The LORD said to Moses, “Make a snake
and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” — Numbers 21:8
Not many people
like snakes. They are creepy and many are poisonous. These dangerous creatures
are prevalent in the desert, so it’s not a surprise that in this week’s
reading, snakes are present and hurt the children of Israel. What is surprising is that for the first 39
years the Israelites were in the desert, not one snake was to be seen.
The Sages teach
that God had provided special protection so that the Israelites would not be
disturbed by the desert snakes. But after they complained about the “food
service” in the desert, saying “There
is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!”(v.5),
God decided to teach them a lesson. They didn’t like the way He was taking care
of them, so God decided to let them see how well things worked out without Him.
God removed His divine protection, and the snakes did what they would normally
do. As soon as the people were bitten and began to die, the Israelites learned
their lesson.
Next, God healed
them, because God always prefers life to death and healing over illness.
However, His healing came about in a most unusual way. God commanded Moses to
create a copper snake on a pole to be raised up high. Those who gazed at it
would be healed.
However, when
you think about it, it’s a little bit confusing. The very thing that caused the
pain and illness is the same thing that would bring the healing?
The Sages teach
that it’s not the snake that brought healing, but God. The snake was raised
high so that the people would look beyond it and see the heavens. Not everyone
was healed from glancing at the snake – only those who really looked at it and
understood that it wasn’t the snake that poisons, but sin, and that it’s not
the snake that heals, but God.
On our journey
through life, we are bound to encounter our share of snakes on our path.
Sometimes, we are even bitten. It could be an illness, a lawsuit, or a betrayal
by a loved one. However, we need to see beyond the people and circumstances
that are causing us pain and see God. In Judaism, we have a slogan: “There is
nothing but Him.” If we can find Him in our problems and come close to Him and
repent, He will bring about our salvation.
Friends,
remember that the thing that brings you down can be the very thing that raises
you up. Seek God in all your challenges, and you will emerge from them
stronger, better, and closer to God.
Perfect, if you hate Christians |
On May 5, city politicians in
Nanaimo, British Columbia, voted 8 to 1 to ban a conference that was scheduled for their
city’s convention centre just four days later. City councilors condemned one of
the event ’s sponsors as “hateful,” mentioned it in the same breath as the
Nigerian terrorist group Boko Haram, and said the decision to ban the event
from public property was no different than if they had voted to ban an
organized crime ring, too.
Sounds awful. Who was coming to town – the Hells Angels? The conference itself was based in Atlanta, Georgia, but plenty of people in Nanaimo were paying $60 to watch a pay-per-view simulcast of it in Nanaimo. The event, which took place May 8 and was streamed to 800 cities in North America, is aimed at providing thought-provoking speakers who can help build up a generation of viable leaders; the conference does not explicitly address controversial subjects like homosexuality. So who were these undesirable people?
Actually, Nanaimo councilors didn’t know very much about the conference themselves, calling it by different names throughout their meeting. They weren’t quite sure who was speaking at it either, or what they were speaking about, and they had to be corrected by city staff. And they didn’t invite any conference organizers to answer their allegations – or even give them any notice before ripping up the business contract signed with them by the convention centre.
But what the councilors lacked in knowledge, they made up for in vitriol. You can see for yourself. Nanaimo is a small city of just 80,000 people, but the politicians there think highly enough of themselves and their deep thoughts that they actually televise their council meetings. Their 20-minute tirade against the conference can be viewed online, at www.nanaimo.ca.
Fred Pattje, the councilor who introduced the motion, said that one of the many sponsors of the conference was an American fast-food restaurant named Chick-Fil-A. Several years ago, the founder of Chick-Fil-A had said he opposed changing U.S. law to permit same-sex marriage. Until a year ago, that was Barack Obama’s opinion, too. But to Pattje and fellow councilors, the fact that an executive affiliated with a fast food company was one of a dozen sponsors of a world-wide leadership event, being simulcast from the city’s convention centre, was intolerable. Even if some of the councilors couldn’t quite pronounce the name Chick-Fil-A either.
The problem, as councillor Jim Kipp said so succinctly, was that Chick-Fil-A has funded “a very strong unbelievable Christian belief” of being against same sex marriage, before referring to terrorists.
