A Mighty Man Of God

Numbers 22-24 records a detailed conversation between Balak, the King of Moab, and Balaam, a mighty man of God. Balak and the Moabites had become fearful of the size and strength of the Israelites since coming out of Egypt. Balak met with Balaam and asked him to curse the Israelites. Balaam responded, "Look, I have come to you! Now, have I any power at all to say anything? The word that God puts in my mouth, that I must speak." He also responded with the following four oracles.

First Oracle Of Balaam 

Balak said to Balaam,  "Come, curse Jacob or me, and come, denounce Israel and what have you done to me? I took you to curse my enemies, and look, you have blessed them bountifully!"

Balaam responded, "Must I not take heed to speak what The Lord  has put in my mouth?"

Second Oracle Of Balaam

The Lord said to Balaam, "Go back to Balak, and thus you shall speak." 

Balaam speaks to Balak, "God is not a man, that He should lie, behold, I have received a command to bless; He has blessed, and I cannot reverse it."

Third Oracle Of Balaam

Balaam raised his eyes, and saw Israel encamped according to their tribes and said, "How lovely are your tents, O Jacob! Your dwellings, O Israel! Blessed is he who blesses you, and cursed is he who curses you."

Fourth Oracle Of Balaam

Balaam speaks to Balak, "Now, indeed, I am going to my people. Come, I will advise you what this people will do to your people in the latter days. A Star shall come out of Jacob; A Scepter shall rise out of Israel, and batter the brow of Moab, and destroy all the sons of tumult."

This is an uplifting and encouraging example of the importance of obeying our Lord God and speaking when He provides guidance and direction. We hear daily of anti-semitism and terror attacks against the Jewish people. We also hear of Christians being persecuted throughout the world. This all raises the question - will each of us be as bold as Balaam and speak out and take the actions necessary to see our enemies defeated?

May The Lord Bless You And Keep You This Day And Each Day,

Frank

The Wrath Of God

"For the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men." Romans 1:18. This wrath of God is also commonly referred to as the judgement of God. Notice in this verse the wrath or judgement of God is against all ungodliness and unrighteousness plus it is present tense - it is happening continually. At times it is hard to see or understand.

However, a time is coming when this wrath of God will be clearly visible and understood. This period of time is known as The Great Tribulation. The pouring out of the wrath of God is definitively described in the book of Revelation as The Seven Seals Of Judgement; The Seven Trumpets Of Judgement and The Seven Bowls Of Judgement. 

How close is this time of Great Tribulation? Nobody knows but our Lord God! However, it appears close maybe even very close. Witness the following headlines of recent editorials in the Bridges For Peace Newsletter revealing evil intentions and anti-semitism: 

Premeditated, Cold Blooded Slaughter 

Elderly Israelis Targeted For Murder

Did ISIS Shoot Down Russian Aircraft

Abbas Leader Says Israel Is "Satan's Project"

Abbas's Party Promotes Nazi Children's Book

Abbas's Party, Fatah, Glorifies The Knife

Terror Wave Continues

Friday Sermon's Call For Muslims To Murder

ISIS Takes Aim At The Jewish State 

We serve a loving, caring and compassionate God who wants all His creation to receive Him as their Lord and Savior as revealed in John 3:16. Those who refuse this invitation will experience the wrath of God now and eternally. We must also decide whether to support Israel and be blessed. I pray for all of us to continually seek God's guidance to make decisions pleasing to Him.

May The Lord Bless You And Keep You This Day And Each Day,

Frank 

Lessons Learned

We are all aware of enemy attacks against Israel almost on a daily basis. They come in all forms - terror attacks in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria; missiles launched into Southern Israel from Gaza; Hezbullah missiles launched into Northern Israel and the constant verbal threats to destroy Israel from the Palestinian Authority and Iran. Israel was even attacked by Arab neighbors the day after it was established in 1948.

A very encouraging article on the Bridges For Peace website caught my attention this week. It listed "Lessons Learned" over the years on how the Israelites have learned to live with but more importantly how to defeat its enemies. 

This Week's Message Shares The Highlights Of This Editorial 

Jihadis do not want peace - they want to annihilate Israel - building in Jerusalem or Judea and Samaria is not the cause of the attacks . . .

Israeli's are fighting back with defiance - men, woman, old, young, are fighting with pepper spray, rolling pins, umbrellas, etc . . .

If Israeli's appear terrified, they lose - they have learned to live normal lives but to be cautious and alert . . .

They are declaring if you mess with us, you lose - they want to survive . . .

They have learned very little help comes from other countries . . .

They will not allow Jihadis to teach in the schools, have rallies on the Temple Mount, blare messages from Minarets or in the Knesset . . .

They Declare They Will Never Leave Their Land Or Divide Jerusalem.

Isaiah 65:17-19 say, "For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered or come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing and her people a joy. I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people; the voice of weeping shall no longer be heard in her, nor the voice of crying."

The Jewish people are determined to win their current battles. Isaiah 65 shows our Lord God giving them a final victory. We can join them in their daily battles by our prayers of support and protection.

May The Lord Bless You And Keep You This Day And Each Day,

Frank  

Feast Of Tabernacles {Sukkot}

At the end of September, Jewish people throughout the world started an eight day long celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles also known in Hebrew as Sukkot. At the end of Leviticus 23, our Lord God instructed the Israelites to build a booth made of leafy branches of palms and poplars to live in the booth for seven days. They were to do this to show their descendants that the Israelites lived like this when God brought them out of Egypt.

Today, Jewish people construct a booth or Sukkah in order to eat their meals and study the Word of God together under its fragile roof for one week. Exodus 16:4 reveals that God provided for their daily food in the wilderness and Deuteronomy 29:5 shows that God also provided for their clothes which did not wear out. Today, when you travel in Israel you will notice extra large balconies on apartment buildings that provide the room necessary to build a Sukkah. 

