Church of God News

Herbert W. Armstrong

COGwriter

Received the following in an email:

Herbert Armstrong. I notice you quote him a lot at COGwriter.com Sometimes i wonder why COG people do this? I ask this because i have noticed as i try to share the truths of God with people online anytime someone connects a COG to WWCOG, they will bring up how the WWCOG and Armstrong had false prophesied multiple times.

There are several reasons that Herbert W. Armstrong or materials from the old Radio/Worldwide Church of God, of which he was Pastor General, are cited here.

But first, consider that all humans are flawed:

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (Romans 3:23)

The Bible makes that clear and even mentions serious sins that some of God’s servants have had (such as King David’s adultery & murdering, plus a wrong prediction by the Apostle Paul come to mind).

As far as false prophecies go, Herbert W. Armstrong had misunderstandings related to WWII and sometimes pointed to dates that he should not have–and we do not attempt to defend his errors. To his credit, however, he asserted that he was not a prophet. And as far as the internet goes, I have addressed many of the accusations against him in article titled: 17 Accusations and Truthful Responses About Herbert W. Armstrong. Plus also in another article titled: What is Armstrongism? Are Some Dismissive of Original Christianity?

People can choose to believe the truth or lies.

We in the Continuing Church of God, believe that God used Herbert W. Armstrong to raise up the Philadelphia era of the the Church that Jesus discussed in Revelation 3:7-13. We believe God used him to restore various truths that the true church lost by the early 20th century (see The 18 Restored Truths: Do You Know What the First Changes the Tkach Administration Made?).

The Continuing Church of God believes that we best represent the continuation of the Philadelphian part of the Church of God. Herbert W. Armstrong is one in the list of successors we trace our history through (see Continuing History of the Church of God).

So, Herbert Armstrong (or other Radio/Worldwide COG writers) is quoted to show that we continued the basic teachings that he did related to the Philadelphian era of the Church. Plus, we also do this to show that much of what we teach was taught by an earlier COG (which is also why we quote early 2nd century COG writers, like Polycarp of Smyrna). Many people, including those with a COG background, often do not realize what was taught on various matters–hence quoting those sources helps demonstrate that we in the CCOG are continuing with those teachings.

We have also restored more details and truth as would be expected in these last days.

Furthermore, we are also doing what the Apostle Paul wrote:

21 Test all things; hold fast what is good. (1 Thessalonians 5:21)

What does that mean?

It means that if Herbert Armstrong taught something we believe the Bible or various facts support, we are happy to present that. We do not exalt Herbert Armstrong or anyone else above scripture.

We strive not to teach error and do not teach that what Herbert Armstrong wrote is not subject to correction. The Bible, not Herbert Armstrong, is the standard that we go by.

Despite organization changes, successively and doctrinally we are NOT a new church. We teach Laying on of Hands succession from the apostles. We clearly trace our history from the Book of Acts to present (see Continuing History of the Church of God).

Therefore, we often quote Church of God leaders, not just from the New Testament, but also those from the second century A.D. to present. We do this to demonstrate the consistency of the doctrines of the true church as well as to show what “the faith once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3) was in the period immediately after the death of the last of the apostles.

I, Bob Thiel, do not know everything, nor does anyone else. The Bible teaches, “in a multitude of counselors there is safety” (Proverbs 24:6)–Herbert Armstrong’s writings are among those I read for possible counsel. His writing style is still of interest to many–and is a method to use to reach some (cf. 1 Corinthians 9:20-22).

Now, let’s see what Herbert W. Armstrong taught related to himself and the Bible:

“Don’t believe me – BELIEVE YOUR BIBLE – BELIEVE GOD!”

(Herbert W. Armstrong, Plain Truth magazine, Sept. 1963, Personal p.1)

Now, the same 1963 issue of the old Plain Truth shows a bit more for that quote from Herbert Armstrong:

Don’t believe me – BELIEVE YOUR BIBLE – BELIEVE GOD! I always say…check up! Listen without prejudice, with open mind, then check up–go to your BIBLE, and BELIEVE what you read there. (Armstrong HW. Personal from the Editor. Plain Truth. September 1963.)

That is great advice. And we would tell Protestants, Catholics, Orthodox, Seventh-day Adventists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, LDS, and everyone else the same thing. Here is my own slightly expanded version of the above:

“Don’t simply believe me – Believe what the Bible really Teaches – Believe the Truth – Prove all things – Believe God!”

And I will take it one step further. Irrespective of how any may view the role that God has for me, unless I am directly quoting the Bible, or preface a statement to something of the effect of “thus saith the Lord,” I am NOT necessarily stating anything that is not subject to later correction. We who are truly part of the Church of God only accept as inspired the 39 books of the Old Testament and the 27 books of the New Testament and no other document. Therefore, although other current and historical documents/articles/books/booklet/posts by various Church of God leaders throughout history often have value, as they generally also tend to contain personal opinion, we do not consider that any of them are on the same level as sacred scripture, and hence believe that they can contain error.

As suggested earlier, Herbert Armstrong’s writing style often conveys many points in an understandable manner. A manner that we do not feel that we must re-word. A manner which provides variety. Hence, he is quoted.

Plus, none of us are experts in everything. Hence, citing others who have more expertise or perhaps a better way to say something helps the listener learn better. It also helps with time constraints to quote something when it is pertinent.

As mentioned before, he and/or the old Radio/Worldwide Church of God literature are quoted here is to show that certain points covered at COGwriter.com are consistent with the them. Hence, we truly are continuing those teachings. Teachings that groups outside the CCOG sometimes have forgotten or neglected to teach.

Still another reason for various quotes is to point out that the general prophetic outline that Herbert Armstrong taught is coming to pass.

For some examples, the old Iron Curtain fell, Germany reunited, the Europeans have their own currency, the United Kingdom has left the European Union, the Europeans are working on building a unified military, relations between the Europeans and the USA are straining more and more, the USA is in decline as a world power, etc.

Another reason to provide quotes is that many anti-COG sources on the Internet sometimes misrepresent what Herbert Armstrong taught.

Related to one, GotQuestions.com (who still has not corrected something I brought up years ago), we put together the following:

21:14

What is Armstrongism? Are Some Dismissive of Original Christianity?

The physical head of the old Radio/Worldwide Church of God was the late Herbert W. Armstrong. What he taught has been derided as “Armstrongism.” What were some of those teachings? Was the old Worldwide Church of God some type of weird cult or did it strive to contend earnestly for the faith once for all delivered to the saints? Is “Armstrongism” improperly maligned and falsely described at GotQuestions.com? Are concepts such as the tribes of Israel, ‘soul sleep,’ and three resurrections unique to Herbert W. Armstrong or were they long part of original Nazarene Christianity? What about various holidays and Christianity? In this video, Dr. Thiel goes over his early experiences with “Armstrongism” as well as gives scriptures about persecutions that would affect Christians.

Here is a link to the sermonette: What is Armstrongism? Are Some Dismissive of Original Christianity?

Many do not understand true, original Christianity, so they bash/misrepresent Herbert Armstrong and/or teachings that he had.

In the CCOG we have never taught that Herbert W. Armstrong or any COG leader was the standard, the truth in the word of God is.

Herbert W. Armstrong changed his position on various matters and never claimed infallibility. Nor do we.

But, as a continuation of the true apostolic Church of God, we in the Continuing Church of God believe it is helpful to quote recent as well as ancient COG writers for their perspective and insight, as well as to show continuity.

All who profess Christ should, “contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3).

The reason that we quote the Bible and other COG leaders is to help show that we do.

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

What is Armstrongism? Did Herbert W. Armstrong raise a new faith or promote the original Christian faith? Here is a link to a related video: What is Armstrongism? Are Some Dismissive of Original Christianity?
Herbert W. Armstrong, the Philadelphia Church, & the Mantle Herbert Armstrong claims God had him raise the Philadelphia up. Are there reasons to believe that the Philadelphia mantle in now within the CCOG? Here is a link to a related sermon: Herbert W. Armstrong and the Philadelphia Mantle.
Does the CCOG have the confirmed signs of Acts 2:17-18? Does any church have the confirmed dream and prophetic signs of Acts 2:17-18? Should one? Here is a link in the Spanish language: ¿Tiene la CCOG confirmadas las señales de Hechos 2: 17-18?
The 18 Restored Truths: Do You Know What the First Changes the Tkach Administration Made? Some have said healing, others other subjects, but probably the first change had to do with eliminating being part of the Philadelphia era. This article documents what those changes were and compares the Tkach list of restored truths to Herbert W. Armstrong’s list of restored truths. It contains many quotes from Herbert W. Armstrong. Here are links to a related two-part sermon: The 18 Restored Truths: 1-8 and The 18 Restored Truths: 9-18.
There is a Place of Safety for the Philadelphians. Why it May Be Near Petra This article discusses a biblical ‘place of safety’ and includes quotes from the Bible and Herbert W. Armstrong on this subject–thus, there is a biblically supported alternative to the rapture theory. Two sermon-length videos of relaled interest are available Physical Protection During the Great Tribulation and Might Petra be the Place of Safety? Here is something related in the Spanish language: Hay un lugar de seguridad para los Filadelfinos. ¿Puede ser Petra?
Who Was Herbert W. Armstrong? How is He Viewed Today? Includes quotes from the 1973 edition of The Autobiography of Herbert W. Armstrong and explains who he was and how he should be viewed today.
Should the Church Still Try to Place its Top Priority on Proclaiming the Gospel or Did Herbert W. Armstrong Change that Priority for the Work? Some say the Church should mainly feed the flock now as that is what Herbert W. Armstrong reportedly said. Is that what he said? Is that what the Bible says? What did Paul and Herbert W. Armstrong expect from lower level leaders? Two related sermons are available The Work per HWA and the Bible and Priority of the Philadelphia Work.
Preparing for the ‘Short Work’ and The Famine of the Word What is the ‘short work’ of Romans 9:28? Who is preparing for it? Here is a link to a related video sermon titled: The Short Work.
17 Accusations and Truthful Responses About Herbert W. Armstrong He, even after his death, keeps being improperly maligned–here is the truth on these matters.
The Similarities and Dissimilarities between Martin Luther and Herbert W. Armstrong This article clearly shows some of the doctrinal differences between in the two. At this time of doctrinal variety and a tendency by many to accept certain aspects of Protestantism, the article should help clarify why the genuine Church of God is NOT Protestant. Do you really know what the Protestant Reformer Martin Luther taught and should you follow his doctrinal example? Here is a related sermon video: Martin Luther and Herbert Armstrong: Reformers with Differences.
Sola Scriptura or Prima Luther? What Did Martin Luther Really Believe About the Bible? Though he is known for his public sola Scriptura teaching, did Martin Luther’s writings about the Bible suggest he felt that prima Luther was his ultimate authority? Statements from him changing and/or discounting 18 books of the Bible are included. Do you really want to know the truth?
The Churches of Revelation 2 & 3 from 31 A.D. to present: information on all of the seven churches of Revelation 2 & 3. There is also a YouTube video: The Seven Church Eras of Revelation. There is also a version in the Spanish language: Las Siete Iglesias de Apocalipsis 2 & 3.
1. The Ephesus Church Era was predominant from 31 A.D. to circa 135 A.D. The Church of James, Peter, Paul, and John, etc. Here is a link to a related video sermon: Ephesus Church Era.
2. The Smyrna Church Era was predominant circa 135 A.D. to circa 450 A.D. The Church led by Polycarp, Melito, Polycrates, etc.Here is a link to a related video sermon: The Smyrna Church Era.
3. The Pergamos Church Era was predominant circa 450 A.D. to circa 1050 A.D. An especially persecuted Church. Here is a link to a related sermon video: Pergamos Era and the Antichrist.
4. The Thyatira Church Era was predominant circa 1050 A.D. to circa 1600 A.D. The Church during the Inquisition. It claimed succession from the apostles. Here is a link toa related sermon: Thyatira, Succession, and Jezebel.
5. The Sardis Church Era was predominant circa 1600 A.D. to circa 1933 A.D. Discusses some early history of the Seventh Day Baptists, Seventh-day Adventists, CG7-Salem, Jerusalem 7DCG, and COG-7th Day-Denver.
6. The Philadelphia Church Era was predominant circa 1933 A.D. to 1986 A.D. The old Radio Church of God and old Worldwide Church of God, now the remnant of that era is basically the most faithful in the Church of God, like who hold to the beliefs and practices of the Continuing Church of God.
7. The Laodicean Church Era has been predominant circa 1986 A.D. to present. The Laodiceans are non-Philadelphians who mainly descended from the old WCG or its offshoots. They do not properly understand the work or biblical prophecies and will face the Great Tribulation if they do not repent. One video of related interest is 17 Laodicean Errors in Prophecy. See also Do You Hold to Any of These Laodicean Prophetic Errors?
Christians: Ambassadors for the Kingdom of God, Biblical instructions on living as a Christian This is a scripture-filled booklet for those wishing to live as a real Christian. A related sermon is also available: Christians are Ambassadors for the Kingdom of God.
The Ten Commandments: The Decalogue, Christianity, and the Beast This is a free pdf book explaining the what the Ten Commandments are, where they came from, how early professors of Christ viewed them, and how various ones, including the Beast of Revelation, will oppose them. A related sermon is titled: The Ten Commandments and the Beast of Revelation.
The Gospel of the Kingdom of God This free online pdf booklet has answers many questions people have about the Gospel of the Kingdom of God and explains why it is the solution to the issues the world is facing. Here are links to four related sermons:  The Fantastic Gospel of the Kingdom of God!, The World’s False Gospel, The Gospel of the Kingdom: From the New and Old Testaments, and The Kingdom of God is the Solution.
Where is the True Christian Church Today? This free online pdf booklet answers that question and includes 18 proofs, clues, and signs to identify the true vs. false Christian church. Plus 7 proofs, clues, and signs to help identify Laodicean churches. A related sermon is also available: Where is the True Christian Church? Here is a link to the booklet in the Spanish language: ¿Dónde está la verdadera Iglesia cristiana de hoy? Here is a link in the German language: WO IST DIE WAHRE CHRISTLICHE KIRCHE HEUTE? Here is a link in the French language: Où est la vraie Église Chrétienne aujourd’hui?
Continuing History of the Church of God This pdf booklet is a historical overview of the true Church of God and some of its main opponents from Acts 2 to the 21st century. Related sermon links include Continuing History of the Church of God: c. 31 to c. 300 A.D. and Continuing History of the Church of God: 4th-16th Centuries and Continuing History of the Church of God: 17th-20th Centuries. The booklet is available in Spanish: Continuación de la Historia de la Iglesia de Dios, German: Kontinuierliche Geschichte der Kirche Gottes, and Ekegusii Omogano Bw’ekanisa Ya Nyasae Egendererete.
CCOG.ORG Continuing Church of God The group striving to be most faithful amongst all real Christian groups to the word of God. There are links to literature is about 100 different languages there.