It was shocking bigotry. Councilors took turns defaming the convention, Chick-Fil-A, one of its speakers, its organizers and those in it – all without the burden of facts. They falsely accused one conference speaker of being anti-gay – even though city staff reminded councilors that the conference wasn’t about homosexuality at all. It was about leadership in business. One councillor – Bill McKay, the lone voice against the ban – pointed out that former First Lady Laura Bush would be speaking, and Nobel Prize laureate and former anti-Apartheid crusader Desmond Tutu also.
In the end, the motion passed over McKay’s sole objection. The motion instructed the convention centre that “any events that are associated with organizations or people that promote or have a history of divisiveness, homophobia, or other expressions of hate not be permitted and as such, advise the VICC not to permit in a City owned facility, the upcoming Leadercast event.”
One councilor, Bill Bestwick, actually suggested that city hall turn off the power and blackout the simulcast when a particularly objectionable speaker was scheduled to speak. Bestwick was very excited about his role as self-appointed censor.
Banning divisive people, and expressions of hate, eh? Sounds like the council was describing itself.
Sounds awful. Who was coming to town – the Hells Angels? The conference itself was based in Atlanta, Georgia, but plenty of people in Nanaimo were paying $60 to watch a pay-per-view simulcast of it in Nanaimo. The event, which took place May 8 and was streamed to 800 cities in North America, is aimed at providing thought-provoking speakers who can help build up a generation of viable leaders; the conference does not explicitly address controversial subjects like homosexuality. So who were these undesirable people?
Actually, Nanaimo councilors didn’t know very much about the conference themselves, calling it by different names throughout their meeting. They weren’t quite sure who was speaking at it either, or what they were speaking about, and they had to be corrected by city staff. And they didn’t invite any conference organizers to answer their allegations – or even give them any notice before ripping up the business contract signed with them by the convention centre.
But what the councilors lacked in knowledge, they made up for in vitriol. You can see for yourself. Nanaimo is a small city of just 80,000 people, but the politicians there think highly enough of themselves and their deep thoughts that they actually televise their council meetings. Their 20-minute tirade against the conference can be viewed online, at www.nanaimo.ca.
Fred Pattje, the councilor who introduced the motion, said that one of the many sponsors of the conference was an American fast-food restaurant named Chick-Fil-A. Several years ago, the founder of Chick-Fil-A had said he opposed changing U.S. law to permit same-sex marriage. Until a year ago, that was Barack Obama’s opinion, too. But to Pattje and fellow councilors, the fact that an executive affiliated with a fast food company was one of a dozen sponsors of a world-wide leadership event, being simulcast from the city’s convention centre, was intolerable. Even if some of the councilors couldn’t quite pronounce the name Chick-Fil-A either.
The problem, as councillor Jim Kipp said so succinctly, was that Chick-Fil-A has funded “a very strong unbelievable Christian belief” of being against same sex marriage, before referring to terrorists.
It was shocking bigotry. Councilors took turns defaming the convention, Chick-Fil-A, one of its speakers, its organizers and those in it – all without the burden of facts. They falsely accused one conference speaker of being anti-gay – even though city staff reminded councilors that the conference wasn’t about homosexuality at all. It was about leadership in business. One councillor – Bill McKay, the lone voice against the ban – pointed out that former First Lady Laura Bush would be speaking, and Nobel Prize laureate and former anti-Apartheid crusader Desmond Tutu also.
In the end, the motion passed over McKay’s sole objection. The motion instructed the convention centre that “any events that are associated with organizations or people that promote or have a history of divisiveness, homophobia, or other expressions of hate not be permitted and as such, advise the VICC not to permit in a City owned facility, the upcoming Leadercast event.”
One councilor, Bill Bestwick, actually suggested that city hall turn off the power and blackout the simulcast when a particularly objectionable speaker was scheduled to speak. Bestwick was very excited about his role as self-appointed censor.
Banning divisive people, and expressions of hate, eh? Sounds like the council was describing itself.
According to the Nanaimo Daily
News, three pastors who came as a part of the Nanaimo Evangelical Fellowship, a
coalition of churches, asked officials for an apology and for an affirmation
that people of any and all faiths can use the conference center, citing the
Charter of Rights and Freedoms as the basis of the request.
Faith leaders expressed shock over the event’s cancellation at a June 16 council meeting, with Pastor Darcy Siggelkow of Generations Church calling both the cancellation and the councillors debate over the issue “immensely concerning.”
“I’m not asking you to agree with or accept my opinions and beliefs … but my rights to have those beliefs,” he said
Faith leaders expressed shock over the event’s cancellation at a June 16 council meeting, with Pastor Darcy Siggelkow of Generations Church calling both the cancellation and the councillors debate over the issue “immensely concerning.”
