start Amos 3:7 warn in our nation it look identify willing Last year get the attention message Watchman on the Wall Biblical connections Amos 3:7

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1 Mountainside UMC Sermon Notes August 23, 2015 Coincidences or Warning Signs *** Please note these are sermon notes and not a full transcript I want to start this message this morning with a brief verse. Amos 3:7 Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets. Here is a question for today, is it possible that the Sovereign Lord may be trying to warn people in our nation of things to come in the near future? If so, what would it look like? How might we identify it and even if it were true, and would we be willing to listen and prepare. Last year I began raising those questions in the midst of several sermons, first in a short series called As it was in the days of Noah and then one in the fall of last year in a message called the Mystery of the Shemitah, For this mornings message I am going to raise those questions again and briefly summarize some of the material that I mentioned before in case you missed them or forgot. I ll also add some other information and updates that could further raise the question about God trying to get the attention of our nation(the United States). So some of this will be a repeat, since it won t make sense if it is not presented together and for some of you this is new, so bear with me if you have see some of this before. My goal in this message is to attempt to be a possible Watchman on the Wall regarding potential and possibly dramatic changes that could be taking place in our nation in the comings months and years. I want to present some trends that have Biblical connections and offer evidence that God is possibly being faithful to his Word in Amos 3:7 saying, Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets. For the most part I am not trying to set dates, but I am presenting past events and offer for you to decide if you think history might repeat itself to some degree and then decide if it would be wise to prepare in some form or fashion.

2 2 Obviously I think something is up or else I wouldn t risk possibly looking foolish in presenting this material. But I d rather be wrong and be ready instead of wrong and not ready and worse not have not given others the opportunity decide and prepare. One of the ways that God speaks to us is through numbers. If you were to search Biblical numerology you could learn the meanings related to many numbers used in the Bible. Rabbi Jonathan Cahn in his book The Mystery of the Shemitah suggests that God may be trying to speak to us through the number 7 and multiples of that number. It starts here. Exodus 23:10-11 For six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops, but during the seventh year let the land lie unplowed and unused. Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what is left. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove. Mirroring the seven day Sabbath Cycle, God commands the Israelites to observe a Sabbath of the land. Once every seven years they are to allow the land to rest. In addition to that God also commanded them to erase debts every seven years. Deuteronomy 15:1-2 At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts. At the end of every seven years refers to the last day of the Sabbath year. Elul was the last month of the Hebrew civil year and the twenty-ninth day was the last day of Elul. So on Elul 29, the very last day of the Sabbath year, a sweeping transformation took place in the nation s financial realm. Everyone who owed debt was released. And every creditor had to release the debt owed. So on sunset of Elul 29(Sept) all credit was erased and all debt was wiped away. The nations financial accounts were in effect wiped clean. This was also known as the shemitah a term that covers both the seventh year AND the last day of that year. The Shemitah cleanses and wipes away, ends imbalances, levels accounts, and nullifies that which has built up in the previous years. The Shemitah required the people to release their attachments to the material world.

3 3 Therefore the Shemitah was a reminder that God is the source of all blessing, spiritual and physical alike. But on the flip side of this when God is removed from the picture, the removal of the blessings will ultimately follow. The Shemitah thus deals with this particular flaw of human nature- the tendency to divorce the blessings of life from the Giver of those blessing and divorce the physical realm from spiritual. You likely know what happens next, after God led his people out of slavery and into Egypt, into the desert then into the promise land and eventually raising up David as the most powerful king in the most powerful kingdom in the world, Solomon his son comes to rule and he begins to lead Israel into continual descent toward removing God out of their culture and nation. They began worshiping foreign gods. They sacrificed their babies in furnaces that worshiped Molech. They became obsessed with worshiping idols related to sex and sexuality. Violence became the norm. They removed any knowledge of the Scriptures and their traditions, they stopped praying, they worshipped their own prosperity, God, sent prophets to call them to repentance and they only persecuted them and sent them away. Well Thank goodness nothing like that is taking place in America. Right? God the Scriptures aren t being driven out in our nation in any shape form or fashion today. Since the send a prophet plan didn t work for Israel & Judah, God sent a wake up call. They were the Assyrians who came in and attacked Israel and later Babylon attacks Judah and hauls them into captivity in 586 B.C. and Jerusalem falls and the land finally receives a Sabbath. Both Israel & Judah are judged. Jerusalem and the land of Israel lies in rest for 70 years. Where this nation of people had driven God out of their lives and the Shemitah from their land, now it would return to them. What they had refused to observe freely would now come upon them by force. It would come back not as a form of blessing, but of judgment.

