Elijah at Horeb: The Voice in the Wilderness

I Kings 19:9 - Then he came there to a cave and lodged there; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 10 He said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.”

11 So He said, “Go forth and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord was passing by! And a great and strong wind was rending the mountains and breaking in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of a gentle blowing. 13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold, a voice came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 14 Then he said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.”  NASB

When we see major events happen around us, we need to listen carefully for the voice of God and His message.  It is not in the earthquake or fire that God caused.  Rather it is in the sound of the gentle wind blowing which represents the spirit of the living God; a spirit that wishes to convey messages from heaven for our benefit.

Yesterday morning I saw a license plate on the vehicle in front of me that had three 7s and then a space followed by some letters.  Later that day I saw another plate from an out of state car with three 7s followed by a space and letters.  Both times I remember thinking what an odd coincidence.  Then, after work I went home and mowed my sister’s lawn with a push mower.  I did a lot of walking throughout the day and was curious as to how many steps I had taken so I checked my pedometer right before going to bed.  It read 14,000 steps, another multiple of seven.  So I started thinking that God had a message in the number 777. 

After thinking about the number of triple 7s, I remembered that both Malaysian planes that went down recently were Boeing 777s.  It occurred to me that these airliners were the earthquake and fire from God before He spoke.  They were aimed at getting His people to listen for the sound of the gentle wind and understand its' message.  So what was the message?  The number 7 represents perfection and God’s creation for he created the world in six days and rested on the seventh.  So maybe the message was in the number 777.  I went to http://www.biblewheel.com/GR/GR_Database.php and entered the number 777 to search for Hebrew words within the Bible that have that same Gematria (number value when you add up the numerical equivalent of the Hebrew letters).  Following are the results of this search.

All the Words in the Bible with Sum = 777

Text Strong's First Occurrance

מתושאל  H4967 Methuwsha'el / Methusael - Genesis 4:18

בעשתה  H6213 `asah / do - Leviticus 4:27

בתשעה  H8672 tesha` / nine - Leviticus 23:32

ותישנהו  H3462 yashen / sleep - Judges 16:19

ושאלתם  H7592 sha'al / ask – 1 Samuel 25:5

ותשליכהו  H7993 shalak / cast - Job 18:7

ואתמשל  H4911 mashal / like - Job 30:19

למשאות  H4876 masshuw'ah / destruction - Psalms 74:3

כאשכלות  H0811 'eshkowl / cluster - Song of Solomon 7:8

השבעת  H7646 saba` / satisfy - Ezekiel 27:33

אתעקרו  H6132 `aqar (Aramaic) / plucked - Daniel 7:8

I would encourage the reader to read these verses in their context in the order of the list as I believe there may be a distinct message being presented.  For example, Methusael was a descendant of the Biblical Cain that killed Abel.  His name means “Man of God” according to Strong’s Concordance Hebrew meaning.  In Aramaic it means “Who demands his death”.  When you combine the meanings, you have “Man of God who demands his death”.  The next two occurrences of words with the 777 gematria deal with repentance/forgiveness.  Leviticus 4:27 concerns unintentional sins and bringing offerings for forgiveness once the individual becomes aware of his guilt.  Leviticus 23:32 is about preparing for the Day of Atonement (Judgement Day).  Verse 32 states that the day before the Day of Atonement – “It is to be a sabbath of complete rest to you, and you shall humble your souls; on the ninth of the month at evening, from evening until evening you shall keep your sabbath” NASB.  I Samuel 25:5 is in the context of David helping protect Nabal and then Nabal not returning the favor but returning evil for the good that David had done for Nabal.  Job 18:7 tells of the wicked’s schemes bring them down.  Job 30:19 is about Job, a righteous person, suffering and being humiliated in front of people.  Therefore the theme of these passages seems to be focused on God’s people, their sins and repentance in preparation for Judgment Day, and their suffering from wicked people and resultant humiliation in the world’s eyes.  In Psalms 74, the psalmist asks why God has rejected his people and allowed the enemies of God to triumph.  He reminds God to remember His covenant with His people.

The rest of passages start with a description of the beautiful bride followed by passages of judgment.  Song of Solomon 7 is a physical description of the bride (God’s people) by the admiring bridegroom (God).  Then Ezekiel 27 describes the destruction of Tyre which could easily describe the destruction of America.  The final passage in Daniel 7 is about the 11^th king, the Little Horn or Antichrist.

To me the message is clear.  God’s people need to repent and prepare for the Day of Atonement.  It will be forgiveness and salvation for those that repent, but will be judgment and destruction for those that don’t.  In the end the Antichrist will be destroyed and God’s Kingdom established with God's Messiah as King. 

 The Kingdom of God is very near!  The sound of the gently blowing wind is speaking to those that are careful to listen.  The Turtle Dove has indeed arrived in the land.

 

America Embraces the Abomination of Desolation

The Judean Wilderness

 

Many things in the Bible are identified as an abomination to God.  Take a look at the examples in the following verses from the New American Standard Bible:

Deuteronomy 22:5 - A woman shall not wear man’s clothing, nor shall a man put on a woman’s clothing; for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord your God.”

