Are things on Earth Heating Up?

For almost everyone in Altha’s and my circle, it seems the fiery trials are heating up. When Daniel’s 3 friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were thrown into the fire, Nebuchadnezzar turned up the furnace seven times. I know that is what it feels like to some of you. Situations in your finances, your families, relationships, and jobs seem too intense to endure.

Satan’s purpose: to get you to give up. God’s purpose: to produce greater faith. Faith must be tried 'under fire' (1 Pet. 1:5). But, you are not alone. Nebuchadnezzar said, “Didn’t we tie up three men and throw them into the furnace? ‘Look!’ “I see four men, unbound, walking around in the fire unharmed! And the fourth looks like a god!” (Daniel 3:24-25).

When things on earth start heating up, Jesus is not only present, He is praying that “your faith will not fail” (Lk. 22:32). “Patient endurance is what you need now, so you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that He has promised.” Don’t lose heart; He is coming soon (Heb. 10:37-38).

Knowledge and People Travel Fast

Google CEO Eric Schmidt describes his life in the future: his bed will wake him up when he cycles out of R.E.M. sleep; a driverless car will take him to work; returning phone calls and scheduling events will be done by robots; and he will swallow a microchip to monitor his health and alert his doctor if anything is wrong. Thirty years ago such talk would have seemed ridiculous—but not anymore.  Such things are now quite believable.

God told His prophet Daniel that certain mysteries regarding the last days would be “revealed” when “knowledge increases” and men travel “back and forth” (Daniel 12:4). No one can argue that there has not been an exponential increase of both knowledge and speed. The cross-Atlantic voyage that took Columbus months is now done in a few hours!

And the increase of knowledge has been advanced by chip technology. We are living in ‘The Information Age.’  Knowledge is exploding in every direction. While Daniel’s phrase ‘increased knowledge’ means that some portions of the book of Daniel would not to be understood until the time of the end, many Bible scholars believe it also applies to an increasing knowledge of science, medicine, travel, and technology. If we have not reached that time yet, we must be amazingly close.

Ezekiel 38, Daniel 11, and the book of Qur'an

35 years ago when I was a Peace Corps volunteer in Afghanistan, no one imagined it would be at the center of world attention someday.  According to Ezekiel 38, Afghanistan is one of the nations opposing Israel in the end-times: Gog, (Russia), Persia (Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan), Ethiopia, (includes Sudan and Somalia). In Daniel 11, Israel’s end-time enemies are the Kings of the South and North which are Syria and Egypt/Libya.

Is it just coincidental that these nations are in today’s news, today's hot-spots? Did you know that Iran and Russia have a military alliance?  This is the reason Russia is helping Iran to build its nuclear arsenal. Do you know that Pakistan has nuclear weapons, and that Syria has biological weapons? Do you know that the goal of Islam is to annihilate Israel? Their book of Qur’an demands it.

Is all of this just old-fashioned ‘saber-rattling’? Not according to Ezekiel, who tells us Egypt, Syria and Libya will move against Israel first; then these other nations will follow.  When this will happen is not clear.  And things are currently so fluid in the Middle East it’s hard to know what’s going to happen next.  But the Islamic world will not rest while Jews occupy Jerusalem. The Qur’an demands it.

A Cloud of Nuclear War over the Middle East

While feckless UN diplomats try to negotiate an agrement to stop Iran (which has Israel in its crosshairs) from developing nuclear weapons, Israel grows impatient. Some State Department diplomats feared that Israel might unilaterally strike Iran’s nuclear sites as early as last month. Failed diplomacy is forcing Israel’s hand.

But a senior Iranian cleric warned last week that Iran will destroy US military bases across the Middle East and burn Israel to ashes within minutes of being attacked. This Iranian threat is helping to set the stage for an apocalyptic scenario foretold in Ezekiel 38, in which Persia (modern day Iran) is one of the major players in an alignment of nations attacking the Jewish state. Ironically (and sadly), the coalition of Arab and Islamic states listed in Daniel 11:40-45 and Psalm 83 includes Syria, Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya—three of which the U.S. helped to become Islamic strongholds!