4 4 Now the big question, what does this have to do with us today? Is there are connection between recent world history and the history of our own nation and this reality of the Shemitah? Is history repeating itself based on the reality of the Shemitah related to United States and the world. Could a prophetic voice be coming through events in the past century? If we go back 100 years the upcoming Shemitah on the Jewish calendar begins in the fall of 1916 through the fall of Did anything significant happen in that season? SLIDE 1 (this may take two slides) Crisis of Stock Market Crash. 40% loss - U.S. Enters World War I 70 MM serve-15 MM die - Falling of Four Empires German/Second Riech Austro-Hungarian Ottoman Russian czars - U.S. begins it s rise as a Superpower-ends isolation - The Balfour Declaration- Israel returns- Jubilee Now Four is the number given in Scripture connected to world kingdoms and empires(book of Daniel and Revelation). What would happen if we moved forward four Shemitah s? Four Shemitas 4x7 = 28 which would take us to which is SLIDE End of World War II The Atomic Bomb So here we are in you have the shaking of the world. Near the end of the Shemitah, approaching the day of nullifying things, the day of wiping out we end the war with the Atomic bomb. Celerating the wars end in the last week of the Shemitah, this whole seven-year period. In Berlin, the allies have a victory parade celebrating the victory in Europe and Asia, that parade took place on September 7, 1945 which in the Jewish Calendar is Elul 29 the last the day of the end of the Shmitah. Now two more events took place in SLIDE End of World War II The Atomic Bomb Proposal for World Trade Center U.S. Dollar becomes the world currency

5 5 Now before we go forward another 28 years lets stop in 1962 The Supreme Court declared prayer in school unconstitutional and 1963 the Supreme Court ruled that school sponsored Bible reading was unconstitutional. For hundreds of years going back to a covenant made with God on 1620 called the Mayflower Compact, a people who would eventually form the United States of America used the Bible as its foundational source of education pointing the people of this nation to its Creator. But that ended in 1962 and Now lets go another Four Shemitas forward. 4x7 = 28. This brings us to SLIDE WTC Twin Towers Opening Dedication - Abortion is legalized - Vietnam ends U.S. withdraws losing its first war in the 20 th century - Major world-wide stock market crash begins The day that Nixon officially ended U.S. involvement in Vietnam considered America s first military loss is the same day(august 15) that victory over Japan was declared exactly 28 years earlier. Now from 1973 lets go forward 4 more Shemitah s and we land at What happened in 2001? The twin towers were destroyed. It resulted in the closing of the New York Stock Exchange for the rest of the week. The Stock Market then re-opened on September 17, 2001 the first day of trading was the greatest single point drop in recorded history up to that date. On that day the market dropped 684 points which converted into percentage points is a 7%. September 17, 2001 which on the Jewish calendar is Elul 29 the last day of the Shemitah.. It s seven years later on September 29, 2008 the stock market. They go to ring the opening bell and it won t ring, but the selling begins, but it falls to its next greatest point drop in current stock market history by falling 777 points in one day. September 29, 2008 on the Jewish calendar is Elul 29 the exact day for the end of the Shemitah year and the cancelling of accounts. Could God be trying to get the attention of a nation that is aggressively removing him out of every school, businesses, military and institutions?

6 6 The signs continue following 9-11 of 2001 in another direction detailed in the book The Harbinger by Jonathan Cahn. (or You Tube-DVD)In that book,cahn recounts the history of Israel leading up to its fall in the 8 th century B.C. and parallels it s history to the events that have taken place in the United States since There are nine Harbingers that strongly suggest that the United States is tracking the same path as Ancient Israel prior to its fall. I m not going to take time to go over all nine. I ll just mention a couple to encourage you to read the information for yourself. The First Harbinger: The Breach. For a couple hundred years God sent prophets to warn Israel of their rebellion against him but they ignored them. In 732 B.C. God sent a final warning by temporarily removing Israel s hedge of protection, by permitting a limited invasion of Assyria. America has enjoyed a similar hedge of protection as did Ancient Israel. Then our nation was stunned as on September 11, 2001 when our hedge of protection was removed. The Second Harbinger: The Terrorist The Assyrians who attacked Israel are related spiritually and literally to the terrorists who breached America s defenses on September 11, 2001.Even the language that the terrorists spoke is the sister language of the Ancient Assyrians known as Akkadian. As the Assyrian invasion drew ancient Israel into military conflict, so did al Qaeda s attack on 9/11 draw America into war, in Iraq, the very land of Ancient Assyria. The Third Harbinger: The Fallen Bricks In response to the breach, this removal of the hedge of protection of their borders, the nation of Israel became only more defiant. Their response is recorded in Isaiah 9:9-9:11. Isaiah 9:9-11 All the people will know Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria Who say in pride and arrogance of heart: The bricks have fallen down, But we will rebuild with hewn stones; The sycamores are cut down, But we will replace them with cedars. Therefore the Lord shall set up the adversaries of Rezin against him, And spur his enemies on,

