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What in the World is Happening
- January 2007
A series of articles by Brian Papworth,
our PWMI Representative in New Zealand.
Several years ago someone suggested that the nuclear risk
clock, which had been at five minutes to midnight, was now only two
minutes to midnight. As we begin another year we cannot help wondering if
the clock's hands now point even closer, as we see how North Korea and
particularly Iran are behaving. Viewing the Middle East, it may not be
just the nuclear clock but the final chapter of this world's history, as
we know it.
Although the Israeli war with Hizballah is in a state of
truce, the dispute over the Shebaa Farms land area still continues.
Hizballah have stated that the conflict will resume unless the claim to
this area is settled. Israel reclaimed the Shebaa Farms area in the recent
war and is also still unhappy about the soldiers kidnapped and not
returned by the Hizballah raiding force into Israel which sparked off last
years war.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak considered another
regional war could soon break out; making the comment "The Middle
East is on the verge of exploding." In Palestine the Hamas government
Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar was quoted as saying; "Israel is an
abomination in the Middle East and will some day disappear." He
confirmed they will never accept Israel's existence. This comment backed
up Iranian's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's statement recently that
Israel was a "counterfeit and illegitimate regime that cannot
survive. The big powers have created this fraud regime and allowed it to
commit every kind of crime to guarantee their interests."
In response to all these threats, Israel's Military has
warned of a possible further war in 2007 with Syria being the greatest
threat. Syria appears to be preparing for a war with Israel to win back
territory it lost in previous wars, building their military bases that
border Israel. Whilst Iran are close to producing the nuclear bomb, Israel
does indeed have that technology and should Syria use their weapons of
mass destruction on Israel, there is a real possibility that Israel will
retaliate with a nuclear response which may bring about the fulfilment of
the prophecy, as yet never fulfilled, regarding Damascus - "See
Damascus will no longer be a city but will become a heap of ruins." [Isa
17; 1]. Some think that there is a possibility of Israel taking Iran's
nuclear problem into their own hands and destroying the installation
before Iran has a chance to complete their nuclear bomb's manufacture. All
these scenarios offer little hope for peace at the moment.
Paul said
"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty
power. Put on the full armour of God so that you can take your stand
against the Devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and
blood but against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual
forces of evil in the heavenly realms." [Eph 6 v10-12]. ]. The
Iranian dictator like all tyrants feeds on fear and fear-mongering. He is
of his father, the Devil, and that father of lies, Satan, knows that fear
takes the life out of humanity, replacing it with a vacuum, a void into
which dictators and demons will rush to fill [quote: Terry James]. Make no
mistake, the Prince of Persia, against whom the messenger from God
struggled, bringing a message to Daniel [Dan 10: 13-20], is alive and well
in the Middle East. Babylon the seat of ancient heathen religion in the
time of the Tower of Babel, and still evident in many pagan religions even
in this present day, is rearing its head in the present conflict of the
Middle East. The war is not between Israel and the Arabs but between God
and Satan.
Those who study Biblical prophecies associated with the
end times can see as never before the escalating fulfilment of predictions
that will culminate in the Rapture, the Tribulation and the coming of
Christ as Messiah. The stage which is now being set for working out this
world's final events is almost ready. Could it be this year we are caught
up to be with the Lord in the air, to be for ever with the Lord?
There is often much discussion regarding Matthew 24 and
Luke 21 that they were primarily written to the Jewish people and do not
apply to the Church. Acceptance of this view solves a lot of problems
regarding differing views on the timing of the Rapture, Tribulation and
return of Christ occur. However it does not mean that the signs of the end
times given by our Lord in these verses can be ignored by Christians. They
are all signs of the end and no doubt we are seeing some of these signs
even before the Rapture. We know that the Antichrist will not be revealed
before the Church is taken [2 Thess 2: 1-9]. However there is some
fulfilling of the Lord's words to be seen in our present times. We are
told that we will see wars and revolutions; there is civil unrest even in
such places as Tonga, Fiji and other South Sea Islands. A newspaper
recently displayed a headline "Trouble in Paradise," with regard
to the problems in Tonga and Fiji, which only goes to show, there is no
place on earth anything like the real Paradise.
It is foretold by the Bible that the world will be full of
unrest [Luke 21: 911]. We have seen an increase in intensity of
hurricanes, typhoons and storms and no doubt these will increase as the
time goes on. The world's leaders are concerned about world warming
although with the coldest winter in many years and icebergs off the
southern coasts of New Zealand this spring, it makes me wonder if all is
not as it appears. Albeit the world's climate is changing and will without
doubt affect food crops, as has been seen by drought in Africa and
Australia, and natural disasters world wide. The terrible death toll due
to war, famine and pestilences in Africa are typical of what was
prophesied by our Lord. These I am sure are all signs of the times. [Luke
21:11].
The efforts of some authorities to remove Christian
education from schools have succeeded in creating a generation that have
lower moral values, [unless they are taught by their parents], resulting
in increased crime, dysfunctional and broken families, lost kids, and
increase in suicide. In a world that has lost its direction, everyone's
doing what they think is right in their own eyes. Even world governments
have gone off the "God" standard and don't offer much moral
direction to their populations.
So what will we see in the coming year? No doubt the
Biblical prophesies will continue to be fulfilled before our eyes. Let us
work while it is day, to tell people about our Saviour and Lord, and His
provision for the forgiveness of sin he made at Calvary, before that
moment when we meet Him in the air. "But you brothers [and
sisters] are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a
thief. You are all sons of the light and sons of the day; we do not belong
to the night or the darkness. So then let us not be like others, who are
asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled. For those who sleep,
sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we
belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as
a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet… For God did not
appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus
Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may
live together with Him." [1 Thess 5:4-10].
Yours in His Service
Brian D Papworth
Secretary in New Zealand for PWMI
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