The turmoil in Syria, the advance of Islamic rule in Egypt, and Iran’s promise to destroy Israel further sets the stage for the prophecies of Ezekiel and Daniel to be fulfilled.

A Linderella Story

No doubt some of you would be surprised if I didn't comment on the Jeremy Lin phenomenon. For those of you who don’t read newspapers or watch TV news, you might have missed this. But Jeremy Lin's is the story of an underdog basketball player who jumped out of obscurity to take the NBA by storm and become a record-smashing star of the New York Knicks.  And, he is a born again believer.

The fact that he credits God for his success is drawing comparisons to quarterback Tim Tebow who, as we all know, “wears his religion on his sleeve.” Now, Lin has taken the “wearing it on your sleeve” thing quite literally, sporting a wristband that reads "In Jesus Name I Play." 

What is the significance of this?  First, it looks to me like God has raised up these young men to be like Daniel's friends (the ones thrown in the fiery furnace): they are taking heat for declaring their faith in Jesus; and in so doing, challenging the rest of us to be more bold.  And second, by their message, they have transcended the game of wins and losses for the greater gain of winning the hearts of the lost (who are seeing two strong and powerful, yet sensitive, young men unashamed to tell you they love Jesus).

Are We Fourth Quarter Christians?

On today’s front page of USA Today, evangelical Christian Tim Tebow is proclaimed a “one-man cultural blitz.” His miraculous overtime win against the Steelers has put him front and center of the whole world. Throwing 316 yards added to the mystique (John 3:16 in the top 3 Google ‘searches’ of the day). But the uniquely amazing thing about Tim Tebow’s ‘game’ is when he wins: in the 4th quarter and in overtime.

The spiritual analogies are exploding in my brain like popcorn. But this “fourth-quarter/overtime” winning phenomenon is shouting for attention. A survey of God’s men of faith reveals they were “4th quarter” winners. Moses’ faith was rewarded in the 4th quarter parting of the Red Sea ; Abraham received God’s overtime promise when there was no possibility of natural conception; Daniel astonished the king with an overtime deliverance from hungry lions.

On the other end of faith, however, was King Saul, an impatient man who lost in the 4th quarter. Unwilling to wait until Samuel arrived, he gave in to the fear of man, losing not only Samuel’s blessing but the kingdom itself. My friends, does it feel you like you are in the 4th quarter? Moreover, are we not all living in the 4th quarter of Time? Do we have 4th quarter faith? Could this need for 4th quarter faith be what Jesus spoke of when he asked, “when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" (Luke 18:8)

Can you see the other side of suffering?

Unfortunately, many Christians see suffering as a sign that they're out of God's will—that something is wrong. But because we live in a ‘fallen’ world, we suffer. (That’s not to say that we don’t bring suffering on ourselves by our own bad choices.) But Paul gives us this principle of correlation: “All those who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” (2 Tim. 3:12).

Not understanding this, many Christians try to avoid anything that causes them discomfort, even when it could be that God wants them to endure some distress for His sake. It would seem that God is more concerned with our eternal rewards than we are. “If we suffer with Him we will reign with Him;” and to do that, we have “need of endurance” (2 Tim. 4:7; Heb. 10:36).

Now you will probably never be thrown to the lions for your faith or have your head chopped off and put on a platter, but you may be ridiculed by unbelievers. Or, surprisingly, because of your single-mindedness, you may even be misunderstood and maligned by less ardent Christians. But one thing is sure: if you seek to live a godly life, you will become familiar with suffering.

Nevertheless, when you endure, you will share in the same glorious reward as Daniel or John the Baptist or Paul. The Bible assures us that our present sufferings are “producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison” (2 Cor. 4:17).