“I’m not asking you to agree with or accept my opinions and beliefs … but my rights to have those beliefs,” he said
ISIS uses same strategy as 8th-century Muslim conquerors.
By Joseph Farah
It’s called the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS.
It is a jihadist movement and army unprecedented in size, wealth and
power not seen since Islam swept through the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa,
part of Europe and Asia in the eighth century.
It bears many of the same characteristics as that eighth-century force –
perhaps because it is modeled after it in its style of warfare and its goals.
What am I saying?
Do I expect to see ISIS conquer the Middle East, North Africa, part of
Europe and Asia in the 21st century?
No, I don’t. But I do expect to see enormous carnage and destruction and
bloodshed as a result of this movement – far more, perhaps, than most other
analysts project.
There is a ferocity to ISIS that makes even al-Qaida uncomfortable. It has already captured more
wealth and armaments, including chemical weapons, than all but a handful of
countries in the world possess. (By the way, have you asked yourself why the
U.S. did not destroy Saddam Hussein’s chemical weapons depots when capture of
them was the major objective of the invasion in the first place?)
I think ISIS is being underestimated by nearly everyone.
I’m particularly concerned with the timing of its rise. It coincides
with Barack Obama’s decision to order the U.S. Border Patrol to stand down,
opening America’s southern boundary to anyone and everyone – from drug dealers
to criminals to children to terrorists armed with weapons of mass destruction.
If Obama were working in conjunction with ISIS, he could not possibly have made
their promise to “see you in New York” more chilling.
Brutality difficult for Westerners to even imagine is the modus operandi
of ISIS. It calls for a scorched-earth policy against its enemies – which
includes Christians, Shiites, Alawites, Jews, non-believers and all non-Sunnis.
ISIS leadership advocates and practices barbarism designed to strike fear into
the hearts and minds of its opponents and anyone who doesn’t stand with them in
their strict Shariah Sunni code. Already the ISIS marauders have crucified
victims, beheaded them and conducted mass executions of Iraqi soldiers and
civilians. No atrocity is beneath them.
It’s part of the strategy, the central part of the strategy, they pray
will deliver to them the entire Levant. What is the Levant? It’s big area, if
ill-defined. But it usually includes the following: the Eastern Mediterranean
Anatolia and Egypt – meaning the island of Cyprus, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon,
Syria, Iraq and part of southern Turkey. In other words, it includes crossroads
of western Asia, the eastern Mediterranean and northeast Africa.
Does that sound strikingly similar to the Islamic conquest of the eighth
century? If so, it is not coincidental. It’s the same vision – the same
tactics, the same strategy followed by Muhammad’s followers.
The speed of conquest by the Islamic crusade of the eighth century was
nearly unprecedented in its time, possibly equaled only by the rapidity of the
conquests of Alexander the Great.
The success of campaigns like that requires that superior forces faint
in fear of the coming hordes. You can see it’s working already in Iraq.
Where was the air power when
those caravans of armed trucks were streaming down desert roads? I keep asking
myself that question. Does the Iraqi army not know how to fly its planes and
helicopters? Do they not have eyes in the sky? Could they not see these armies
coming? Did the U.S. leave them ill-equipped and outgunned? If so, what was our
sacrifice all about?
And where have Iran’s vaunted military forces been? Were they caught
unawares, too? What about now? Are they, also, quaking in fear of the black
flag army?
It would be a catastrophic mistake to under-estimate this force. It’s
not just men and material. There is a spiritual component to it. ISIS is
comprised of true believers – men who are in a frenzy to conquer or die
trying.
Joseph Farah is founder, editor and CEO of WND and a nationally syndicated
columnist.
Tony Palmer and Kenneth Copeland sit next to the False Prophet |
The apostate Charismatics will
be the first to fall
"That which hath been is
now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is
past." Ecclesiastes 3:15
Back in March, I reported to
you how Roman Catholic priest Tony
Palmer gave a rousing call to Kenneth Copeland's church to
"return to Mother Rome". He was met with a hero's welcome by a
very enthusiastic congregation. And just in case you thought that it was a
"one off" meeting, you would be sadly mistaken.
