Category: Ramblings

Is the Gog and Magog war mentioned in Ezek 38 and 39 the same as the War of Armageddon at the end of the Great Tribulation, or the Final Rebellion at the end of the millennium ?

Although Gog and Magog is mentioned in Ezek 38/39 and also in Rev 20, I believe both passages are not referring to the same people or the same event. The latter is probably used to refer to the same rebellious nature of the people and the extent of the destruction as in the former.  In Ezek 38/39, Israel is at peace and has laid down her defenses. It is not possible as long as she has constant threats from neighboring countries.  The only time she has real peace is when a peace treaty is signed with the Antichrist so it is likely to happen in the first 3 and ½ years of the Great Tribulation.  In Ezek 38/39, only a few nations are mentioned to be involved in the Gog and Magog war and not all the nations as in the other wars.

Can we pray imprecatory prayers like in the imprecatory psalms ?    

Psalms 58 NLT

¹ Justice—do you rulers know the meaning of the word?
    Do you judge the people fairly?
² No! You plot injustice in your hearts.
    You spread violence throughout the land.
³ These wicked people are born sinners;
    even from birth they have lied and gone their own way.
⁴ They spit venom like deadly snakes;
    they are like cobras that refuse to listen,
⁵ ignoring the tunes of the snake charmers,
    no matter how skillfully they play.

⁶ Break off their fangs, O God!
    Smash the jaws of these lions, O Lord!
⁷ May they disappear like water into thirsty ground.
    Make their weapons useless in their hands.^[c]
8 May they be like snails that dissolve into slime,
    like a stillborn child who will never see the sun.
⁹ God will sweep them away, both young and old,
    faster than a pot heats over burning thorns.

¹⁰ The godly will rejoice when they see injustice avenged.
    They will wash their feet in the blood of the wicked.
¹¹ Then at last everyone will say,
    “There truly is a reward for those who live for God;
    surely there is a God who judges justly here on earth.”

King David prayed the most such psalms and there was apparently no rebuke from the Lord.  I believe the Lord will prefer us to be honest with our feelings before Him than to feel bitter and harbour wrong thoughts. King David prayed against God’s enemies and it is surely right to hate sin and oppression.  In Revelation, we do notice that the martyred saints plead for God’s quick vengeance.  Each time, we pray for our Lord to return quickly, we are actually praying for Him to come quickly to judge and establish retributive justice.

On the other hand, our Lord Jesus exhorted us to love and pray for our enemies. Scripture has exhorted us not to gloat over the misfortune of anyone and that will include enemies.  We are exhorted to pray and submit to the governing authorities too.  And we must not take revenge into our own hands against anyone for vengeance belongs to the Lord.  Will we then be violating the law of Christ by praying imprecation against God’s enemies ?

Since Scripture is inerrant and infallible, we must believe all exhortation to be true.  If so, there is an instance for loving and praying for our enemies and also another to pray for God’s intervention by praying imprecation, just like we are exhorted not to judge as in fault finding (Matt 7:1) but we are also exhorted to judge serious sins in the church. (1 Cor 5:9-13).  The Lord hates oppression of the people, especially His people.  Even the manifesto of our Lord Jesus in Luke 4:18 includes relieving the oppressed.  I believe we can pray for the repentance of the oppressive rulers first and if there is no repentance, we can pray for the Lord’s intervention to remove the oppression. But we need to examine our motives first.  Are we praying due to personal grudge or are we distressed by the gross injustice and oppression of the people ? 

King David prayed for the counsel of a certain person for his son Absalom, who had rebelled against him, to be turned into foolishness.  (2 Sam 15:31)  For a start, we can surely pray for the wicked plans, platform, credibility of evil and oppressive governing authorities to fail, or even to lose the approval and trust of the people, and eventually their removal from power rather than their demise through the Lord’s intervention.   