Old Worldwide Church of God booklet

COGwriter

Are the USA and its British-descended allies a modern version of Rome that is declining?

Doug Casey posted the following:

Decline of Empire: Parallels Between the U.S. and Rome

There are some similarities between the U.S. and Rome. …

Rome reached its peak of military power around the year 107, when Trajan completed the conquest of Dacia (the territory of modern Romania). With Dacia, the empire peaked in size, but I’d argue it was already past its peak by almost every other measure.

The U.S. reached its peak relative to the world, and in some ways its absolute peak, as early as the 1950s. In 1950 this country produced 50% of the world’s GNP and 80% of its vehicles. Now it’s about 21% of world GNP and 5% of its vehicles. It owned two-thirds of the world’s gold reserves; now it holds one-fourth. It was, by a huge margin, the world’s biggest creditor, whereas now it’s the biggest debtor by a huge margin. …

Like America, Rome was founded by refugees—from Troy, at least in myth. Like America, it was ruled by kings in its early history. Later, Romans became self-governing, with several Assemblies and a Senate. Later still, power devolved to the executive, which was likely not an accident.

U.S. founders modeled the country on Rome, all the way down to the architecture of government buildings, the use of the eagle as the national bird, the use of Latin mottos, and the unfortunate use of the fasces—the axe surrounded by rods—as a symbol of state power. Publius, the pseudonymous author of The Federalist Papers, took his name from one of Rome’s first consuls. As it was in Rome, military prowess is at the center of the national identity of the U.S. When you adopt a model in earnest, you grow to resemble it. …

So why did Rome fall? In 1985, a German named Demandt assembled 210 reasons. I find some of them silly—like racial degeneration, homosexuality, and excessive freedom. Most are redundant. Some are just common sense—like bankruptcy, loss of moral fiber, and corruption. …

Republican Rome fell in 31 BCE with the accession of Augustus and the start of what’s called the Principate. It almost disintegrated in the 50 years of the mid-3^rd century, a time of constant civil war, the start of serious barbarian incursions, and the destruction of Rome’s silver currency, the denarius. … beginning with the Principate period, Rome underwent an accelerating trend toward absolutism, centralization, totalitarianism, and bureaucracy. I think we can argue America entered its Principate with the accession of Roosevelt in 1933; since then, the president has reigned supreme over the Congress, as Augustus did over the Senate. Pretenses fell off increasingly over time in Rome, just as they have in the U.S. …

One additional political parallel with the U.S.: up to Trajan in 100 AD, all the emperors were culturally Roman from old, noble families. After that, few were. The U.S. now has had its first Kenyan president … https://internationalman.com/articles/decline-of-empire-parallels-between-the-us-and-rome-part-i/ accessed 01/05/23

There will be many denials, but the USA will fall like ancient civilizations.

Other have seen similarities to ancient Rome:

Are we ‘Rome’? The question has weighed heavily on the minds of American conservatives, libertarians and Catholics at their various conferences. Is America headed the way of the Roman empire? Bureaucratic decay, massive public debt, an overstretched military, a political system seemingly incapable of responding to challenges – “the late Roman empire suffered these maladies, and so, some fear, does contemporary America”, notes The American Conservative, a journal which has been pursuing this ‘line’ diligently, and with a growing constituency, over a number of years. (Note that this is not the constituency of Vice-President Pence who represents an Evangelical, fundamentalist, literal insistence on imminent Redemption, with its ‘Rapture’ politics).

The American Conservative rather warns:

“If libertarians on the Right worry about structural collapse – cultural and religious conservatives add a moral and spiritual dimension to the debate. Rising hedonism, waning religious observance, ongoing break-up of the family, and a general loss of cultural coherence — to traditionalists, these are signs of a possible Dark Age ahead”.

… “For MacIntyre”, Rod Dreher, the author of The Benedict Option writes: “we too are living through a Fall of Rome-like catastrophe, one that is concealed by our liberty and prosperit”. Dreher continues, “In his influential 1981 book, After Virtue, MacIntyre argued that the Enlightenment project cut Western man off from his roots in tradition, but failed to produce a binding morality based on Reason alone. Plus, the Enlightenment extolled the autonomous individual. Consequently, we live in a culture of moral chaos and fragmentation in which many questions are simply impossible to settle. MacIntyre says that our contemporary world is a dark wood, and that finding our way back to the straight path will require establishing new forms of community”.

“The “Benedict Option” thus refers to [those] in contemporary America who cease to identify the continuation of civility and moral community with the maintenance of American Empire, and who therefore are keen to construct local forms of community as loci of Christian resistance against what the Empire represents. Put less grandly, the Benedict Option — or ‘Ben Op’ — is an umbrella term for Christians [and American conservatives], who accept MacIntyre’s critique of modernity”. …

What is so interesting to an outsider, is how the Ben Op’s author, Dreher, situates it within the US political context:

“Many of us on the Right who have been dismayed by the Trumpening (sic), and have been hard hit by the Kavanaugh debacle, have concluded that [nonetheless], we have no choice but to vote Republican this November – if only out of self-defense. (He refers to November 2018)

“But let me quote two passages from The Benedict Option:

“The cultural Left—which is to say, the American mainstream— has no intention of living in post-war peace. It is pressing forward with a harsh, relentless occupation, one that is aided by the cluelessness of Christians [i.e. those mirroring liberalism], who don’t understand what’s happening. Don’t be fooled: the upset presidential victory of Donald Trump has at best given us a bit more time to prepare for the inevitable (emphasis added).

[Those] who believe that politics alone will be sufficient – are not going to be prepared for what’s going to come when the Republicans lose the White House and/or Congress, which is inevitable. Our politics have become so sulfurous that there will be a vicious backlash, and that backlash will fall primarily on social and religious conservatives. When the Democrats regain power, conservative Christians are going to be in very bad shape”.

The Ben Op, in other words, is another important window into what Professor Mike Vlahos has described as the gathering, next chapter to America’s unresolved ‘civil war’: “America today fissuring into two visions of the nation’s future way of life: “Red” virtue imagines a continuity of family and community within a publicly affirmed national community. “Blue” virtue imagines personally chosen communities mediated through the individual’s relationship with the state. So, even though these two divided visions of America have been opposed for decades, and so far have controlled the urge to violence, there is in their bitter contest [of today] a sense of gathering movement toward an ultimate decision”.

“Today, two righteous paths are gridlocked in opposition … Red and Blue already represent an irreparable religious schism, deeper in doctrinal terms even than the 16th-century Catholic-Protestant schism. The war here, is over which faction successfully captures the (social media) flag, as true inheritor of American virtue. Both perceive themselves as champions of national renewal, of cleansing corrupted ideals, and of truly fulfilling America’s promise. Both fervently believe that they alone – own virtue.” https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2019/03/04/us-conservatives-pursue-ben-option-global-ramification.html

The US is a house divided and will fall, even worse than ancient Rome did. The UK has Brexit and other troubles. Canada, Australia, and New Zealand are having issues as well.

That said, the civilization that defeats the USA and its British-descended allies will be defeated and collapse as well.

But the GOOD NEWS is that it will be replaced by the millennial Kingdom of God once Jesus returns.