On
June 24th in Vatican City, Rome, who was sitting around the
table? Why, it looks like charismatic
leader Kenneth Copeland, Roman Catholic priest Tony Palmer, and assorted others
from the Charismatic movement in Toronto breaking bread with the False Prophet
from the book of Revelation, Pope Francis. And just in case you forgot Tony
Palmer's original message, here is a refresher for you:
At
their meeting today in Rome, they
discussed among other things, the coming alliance of the Roman Catholic church
with the Charismatic apostates. This has already been in the works for quite
some time, and they feel very confident of making the merger. Of course, at
first, it will simply be a "let's focus on what we have in common"
ruse whose mask will be dropped soon after the Charismatics have grown
comfortable with the idea.
Absorbing
the Charismatics and the Pentecostal movements will create the foundation the
Vatican needs for their One World Religion. The Vatican's alliance with Islam
has already been established with great success. Just like Rome used the army
of Spain as muscle for the Spanish Inquisition during the dark ages, Rome is using
the blood-thirsty Muslim terrorists of Islam to regain control in our day. We
are watching Christians being exterminated in North Africa and the Middle East.
God
says "And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my
people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her
plagues." Revelation 18:4
The
Roman Catholic Church brags constantly that they have "never
changed", and that is true. The Vatican that exists today is exactly the
same demonic system that began the Spanish Inquisition to kill Christians back
then. As Ecclesiastes says, that which has already been, is the thing that
shall be.
Even
so, come Lord Jesus...quickly.
Israeli
warplanes and rockets struck nine targets in Syria early Monday in retaliation
for a missile attack from Syria on Sunday that killed an Israeli teenager and
wounded his father along the border in the Golan Heights. A spokesman for the
Israeli Defense Forces said Monday that Israel fired guided missiles from the
ground and rockets from the air that hit sites in Syria, including a military
command headquarters."
"The
Israelis would not say where in Syria the targets were."
Biblically
knowledgeable Christians will feel a check in their spirit at the news that
Syria actually fired a missile into Israel, prompting a strong Israeli
response, "guided missiles from the ground and rockets from the air".
With the
nations around Israel burning with the fires of war, including Syria fighting
for its life against Islamic militants, this volatile situation seems ripe for
the destruction of Damascus as foretold in Isaiah 17:1: "The burden of
Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a
ruinous heap."
Archeologists
will tell you that Damascus is the longest continually occupied city in the
world. This prophecy has never been fulfilled, but is awaiting fulfillment at
this End of the Age. The stage seems set, the actors are in place, soon they
will carry out their prophetic roles.
We must do
what Jesus said believers at the End of the Age should do when they see
prophesied events occurring:
"And
when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads;
for your redemption draweth nigh."(Luke 21:28)
Christian,
look up, stand up, and jump with joy, for the events of the day prove that our
Lord Jesus is soon to snatch His church from this dimension!
Isn't it fitting then that the
threat posed to the Shi'ite government of Iraq should hand Obama the treaty of
immunity, for which he and Bush ardently sought?
"Remember last week when
President Obama said he planned to send up to 300 military advisers to Iraq?
Well, the U.S. couldn't do it until the Iraqi government gave U.S. soldiers
immunity from prosecution, through what's called a 'diplomatic note'. If those
U.S. soldiers committed any crimes or had any legal troubles while advising
Iraqis, the U.S. wanted to handle any prosecutions."
President Bush aggressively tried
to get this diplomatic immunity from Iraq before he left office, but was rudely
turned down. You see, the United States has committed egregious war crimes in
its war against Iraq, starting in 2003. Usage of Depleted Uranium munitions has
killed tens of thousands, a number to grow into tens of millions during the
next ten years.
In fact, Iran has already urged the
International Criminal Court to bring a sentence of War Crimes committed by
Bush and his advisors.
A Pentagon official said "...
Iraq has provided acceptable assurances on the issue of protections for these
personnel via the exchange of diplomatic note. Specifically, Iraq has committed
itself to providing protections for our personnel equivalent to those provided
to personnel who were in country before the crisis."
In 2011, the U.S. plan to have
thousands of U.S. military trainers in Iraq fell apart because there was no
Status of Forces Agreement, which included the vital immunity from prosecution.
So the U.S. just left. Now with Iraq under attack from ISIS, it's a different
story."
Now that this American funded and
trained militant group, ISIS, is now threatening to completely overthrow the
existing Shi'ite government, Iraq is now willing to sign this immunity
agreement! What a difference it makes when an angry bear has you by the throat
and your only hope is the guy you so rudely refused to reach agreement!
The ISIS has accomplished a great
service to Obama and Bush! No, I do not believe it coincidences, and neither
should you!
No comments:
Post a Comment