In first century Judaism era, the RICH were the Jewish high-priestly families who oppressed the lower clergy, landowners who abused the tenants and hired laborers, the merchants who controlled the economy, and those who aligned with the political authorities with much economic privileges.  The POOR were small landowners whose livelihood depended on the small harvest, tenant farmers, hired laborers, fishermen, carpenters, slaves and beggars. The poor were further oppressed by various tithes and exorbitant taxes.  We could classify the poor then as those who were economic poor and had low and insignificant social status.

Our Lord’s manifesto was to share the gospel to the poor, to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. Luke 4:18-19.

We can easily see why the gospel was Good News to the poor then.  Judaism preached salvation through works of the law in which the poor were so oppressed by the numerous religious laws, while the gospel preached salvation by faith alone in Christ Jesus.  All, rich and poor, would be brothers in the Kingdom of God and should take care of one another. There was no longer lowly or insignificant social status but the most prestigious and precious status of the sons and daughters of God the Almighty.

But to the rich then, it was not exactly Good News.  They would have to deny themselves and give up the hold of possessions. Luke 14:26,27,33.  Though it was difficult for the rich to enter the kingdom of God, it was not impossible. Mark 10:25, 27.  The deceitfulness of wealth and the love of money only made it so much more difficult for the rich.  Matt 13:22.  The Scripture gave us two contrasting examples of two rich persons deliberating over their decision to follow Jesus. Luke 18:16-22; 19:1-10.  Zacchaeus, a chief tax collector, responded with faith in Christ Jesus and make light of his possessions instantly, while the rich young ruler was reluctant to give up his possessions to follow Jesus.

Sadly in most of Christendom today, the decision to follow Jesus for the wealthy does not include deliberating over the cost of discipleship and making the resolve to accept the terms.  Luke 14:26,27,33.  The poor has little resistance to accept the discipleship terms because they do not have the social status and possessions in the first place to give up in order to follow Jesus.

The book of Habakkuk gave us the answer.   Habakkuk complained twice and the Lord answered him twice.  He complained initially on why God had allowed sin to be so rampant in Judah and did not act.  Later when God answered him that he would judge very soon and he complained again on why God would send the Chaldeans, a god-less people who was the epitome of all who opposed Him, to deliver the judgment of Judah.  God answered again that He would also judge the Chaldeans.

Despite all these judgments, God assured Habakkuk that the just would be justified and preserved by faith; and that He will be in complete control.

When Habakkuk caught a glimpse of God’s holiness,  his subsequent godly responses gave us a paradigm on how believers should respond when bad things happen to them.

An article by Irv Busenitz summarized the response well.

1. Relate the matter to God.
2. Recognize our own weakness.
3. Review the greatness of God.
4. Reaffirm our faith in God.
5. Rest in the strength of God.

Habakkuk’s prayer in Hab 3 is the most appropriate response towards calamitous judgment such as the current pandemic.  One striking part of the prayer is that Habakkuk would still rejoice even if severe famine hit.

“I have heard all about you, Lord. I am filled with awe by your amazing works. In this time of our deep need, help us again as you did in years gone by. And in your anger, remember your mercy… PESTILENCE marches before him; PLAGUE follows close behind. When he stops, the earth shakes. When he looks, the nations tremble. He shatters the everlasting mountains and levels the eternal hills. He is the Eternal One!.. You marched across the land in anger and trampled the nations in your fury. You went out to rescue your chosen people, to save your anointed ones. You crushed the heads of the wicked and stripped their bones from head to toe.  Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the Lord!  I will be joyful in the God of my salvation! The Sovereign Lord is my strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights.”

Mark 8:34-38

Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”

John Stott paraphrased verse 35 this way :

“If you insist on holding on to yourself and living for yourself and refusing to let yourself go, you will lose yourself. But if you are prepared to lose yourself, to give yourself away in love for God and your fellow human beings, then in that moment of complete abandon, when you think have lost everything, the miracle takes place and you find yourself.