7 7 Our national leaders in U.S. at the time used these verses and quoted them on our national news using them to encourage us to be defiant and rebuild. Nothing wrong with rebuilding unless we needed to repent before rebuilding. There has been no repentance. We not only rebuilt the One World Tower, but we followed Israel in placing a hewn stone in NYC and replaced a destroyed sycamore tree at ground zero with a cedar tree which has since died and been removed seeing it was a bad omen. Today We are approaching the end of a Shemitah year that started 9/25/14 that ends 9/13/2015 which is Elul 29 which fortunately for the stock market is not a weekday. Elul 29 of this year lands on a Sunday. The NYSE isn t open then instead it will close the Friday before which is exactly 14 years to the day from Can 1 guarantee anything will happen on that day? All that I have mentioned could just be coincidences. But if things begin following these days or around them, the warnings were clear. Could God who has been asked to leave, honoring our request and thus removing his hand of protection and prosperity. Are there other signs? What I have just mentioned refers to two seven year periods or two Shemitah s since Are there any other witnesses or signs. Possibly and when I show you this you will think Holy Cow. So here is a picture of the cow I showed before. His name is Ben who has a clear number 7 on his forehead.(picture 1 Ben ) The reaction to the press was that since this cow was born in Pennsylvania that it was going to be the back up quarterback for Ben Rothlesburger and that it was a sign that the Steelers were going to win the Super Bowl. Others however question that since the number seven is very clear and pronounced and that this cow hit the AP press on September 25, 2014 which is also Tishrei 1 on the Jewish Calendar and is the opening day of this Biblical Shemitah year that we are currently in. But what does one cow and a seven have to do with anything?

8 8 Well Pharaoh had a dream in Egypt but it was about two sets of seven cows and one set represented seven years of plenty and the second set represented seven years of famine. It s almost like you need another cow. Well a farmer in Texas was watching a program with Cahn talking about Ben and he realized that he had a cow that had a seven on its forehead. But wasn t a black and white cow, instead it was a red heifer. The seven on his cows forehead was not nearly as fancy or pronounced instead it was kind of rough, like someone scratched in on there, but it looked like seven. (PICTURE 2 Red Heifer). He probably wouldn t have paid much attention to it except when it was discovered that this red heifer s date of birth was September 25, 2014 Tishri 1 opening day of the Shemitah. The red heifer was born the exact same day. If these cows are actually tied to Pharoah s dreams what could they represent? Possibly the black and white cows colors connect to the first seven cows of Pharaoh s dreams. The first seven cows were the fat and prosperous cows and Joseph told pharaoh you have seven years of prosperity. It was a black cow and if you are in the black that is a good thing financially and that refers to prosperity. Also the cows name was Ben short for Benjamin who was Joseph s half brother who received a double portion from Joseph. What about the red heifer? Could the red heifer represent the second set of 7 cows of Pharaoh s dream. The second seven is looks rough. The color red could have two meanings. One is if you are financially in the red then you are not in good shape. Also the red heifer was traditionally used by the Israelites Sacrifice of cleansing which involves fire referring to purging and cleansing. Also the cow was born in Gatesville, Texas(driven) highest # women s prisons in state of Texas prisons- speak of bondage. Is there anything else happening this Shemitah year? I mentioned late last year on a similar topic how the United States was surpassed by China as the world economic leader. We were also surpassed by Russia in nuclear warhead deployment.

9 9 Possibly the major event of this Shemitah year was the Supreme Courts changing of the definition of marriage away from the Biblical definition of one man & one woman. We had a discussiondisagree. As most of you know I entirely disagree this change. Something unprecendented that didn t happen this year but we are in the midst of started back in In George Bush s book Decision Points he gives a verbatim on the conversations that took place following the 2008 Financial Crisis. Quotes from Chapter 14 - (Please Make Two Separate Slides) Mr. President, we are witnessing a financial panic. Ben Bernanke Federal Reserve Chairman The situation is extraordinarily serious. Hank Paulson Secretary of the Treasury Is this the worst crisis since the Great Depression? I asked. Yes, Ben replied. In terms of the financial system, we have not seen anything like this since the 1930 s, and it could get worse. President Bush in his memoirs admits that the U.S. economy came this close to going down in flames and ending in a pile of ashes like never before in it s history. Of course you are thinking, surely we have fixed this problem, right? Here s is what they have done. It s called Quantitative Easing. Here is a chart showing CHART 1- Federal Reserve Assets Key Dates This chart shows the M1 monetary supply and how the Federal Reserve multiplied M1 supply over 400%. They printed (electronically) over 3 trillion dollars into our economy with money out of thin air. They did this to artificially inflate the stock market in bonds but they also bought almost 2 trillion dollars in MBS-Mortgage Backed Securities-Homes& Businesses. Our financial system is not the only thing at risk. The government has warned that we are at greater security risk than ever before especially with ISIS terror cells located in every state. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission admitted that if as few as 9 of the nations electric substations were put out of commission it could overload the entire system and cause a nationwide blackout.

