" of gays. Now, I don't know much about Kirk. I don't agree with the Left Behind series that he was a part of, and I've never watched any of his other films or studies. But I've heard him give interviews and he seems like s good guy. The link my sister posted had the basic message that if you don't agree with the gay lifestyle you’re automatically a hater, a homophobe, or any other title the left likes to throw around. Kirk had said that he had gay friends even though he disagrees with that lifestyle. The linked article as well as my sister's friends said that that's not real friendship.
My mind went to a time in my life that I was living a sinful lifestyle and my parents kicked me out of their house. I had a job, and was old enough to be on my own (one year out of college), but they had been helping me save money by allowing my daughter and I to live with them. Being kicked out and having my actions labeled as sin did not make me feel unloved. Most people refer to it as tough love. Tough love is when someone who loves you stops enabling you to live a sinful life. They still love you, they just don't love your actions, and instead of acting like it's no big deal they say, yes it is a big deal, and I won't be a part of it.
I'm pretty sure this is what Kirk, as well as many others who view homosexual sex as sin was doing. He loves his gay friends with a tough love. The liberals in the world are using this and other issues (such as "reproductive care") to portray Christians as haters.
I left a comment on my sister's post that said basically that... That we were labeled as haters and that it will lead to Christians being arrested for hate crimes and eventually put in concentration camps and killed. My sister deleted my post because she found it offensive to her other friends, or perhaps she just found me "crazy" once again talking about the end of the world. I texted her about it, and she apologized and said I could re-post if I wanted. (I never did.)
But it proved my point even more than if she would have left my comment there. We... Christians, especially conservative Christians, and even more so Conservative Christians who believe that the antichrist is soon coming, and even more than that conservative Christians who believe the antichrist is coming from Islam, are being silenced and mocked.
Delete comments, keep off the radio, off the TV, make sure that this word does not get around and if it does dismiss it as insane. I ask you, why? I'll tell you why, because Satan does not want the truth out there. He is all about silencing truth, and the truth that he cannot silence he mocks. He has put the Mayan calendar ordeal in people's faces, and people like Harold Camping in the spotlight so that talk about the end of the world is crazy. It's dismissible.
Thirty percent of scripture is prophecy. Most of Jesus' recorded "sermons" were about his second coming. When was the last time you heard a message about the second coming in church? I know have haven't been every Sunday, so I can't say for certain, but in my last 12 years of church, I have not heard one sermon focused on that topic. Mentioned briefly, yes, but all about, no. Even mentioned briefly I bet I could count on my fingers. Nothing comes to mind. Not one single word about any kind of time frame. By time frame I don't mean a time line, just anything; anything about pre or post trib, or a-millennialism or anything.
Let me briefly remind you of the time line.
Daniel talks about the last seven (in the 70 sevens), so most people say the tribulation is 7 years long. However, every other verse that speaks of the tribulation says it's 3 1/2 years. This could simply refer to the magnitude of the sufferings, as the final 3 1/2 years is the time that the Bible describes as having plagues for the non-believers and captures and killings of believers. The antichrist will be known during these three and half years, where prior to he will be veiled. The two witnesses will also be present during these 3 1/2 years.
When the feast of Trumpets (Yom Teruah) is accomplished (the rapture of the church) there will be an additional time of torment on the earth. (some people think the whole seven years, I think only the final weeks-month) The angel of death is to start at the temple and kill all who do not mourn over what has happened. Then Christ will return with an army of saints dressed in white to claim his throne here on this earth for a thousand years. The millennium will be a wonderful time of lion and lamb laying together, kids playing with vipers, (Isaiah 11) and people living as long as trees. During this time Satan and all demons will be locked away. They will be released at the end of the thousand years for a time to deceive the nations again. Then there will be a final battle, and a final judgment. The earth will be replaced with a new earth and heaven will be replaced with a new heaven, and we will live there eternally with no Satan ever again. (Revelation 20)