Deuteronomy 23:18 - You shall not bring the hire of a harlot or the wages of a dog into the house of the Lord your God for any votive offering, for both of these are an abomination to the Lord your God.

Deuteronomy 23:18 - You shall not bring the hire of a harlot or the wages of a dog into the house of the Lord your God for any votive offering, for both of these are an abomination to the Lord your God.

Deuteronomy 7:25 - The graven images of their gods you are to burn with fire; you shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them, nor take it for yourselves, or you will be snared by it, for it is an abomination to the Lord your God.

Leviticus 18:22 - You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination.

All of the things identified in the verses above as abominations had judgment associated with them.  However, only one of them is famous for the judgment that resulted in total desolation of the land and it involves the story of Sodom and Gomorrah.  A description of it is found in Genesis 19:24 - Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven, 25 and He overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. 26 But his wife, from behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.  27 Now Abraham arose early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood before the Lord; 28 and he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the valley, and he saw, and behold, the smoke of the land ascended like the smoke of a furnace.

Now, when you think of our (USA) current government, including the administration and courts, we find a disturbing trend in allowing the abominable activity that resulted in the desolation of Sodom and Gomorrah.  When you compare what is going on in our country to the words of the prophet Daniel, it is easy to see a connection.

Daniel 11:31 - Forces from him will arise, desecrate the sanctuary fortress, and do away with the regular sacrifice. And they will set up the abomination of desolation. 32 By smooth words he will turn to godlessness those who act wickedly toward the covenant, but the people who know their God will display strength and take action.

Our once godly country (sanctuary) has been desecrated without the permission of the righteous remnant.  Our regular prayers (sacrifice) along with religious displays are being done away with from the public arena.  By flattery (smooth words) our leaders tell people what they want to hear and encourage them to go against God’s commandments.  It is easy to look at today’s events and see ancient prophecies being fulfilled right before our eyes.

Some will point to the Dome of the Rock on Temple mount and say that that is the Abomination of Desolation.  Others will point to the destruction of the Jewish Temple in 70 AD and say that is when the sacrifice was done away with.  I would remind such folks that that is all true.  However, history shows that many times prophecy is fulfilled in many ways, physical and spiritual, and at multiple times throughout history due to the quantum nature of prophecy.  We are living in prophetic days and will continue to see the fulfillment of God’s words.  I would refer my readers to a previous post I did dealing with Daniel chapters 7 and 11 titled “The Last King of the Kingdom of Man”.

 

The Coming War

There is a war that is raging is behind the scenes.  It is between good and evil.  It is between godly love and satanic hatred.  There are many voices around the planet talking  about the war.  Folks like Bill 0’reilly and Glenn Beck who describe the culture war between traditional values and progressives.  Good people feel the evil that is coming upon us.  They see evil all around as decency and common sense are becoming rare commodities. 

Part of evil’s plan is to get good people attacking each other instead of seeing the real enemy.  When I frequent internet sites, I am shocked by the labeling and hatred that I sometimes come across.  It is mostly one religious group saying derogatory statements about another group or member of another group.  A recent example I can point out is the well-known radio, television, and internet personality Glenn Beck.  I have heard Christians call him the Anti-Christ and point to his Mormon theology.  I have heard Jews critical of him for the same reason.  Both groups caution their followers to be wary of Glenn, a potential wolf in sheep’s clothes.  They say he says good things but has evil intentions based on their view of his Mormon theology.

I have lived in Utah for 25 years as a non-Mormon. I have close friends that are Mormon and they are good people that love God.  I may not agree with their theology, but I know that they are good people with good values.  So to me it is clear who Glenn Beck is.  He is a man that is standing up for truth.  He loves God, his country, and fellow man.  He is doing everything he can to wake people up to what is going on all around.   

He is trying to wake us up and show us where the evil is and who the real enemies of God are.  They are the intolerant ones that are filled with hate and want to kill everyone not like themselves.  They hate anything godly and focus their hatred on Bible-believing people (both Christians and Jews).  They have a global agenda and want a global government.  They want to control us and eradicate our freedoms, especially our freedom to worship God as we see fit.  They are an unholy alliance of haters, both non-religious and religious in contrast to God’s people that are identified by God’s love!

We need more Glenn Becks!  We need more people that will shine forth God’s love and truth against the evil that is growing.  We need to quit arguing about theological differences and stand with God and all God’s people for truth, freedom, and what is right. 

The emphasis in God’s word is on action.  The Hebrew word for love is Ahava and it is a verb, not a noun.  We demonstrate our love and faith by what we do.  Most God fearing people believe in God and his word.  We just differ on the interpretation of God’s word which leads to theological differences.  These theological differences don’t really matter when it comes to the Greater War between good and evil.  A war that is about to break out full force soon.  A war that will mean life and death!  We should choose wisely who we demonize for if God’s people demonize each other we will surely lose the battle and die!  Seek God’s guidance to recognize truth where ever it comes from!  It is easily identified by love and not hatred!  When the war explodes in full force, you will need to be on the side of truth and God even if it means that you will be fighting for truth alongside of people with different theological views than your own.