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

When Will the Great Tribulation Begin? 2023, 2024, or 2025? Can the Great Tribulation begin today? What happens before the Great Tribulation in the “beginning of sorrows”? What happens in the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord? Is this the time of the Gentiles? When is the earliest that the Great Tribulation can begin? What is the Day of the Lord? Who are the 144,000? Here is a version of the article in the Spanish language: ¿Puede la Gran Tribulación comenzar en el 2020 o 2021? ¿Es el Tiempo de los Gentiles? A related video is: Great Tribulation: 2026 or 2027? A shorter video is: Can the Great Tribulation start in 2022 or 2023? Notice also: Can Jesus return in 2023 or 2024? Here is a video in the Spanish language: Es El 2021 el año  de La Gran Tribulación o el Grande Reseteo Financiero.
Is God Calling You? This booklet discusses topics including calling, election, and selection. If God is calling you, how will you respond? Here is are links to related sermons: Christian Election: Is God Calling YOU? and Predestination and Your Selection. A short animation is also available: Is God Calling You?
Christian Repentance Do you know what repentance is? Is it really necessary for salvation? Two related sermons about this are also available: Real Repentance and Real Christian Repentance.
Just What Do You Mean — Repentance? Do you know what repentance is? Have you truly repented? Repented of what? Herbert W. Armstrong wrote this as a booklet on this important subject.
When You Sin: Do You Really Repent? This is an article by Charles F. Hunting. A related sermon is Confess to God and truly repent.
Zephaniah’s ‘Gather Together’ Prophecy Is it safe to be ‘independent’ or in a non-Philadelphin Church of God? What did God inspire Zephaniah to write?
There is a Place of Safety for the Philadelphians. Why it May Be Petra This article discusses a biblical ‘place of safety’ and includes quotes from the Bible and Herbert W. Armstrong on this subject–thus, there is a biblically supported alternative to the rapture theory. There is also a video on the subject: Might Petra be the Place of Safety? Here is something related in the Spanish language: Hay un lugar de seguridad para los Filadelfinos. ¿Puede ser Petra?
Is There A Secret Rapture for the Church? When and Where is the Church Protected? What does the Bible really teach? Does the Church flee or is it taken up just prior to the great tribulation? Who really is left behind? There is also a YouTube video with information Did Jesus Teach a Pre-tribulation Rapture?
World War III: Steps in Progress Are there surprising actions going on now that are leading to WWIII? Might a nuclear attack be expected? Does the Bible promise protection to all or only some Christians? How can you be part of those that will be protected? A related video would be Is World War III About to Begin? Can You Escape?
Lost Tribes and Prophecies: What will happen to Australia, the British Isles, Canada, Europe, New Zealand and the United States of America? Where did those people come from? Can you totally rely on DNA? What about other peoples? Do you really know what will happen to Europe and the English-speaking peoples? What about Africa, Asia, South America, and the Islands? This free online book provides scriptural, scientific, historical references, and commentary to address those matters. Here are links to related sermons: Lost tribes, the Bible, and DNA; Lost tribes, prophecies, and identifications; 11 Tribes, 144,000, and Multitudes; Israel, Jeremiah, Tea Tephi, and British Royalty; Gentile European Beast; Royal Succession, Samaria, and Prophecies; Asia, Islands, Latin America, Africa, and Armageddon; and When Will the End of the Age Come?
The Gospel of the Kingdom of God This free online pdf booklet has answers many questions people have about the Gospel of the Kingdom of God and explains why it is the solution to the issues the world is facing. Here are links to four related sermons:  The Fantastic Gospel of the Kingdom of God!, The World’s False Gospel, The Gospel of the Kingdom: From the New and Old Testaments, and The Kingdom of God is the Solution.

COGwriter

Following last year’s lead of German Chancellor Olaf Scholtz (see Germany’s Olaf Scholtz wants Europe to develop joint air power and to reorganize), another German leader has called for reorganizing Europe into more of a dictatorial empire:

Germany says EU decisions should not be blocked by individual countries

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Wednesday that the European Union could no longer afford to have decisions blocked by individual member states.

“Qualified majority voting can lead to fairer…results for all of us,” Baerbock told a conference in Portugal’s capital Lisbon. “We must be capable of acting efficiently and swiftly.” https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/germany-says-eu-decisions-should-not-be-blocked-by-individual-countries-2023-01-04/

A reader sent me a link to the following written by a Hungarian last January:

A German-controlled Europe is coming

The idea of a German-dominated Europe is taking shape, columnist Péter G. Fehér writes in daily Magyar Hírlap

The essence of a federal Europe was perhaps articulated most strongly by Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the leader of the Polish ruling party.

“Germany is working to transform the EU into a federal German fourth empire. If we Poles agreed to such a modern-day surrender, we would actually be degraded,” he declared. Let us add that this applies not only to the Poles, but also to all other EU nations, including us Hungarians.

It is a utopian and dangerous idea — an attempt that will not hold the European Union together but will shatter it. However, more and more sober voices can be heard in the background of the creation of a German-dominated Europe. …

The new German government must now face the fact that, after the change of regime, Central Europe, which has its own sphere of interest, has achieved a position of economic interdependence to some degree with Germany. At least a third of the supply capacity of German industry is already in this region, a significant part of which is in Poland, which is the biggest part of the region, and a significant proportion is with us, Hungary. 01/17/22 https://rmx.news/germany/a-german-controlled-europe-is-coming/?fbclid=IwAR2Yqgf8zwUl_EOfbiQAz6ByWslzPp91F_OXyC7M_e2jF3TI8lWaD-bT_Sw

Well, Europe is already dominated by Germany and more and more are seeing that Germany has control of many aspects of the European Union.

And yes, more control is coming as Germany changes.

We in the CCOG expect a reorganization in Germany, as well as elsewhere in Europe, will result in a ‘Beast” power actually worse than Adolf Hitler.

We put together a video several years ago about what will happen once Europe unites under that Beast.

Boris Johnson, the former Mayor of London, stated that the European Union wanted to be what Adolf Hitler and Napoleon Bonaparte tried to create. Duncan Smith agreed. But European Council President Donald Tusk called Johnson’s comments absurd and then stated that the EU was the answer to the problems facing Europe. But what does the Bible teach about the future of Europe? Is European unity the answer or will it usher in something worse than Adolph Hitler? Dr. Thiel quotes Jesus and others in the Bible for those who truly want to know what will happen in a unified Europe.

Here is a link to our video: European Unity to be like Hitler?

To most at this time, Europe currently looks divided and unequal in various ways. Yet, the Bible prophesied that:

41 Whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; yet the strength of the iron shall be in it, just as you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay. 42 And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile. 43 As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay. (Daniel 2:41-43)

The Bible is showing that there will be unity problems within Europe–and we see that now. It will take a strong leader to make Europe’s coming, temporary unity stronger–but that is prophesied (cf. Revelation 17:13).

The old Radio and Worldwide Church of God published the following decades ago (bolding mine):

Watch the emergence of a strong man in West Germany (Hogberg G and Walter EM. NATO at the Crossroads. Plain Truth, May 1969)

The attempt to unify Europe as one economic, military and political power bloc restoring the “Holy Roman Empire,” has been the one aim of all the “great” men who dominated European history from Napoleon’s “Waterloo” until now. Mussolini, dominating Eritrea, Italian Somaliland, Libya, and conquering Ethiopia, did officially name his weak “Empire” the “Roman Empire.” But now the dream of a mighty, powerful, resurrected Roman Empire at last is becoming a hard-driving reality.

… nations of United Europe have succeeded in their aim far beyond the wildest dreams of the original signers of the Treaty of Rome. In far less time, at a far greater pace than anticipated, these nations of Europe have risen from the economic chaos of World War II to the dizzying heights of a standard of living never known to them before! With the present success well beyond the proportions of that expected three years ago, with a future success — in a world of peace — sure to produce a near — utopia, Western Europe is more concerned about war than any other economic and political entity on the face of this earth! “This is very probably the last year in which anyone except Europe will be able to negotiate with the Soviet Union for Europe!” (London Sunday Times). These nations are ENJOYING their economic recovery and they will let nothing stand in its way — they will stop at nothing to keep ‘What they have, and, GO ON TO MORE! SO it is that a blueprint has been drawn up by the Six, that demands meetings among themselves to decide the MILITARY AND FOREIGN POLICY questions that come up regarding Europe! …

“Fascism in Europe is about to be reborn in respectable business attire, and the Treaty of Rome will finally be implemented to its fullest extent.. the dream of a Holy Roman, Empire returning to power to dominate and direct the so-called forces of Christian mankind of the Western world is not dead, but still stalks through the antechambers of every national capital of continental Western Europe… IN THE DETERMINATION OF THE LEADERS IN THE COMMON MARKET NATIONS TO RESTORE THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE WITH ALL THAT THAT MEANS!” (Northwest Technocrat, Vol. XXV, No. 205.) United within the ancient boundaries of the Holy Roman Empire; united by the common spiritual bond of universal Catholicism; united in a burgeoning and booming industrial economy that dominates today’s world; united geographically in the most productive and industrial complex of all the earth — at least TEN NATIONS OF MODERN EUROPE WILL MARCH ONTO THE SCENE OF WORLD HISTORY AS THE GREATEST SINGLE HUMAN FORCE EVER SEEN BY MAN! (Hill DJ. What is Germany’s Destiny? Plain Truth, March 1962)

The prophecy of Daniel 11 details events — at that time, still future — from the remaining days of the Medo-Persian empire, through the reign of Alexander the Great and his successors in Syria and Egypt, and on through to the second coming of Christ! Beginning in verse 40 we read of a conflict between two great powers: “And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind….”

This is an important “end-time” prophecy. Following the chronological progression of the chapter, it becomes apparent that the phrase “king of the north” had at first referred to Syria under the Seleucid dynasty, and later, in the New Testament times, to the Emperor of the Roman Empire. … Thus, in its final end-time application, the “king of the north” is the prophesied strong man who will lead a coming union of ten European nations — the seventh and final revival of the ancient Roman Empire prophesied by Daniel and in the book of Revelation (see Revelation 17:12-13). … the “king of the north” of Daniel 11 — the leader of the German-led European union — will ultimately turn against the Arab “king of the south,” with disastrous consequences for the entire Middle East — both Jew and Arab alike. The entire region will be subjected to armed invasion! (Stump K. THE ARAB WORLD IN PROPHECY. Plain Truth, December 1979)

And the Bible?

The Bible clearly shows that a reorganization will come to Europe and power will be given to a dictator:

12 “The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast. 13 These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast. (Revelation 17:12-13)

(More on the reorganization is discussed in the article: Must the Ten Kings of Revelation 17:12 Rule over Ten Currently Existing Nations?)

The Bible shows that the European beast leader, also called the King of the North, will arise promising peace.

21 And in his place shall arise a vile person, to whom they will not give the honor of royalty; but he shall come in peaceably, and seize the kingdom by intrigue. 22 With the force of a flood they shall be swept away from before him and be broken, and also the prince of the covenant. 23 And after the league is made with him he shall act deceitfully, for he shall come up and become strong with a small number of people. (Daniel 11:21-23, NKJV)

25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand. (Daniel 8:25, KJV).

The map at the beginning of this post shows the territorial extent of the ancient Roman Empire. Notice that it controls all the land around the Mediterranean Sea. That is the “great sea” of Daniel 7:2 where a vision of various beasts is shown. The Bible shows that this European (cf. Daniel 9:26) Beast will again dominate the territories around the Mediterranean Sea (cf. Daniel 11:40-43).

To further prove this leader will be European, please watch the video: Can You Prove that the Beast to Come is European?

Prior to Daniel 11:39-43, the Bible shows that Europe will one day reorganize and support a dictatorial strongman. The Bible calls him the Beast of the Sea (Revelation 13:1-10) and the King of the North (Daniel 11:40).

What about the view of some Worldwide Church of God writers that this dictatorial leader will be German?

Well that is consistent with biblical prophecies in places like Isaiah 10:5-12 (see also Germany in Biblical Prophecy).

Furthermore, people are starting to notice that Europe is already being dominated by Germany (see also ‘Undemocratic’ European Union has become a German empire).

Now consider something else that the old Worldwide Church of God published in 1980:

Finally feeling the chilling embrace of Moscow, the German people may yet call for the Bavarian strongman — the one they feared in good times — to rescue them from their impending doom. (Hogberg G. WHERE Is WEST GERMANY Headed? Plain Truth, December 1980).

A Bavarian strongman would be someone from Bavaria in Germany. The one that Gene Hogberg had in mind back in 1980 (Franz Joseph Strauss) died. Yet, let me add that there is another Bavarian who I have kept my eye on who may one day rise up. His name is Karl-Theodor zu-Guttenberg (see Might German Baron Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg become the King of the North?).