That miracle is the BORN AGAIN experience. A new heart and a new spirit have been born. And the Spirit given by the Lord God has begun the good work in conforming one to be like Christ to love God and fellow men perfectly. That is the turning point of repentance. That is the point reached in realizing one’s spiritual bankruptcy and turn to the Lord for salvation or freedom from the penalty, power and presence of sin in the crucified, living and coming Savior. That is the point of resolve to be a disciple of Christ in denying oneself, taking up the cross and following Him.

Before I go on to share my concern about the mRNA vaccine in relation to our faith, let us know a little about the discovery and composition of the DNA in the cells of our bodies first.

The following article from gotquestions.org website aptly explained the discovery of DNA.

“In 1953, researchers Francis Crick and James Watson elucidated the structure of the DNA molecule. In doing so, they discovered that DNA was a carrier of specific genetic information that takes the form of a four-character digital code. This information is contained in an arrangement of four chemicals that scientists represent with the letters A, C, T, and G. The sequences of these chemicals provide the instructions necessary to assemble complex protein molecules that, in turn, help form structures diverse as eyes, wings, and legs. As Dr. Stephen C. Meyer has noted, “As it turns out, specific regions of the DNA molecule called coding regions have the same property of “sequence specificity” or “specified complexity” that characterizes written codes, linguistic texts, and protein molecules. Just as the letters in the alphabet of a written language may convey a particular message depending on their arrangement, so too do the sequences of nucleotide bases (the A’s, T’s, G’s, and C’s) inscribed along the spine of a DNA molecule convey a precise set of instructions for building proteins within the cell.”

In the book of Genesis, we read of how the sons of God had sexual relationship with the daughters of man which Dr Peter Gentry explained very well in his video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKtHwc3mMY8) that these sons of God were the fallen angels. It was an attempt to corrupt the human seed so that the Messiah could not incarnate.  And God destroyed the whole human race through a flood and restart the procreation of the human race through Noah and his family only.  I saw the ancient corruption as a primitive attempt to corrupt the human DNA then. In these latter days when science is now so advanced, I will not be surprised that there will be attempts by the enemy to corrupt the human DNA through gene editing of which the mRNA technology is just the precursor. From Scripture, we know that violation of God’s designed order or natural function of our bodies is an abomination to Him.

It is one thing to enhance our immune system through non invasive means affecting our DNA but quite another thing to tamper or alter our DNA.  In the current pandemic, I do not object to vaccination using killed whole virus protein vaccine because the technology presents a real virus, which has been attenuated or inactivated, to our bodies so that our bodies can learn to mount an antibody response to the real live virus when exposed later. The mRNA vaccine is a new technology in which genetic material is injected to teach the cells to produce the spiked proteins of the virus and in turn to solicit an antibody response from the cells.  The cells effectively become the munitions factory for both the good and bad guys.  Although it will not alter our DNA, it does tamper with the function of the DNA of our body cells.  I see it as a precursor of future attempts to alter our DNA eventually. 

(Other concerns I have for the mRNA vaccine are the lack of long term safety results which will only be available some years from now, admission of myocarditis risks, low efficacy from real life data, and very poor ethical track record of the manufacturers. Several scientists have also voiced certain concerns pertaining to the long term safety of the mRNA vaccine. As our bodies are the temple of the God, we ought to be prudent in taking very good care of it.)

In conclusion, I will treat vaccination with mRNA vaccine as a matter of truth and I firmly oppose it for it tampers with God’s design of the function of our cell DNA. But for vaccination with a killed virus vaccine, I will treat it as a matter of conscience.

Though some institutional churches also treat the mRNA vaccination as a matter of truth, but on the contrary, they compel everyone to vaccinate. Since vaccination is not mandatory, these churches should at least treat it as a matter of conscience. And they should know better the sin of stumbling a weaker brother with a weak conscience through coercion for a matter of conscience. 1 Cor 8:7-13. It will be going way too far to insinuate that if one does not get vaccinated, it is as good as not loving God and loving men. There are some brothers and sisters who cannot take the vaccination on medical ground. The church should know better not to exclude them from fellowship on practical economic reason. She should not prioritize expediency over love for the least of the brothers. Our Lord had warned against despising the little one in Matt 18:10-13. Matt 25:33-46.