10 10 Snipers attacked a substation in San Jose, CA and disabled it and they were never caught. Don t you think that our enemies bent on destroying America know this easy way to disable our nation? How about an EMP? Are you prepared if the grid goes down? BSct The other day-history Navy SEALS 60 s trained in deployment of Backpack nukes-russia has them-one city in America. Panic. So here is my question. Is there with all this and countless other troubling scenarios not at least a 3% chance that something could take place to release enough emotional fear and shock to send everyone to the stores at once to get what they can as soon as they can. Can you imagine everyone going to Walmart at once? Not only won t you find a parking place, nor a shopping cart, you ll wait hours in line for the one cashier who showed up for work. And you can t fit that much in one shopping cart. Is there just a 3% chance that something might happen where instead of running to the store, you have already stored up supplies to get you through at least a temporary state of emergency. Why do I say 3%. Because nearly all of us who own homes have fire insurance on our homes! Do you know that there is a 97% you won t ever need it, but that doesn t keep us from buying it? Well if something really bad happens in our nation, I m just going to trust God. Are you doing that with your fire insurance, car insurance, medical insurance? No, you are preparing for the chance that you will need it! You don't do that with your job. Lindy I am going to quit pastoring for a few years, go play golf or go sailing everyday and just Trust God. Lindy You can quit pastoring but you are going to pick up a spatula and flip burgers. Is there a possibility that God through these and many other events working to be faithful to warn us. Amos- Proverbs 27:12 A prudent person foresees the danger ahead and takes precautions. The simple go on blindly and suffer the consequences.

11 11 Can God help offer provision while there could be a great shaking in our land? Yes, God provided for the Israelites while at the same time judging Pharaoh and Egypt. Back to 2 cows. If you think this credible what would you do? IF time s FIRST - Pray - II Chron 7:14 IF MY people will pray. For our country, our nation, it s leaders and our people. Pray for our nation but pray for discernment on how to prepare. Seek God.. Get right with God. W/O God we will not have His provision. If we do something in our own wisdom- path in wrong direction. SECOND Research - Investigate this for yourself as I did. THIRD Make Provisions- Even your own U.S. Government has a website called Ready.gov encouraging everyone to have emergency supplies and resources. I encourage more food than they do, but start with something. Reasoning. I have 20-year shelf life food. If I don t need it in ten years, I can still eat it or donate it to a local food bank. There is no loss to me. It s food insurance &.. Besides my grandmother Offering the greater purpose of having something to share with others and while doing so, tell them about Jesus. I agree with Jonathan Cahn who in a recent YouTube release in August said I am encouraging no one to be a survivalist, but instead a revivalist & be ready to share food and resources saying Jesus loves you and I am sharing this with you to show you his love. Some of you might say, But John I don t have much. Just do something. DO SOMETHING- Hearing Host of Warning- SEPT-DEC The worst case scenario, if things really fall apart badly, is that you end up like the Widow of Zarephath who had only enough flour, oil and a few sticks to feed herself and her son and then die. She then decides to feed the prophet Elijah first, then her son and herself. Elijah then says to her, The jar of flour will not be used and the oil will not run dry until the Lord gives rain on the land. I believe that if we commit to love Jesus first and serve his people, the Lord Jesus will provide and help us regardless of what takes place in our nation and the world. He is Jehovah Jireh.

12 Ben the cow from Pennsylvania 12

13 13 The red heifer from Gatesville Texas Graph of Federal Reserve Spending Next page

14 14 Material from earlier related sermons The following material is part short-hand notes and not complete sentences. Mountainside UMC January 5, 2014 Just as it Was in the Days of Noah Luke 17:26-30(see page 6).This morning I am presenting part one of a two part message entitled focused on the words of Jesus when he said that there would be a parallels between the time of his return and the times of Noah and Lot. The message today and next Sunday are my attempts at a prophecy update for 2014 in the context of what Jesus talked about concerning the Second coming. Starting last year I have made this tradition where after we finished a series on the First Advent or First Coming of Christ I do a short follow up

15 15 on the Second Coming of Christ. Last year I did just one message on this topic but I decided to take two Sundays for this reason. This morning I wanted to look at the big picture and look Christ s coming in the context of some events that are taking place involving the entire world. So that is why I am this message is more connected to Noah in that the events surrounding Noah involved the entire world. Next week the title is Just as it was in the days of Lot. The difference that took place with the judgment related to Lot was that it just involved one location. So next week I am going to focus primarily on just the United States and talk about what to the Scriptures speak in particular to America and the country we live in. But this morning I want to focus on the Second Advent or Second Coming of Christ and looking at it in the context of world events. Overview-Prophecies of Scripture & Prophets then World Events If I were to attach an overarching two word phrase to the message this morning in an effort to summarize all the things that are happening in this world of which I am only going to have time to briefly highlight some of them, the two words that stand out in my mind are Cosmic Convergence. It appears to me that there is a Cosmic Convergence going on between signs in the heavens, signs in the world matching Biblical prophecies, impressive prophecies outside of Scripture, and signs related to the timing of all things pointing toward events matching things that Jesus said while he walked the earth and talked of his return. Unfortunately I don t even have time to cover all events, prophecies, etc. Highl Phrase Cosmic Convergence Signs in nature and the cosmos. Signs in world regarding nations and politics Signs in events in Christianity in the world AND even signs from OfAlP-Hollywood In March of this year Hollywood will show a major production of the movie called Noah starring Russell Crowe, Anthony Hopkins, Jennifer Connelly, Emma Watson. Here s part of a promo clip. SHOW VIDEO CLIP 0:00-1:59 NOAH TRAILER But I do like fact that for the first time since the 1966 production of The Bible, we have a major Motion Picture production $130K with major actors that didn t have to be privately funded/mel Gibsons- The Passion. It is just interesting as it feels like we now have a movie pointing Just as it was in the days of Noah IRONY-PR Before I go into some details of how interesting the time is that we live in let me first review a few of the basics about Christ s Return. First of all even though Jesus said that no one knows the day nor the hour of his return but only the Father(Mark 13:32) Jesus did