Related to Baron Guttenberg, the Continuing Church of God (CCOG) put together the following video on our Bible News Prophecy YouTube channel:

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The Middle East, Prophecy, and Karl Theodor zu Guttenberg

Iran and Israel have been involved with various attacks and threats against each other. Does the Bible seem to prophesy that Iran and Syria will attack Israel? Will God always protect Israel? Will Israel’s ‘Iron Dome’ protect it? Is “great damage” prophesied to come to Jerusalem? What about damage to Syria’s capital Damascus? What was Isaiah inspired to write? Could a peace deal come after a regional conflict in the Middle East? Could Baron Karl-Theodor Maria Nikolaus Johann Jacob Philipp Franz Joseph Sylvester Freiherr von und zu Guttenberg (KT) be the “prince” of Daniel 9:26-27, who becomes the King of the North of Daniel 11? Was KT spurned, rejected, and passed over for advancement consistent with one rendering of Daniel 11:21? Does KT have the ancestral and religious background to be the “Great Monarch” of Greco-Roman Catholic prophecies? Does KT have the digital background to be able to be involved in the 666 controlling of buying and selling (Revelation 13:16-18)? Should you be watching the Middle East and Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg? Dr. Thiel answers these questions and more.

Here is a link to our video: The Middle East, Prophecy, and Karl Theodor zu Guttenberg.

Related to Germany taking steps, the Continuing Church of God (CCOG) put out the following video on our Bible News Prophecy YouTube channel a while back:

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10 German ‘New World Order’ Moves

Are German leaders serious about putting together a new world order that is dominated by Germany? At least ten statements made by Germany’s current Foreign Minister Heiko Maas point to this. Does Germany want Europe to have a military which is independent of the United States? Have German elites concluded that Germany is too small to have a sufficiently dominate influence in the world without European nations to align with it? Are steps being taken to dethrone the US dollar as the world’s primary reserve currency? Are statements by US President Donald Trump helping push Germany and Europe together? Is there an ‘Alliance for Multilateralism’? Is there any United Nations’ connection? Could a German-dominated Europe be the Beast of Bible prophecy? Does Isaiah 10 point to Germany being used by God against powers such as the United States? Dr. Thiel addresses these issues and more.

Here is a link to our video: 10 German ‘New World Order’ Moves.

When the time comes for the final Beast leader to arise, he will most likely be at least partially German, as all the leaders of the old Holy Roman Empire were as well.

We also made the following video:

Various leaders in German have pointed to a more unified, militaristic, and German-led Europe. After Russia’s ‘special military operation’ into Ukraine, Germany declared it would increase its military spending to the third highest level of any nation on the planet? German-Foreign-Policy.com reported that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz wants the European Union to play a powerful and more unified geopolitical role. Does what he is stating consistent with prophecies in the Book of Revelation about Europe reorganizing and turning power over to one called the Beast? Are some in Poland and Hungary (like Peter G. Feher) concerned about the domination of Europe by Germany? Is a European/German leader prophesied as the “King of the North” to make some type of a deal with a leader of nations in the Middle East and North Africa called the “King of the South”? Is that King of the North prophesied to have a great army and many ships? Could the Beast/King of the North be German? Did the old Worldwide Church of God warn back in 1980 that, in the future, the German people be concerned enough about Russia that it would call for a Bavarian strongman to lead them? Does the Bible point to such a leader rising promising peace? Steve Dupuie and Dr. Thiel address those issues.

Here is a link to our video: Germany wants to lead a united Europe.

Germans and other Europeans will get sufficiently frustrated with democracy (as well as will be deceived by various signs and lying wonders–2 Thessalonians 2:8-12) that they will support a dictatorial leader over Europe.

We are getting closer and closer to WWIII.

Some items of possibly related interest may also include:

Europa, the Beast, and Revelation Where did Europe get its name? What might Europe have to do with the Book of Revelation? What about “the Beast”? Is an emerging European power “the daughter of Babylon”? What is ahead for Europe? Here is a link to a video titled: Can You Prove that the Beast to Come is European?
European Technology and the Beast of Revelation Will the coming European Beast power would use and develop technology that will result in the taking over of the USA and its Anglo-Saxon allies? Is this possible? What does the Bible teach? Here is a related YouTube video: Military Technology and the Beast of Revelation.
Must the Ten Kings of Revelation 17:12 Rule over Ten Currently Existing Nations? Some claim that these passages refer to a gathering of 10 currently existing nations together, while one group teaches that this is referring to 11 nations getting together. Is that what Revelation 17:12-13 refers to? The ramifications of misunderstanding this are enormous. A related sermon is titled Ten Kings of Revelation and the Great Tribulation.
Germany’s Assyrian Roots Throughout History Are the Germanic peoples descended from Asshur of the Bible? Have there been real Christians in Germanic history? What about the “Holy Roman Empire”? There is also a You-Tube video sermon on this titled Germany’s Biblical Origins.
Germany in Biblical Prophecy Does Assyria in the Bible equate to an end time power inhabiting the area of the old Roman Empire? What does prophecy say Germany will do and what does it say will happen to most of the German people? Here are links to two sermon videos Germany in Bible Prophecy and The Rise of the Germanic Beast Power of Prophecy.
Might German Baron Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg become the King of the North? Is the former German Defense Minister (who is also the former German Minister for Economics and Technology) one to watch? What do Catholic, Byzantine, and biblical prophecies suggest? A video of related interest would be: Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg and Europe’s Future.
Anglo – America in Prophecy & the Lost Tribes of Israel Are the Americans, Canadians, English, Scottish, Welsh, Australians, Anglo-Saxon (non-Dutch) Southern Africans, and New Zealanders descendants of Joseph? Where are the lost ten-tribes of Israel? Who are the lost tribes of Israel? What will happen to Jerusalem and the Jews in Israel? Will God punish the U.S.A., Canada, United Kingdom, and other Anglo-Saxon nations? Why might God allow them to be punished first? Here is a link to the Spanish version of this article: Anglo-América & las Tribus Perdidas de Israel. Information is also in the YouTube sermons titled Where are the Ten Lost Tribes? Why does it matter? and British are the Covenant People. A short YouTube of prophetic interest may be: Are Chinese threats against Australia for real?
Will the Anglo-Saxon Nations be Divided and Have People Taken as Slaves? Will the lands of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand be divided? What about Jerusalem? What does Bible prophecy teach? Are there non-biblical prophecies that support this idea? Who will divide those lands? Who will end up with the lands and the people? Here is a link to a video titled Will the USA and other Anglo-nations be Divided and Their People Made Slaves? Here is a related item in the Spanish language ¿Serán divididas las naciones anglosajonas?
USA in Prophecy: The Strongest Fortresses Can you point to scriptures, like Daniel 11:39, that point to the USA in the 21st century? This article does. Two related sermon are available: Identifying the USA and its Destruction in Prophecy and Do these 7 prophesies point to the end of the USA?
Who is the King of the West? Why is there no Final End-Time King of the West in Bible Prophecy? Is the United States the King of the West? Here is a version in the Spanish language: ¿Quién es el Rey del Occidente? ¿Por qué no hay un Rey del Occidente en la profecía del tiempo del fin? A related sermon is also available: The Bible, the USA, and the King of the West.
Who is the King of the North? Is there one? Do biblical and Roman Catholic prophecies for the Great Monarch point to the same leader? Should he be followed? Who will be the King of the North discussed in Daniel 11? Is a nuclear attack prophesied to happen to the English-speaking peoples of the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand? When do the 1335 days, 1290 days, and 1260 days (the time, times, and half a time) of Daniel 12 begin? When does the Bible show that economic collapse will affect the United States? In the Spanish language check out ¿Quién es el Rey del Norte? Here are links to two related videos: The King of the North is Alive: What to Look Out For and The Future King of the North.
The Great Monarch: Biblical and Catholic Prophecies Is the ‘Great Monarch’ of Catholic prophecies endorsed or condemned by the Bible? Two sermons of related interest are also available: Great Monarch: Messiah or False Christ? and Great Monarch in 50+ Beast Prophecies.
Does God Have a 6,000 Year Plan? What Year Does the 6,000 Years End? Was a 6000 year time allowed for humans to rule followed by a literal thousand year reign of Christ on Earth taught by the early Christians? Does God have 7,000 year plan? What year may the six thousand years of human rule end? When will Jesus return? 2031 or 20xx? There is also a video titled 6000 Years: When will God’s Kingdom Come? Here is a link to the article in Spanish: ¿Tiene Dios un plan de 6,000 años?
The Times of the Gentiles Has there been more than one time of the Gentiles? Are we in it now or in the time of Anglo-America? What will the final time of the Gentiles be like? A related sermon is available and is titled: The Times of the Gentiles.
World War III: Steps in Progress Are there surprising actions going on now that are leading to WWIII? Might a nuclear attack be expected? Does the Bible promise protection to all or only some Christians? How can you be part of those that will be protected? A related video would be Is World War III About to Begin? Can You Escape?

Labarum Cross

COGwriter

Many people have pointed to various aspects of modern technology as being related to the ‘mark of the beast’ of Revelation. And while the final Beast power will utilize technology, could something as familiar as some type of a cross be a mark of the beast?

Several years ago, I saw a statue of Emperor Constantine’s mother Helena carrying a cross inside the Cathedral of Barcelona in Spain. Any connection?

Did you know that the “cross” became a military symbol after a sun-worshiping Emperor claimed to have a vision and a dream:

In 312, the Roman Emperor Constantine I the Great was in Trier, Germany where he had an unexpected vision of a cross that appeared in the sky…Constantine’s soldiers, the majority of whom were pagans, placed the sacred image of the cross on their shields (Mangan C.M. In This Sign You Conquer, 10/15/03 Copyright © 2004 Catholic Online).

He {Constantine} said that about noon, when the day was already beginning to decline, he saw with his own eyes the trophy of a cross of light in the heavens, above the sun, and bearing the inscription, Conquer by this…in his sleep the Christ of God appeared to him with the same sign which he had seen in the heavens, and commanded him to make a likeness of that sign which he had seen in the heavens, and to use it as a safeguard in all engagements with his enemies….At dawn of day he arose, and communicated the marvel to his friends: and then, calling together the workers in gold and precious stones, he sat in the midst of them, and described to them the figure of the sign he had seen, bidding them represent it in gold and precious stones…

Now it was made in the following manner. A long spear, overlaid with gold, formed the figure of the cross by means of a transverse bar laid over it. On the top of the whole was fixed a wreath of gold and precious stones; and within this, the symbol of the Saviour’s name, two letters indicating the name of Christ by means of its initial characters, the letter P being intersected by X in its centre…

The emperor constantly made use of this sign of salvation as a safeguard against every adverse and hostile power, and commanded that others similar to it should be carried at the head of all his armies. (Eusebius. The Life of Constantine, Book I, Chapters 28,30,31).

This type of cross is known as a labarum:

The Labarum (☧) was a vexillum (military standard) that displayed the first two Greek letters of the word “Christ” (Greek: ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ, or Χριστός) — Chi (χ) and Rho (ρ).It was first used by the Roman emperor Constantine I…

Though modern representations of the chi-rho sign represent the two lines crossing at ninety degree angles, the early examples of the Chi-Rho cross at an angle that is more vividly representative of the chi formed by the solar ecliptic path and the celestial equator. This image is most familiar in Plato’s Timaeus…Of Plato’s image in Timaeus, Justin Martyr, the Christian apologist writing in the second century, found a prefiguration of the Cross (Labarum. Wikipedia, viewed 03/04/09).

So, the Chi-Rho existed from at least the time of Plato (a pagan philosopher), but was adopted by Constantine centuries after Christ died. The heretic Justin was probably one who originally encouraged its adoption, and he apparently got it from Plato. Constantine’s mother Helena later claimed to find a piece of Jesus’ ‘cross’ and this helped popularize interest in crosses in the empire.

As far as the end times go, there is a Catholic writer who indicated that the image or perhaps mark of the beast may be something that resembles that Constantinian cross:

Priest P. Huchedé (19th century): Antichrist will further make all men, great and small, rich and poor, freemen and bondmen, bear a sign on their right arm or their forehead. (Apoc. 13:16). What this sign shall be time alone will reveal. Yet there are some {Catholic} commentators of the Holt Writ, who, according to a special revelation pretend to say that it shall be formed out of the Greek letters X and P, interlaced…which resembles the number of Christ. (Cornelius a Lapide in Epis. 2 to Thes.). No one can either buy or sell without this mark, as specified in the Apocalypse (13:17). (Huchedé, P. Translated by JBD. History of Antichrist. Imprimatur: Edward Charles Fabre, Bishop of Montreal. English edition 1884, Reprint 1976. TAN Books, Rockford (IL), p. 24).

