It is tempting these days when watching the news and current
events to become convinced that we are living in the very last of the last
days. There is an abundance of wars and
natural disasters, most particularly the earthquakes that Jesus spoke of so specifically. Yet we cannot forget that
when He spoke with His disciples in Matthew 24 He was telling them of the lead
up to the last of the last days - He called it the beginning of sorrows and
likened it to a woman in labor.
Before we can truly claim to be living through the
Tribulation spoken of in the Bible we must first experience the prophecy that
is known as 'the time of Jacob's trouble', which we discussed in the previous post.
We also know, again from previous posts, that the modern state of Israel represents
only a two of the twelve tribes of Israel, specifically Judah and Benjamin, and part of a third tribe, the Levites. The tribe of Jacob was
expanded by God to include Jacob's two sons Ephraim and Manasseh, replacing the
tribe of Dan as seen in the book of Revelation when we are told about the 144
thousand.
Therefore we must see great catastrophe befall the tribes of
Ephraim and Manasseh before we see the beginning of the Great Tribulation. So let's examine in more depth what exactly is the Time of Jacob's Trouble?
Firstly those nations will be conquered, financially ruined and taken
into captivity. They will experience a
kind of poverty, starvation and deprivation more severe even than that experienced by our current
third world countries. In fact God says
their punishment will be greater and more horrible than anything the world has
ever seen. In the light of historical
events such as the Holocaust this is a truly terrifying thought. Yet God has said it will be so and we must
believe these things will happen.
In all honesty, I'd rather not live through those awful times to
come and the Bible is not specific enough to determine whether or not His own true believers
will be spared all the horrors of Jacob's Trouble. We are told, in the Bible, that we will be spared from the Great Tribulation
but we may well have to go through the terrifying aspects of Jacob's
Trouble. And this is a time that I, personally,
believe to be closer at hand than any of us would like to think.
How can I say that?
Because the clues left in the Bible as to the identity of Ephraim and
Manasseh show clearly that God is talking about the modern nations of England
and the United States. England,
including all of her colonies, and the US will suffer like no nation on earth
has ever suffered before. When we look
at the direction society is taking in those nations it is very tempting to assume that we
are, indeed, on the brink of Jacob's Trouble.
Much of this post has been bad news but remember that this
is all a part of God's glorious plan of salvation for the world. We have all sinned and so we will, in one way
or another, all suffer but we can take comfort that our suffering is only
during this life time. Remember that Jesus came to
earth from Heaven to die for the whole world so that everyone, living or dead, will be given the chance to repent and be saved and live another life with Him and
the Father forever in a perfect world.
Take comfort in that as you watch the world slowly disintegrate.
In Godly love,
Tracey
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