16 16 say that you were to watch for the signs and prepare yourself for his return So Jesus gave us signs so that we would now and strive to be faithful when the world will be fearful. Signs of Christ s Return 1. Deception Luke 21:8 2. Wars & Rumors of Wars Luke 21:9 3. Earthquakes, Famines & Diseases Luke 21:11 4. Persecution Luke 21:12 5. Fearful Events(nuclear threat-frag Luke 21:11 6. Great signs from heaven(russ-m) Luke 21:11 7. Signs in Sun, Moon & Stars(cmb) Luke 21:25 8. Roaring & Tossing of Sea(tsu-typ) Luke 21:25 9. People fainting from terror(tech) Luke 21: Gospel preached worldwide(tch) Matt 24:14 11.Knowledge & Travel accelerates Daniel 12:4 12. Scoffers will increase II Peter 3: Evil increasing rapidly Isaiah 60: Great Falling Away I Timothy 4:1 15. Great Harvest Matt 13: Anti-Christ Revealed II Thess 2:3 17. Possibly Temple rebuilt II Thess 2:4 18. Israel Re-established Amos 9:14-15 Turning Point- #1 Passage related to knowing whether we re in the end of the last days was the prophecy related to the restoration of Israel Number of prophecies here is just one. Amos 9:14-15 and I will bring my people Israel back from exile. They will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit. I will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land I have given them, says the Lord your God. NxtWk-Am BLANK SLIDE - -LOOK at possible prophecies about Israelites/ Jews & Jerusalem There is a claim (don t have orig. documents) that in 1217 the Jewish Rabbi Judah Ben Samuel p gave the Prophecy of 10 Jubilees PIC 2 He prophesied that the Ottoman Turks would rule over the holy city of Jerusalem for eight Jubilees. A Jubilee is a period of 50 years according to Leviticus 25:8-13. Eight Jubilees would then be 400 years. In 1517 the Ottoman Turks seized control of the city of Jerusalem and ruled over it for the next 400 years. They were finally driven out of the city and the holy land in 1917 by the Allied forces under the

17 17 command of General George Allenby. The Rabbi had also prophesied that during the ninth Jubilee Jerusalem would be a "no-man's land." This is exactly what happened from 1917 to 1967, due to the fact the holy land was placed under British Mandate in 1917 by the League of Nations and literally "belonged" to no nation. Even after Israel's declaration of independence in Jerusalem was still divided by a strip of land running right through the heart of the city, with Jordan controlling the eastern part of the city and Israel controlling the western part of the city. That strip of land was considered and even called "no-man's land" by both the Israelis and the Jordanians. It was not until the Six Day War in 1967 when the entire west bank of the holy land was conquered by the Israeli army that the whole city of Jerusalem passed back into the possession of Israel. So once again the prophecy made by the Rabbi 750 years previously was fulfilled to the letter. But that is still not the end of the matter. The Rabbi also prophesied that during the 10th Jubilee Jerusalem would be under the control of the Jews and the Messianic "end times" would begin. The 10th Jubilee began in 1967 ends in Could 2017 be the beginning of the final seven years? Who know. It s not a biblical prophecycarries less weight. Interestingly 2017 OL Hebrew Here is another interesting phenomenon that is not a prophecy but a recording of lunar activity. Most of us are familiar with seeing this in the sky(pic 3)-Blood Moon. How?(PIC 4) When there are four consecutive Blood Moons that is called a Tetrad. There have been numerous Blood Moons but fewer Tetrads. However what is worth noting is that there have only been THREE tetrads in the last 600 years that have occurred during the first and the last feasts of Israel. These Tetrads that lasting over a year began in 1493, 1949 and So What? Let s look at each of these dates. Well what happened in 1493? It started in 1492, when Columbus discovered America. But do you know what motivated him to make the voyage? Columbus was Jewish but was a believer in Christ. On March 30 of 1492 King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella from Spain signed the Edict of Expulsion, which banished all Jewish people from Spain who refused to convert to Catholicism. The ousted Jews were stripped of the wealth as the edict prohibited them from taking gold, silver and precious metals with them as they were forced to leave the country. All the Jews were driven