Countess Francesca de Billiante (died 1935): Many in this land will carry the hooked cross on their forehead and their breast, not suspecting that this is a sign of Satan. (Culleton, G. The Prophets and Our Times. Nihil Obstat: L. Arvin. Imprimatur: Philip G. Scher, Bishop of Monterey-Fresno, November 15, 1941. Reprint 1974, TAN Books, Rockford (IL), p. 226).

If the cross is a symbol of the future Antichrist/Beast power as Priest P. Huchedé indicates it will be (and it is in a book with an official imprimatur), perhaps those who come from faiths descended from Emperor Constantine should be concerned about their religion now–before it becomes even further removed from the original faith. The Bible indicates that the true Christians will NOT have the symbol/mark needed to buy or sell when the two beasts of Revelation 13 are in power, but only those that will follow those beasts will (Revelation 13:16-17)–and while crosses may not necessarily be required everywhere, other Catholic writings suggest that in certain places, they will be.

Although all real scholars admit that the original Christians would not kill or intentionally participate in military service, after Emperor Constantine claimed to see a spear in the sky with a traverse bar (see Constantine is Why “Christians” War), the group that accepted his authority then allowed him to convene what is known as the Council of Nicea in 325. A.D.

Astoundingly to some, there are writings that indicate that those who wear crosses will be persecutors:

St. Francis de Paul (1470): … From your lordship shall be born the great leader of the holy militia … These devout men shall wear on their breasts, and much more in their hearts, the sign of the living God, namely the cross…members of this holy order…

… the Great Monarch … He shall be a great captain and prince of holy men, who shall be called ‘the holy Cross-bearers of Jesus Christ,’ with whom he will destroy the Mahometan sect and the rest of the infidels. He shall annihilate all the heresies and tyrannies of the world. He shall reform the Church of God by means of his followers, who shall be the best men upon the earth in holiness, in arms, in science, and in every virtue … They shall obtain dominion over the whole world, both temporal and spiritual…

God Almighty will exalt a very poor man of the blood of Emperor Constantine…who shall on his breast wear a sign which you have seen at the beginning of this letter (a red Cross) … He will gather a grand army, and the angels shall fight for them…

This religious order shall be the last and best in the Church: it shall proceed with arms…Woe to tyrants, to heretics, and to infidels to whom no pity will be shown…An infinite number of wicked men shall perish through the hands of the Cross-bearers…most holy Crossbearers elected by the Most High, who, not succeeding in converting heretics with science, shall make vigorous use of their arms … These holy Cross-bearers shall reign and dominate holily over the whole world until the end of time…

But when shall this take place? When crosses with the stigmas shall be seen, and the crucifix shall be carried as the standard. The time is coming when the Divine Majesty will visit the world with a new religious order of holy Cross-bearers, who will carry a crucifix, or the image of our crucified Lord, lifted up upon the principal standard in view of all. This standard will be admired by all good Catholics; but at the beginning it will be derided by bad Christians and by infidels…You shall destroy the sect of the Mahomet, and all infidels of every sect. You shall put an end to all the heresies of the world …

He shall be the great founder of a new religious order different from all the others…This shall be the last religious order in the Church and shall do more good for our holy religion than all other religious institutes. By force of arms he shall take possession of a great kingdom. He shall destroy the sect of Mahomet … There will be one fold, one shepherd. He shall reign until the end of time. On the whole earth there will be twelve kings, one emperor and one pope. (Culleton, p. 157-161).

St. Bridget of Sweden (died 1373): … war shall end when an emperor of Spanish origin will be elected, who will, in a wonderful manner, be victorious through the sign of the Cross. He shall destroy the Jewish and Mahometan sects… (Culleton, The Prophets and Our Times , p. 154).

Anne Catherine Emmerich (October, 1820): citizens and peasants, many of whom were marked on the forehead with a red cross. As this army drew near, the captives and oppressed were delivered and swelled the ranks whilst the demolishers and conspirators were put to flight on all sides (Emmerich AC. The Life of Lord Jesus Christ and Biblical Revelations. Schmöger edition, Vol. IV. Nihil Obstat: D. Jaegher, 14 Februari 1914. Imprimatur: A.C. De Schrevel, Brugis, 14 Februari 1914. Reprint TAN Books, Rockford (IL), 2004, pp. 290-291).

The following is apparently from the work History of Armenia by Chamich and is from a 1054-1058 A.D. letter written by Gregory Magistros against the Manichaeans (note I have left out additions by the editor/translator F. Conybeare):

… they represent our worship of God as worship of idol. As if we, who honour the sign of the cross and the holy pictures, were still engaged in worshiping devils (Conybeare F.C. Addend ix III in: The Key of Truth: A Manual of the Paulician Church of Armenia. Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1898, p. 149).

In Italy, and elsewhere, others (whether truly faithful Christians or not is unclear) objected to crosses:

About the year 1040, the Paterines had become very numerous at Milan, which was their principal residence, and here they flourished at least two hundred years. They…they rejected not only Jerome of Syria, Augustine of Africa, and Gregory of Rome, but Ambrose of Milan ; considering them, and other pretended fathers, as corrupters of Christianity … They called [the adoration of] the cross the mark of the beast (Jones W. The history of the Christian church from the birth of Christ to the xviii. century, Volumes 1-2, 3rd edition. R.W. Pomeroy, 1832. Original from Harvard University, Digitized, Feb 6, 2009, p. 289).

…the Cathari also renounced priestly vestments, altars, and crosses as idolatrous. They called the cross the mark of the beast, and declared it had no more virtue than a ribbon for binding the hair (Schaff, Philip, History of the Christian Church, Chapter X).

It is of historical interest to note the following doctrinal admissions in the article on the Paulicians in The Catholic Encyclopedia (bolding mine):

They honoured not the Cross, but only the book of the Gospel…Since Gibbon the Paulicians have often been described as a survival of early and pure Christianity, godly folk who clung to the Gospel, rejecting later superstitions, who were grossly calumniated by their opponents…

History records that crosses were used centuries before Jesus was born. For one example, the British Museum holds an Assyrian statue of King Samsi-Vul, son of Shalmaneser, wearing a cross around his neck (more on Assyria can be found in the articles Germany’s Assyrian Roots Throughout History and Germany in Biblical and Catholic Prophecy). German and other soldiers in the Crusades wore crosses.

Interestingly, Sir Isaac Newton claimed the mark of the Beast was three small crosses:

His mark is ✠✠✠ and his name ΛATEINOΣ, and the number of his name 666. (Newton I., 1733, as published later as: Sir Isaac Newton’s Daniel and the Apocalypse with an introductory study of the nature and the cause of unbelief, of miracles and prophecy, by Sir William Whitla; 1922; Murray, London, pp. 326-327)

His mark is † † †, and his name ΛΑΤΕΙΝΟΣ, and the number of his name, 666. (Sir Isaac Newton :: Chapter 3. Of the relation which the Prophecy of John hath to those of Daniel; and of the Subject of Prophecy.)

(Note the Greek ΛATEINOΣ transliterated into our alphabet is Lateinos.)

Notice what one claimed to be “Mary” allegedly stated in an apparition in Pfaffenhofen, Germany on June 25, 1946:

I am the great Mediatrix of Grace. The Father wants the world to recognize His handmaid…My sign is about to appear. God wills it…I cannot reveal my power to the world as yet…Then I will be able to reveal myself…Chose a sign for yourself so that the Trinity may soon be adored by all! Pray and sacrifice through me!…I will impose crosses on my children that will be as heavy and as deep as the sea because I love them in my sacrificed Son. I pray, be prepared to bear the cross in order that the Trinity may be honored (Culleton, Reign of Antichrist, pp. 217-218).

Real Christians would not pray and sacrifice through Mary.

In 1958, Matous Losuta of Czechoslovakia claimed that “Mary” stated:

All my children will receive and carry the sign of the cross on their foreheads (Flynn, Ted & Flynn, Maureen. Thunder of Justice: The Warning, the Miracle, the Chastisement, the Era of Peace. Signs of the Times Illustrated by Kaleidoscope Graphics Staff Contributor Malachi Martin Published by Maxkol Communications, 1992, p. 331).

But this is not something that the Bible advocates. (More on Mary can be found in the article Mary, the Mother of Jesus and the Apparitions.)

Thus, according to various Catholic mystics and writers, those that follow a persecuting power will wear some type of cross. And according to at least one Catholic priest, it is similar to the type of cross that Emperor Constantine used, and according to that same priest, it may be an important symbol for the beasts of Revelation 13 and their followers.

There is another cross that has been promoted that people should have concerns about. It is called the ‘Ecumenical Cross’.

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Beware of the ‘Ecumenical Cross’

‘The Catholic Encyclopedia’ reported that in the first millennium of the Christian era, there were those who considered that the ‘cross’ would be the ‘mark of the beast.’ Is this too far-fetched to be possible now? As it turns out, in the 21st century, the World Council of Churches, the Vatican, and the Lutherans have embraced the ‘Lund Cross,’ also known as the Salvadoran cross, for purposes of ecumenical unity. Furthermore, writings by various Catholic saints and some claiming to see Marian apparitions have pointed to a group, in the end times, that will wear some type of cross to persecute those that do not. Is the cross an original symbol that early Christians venerated? Could a cross be ‘a’ or ‘the’ mark of the beast or the mark of the final Antichrist? Dr. Thiel addresses these as well as other aspects of the ecumenical agenda.

Here is a link to our video: Beware of the ‘Ecumenical Cross.’

Crosses look to be something that will be used to get various ones together–and this will please the coming Beast of Revelation.

UPDATE 01/08/23: We just uploaded the following related video:

15:01

Cross: A Mark of the Beast?

What does the Bible warn about taking “the mark of the beast”? Could technology be involved? Could a type of cross be involved? Was the cross an early Christian symbol? If not, when did it gain acceptance? Did Emperor Constantine and his mother Helena play a major role in the adoption of the cross? Does the Bible teach Jesus was killed on a cross? Do any Roman Catholic seers warn that the Chi-Rho or hooked cross could be the mark of the beast? Did faithful Christians during the Middle Ages declare that the cross was the mark of the Beast? Are cross-bearers associated with the Great Monarch and/or the Roman Catholic Church expected to persecute those that do not wear crosses? Are some persecutors expected to have crosses on their foreheads according to the late nun Anne Catherine Emmerich? Did the Paulicians, Cathari, and Isaac Newton warn about the cross being the mark of the beast? Are there any European government leaders promoting crosses for secular, military, and/or political purposes? What about the rise of the ‘ecumenical cross’? Why should Christians avoid the mark of the beast according to scripture? Steve Dupuie and Dr. Thiel address these matters.

Here is a link to our video: Cross: A Mark of the Beast?