A Sukkot lesson is that we as God's people are but sojourners here and we are just passing through this material world. Additionally, Sukkah also reminds God's people of their total dependence on Him. No matter how sturdy our structures might seem, they offer no protection outside of God's care. It is God's presence, His care, His protection and His provision that keep His people safe.

As the temperatures are getting colder, we are reminded that soon we will celebrate Thanksgiving Day. Important lessons I learned as a young Christian many years ago were to spend time each day with our Lord God praising Him, worshiping Him, repenting of our sins but especially in giving thanks for all He provides each day. Everyday should be Sukkot or Thanksgiving Day for all of us! Amen and Amen!      

May The Lord Bless You And Keep You This Day And Each Day,

Frank 

An Important Discovery

Last week, Israel announced they have discovered oil deposits under the Golan Heights. When you add this announcement to the discovery of natural gas in the Mediterranean Sea not long ago, Israel's energy needs will be well taken care of indefinitely. Israel already is an energy need provider for other countries. All of this will improve Israel's economy extensively.

Extremely important and significant, this latest discovery could accelerate the timing of the Battle of Gog and Magog. A number of our messages have illustrated recent events that have also seemed to set the stage for this battle . . . Russian troops in Syria is one example.

Now, this discovery of oil places the speculation about the timing of this battle in a new category. The Battle of Gog and Magog is explained in detail in Ezekiel 38 and 39. It is commonly referred to as The Invasion Of Israel From The North. Our Lord God directs Gog (leader of invasion) to gather troops from Russia, Iran, Libya, Ethiopia and Sudan. Magog is believed to be Russia, the Northern most country from Israel.    

Why is the discovery of oil in the Golan Heights so significant? Knowing Russia will invade Israel, the question has always been why would they want to or need to invade? Russia's economy revolves around the marketing of natural resources such as oil and natural gas, now it would appear they have a reason to invade Israel in order to control more oil.

Looking at the logistics of this new scenario, Russia already has troops on the ground in Syria in addition to their Naval ships in the Mediterranean. Syria is a neighbor of Israel's Golan Heights to the Northeast. 

How do we, who love and support Israel, react to all of these new prophetic events happening so quickly? We pray, pray and pray some more for Israel and their people before and in the midst of a great battle! We know the end of the story. Our Lord God wins a great victory for Israel, Ezekiel 38:21-23. It is getting from here to there that needs our fervent prayers.

May The Lord Bless You And Keep You This Day And Each Day,

Frank 

      

A Bold Statement

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu addressed the United Nations General Assembly this past week. I believe his message was one of the boldest and most effective I have ever heard. Our message this week will highlight portions of his speech but will not be exact quotations. Please make an attempt to listen to the entire speech, you will be blessed.

Netanyahu's message focused on the extreme Anti-Israel bias represented by the majority of the U.N. members whom he was addressing. Iran, a U.N. member, has threatened to destroy Israel for many years and is involved in supplying weapons to the terror groups ISIS, Hamas and Hezbollah. Yet, there is very little action taken or words spoken against Iran by U.N. member nations.

The most effective and boldest part of the message was when Netanyahu illustrated the almost total silence concerning the barbaric dictatorial leadership in Syria that has resulted in the Assad government killing 250,000 of their own citizens. As this was taking place, there were forty anti-Israel resolutions and only one anti-Syria resolution by the U.N. In effect, there has been almost total silence by U.N. members concerning the Syrian and Iranian leaders and their actions. To stress his point, Netanyahu spent 44 seconds in complete silence while staring at the inactive and non-speaking U.N. members.  

Netanyahu continued by explaining Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East and welcomes people of all faiths even in their government and military. Israel is always one of the first to respond to disasters around the world and even treats Palestinians and Syrians in their hospitals. Yet, the extreme anti-Israel bias continues in the U.N. The Israeli Prime Minister went on to say Israel will do all that is necessary to defend their state and its people. 

Israel's leaders need our daily prayers to uphold them before our Lord God! 

"But now, thus says The Lord, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel; Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the waters, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you. For I am The Lord God, The Holy One Of Israel, 

Your Savior." Isaiah 43:1-3 

May The Lord Bless You And Keep You This Day And Each Day,

Frank

"God Is Not Mocked"

"Do Not Be Deceived, God Is Not Mocked; 

For Whatever A Man Sows, That He Will Also Reap." 

Galatians 6:7 

Within the last couple of months, we have heard about the establishment of a Nuclear Deal between Iran and five countries including the United States. It appears Iran now is feeling pretty confident in their ability to establish a nuclear bomb but also in her new capability of destroying Israel. In fact, the Ayatollah Khamenei of Iran has declared the Jewish State will cease to exist within twenty five years.

All we have to do is look at the following list of rulers, nations or empires who do not exist anymore because they tried to destroy Israel -  Pharoah, Philistines, Assyrians, Babylonians, Haman, Greek Empire, Roman Empire, Persian Empire, Ottoman Empire and Nazis. Could we put the Supreme Leader of Iran in this scenario?   

Let us go a step further and look at the situation today. Sunday night was the fourth Blood Red Moon within the past two years. Joel 2:31 says, "The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord." Are we real close to the Great And Terrible Day Of The Lord? 

Additionally, Joel 3:1,2 says, "For behold, in those days and at that time, When I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations, And bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat: And I will enter judgement with them there on account of My people, My heritage Israel, Whom they have scattered among the nations: They have also divided up My land."

Our Lord God Has Protected His People Israel

In The Past, He Is Protecting Them Now

And Will Protect Them In The Future 

May The Lord Bless You And Keep You This Day And Each Day,

Frank