18 18 out of Spain beginning in In 1493 & 1494 there was a tetrad on Passover/Tabernacles during expulsion from Spain to America. The next Tetrad occurring on the dates of the Jewish feasts occurred in which followed the major fulfillment of Israel being restored as a nation after almost 2000 years of being dispersed from their homeland. The Arab-Israeli war followed that continued into The tetrad on Passover and Tabernacles was in 1967 &1968, associated with the Six Day War when Jerusalem came back into the hands of the Jewish people. When is the next Tetrad occurring during the Feasts of Passover/Tabernacles(PIC 5) What does this mean? It could mean nothing or it could mean that something significant is going to take place related to Israel. What do we know about Israel today? One thing we do know is that it is surrounded by nations wanting to wipe it off the face of the map. Jesus warned about Jerusalem being surrounded by enemies. This map can help us see this reality. (PIC 6) With the recent actions of Iran building nuclear capacity and wanting to destroy Israel, it is easy to see how things are converging. What is also interesting is what is called the six day theory where according to the Jewish Calendar we are nearly 6 days or 6000 years from when God created Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. How coincidental is it that as we possibly near 6000 years from that date that we are at a time where all these prophecies are converging. 6 is the number of man. If at the end of 6000 years Christ would then rule on earth for a millennium(1000 years) then that would complete a 7000 year existence on earth. 7 is the number of perfection. 8 is the number for new beginnings. Add to this the Anti-Christ spirit that is increasing throughout the world. It has been in Europe for years and gaining in the Muslim nations and of course America which I will focus on more next week. In summary here are some thoughts I have toward likely this year and the next few years to come. That is this. Increased Clarity in the times we live is coming. In the past Earthquakes Flooding(Katrina&Sandy), Typhoons(Philip), Disasters, Acts of Terror. But as we come nearer. The intensity will be so great that there will be no question that the World is being Shaken. There

19 19 will be more extremes in cold and heat than ever before. See news over 2000 cold records set second week of December. This is what I mean by Cosmic Convergence-- WHY? In light of all of these things that are developing, how are we to respond? Here are a few Scriptures - Hebrews 11: At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens. 27 The words once more indicate the removing of what can be shaken that is, created things so that what cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, 29 for our God is a consuming fire. Luke 21:28 - When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near. KEY Word VISION LOOK UP- See and understand so that we can point people to the coming Savior. These trials are going to be the greatest opportunity to look forward NOT to escaping the world but to point people to Jesus. Part of the reason for the signs is to point lost world to the Savior. Two other key thoughts. 1. You were born for this. STT. 2. Bride preparing for Rev.19:6-8 Opening scripture Luke 17: Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.28 It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. 29 But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. 30 It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. Mountainside UMC Sermon Notes January 12, 2014 Just as it Was in the Days of Noah - Luke 17:26-30

20 20 This morning is Part Two of a Message that I started last Sunday related to Jesus statement in Luke 17 that just as it was in the days of Noah and in the days of Lot so shall it be in the time of my return. I mentioned that as we spent December focused on the First Advent or first coming of Christ I wanted to follow up a Sunday or two related Christ s second Advent or Second Coming. So the focus last week was to look at big picture of worldwide events and I focused Noah(and watched a preview the major Hollywood production of Noah) because the story of Noah involved the entire population of the world at that time. My goal in that message was to encourage us to be aware of what Jesus said about the time of his return believing that there was a reason that Jesus and the Scripture speak significantly about this part of which such that we as God s people can be prepared for the times that are at hand and be even more prepared to witness given this possible unique and amazing time in which we live. I also mentioned that things would get much clearer the nearer we were to his return. I also mentioned that I wanted to focus this morning specifically on the United States of America and in the context of the impact of our nation on the worlds stage today, ask the question, do the Scriptures speak anything specific about our nation especially related to the time of Christ s return? After all when we think about the United States of America we have thoughts about a nation founded by Pilgrims seeking freedom to worship God and that for most of its history until recently considered itself a Christian nation. For the last 100 years the United States has been the world economic leader. We were a nation that sent more Christian missionaries throughout the world more than any other nation in the world. We have sent more resources to help other nations than any other nation in the world. In the last two world wars it was the United States that turned the tide. In light of all of this some of us are thinking. With a nation as large and as powerful as the United States shouldn t there be some

21 21 mention of it in the context of end time events? Yet it appears that there is no mentioning of the United States of America anywhere in the prophetic pictures given in the Bible. Not a hint. LoF/HoB Is it true that there is no direct mention of America anywhere in Scripture? After research and reading on this topic here is the short answer to this question. NO! Not so far as most scholars and Bible Teachers can tell. Things may change, but for all we can tell for now there seems to be no clear indication of the United States of America as a major player in world events. So what does that mean? It appears to mean that whenever the time comes for Christ to return it appears that the United States is no longer a world leader whether it be politically, economically nor militarily. But how could happen? Isn t our nation and it s economy is on solid footing? The stock market could never crash like it did back in the roaring 20 s could it? Our dollar could never be devalued by inflation through massive electronic printing on the part of the Federal Reserve(85B a mo.) could it? We will never accumulate debt to the point where we can t not only pay it back, but not even be able to afford even the interest payments could we? No, don t worry, everything is going to be just fine. That s what we want to hear and believe isn t it? Because that is what we want to hear, we are likely going to tune out any opposing voices to our optimism. Could the American Economy and it s leadership in the world take a major nosedive in a short time? None of us want to believe that. Others believe that as bad as things are looking or could become, we can recover. In the book, Implosion by Joel Rosenberg he does historical research presenting interesting cases where the U.S. has faced impossible odds and overcome them. However he also highlights other realities that don't look that encouraging. So if there is no clear obvious word from the Scriptures related to our nation, is there at least somewhere someway that God may be