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

What is the Origin of the Cross as a ‘Christian’ Symbol? Was the cross used as a venerated symbol by the early Church? A related YouTube video would be Origin of the Cross.
Do You Practice Mithraism? Many practices and doctrines that mainstream so-called Christian groups have are the same or similar to those of the sun-god Mithras. December 25th was celebrated as his birthday. Do you follow Mithraism combined with the Bible or original Christianity? A sermon video from Vatican City is titled Church of Rome, Mithras, and Isis?
Why Should American Catholics Fear Unity with the Orthodox? Are the current ecumenical meetings a good thing or will they result in disaster? Is doctrinal compromise good? Here is a link to a related video Should you be concerned about the ecumenical movement?
Will the Interfaith Movement Lead to Peace or Sudden Destruction? Is the interfaith movement going to lead to lasting peace or is it warned against? A video sermon of related interest is: Will the Interfaith Movement lead to World War III? and a video sermon is also available: Do You Know That Babylon is Forming?
Ecumenism and the ride of the White Horse of the Apocalypse Instead of a celebration of a separation from Rome, many celebrated the 500 anniversary of Martin Luther’s 95 theses as an ecumenical time to come together. Vatican, Eastern Orthodox, and and Protestant leaders made positive comments about the 500th anniversary. When does the Bible teach Christian unity is to come about? Is the ecumenical movement good or, instead consistent with something that Jesus warned about? Are Christians to come out of spiritual Babylon and be separate? Has the first seal of Revelation 6, related to the rider on the white horse of the Apocalypse, begun? Had it began before the 21st century? Are there several events that show that this seal may have been opened in September 2009? Or have we at least seen signs consistent with the ride of the white horse of religious deception and ecumenism since that time? What does the Catechism of the Catholic Church teach about other religions like Islam? What does it teach about the final Antichrist? Is the rider of the white horse either the final Antichrist or doing work consistent with the final Antichrist? This is a video.
Laudato Si: Pope’s Agenda or Kingdom of God? Pope Francis’ 2nd encyclical is titled ‘Laudato Si.’ In it, he goes over his views related to environmental, economic, social, moral, agricultural, and spiritual issues. He advocates international cooperation to solve various problems he believes are affecting humanity. Is that Pope’s agenda the solution? What about the Kingdom of God? does the Bible teach? Two related articles include Laudato Si: Will Pope Francis’ economic actions match his words? and Laudato Si: A call for a one-world government?
Satan’s Plan Does Satan have a plan? What is it? Has it already been successful? Will it be successful in the future? Here are links to a two-part sermon series: What are Some of the Parts of Satan’s Plan? and Satan’s Plan is More Dramatic than Many Realize.
What Did the Early Church Teach About Idols and Icons? Did Catholic and Orthodox “saints” endorse or condemn idols and icons for Christians? A related sermon is available: The Second Commandment, Idols, and Icons.
The Mark of Antichrist What is the mark of Antichrist? What have various ones claimed? Here is a link to a related sermon What is the ‘Mark of Antichrist’?
Mark of the Beast What is the mark of the Beast? Who is the Beast? What have various ones claimed the mark is? What is the ‘Mark of the Beast’?
Beliefs of the Original Catholic Church: Could a remnant group have continuing apostolic succession? Did the original “catholic church” have doctrines held by the Continuing Church of God? Did Church of God leaders uses the term “catholic church” to ever describe the church they were part of? Here are links to related sermons: Original Catholic Church of God?, Original Catholic Doctrine: Creed, Liturgy, Baptism, Passover, What Type of Catholic was Polycarp of Smyrna?, Tradition, Holy Days, Salvation, Dress, & Celibacy, Early Heresies and Heretics, Doctrines: 3 Days, Abortion, Ecumenism, Meats, Tithes, Crosses, Destiny, and more, Saturday or Sunday?, The Godhead, Apostolic Laying on of Hands Succession, Church in the Wilderness Apostolic Succession List, Holy Mother Church and Heresies, and Lying Wonders and Original Beliefs. Here is a link to that book in the Spanish language: Creencias de la iglesia Católica original.
Hope of Salvation: How the Continuing Church of God Differs from Protestantism The CCOG is NOT Protestant. This free online book explains how the real Church of God differs from mainstream/traditional Protestants. Several sermons related to the free book are also available: Protestant, Baptist, and CCOG History; The First Protestant, God’s Command, Grace, & Character; The New Testament, Martin Luther, and the Canon; Eucharist, Passover, and Easter; Views of Jews, Lost Tribes, Warfare, & Baptism; Scripture vs. Tradition, Sabbath vs. Sunday; Church Services, Sunday, Heaven, and God’s Plan; Seventh Day Baptists/Adventists/Messianics: Protestant or COG?; Millennial Kingdom of God and God’s Plan of Salvation; Crosses, Trees, Tithes, and Unclean Meats; The Godhead and the Trinity; Fleeing or Rapture?; and Ecumenism, Rome, and CCOG Differences.
Who is the Man of Sin of 2 Thessalonians 2? Is this the King of the North, the ten-horned beast of Revelation 13:1-11, or the two-horned Beast of Revelation 13:12-16? Some rely on traditions, but what does the Bible teach? Here is a related link in Spanish/español: ¿Quién es el Hombre de Pecado de 2 Tesalonicenses 2? Here is a version in Mandarin: N;ÿ Œ
f/’Y’jNº’ÿ Here is a link to a related English sermon video titled: The Man of Sin will deceive most ‘Christians’.
Some Doctrines of Antichrist Are there any doctrines taught outside the Churches of God which can be considered as doctrines of antichrist? This article suggests at least three. It also provides information on 666 and the identity of “the false prophet.” Plus it shows that several Catholic writers seem to warn about an ecumenical antipope that will support heresy. You can also watch a video titled What Does the Bible teach about the Antichrist?

Record 13.3% UK food inflation raises fears of ‘another difficult year’ https://t.co/Dv55JV248b #Freshtalk #FoodInflation pic.twitter.com/aV8XKHtZtZ

— Fresh Produce Consortium (FPC) (@fpcfreshtalk) January 4, 2023

COGwriter

We are seeing many reports related to food shortages, food insecurity and food price inflation.

Here is a report from Time related to the UK:

Food inflation in U.K. stores jumped to a record high last month with retailers warning of another year of elevated prices.

The British Retail Consortium said Wednesday that food inflation accelerated to 13.3% in December, from 12.4% the previous month, reaching an all-time high for the index, which started in 2005. …

“2023 will be another difficult year for consumers and businesses as inflation shows no immediate signs of waning,” said BRC Chief Executive Officer Helen Dickinson. She cited ongoing pressures from the war in Ukraine pushing up the cost of animal feed, fertilizer and energy.

The cost of fresh food rose 15% from a year earlier, also a record high for the BRC, up from 14.3% in November. https://time.com/6244408/uk-food-inflation-record-high/

How bad might it get for the UK? The old Worldwide Church of God published the following:

The black horseman’s future ride will reduce the proud faces of white America, Europe, and the British Common wealth into the blackened skin of starvation such as now afflicts the vast majority of mankind. (Alexander G. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Ambassador College Press, Pasadena (CA), 1973, p. 31)

And, of course, the UK is not the only area of the world facing food price inflation.

All News Pipeline posted the following:

Experts Warn ‘Major Food Security Threat’ In 2023 With 4th Generation Farmer Insists It Will Be ‘Worse Than’ 2022 – Food Prices Will Never Go Back To What They Were In 2020

January 2, 2023 …

2023 is not going to be all rainbows and flowers for America.

We are warned that food inflation is still getting worse, with a farmer from TN asserting there will be a “major food security threat,” in 2023, as we see predictions of food shortages that are expected, some the same as we have seen and some new shortages expected, as prices are also expected to continue to rise, while overall (not just food) inflation is touted as going down.

WARNINGS OF FOOD INFLATION IN 2023

In 2022 we saw food prices spike in a manner not seen in decades, with eggs rising 43 percent from October 2021 to October 2022. That is on top of the prices increases from 2020 to 2021.

In 2023, we will be seeing the affects of the nightmare scenarios that farmers were forced to deal with in 2022, specifically their costs for fertilizer, and the drought conditions towards the west, and to a lesser degree throughout the country.

The USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture), states clearly on their website that “Food Price Inflation Pressures to Continue in 2023.” …

Reuters reports that “Food inflation is set to spill over into 2023.”

Key points:

• Drought, too much rain, war and energy costs look set to curb global farm production again next year.

• Rice and wheat stores likely won’t be replenished in the first half of 2023.

• Edible oil supplies are down because of adverse weather in Latin America and Southeast Asia.

• Flooding in Australia and severe drought in Argentina will shrink key wheat harvests and availability in coming months.

• And a lack of rainfall in the U.S. Plains could dent supplies for the second half of the year.

• Rice prices are expected to remain high because of duties imposed by main exporter India. …

At the same time the majority of the MSM, along with the Biden regime keeps insisting things are getting better, while they highlight a slight lessening of overall inflation, ignoring the unprecedented continued rise in food costs across the board.

Now ask yourself:  “Self, have I ever seen food prices go down?”  …

One thing to keep in mind for 2023, is that everything that happened to the food supply chain in 2022, will be felt this year, as crops produce less, bird flu (chicken and eggs), plant viruses (lettuce) and the destruction of an unprecedented amount of food plants and processing facilities. …

BOTTOM LINE

Between food inflation, shrinkflation, energy costs and shortages, 2023 will, unfortunately, be worse due to the crises that hit the food supply chain, the Russia/Ukraine war, crop damages, avian flu, and the destruction of food processing plants in 2022. …

Stay safe and stay prepared. https://allnewspipeline.com/2023_Major_Food_Security_Threat.php

Here is another pessimistic report:

The Food Crisis Of 2023 Is Going To Be Far Worse Than Most People Would Dare To Imagine

The global food crisis just continues to intensify, and things are going to get really bad in 2023.  As you will see below, two-thirds of European fertilizer production has already been shut down, currency problems are causing massive headaches for poor nations that need to import food, global weather patterns continue to be completely crazy, and the bird flu is killing millions upon millions of chickens and turkeys all over the planet.  On top of everything else, the war in Ukraine is going to restrict the flow of agricultural and fertilizer exports from that part of the world for a long time to come, because there is no end to the war in sight.  In essence, we are facing a “perfect storm” for global food production, and that “perfect storm” is only going to get worse in the months ahead.

Global hunger has been on the rise for years, and the UN World Food Program is warning that we are heading for “yet another year of record hunger”…

“Haiti is facing a humanitarian catastrophe,” a top UN official said.

But most people in the western world won’t care until they are going hungry themselves.

Unfortunately, that day may be a lot closer than a lot of people ever imagined.

Right now, a whopping two-thirds of all fertilizer production capacity in Europe has already been shut down because of the skyrocketing price of natural gas …

the Federal Reserve is actually making the global food crisis worse by hiking rates.

But they are going to keep doing it anyway.

At the same time, global weather patterns continue to go completely haywire. 10/16/22 http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/the-food-crisis-of-2023-is-going-to-be-far-worse-than-most-people-would-dare-to-imagine/

Droughts, floods, rising fertilizer costs, rising energy costs, governments printing up money (and various other governmental policies), Russia’s ‘special military operation’ into Ukraine, etc. are all current factors.

Jesus, in both the 24th chapter of Matthew and the Book of Revelation in chapter 6, lists a sequence of events including war, famine, and pestilences.

Here is some of what Jesus said:

6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows. (Matthew 24:6-8)

Famines and civil unrest, such as what Michael Snyder predicted for 2023 are consistent with Jesus’ words.

That being said, we are getting to the end of the 6,000 years that God has allowed humans to rule themselves, which will soon be followed by the 1,000-year reign of Christ. Pray for Jesus to return and God’s Kingdom to come (Matthew 6:10).

Notice that the ride of third horseman of the Apocalypse results in scarcity, inflation, and famine. Revelation 6:5-6 indicates that there will be food, but that it will be quite expensive (food-price inflation).

5 When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come and see.” So I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. 6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine.” (Revelation 6:5-6)

Some will thus die as they will not be able to afford it, while others will survive but struggle.