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*** Latest Update : Recently US surgeons claimed they have successfully given a pig’s kidney to a person in a transplant breakthrough.   Steven Collins has this to say in his prophecy blog sharing similar view that there was an ancient attempt to corrupt the human DNA.

https://stevenmcollins.com/test-of-pig-organ-transplant-to-human-a-biblical-perspective/

2 Cor 9:12-14 CEB

Your ministry of this service to God’s people isn’t only fully meeting their needs but it is also multiplying in many expressions of thanksgiving to God. They will give honor to God for your obedience to your confession of Christ’s gospel. They will do this because this service provides evidence of your obedience, and because of your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone. They will also pray for you, and they will care deeply for you because of the outstanding grace that God has given to you.

2 Cor 9:12-14 NLT

So two good things will result from this ministry of giving—the needs of the believers in Jerusalem will be met, and they will joyfully express their thanks to God. As a result of your ministry, they will give glory to God. For your generosity to them and to all believers will prove that you are obedient to the Good News of Christ. And they will pray for you with deep affection because of the overflowing grace God has given to you.

Two good things result from the ministry of giving :  the needs of the saints are met and they will express their thanksgiving to God our Lord.  It is also proof or evidence of our faith – that we believe in Christ and obey Him in helping the least of the brothers.  (Matt 25:33-46).  Doing good by giving to the saints is an acceptable worship sacrifice or a memorial offering to God. (Heb 13:16).  Of course, if we trumpet our giving or we do not give cheerfully,  then we are not obeying Christ because we love Him but do so with other motives.

One of the greatest joys in life is to have fellow brothers and sisters caring deeply for us by praying for us.

Exactly one year ago on 1^st June 2020, I shared here that our Lord God decrees all calamities and our right response to our Lord’s calamitous judgment is to repent corporately and if not possible, we will repent individually and let God render to us each of our ways since He knows all our hearts.  1 Kings 8:35-40.

http://www.jcmanifesto.org/all-calamities-are-decreed-by-the-lord/

Fast forward to today, the pandemic continues to ravage. Our Lord wants obedience and not sacrifice.  We can continue to organize global prayer and praise, prayer chant of Psalms 91, and even fasting, but all will be futile if we do not repent.  The false NAR apostles and prophets also came on the scene to prophesize and declare victory over the pandemic last year causing many to be indifferent and unrepentant.  (Our Lord is sovereign and He may have mercy and relent at some point in time.)  To add further injury, we see Christendom in many nations trust more of the secular authorities to remedy the situation than to humble and seek our Lord’s face first and foremost. 2 Chron 7:13-14.

Deut 28:15,21-22 KJV said such :

“But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee…The Lord shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it. The Lord shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish.”

It is interesting to note that in KJV, the pestilence judgment is a consumption with a fever and with an inflammation.  Consumption is an old English word for wasting disease affecting the lungs such as tuberculosis.  Covid 19 fits the description of a consumption with fever and with an inflammation of the lungs.

So may God our Lord bless the faithful with wisdom to know the correct response to Him.

Zeph 2:3 KJV

Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord’s anger.

The office of the high priest was instituted when God gave the law to the Israelites.  The high priest was responsible for interceding for Israel before God.   In John 17, Jesus our Lord interceded for Himself, His disciples and all believers so the prayer became known as the High Priestly prayer.

Who can know exactly how to pray to God better than the Son of God Himself who had been with God since eternity past and for all eternity.  This prayer, together with the Lord’s Prayer, will be comprehensive enough as examples to pray for oneself and others for the main petition priorities are mentioned in them.  How important it will be for all believers to know the petition priorities made in these two prayers by our Lord.