22 22 trying to speak to our nation? It is Possible. I m not saying this because God loves Americans more than anyone in any other country. God loves every person and every nation. God doesn t come to take sides. This was clearly expressed when Joshua the leader of the Israelites encountered the commanding angel of the armies of the Lord at Jericho. Joshua asked the angel, Are you for us or for our enemies. Neither the angel replied, thus implying I haven t come to take sides but to take over. However even though God has no favorites many believe that the United States has been in the past more blessed than other nations because of the fruit of seeking to put God first throughout much of its history and even put In God we Trust in our currency. Yet in recent years our nation has tried to remove God from every place possible in our nation and that we are headed in a direction of great peril as we have abandoned our once great foundation of a love of the God of the Scriptures. But I believe God in his great mercy is trying to get our attention and even using a key Scripture, some history of the nation of Israel that overlaps recent events taking place in our nation to try and get our attention. It might be a final attempt to reach out to us before its too late but it appears that this call to America is rather clear. No, America is not mentioned in Scripture, but Scripture might be calling our name in another way not unveiled until recently. In the book, The Harbinger written by Rabbi Jonathan Cahn who is a Messianic Jew, Cahn recounts the history of Israel leading up to its fall in the 8 th century B.C. and parallels it s history to the events that have taken place in the United States in recent years. There are nine what he calls Harbingers that I believe help us see that God is trying to reach out and call us to repentance in a way that is in my opinion and millions of others very clear and very startling. The First Harbinger: The Breach.

23 23 In 732 B.C. 200 years after King Solomon s death, instead of building on its Godly foundation and history, Israel had departed from it. Instead of sacrificing to God, it sacrificed children to the god of Molech and Baal and others. God sent prophets to warn Israel but they ignored them. In 732 B.C. God sent a final warning by temporarily removing Israel s hedge of protection, by permitting a limited invasion of Assyria. Israel, who at one time had the Torah/Scriptures as authority had now driven God out of their government and out of its culture. They had replaced worship of the Lord with the worship of idols and descended into all types of sexual immorality calling good evil and evil good. To a remarkable extent America(Lower 48) has enjoyed a similar hedge of protection as did Ancient Israel. In our nation we have historically had preachers(bg) to help bring revival across our nation however from the 20 th century on America s spiritual and moral decline has progressed at an unprecedented rate. Where once the Bible was the primary teaching resource it has been entirely removed along with prayer and decreasing tolerance to those who defend it s teachings. Where once the songs of Christmas, Advent and Away in the Manger were welcomed and cause for rejoicing, we have in recent decades found them to be a source of conflict. Those of us who have lived at least plus years have witnessed and felt the huge shift of that attitude away from the Christian foundations that were reflected throughout our nation. Then our nation was stunned as on September 11, 2001 when our hedge of protection was removed. It s a day that those of us alive back then will never forget. The images of the destruction that occurred in Pennsylvania(PIC 1), Washington D.C. (PIC 2) and New York City(PIC 3) are seared into our memories. One of the most memorable pictures of the destruction of that day for me was one that actually showed up days later, which is this one. PIC 4. It was one of several crosses that stood out among the

24 24 terrible devastation as a sign that many of us interpreted as God wanting to express his presence and mercy especially in the midst of such a dark moment. I really believe that there was more to be communicated to us and our nation from the Lord than what we saw by the crosses in the towers. But that first Harbinger was that of the breach in the hedge of protection. In Israel it was the first and strike by the Assyrians. It was limited and the damage was contained. We also experienced a limited invasion. The Second Harbinger: The Terrorist The Assyrians who attacked Israel had already conquered much of the Middle East. They had a reputation of not only attacking nations but struck fear in the hearts of neighboring regions through the calculated use of terror and it was one of the earliest examples of organized psychological warfare. They brutalized and tortured those whom they conquered in an attempt to discourage any rebellion against their rule. Not only spiritually, but also literally the terrorists who breached America s defenses on September 11, 2001 were related to the ancient Assyrians who breached ancient Israel s divine hedge. Even the language that the terrorists spoke is the sister language of the Ancient Assyrians known as Akkadian. Just as the Assyrian invasion of 732 A.D. drew ancient Israel into military conflict, so too did al Qaeda s attack on 9/11 draw America into war, eventually in Iraq, the very land of Ancient Assyria. The Third Harbinger: The Fallen Bricks In response to the breach, this removal of the hedge of protection of their borders, the nation of Israel became only more defiant. Their response is recorded in Isaiah 9:9-9:11. Isaiah 9:9-11 which says this. All the people will know Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria Who say in pride and arrogance of heart: The bricks have fallen down, But we will rebuild with hewn stones; The sycamores are cut down, But we will replace them with cedars. Therefore the Lord shall set up the adversaries of Rezin against him, And spur his enemies on, In response to the breach, instead of repenting, Israel became