Related to some food matters, the Continuing Church of God put together the following video on our Bible News Prophecy YouTube channel:

16:00

Russia, Ukraine, Food, & the Ride of the 3rd Horseman of the Apocalypse

Did you know that the sanctioned lands of Russia and Belarus are dominant suppliers of ingredients used in modern fertilizers? Are you aware that the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that 33% of the farmland in Ukraine may not be planted and/or harvested because of Russia’s ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine? Are parts of the world like Sudan, Lebanon, and the USA experiencing food price inflation? What about impact on the Palestinians in Gaza? Could any of this help lead to the rise of the King of the South? What are some factors that look to increase rice prices? Did Jesus warn of wars and troubles? What are three foods that Ukraine exports that are associated with the shortages and food price inflation of the ride of the third horseman of the Apocalypse? What does Jesus say His followers should do? Dr. Thiel addresses these matters in this video.

Here is a link to the video: Russia, Ukraine, Food, & the Ride of the 3rd Horseman of the Apocalypse.

Expect more food inflation. And yes, there will be famines as well.

Yes, it is also wise to take physical steps:

6 Go to the ant, you sluggard!
Consider her ways and be wise,
7 Which, having no captain,
Overseer or ruler,
8 Provides her supplies in the summer,
And gathers her food in the harvest.
9 How long will you slumber, O sluggard?
When will you rise from your sleep?
10 A little sleep, a little slumber,
A little folding of the hands to sleep —
11 So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler,
And your need like an armed man. (Proverbs 6:6-11).

All who can afford it should, just for emergencies, have a week or two worth of food and water in case of emergencies and supply cutoffs. God’s statement about ants is intended to tell us to take proper physical steps.

As far as horsemen go, the Continuing Church of God put together the following video on our Bible News Prophecy YouTube channel:

24:08

These Signs of the 4 Horsemen Have Begun

Are we at the time of the ride of at least some of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse? If so, are many prophecy watchers missing signs associated with them? History shows that authoritarian totalitarian regimes tend to arise after famines and/or pestilences. Those are events associated with three of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse. Could the beginning of sorrows, and the associated ride of the first horseman of false ecumenical religion, have started in the Fall of 2009? What is the significance of this rider having a bow? Is Satan the prince of the power of the air? Did Dr. Thiel warn of a prophetic threat of a “novel” coronavirus back in 2013? Could COVID-19 been related to the taking away the peace from the earth that is associated with the ride of the red horse, the second horsemen of war? What are some of the ramifications of the Russia-Ukraine military conflict and the opening of the second seal? Was Amos inspired to write that God does nothing without revealing it to his servants the prophets? Who warned of these matters? The ride of the third horse, the black horse of famine and food price inflation–specifically wheat, barley, edible oils, and wine. Since Ukraine is a major exporter of the first three, could this, as well as fertilizer shortages, have anything to do with the ride of that horseman? The pale horse of the fourth seal mentions one-quarter of humankind being subject to being killed by the sword, hunger, and pestilence–will this be a factor in the rise of the Beast of Revelation 13? Is persecution associated with the start of the Great tribulation and the rise of the Beast? Why is the Beast going to be in charge of a European-based empire? Will the opening of the first four seals and the starts of the rides of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse get Europe to reorganize such as is prophesied in Revelation 17:12-13? What does Jesus say you should do? Dr. Thiel addresses these matters and more in this video.

Here is a link to our video: These Signs of the 4 Horsemen Have Begun.

Related mainly to food issues, we also put together the following related video:

14:44

3rd Horseman of the Apocalypse and Food

There are reports about food price inflation around the world. While it is worsening in many areas, some believe it will improve in 2023. Instead, could prices continue to rise in 2023 and get much worse in 2024 and thereafter? What are the causes of food price inflation? Is there any connection between weather, government policies, fertilizer prices, energy costs, economic sanctions and food price inflation? What are we seeing in reports from the United Kingdom, Hungary, and South Africa? What about impacts from Russia’s ‘special military operation’ into Ukraine? Could EU and/or USA policies be effecting any of this? Is the ‘black horse’ the one associated with famine, food shortages, and food price inflation in the Book of Revelation? Are there any physical lessons we can learn from ants according to the Book of Proverbs? What are some spiritual steps we should take according to Jesus? Dr. Thiel and Steve Dupuie address these matters and more.

Here is a link to our video: 3rd Horseman of the Apocalypse and Food.

Remember that Jesus said:

34 “But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. 35 For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36 Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.” (Luke 21:34-36)

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

Is God Calling You? This booklet discusses topics including calling, election, and selection. If God is calling you, how will you respond? Here is are links to related sermons: Christian Election: Is God Calling YOU? and Predestination and Your Selection; here is a message in Spanish: Me Está Llamando Dios Hoy? A short animation is also available: Is God Calling You?
Christian Repentance Do you know what repentance is? Is it really necessary for salvation? Two related sermons about this are also available: Real Repentance and Real Christian Repentance.
There is a Place of Safety for the Philadelphians. Why it May Be Near Petra This article discusses a biblical ‘place of safety,’ Zephaniah 2 to ‘gather together,’ and includes quotes from the Bible and Herbert W. Armstrong on fleeing to a place–thus, there is a biblically supported alternative to the rapture theory. Two sermon-length videos of related interest are available Physical Protection During the Great Tribulation and Might Petra be the Place of Safety?  Here is something related in the Spanish language: Hay un lugar de seguridad para los Filadelfinos. ¿Puede ser Petra?
Physical Preparation Scriptures for Christians. We all know the Bible prophecies famines. Should we do something? Here is a version in the Spanish language Escrituras sobre Preparación física para los Cristianos. Here is a link to a related sermon: Physical preparedness for Christians.
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse What do each of the four horseman of the Apocalypse represent? Have they began their ride? Did Jesus discuss the any of this? Might their rides coincide with the “beginning of sorrows? Do they start their ride prior to the Great Tribulation? Did Nostradamus or any other ‘private prophets’ write predictions that may mislead people so that they may not understand the truth of one or more of the four horseman? There is also a related YouTube video titled Sorrows and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
Fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse What is the pale horse of death and pestilences? What will it bring and when? Here is a link to a related sermon: Fourth Horseman, COVID, and the Rise of the Beast of Revelation. Some shorter related videos may include Amphibian Apocalypse: Threat to Humans? and Zombie Deer Disease is Here! Are the 10 Plagues on Egypt Coming? Here is a version of the article in Spanish: El cuarto jinete de Apocalipsis, el caballo pálido de muerte y pestilencia.
Weather Blessings and Sorrows Are weather problems a warning? What should be done? What does the Bible teach about weather? What about floods, droughts, heat, earthquakes, tornadoes, and solar storms? Here is a related YouTube video Does God Use Weather? A related item in the Spanish language would be Bendiciones y maldiciones del clima.
Did The Early Church Teach Millenarianism? Was the millennium (sometimes called chiliasm) taught by early Christians? Who condemned it? Will Jesus literally reign for 1000 years on the earth? Is this time near? Three related sermons are available Let’s Talk About the Earthly Millennium, Millennial Utopia, and The Millennium.
Does God Have a 6,000 Year Plan? What Year Does the 6,000 Years End? Was a 6000 year time allowed for humans to rule followed by a literal thousand year reign of Christ on Earth taught by the early Christians? Does God have 7,000 year plan? What year may the six thousand years of human rule end? When will Jesus return? 2031 or 20xx? There is also a video titled 6000 Years: When will God’s Kingdom Come? Here is a link to the article in Spanish: ¿Tiene Dios un plan de 6,000 años?
When Will the Great Tribulation Begin? 2023, 2024, or 2025? Can the Great Tribulation begin today? What happens before the Great Tribulation in the “beginning of sorrows”? What happens in the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord? Is this the time of the Gentiles? When is the earliest that the Great Tribulation can begin? What is the Day of the Lord? Who are the 144,000? Here is a version of the article in the Spanish language: ¿Puede la Gran Tribulación comenzar en el 2020 o 2021? ¿Es el Tiempo de los Gentiles? A related video is: Great Tribulation: 2026 or 2027? A shorter video is: Can the Great Tribulation start in 2022 or 2023? Notice also: Can Jesus return in 2023 or 2024? Here is a video in the Spanish language: Es El 2021 el año  de La Gran Tribulación o el Grande Reseteo Financiero.
The Gospel of the Kingdom of God This free online pdf booklet has answers many questions people have about the Gospel of the Kingdom of God and explains why it is the solution to the issues the world is facing. Here are links to four related sermons:  The Fantastic Gospel of the Kingdom of God!, The World’s False Gospel, The Gospel of the Kingdom: From the New and Old Testaments, and The Kingdom of God is the Solution.

Jewish Passover Lamb Sacrifice (מפוכח)

COGwriter

Israel’s new National Security Minister Ben Gvir visited the ‘Temple Mount’ and this is drawing international condemnation:

January 4, 2023

The United Arab Emirates and China have asked the U.N. Security Council to meet publicly, likely on Thursday, over recent developments at Al Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem, diplomats said on Tuesday.

Israel’s new … national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir briefly visited Al Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem on Tuesday, a site also revered by Jews, angering the Palestinians and drawing a slew of condemnations. https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/uae-china-un/2023/01/04/id/1102945/

January 4, 2023

The Biden administration denounced Tuesday’s visit to the Temple Mount by Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir as “unacceptable.”

“The United States stands firmly for preservation of the historic status quo with respect to the holy sites in Jerusalem. We oppose any unilateral actions that undercut the historic status quo. They are unacceptable,” U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said.

Until Ben Gvir’s visit, the status quo was that Jews were permitted to visit the Temple Mount, an action the Biden administration now seems to be condemning. Ministers have visited the site in the past. https://www.israel365news.com/364865/biden-administration-joins-in-condemning-israeli-minister-visiting-temple-mount/

This is not expected to be the only religious action that Ben Gvir and the new Israeli government will be criticized for.

Furthermore, notice something that Israel365News reported:

January 5, 2023

In the wake of National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir (Otzma Yehudit Party) ascending to the Temple Mount to commemorate the Tenth of Tevet on Tuesday, the Return to the Mount activist group petitioned the minister to permit the Biblical Passover offering at Judaism’s holiest site.

Rafael Morris, the head of Return to the Mount, told Israel365 News that there is actually strong grassroots support for reinstating the Passover offering on the Temple Mount.

“We have lots of people, private and even in the government, that support this quietly but who are scared to say so in public,” Morris said. “And there’s no reason why we shouldn’t do it.”

Morris pointed to the exponential growth in the number of Jews ascending to the Temple Mount.

“One hundred years ago, it would have been crazy and an incitement of the Arabs to talk about a Jewish state in Israel,” Morris said.”Eighty years ago it was a crazy incitement to talk about Jews praying at the Kotel (Western Wall) or Hebron. The Korban Pesach (Passover sacrifice) is a Biblical commandment the Jewish people perform for thousands of years in Jerusalem. It is the most normal thing.”

“Where we are today, to bring the Passover sacrifice is quite a small step,” Morris said.

Morris emphasized that this “small step” is necessary and must necessarily be on the Temple Mount.

“The only place Jews can perform the hundreds of commandments described in the Torah is on the Temple Mount,” he said. “It is not our most holy site. It is our only holy site. Without the Temple Mount, we cannot be Torah Jews.”

“Not bringing the Korban Pesach (Passover offering) carries the punishment of Karet, the most severe punishment described in the Bible. And since King David consecrated the Temple Mount 3,000 years ago, the Temple Mount has been the heart of Judaism and the only place we can perform these mitzvot.” …

He added that the opposition to Ben Gvir visiting the Temple Mount is explicitly racist.

“This is a human rights issue but it is more than that,” Morris said. “The people who oppose Jews going to the Temple Mount also oppose Jews living in Tel Aviv. It is the same thing. If we don’t have the right to be Jews on the Temple Mount, we don’t have any right to be here.”

Morris said that if given the okay by the government, everything is in place to jump-start the Biblical ritual.

“We have everything we need and we have been practicing for over a decade but we still don’t really know all the questions,” he said. “Mitzvot are practical and the actual performance is part of the learning process. Before we returned to Israel, we really had no clue how to practically perform Shemittah (agricultural sabbatical ) and we are still working on it. We are much better prepared for the Passover offering and what we don’t know, the rabbis and Kohanim (priests) will work on.”