The Lord’s Prayer is a personal prayer while the High Priestly Prayer is a corporate prayer.  One prays for oneself for provisions, forgiveness and deliverance; the other prays for the security, sanctification and unity of one’s disciples and the church at large.

The outline of this High Priestly prayer is as follows :

• Jesus prayed for Himself. Vs 1-5
• Jesus prayed for the security of His disciples. Vs 6-12
• Jesus prayed for the sanctification of His disciples. V s3-19
• Jesus prayed for His whole Body of believers. Vs 20-26

The main petition priorities gleaned from the High Priestly prayer are :

1. Pray to submit to God’s given mission and obey for the sake of God’s glory.   Vs 1-5
2. Pray for the security, sanctification and unity of one’s disciples, or local church or fellowship.

• Pray (similarly) that we will teach the Word of God faithfully and that the disciples will receive them and come to know the truth, particularly to know the truth about Christ and that God sent Him. Vs 8
• Pray for their security and unity. Vs 11
• Pray for them to have joy. It is so necessary living in these end times when we will be persecuted.  Pray that they will endure with the joy set before them looking forward to the coming glory. Vs 13
• Pray for them to be protected from the evil one. Vs 15
• Pray to sanctify them with the truth. Vs 17

3. Pray for the unity of the church at large. By praying for the other churches around the world, we are made to be aware of the similar struggles of the least of our brothers in these groups or nations.  Christian unity is not about denominational membership but about shared life in Christ.  It is about common love, common purpose and common mission just like in the first century.

Rev 20:4-5

Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.  The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection.

Some believers believe ONLY the martyred saints will reign with Christ our Lord in the Millennium based on the above verses.  The above verses do not necessarily exclude all the other saints, who have gone home to the Lord before the Rapture,  just because it is mentioned that the rest of the dead do not come to life.  The saints are not usually referred to as the dead.

Let’s look at the whole counsel of the Word of God on this subject question, whether other un-martyred saints will also reign during the Millennium,  before coming to a conclusion.

Rev 5:9-10

And they *sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the scroll and to break its seals; for You were slaughtered, and You purchased people for God with Your blood from every tribe, language, people, and nation. You have made them into a kingdom and priests to our God, and they will reign upon the earth.”

Luke 19:16-19

The first slave appeared, saying, “Master, your  mina has made ten minas more.’  And he said to him, ‘Well done, good slave; since you have been faithful in a very little thing, you are to have authority over ten cities.’  The second one came, saying, ‘Your mina,  master, has made five minas.’  And he said to him also, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’

Rev 2:26-27

The one who overcomes, and the one who keeps My deeds until the end, I will give him authority over the nations; and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are shattered, as I also have received authority from My Father.

Dan 7:21-27

I kept looking, and that horn was waging war with the  saints and prevailing against them, until the Ancient of Days came and judgment was passed in favor of the saints of the Highest One, and the time arrived when the saints took possession of the kingdom…Then the sovereignty, the dominion, and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Highest One; His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all the empires will serve and obey Him.

The above 4 Scriptural passages seem to substantiate that all saints, martyred or otherwise, will reign with Christ our Lord in the Millennium.

Firstly,  Rev 5:9-10 clearly stated that our Lord will make all, whom His blood purchased, into a kingdom of priests and will reign on the earth.

Secondly, the parable of the minas in Luke 19 mentioned that servants who have invested the minas and gained profit will be rewarded the rule of cities in the coming Kingdom.

Thirdly, Rev 2:26-27 mentioned that  the overcomer saint will be given authority to rule with a rod of iron implying that he will govern the nations resolutely to punish sin and rebellion. And that reign will be in the Millennium because there is no necessity to rule with a rod of iron after the Millennium.

Lastly, Daniel 7:21-27 mentioned that the saints will take possession of the Millennium kingdom after our Lord comes and defeats the Antichrist, and these saints may not all be martyred.

Postscript (04 Aug 2024):