25 25 defiant and determined to rebuild and become stronger in their own strength. While there nothing wrong with rebuilding there was plenty wrong with the refusal to search its own ways and character. Israel vowed to continue on without God and against God and to do so with greater determination than ever before. This same harbinger was a reality in America (PIC 5) where in New York City and at the Pentagon where nothing was more haunting than the visible image of the fallen bricks of the buildings that were a symbols of America s unmatched financial/economic strength as well as its military dominance in the world. The Fourth Harbinger: The Tower When the walls were breached ancient Israel not only neglects to repent but openly embraces a spirit of defiance. This is seen in their vow to replace the stones that were fallen with a material much stronger: hewn stone. There was a determination to rebuild, stronger, better and to come back greater than before. (PIC 6) This was the same language used after 9/11 from governors, to mayors to the president of the United States. One quote from a senior senator is: We should rebuild the towers of the World Trade Center and show the world we are not afraid. We are defiant! The Fifth Harbinger: The Gazit Stone After the Assyrian attack on 732 B.C., following the vow to rebuild, the people of Israel would go to the mountains and quarries to carve, shape and smooth the Gazit stone which is Hebrew for the hewn stone. While clay brick was brittle, flimsy and weak a Gazit or hewn stone was strong. (PIC 7) The First act of America s rebuilding of the World Trade Center was to cut out of a mountain in upstate New York a massive rectangular block of stone, a biblical gazit stone. (PIC 8) This stone was dedicated on July 4, 2004 and during this ceremony leaders spoke multiple vows of defiance over the quarried stone, making it into a symbol of America s strength and resurgence. The Sixth Harbinger: The Sycamore

26 26 The Assyrians not only attacked and destroyed buildings, but they also destroyed the trees of the land, particularly the sycamores. The destruction of the sycamores is even mentioned in the account of Egypt s plagues. It is a sign of national judgment, a warning of national uprooting. The fallen bricks are a sign of destruction while the fallen sycamores is a sign of uprooting and death. To Israel the fallen sycamore was a sign of national judgment. As there is a Hebrew Sycamore that is endemic to Israel there is a western sycamore endemic to America. On 9/11 it was this tree that just happened to be growing at the corner of 9/11. In a strange series of events, in the last moments of 9/11 a shock wave and a steel beam went forth from the falling north tower and struck down the tree. This tree (PIC 9) became a symbol now known as the Sycamore of Ground Zero. The Seventh Harbinger: The Erez Tree Isaiah 9:10 The sycamores are cut down, But we will replace them with cedars. Israel responded to the judgment message of the sycamore tree not with repentance but again more defiance. As they replaced the bricks with hewn stones they would replace the sycamore tree with a stronger tree which is Hebrew was erez which is the cedar tree. It is a conifer or coniferous tree that is a cone bearing evergreen tree. When the lone sycamore tree of Ground Zero fell, it was removed, including its root system, and put elsewhere on display. In November 2003, two years later, a ceremonial act took place at the corner of Ground Zero. A tree was lowered by crane into a specific spot of earth-the ground in which the Sycamore of Ground Zero had stood. It wasn t another sycamore tree it was an evergreen conifer tree, literally the biblical erez tree related the ancient vow of defiance.

27 27 The Eighth Harbinger: The Utterance -As I mentioned earlier the leaders of ancient Israel uttered these words of defiance, but were they clearly uttered in the same way by leaders representing all of America? On September 11, 2004 after the Gazit Stone and Cedar Tree had been put in place. There was a third anniversary in the capital city of Washington at a congressional caucus. At that gathering, the speaker Senator and Vice Presidential candidate John Edwards gave a speech reading Isaiah 9:10. He intended it to be inspirational but neither he nor likely his speech writer understood the context that this was a passage highlighting the defiance of Israel & possibly America. The Ninth Harbinger: The Prophecy Not only did the leaders of Israel make this declaration of defiance as I mentioned but also, Isaiah quoted them and turned it into a prophetic warning. Did this happen in America? On September 12, 2001 the morning after this tragedy. Senator Tom Daschle issued a joint Senate & House of Representative response to 9/11. At the end of this response he read from Isaiah 9:10 unknowingly making it a prophetic word as America would fulfill those words to their completion. TO BE CLEAR Neither Senator Edwards nor Daschle were opening being defiant against God in their speech. That was not their intent. It should almost be encouraging that they even looked to the Scriptures to try and offer encouragement. But the choice of Isaiah 9:10 is interesting. What is most concerning is the lack of repentance by America in general. We just became calloused. Even though the original book The Harbinger only mentions nine harbingers there are more than nine as each year more startling facts are surfacing pointing to what some believe is God trying to get our attention before our nation reaps what it has sown. I don t have time to cover the additional Harbingers but I do want to mention one in my message that I found fascinating. About eight months after 9/11 I was able to take my children to Washington D.C and NYC and see the sights of 9/11.