He explained that performing the Passover service does not require a Temple structure.

“We only need an altar,” he said. “That is essentially a pile of rocks. We don’t need to build anything or change anything on the Temple Mount. We can perform the Passover sacrifice and the next day, all signs of the service will be gone.”

Clearly note that a massive Jewish temple in Jerusalem is not required for animal sacrifices. This is something I have posted here for over a decade. I have also posted that the sacrifice matter has been a political issue and that one day politics would allow for the resumption of sacrifices. Irrespective of what does and does not happen this Passover, regular animal sacrifices will one day be resumed by the Jews.

Let me also add that it is once again admitted that a massive Jewish Temple is not required–and this is something that representatives of both the Sanhedrin and Temple Institute told me personally many years ago, and that is still their position.

While many do wish to build another temple and have again recently taken steps (see Closer to another Jewish temple in Jerusalem being built?), it should be pointed out that:

1. Biblical prophecies do not require that a Jewish temple be built in Jerusalem before Jesus returns (for details, see Why is a Jewish Temple in Jerusalem Not Required?).
2. There is no biblical requirement for a temple to be built for sacrifices to resume (cf. Ezra 3:6).
3. Jewish leaders have long recognized the second point (see also Nascent Sanhedrin structure and high priest: The plan is to start animal sacrifices–this would fulfill prophecy!)–which is part of why there have been animal sacrifices this century.
4. The Bible also tells of daily sacrifices being stopped (Daniel 9:27, 11:31)–and since they have not started, their start is a prophetic event to look out for.

Furthermore without a temple, on December 10, 2018, the Sanhedrin had a major sacrificial ceremony. The Continuing Church of God (CCOG) put together the following video on our Bible News Prophecy YouTube channel related to it:

6:57

Sanhedrin makes burnt offering to dedicate altar!

The Reconstituted Sanhedrin performed a ceremony on December 10, 2018 to dedicate a new altar for the use of daily sacrifices. High Priest Rabbi Baruch Kahane officiated. How does this align with Bible prophecy? Daniel wrote three times that the daily sacrifices must stop, hence they first must resume. The Great Tribulation will begin shortly after these sacrifices stop. In this video Dr. Thiel, who has also been to Israel and spoken with The Temple Institute quotes several scriptures and explains why the actions by the Sanhedrin align with prophecy and the end times.

Here is a link to our video: Sanhedrin makes burnt offering to dedicate altar!

As far as animal sacrifices go, notice that the Bible shows that during the time of Ezra animal sacrifices in the Temple were made before the second Jewish Temple was built:

2 Then Jeshua the son of Jozadak and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and his brethren, arose and built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the Law of Moses the man of God. 3 Though fear had come upon them because of the people of those countries, they set the altar on its bases; and they offered burnt offerings on it to the Lord, both the morning and evening burnt offerings. 4 They also kept the Feast of Tabernacles, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings in the number required by ordinance for each day. 5 Afterwards they offered the regular burnt offering, and those for New Moons and for all the appointed feasts of the Lord that were consecrated, and those of everyone who willingly offered a freewill offering to the Lord. 6 From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer burnt offerings to the Lord, although the foundation of the temple of the Lord had not been laid. (Ezra 3:2-6)

An actual rebuilt temple on the Temple Mount is not biblically required for the resumption of animal sacrifices, and many Jewish religious authorities realize this.

Since the Bible shows that the Jews will again have animal sacrifices (cf. Daniel 9:27; 11:31), that will happen.

Some believe that the Sanhedrin is bringing on ‘Antichrist’ through its sacrifices and desire for another temple (see Sanhedrin Accused of Bringing Anti-Christ).

The current reason that animal sacrifices are not allowed on the Temple Mount itself is political. The Israeli courts have ruled that they can be performed, but because of the current tensions with the Muslims, they cannot be performed on what is called the Temple Mount.

That being said, it may take the ‘peace deal’ of Daniel 9:27 to set the stage for the daily sacrifices, but that too will involve politicians. Politicians can change, and enough will to fulfill prophecies related to animal sacrifices.

From a Christian perspective, the Apostle Paul wrote that Jesus was a substitute for the Passover lamb that the Jewish people used. He also taught that Christians should still continue to observe Passover:

7 Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. 8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth (1 Corinthians 5:7-8).

But how were Christians to do this?

The Apostle Paul explains:

23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes. (1 Corinthians 11:23-26)

So Christians were to keep the Passover in the manner that Jesus observed His final Passover. And that was at night as a memorial–a memorial is an annual, not a weekly event. Notice that Jesus stated, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.” It is Jesus’ death that this commemorates, and the Christian Passover is the annual commemoration of it.

That said, in addition to Israeli politics, the fact that some believe that the Jews have at least one unblemished red heifer in 2000 years will may also play a role in the re-implementation of regular animal sacrifices.

Here is a video related to that:

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

The Red Heifer, Jewish Beliefs, and the End of the World The Temple Institute is watching a ‘red heifer.’ Why might this be important in the sequence of end time events? Here is a related link in the Spanish language Novilla roja descubierta en EE.UU. e Instituto del Templo está interesado en ella. Here are two related videos in English: Red Heifers and the Fate of the World and The Red Heifer and the End of the World.
Why is a Jewish Temple in Jerusalem Not Required? Although people like Timothy LaHaye teach a third Jewish temple is required, who is ‘the temple of God” in the New Testament? Does the Bible require a rebuilt Jewish Temple? Here is a related item in the Spanish language ¿Por qué no se requiere un templo judío en Jerusalén? Here is a link to two sermons The Temple, Prophecy, and the Work and God’s Temple in Prophecy. And here is a version of the latter one in the Spanish: El templo de Dios en profecía.
Nascent Sanhedrin structure and high priest: The plan is to start animal sacrifices this would fulfill prophecy! The reconstituted Sanhedrin wants the reimplementation of animal sacrifices. A related video is titled Sanhedrin pushing animal sacrifices.
Church of God on Jerusalem’s Western Hill Could this building, often referred to as the Cenacle, which is located on a Mount Zion, possibly have been the oldest actual Christian church building? There is also a video titled Might the oldest church building have prophetic ramifications?
The ‘Peace Deal’ of Daniel 9:27 This prophecy could give up to 3 1/2 years advance notice of the coming Great Tribulation. Will most ignore or misunderstand its fulfillment? Here is a link to a related sermon video Daniel 9:27 and the Start of the Great Tribulation.
Does the ‘Cenacle’ deal have prophetic ramifications? After a 20 year negotiation, the Church of Rome has negotiated the right to have Catholic mass in the building known as the Cenacle. It is in the area where the Church of God on Jerusalem’s Western Hill once stood. This is believed to be the location of the earliest Christian church building. How does the Bible define the ‘temple of God’ in the New Testament? Could this be the area where the ‘man of sin’ will sit in the “temple of God’ that Bible prophecy discusses in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4? This is a YouTube video.
Jerusalem: Past, Present, and Future What does the Bible say about Jerusalem and its future? Is Jerusalem going to be divided and eliminated? Is Jesus returning to the area of Jerusalem? There are also two related YouTube videos you can watch: Jerusalem To be divided and eliminated and God’s and Satan’s Plan for Jerusalem.
Who is the Man of Sin of 2 Thessalonians 2? Is this the King of the North, the ten-horned beast of Revelation 13:1-11, or the two-horned Beast of Revelation 13:12-16? Some rely on traditions, but what does the Bible teach? Here is a related link in Spanish/español: ¿Quién es el Hombre de Pecado de 2 Tesalonicenses 2? Here is a version in Mandarin: N;ÿ Œ
f/’Y’jNº’ÿ Here is a link to a related English sermon video titled: The Man of Sin will deceive most ‘Christians’.
The MYSTERY of GOD’s PLAN: Why Did God Create Anything? Why Did God Make You? This free online book helps answers some of the biggest questions that human have, including the biblical meaning of life. Here is a link to three related sermons: Mysteries of God’s Plan, Mysteries of Truth, Sin, Rest, Suffering, and God’s Plan, Mystery of Race, and The Mystery of YOU. Here is a link to two videos in Spanish: El Misterio del Plan de Dios and El Misterio de Satanás, el Misterio de la Verdad, el Misterio del Reposo.
Does God Have a 6,000 Year Plan? What Year Does the 6,000 Years End? Was a 6000 year time allowed for humans to rule followed by a literal thousand year reign of Christ on Earth taught by the early Christians? Does God have 7,000 year plan? What year may the six thousand years of human rule end? When will Jesus return? 2031 or 20xx? There is also a video titled 6000 Years: When will God’s Kingdom Come? Here is a link to the article in Spanish: ¿Tiene Dios un plan de 6,000 años?
When Will the Great Tribulation Begin? 2023, 2024, or 2025? Can the Great Tribulation begin today? What happens before the Great Tribulation in the “beginning of sorrows”? What happens in the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord? Is this the time of the Gentiles? When is the earliest that the Great Tribulation can begin? What is the Day of the Lord? Who are the 144,000? Here is a version of the article in the Spanish language: ¿Puede la Gran Tribulación comenzar en el 2020 o 2021? ¿Es el Tiempo de los Gentiles? A related video is: Great Tribulation: 2026 or 2027? A shorter video is: Can the Great Tribulation start in 2022 or 2023? Notice also: Can Jesus return in 2023 or 2024? Here is a video in the Spanish language: Es El 2021 el año  de La Gran Tribulación o el Grande Reseteo Financiero.
Proof Jesus is the Messiah This free book has over 200 Hebrew prophecies were fulfilled by Jesus. Plus, His arrival was consistent with specific prophecies and even Jewish interpretations of prophecy. Here are links to seven related sermons: Proof Jesus is the Messiah, Prophecies of Jesus’ birth, timing, and death, Jesus’ prophesied divinity, 200+ OT prophecies Jesus filled; Plus prophecies He made, Why Don’t Jews Accept Jesus?, Daniel 9, Jews, and Jesus, and Facts and Atheists’ Delusions About Jesus. Plus the links to two sermonettes: Luke’s census: Any historical evidence? and Muslims believe Jesus is the Messiah, but … These videos cover nearly all of the book, plus have some information not in the book. We also have the book translated in the Spanish PRUEBA de que JESÚS es el MESÍAS and French PREUVES QUE JÉSUS EST LE MESSIE languages.
Passover and the Early Church Did the early Christians observe Passover? What did Jesus and Paul teach? Why did Jesus die for our sins? There is also a detailed YouTube video available titled History of the Christian Passover.
The Gospel of the Kingdom of God This free online pdf booklet has answers many questions people have about the Gospel of the Kingdom of God and explains why it is the solution to the issues the world is facing. Here are links to four related sermons:  The Fantastic Gospel of the Kingdom of God!, The World’s False Gospel, The Gospel of the Kingdom: From the New and Old Testaments, and The Kingdom of God is the Solution.

(Unsplash photo)

COGwriter

Breaking Israel News had a link titled Why Some Christians Are Eating Biblically Clean. Here is some of what that article stated:

So, the two basically listed reasons for not eating biblically-unclean animals in the above article is because the Bible says not to and there seem to be habits of unclean animals that suggest they should not be eaten by humans. On that latter point, there are various diseases that humans have gotten from eating unclean animals (like Ebola and trichinosis).

Let me also mention a scripture from the New Testament:

3 … contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. (Jude 3)

One of the ways you contend earnestly for the faith once for all delivered to the saints is by following their example of not eating biblically unclean meat.

The Apostle Paul wrote:

1 Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ. (1 Corinthians 11:1)

Jesus did not eat biblically unclean meat (cf. Luke 11:11-13; John 15:10).

The Apostle Paul did not eat biblically unclean meat (cf. Acts 28:17).

All should realize that the Apostle Paul did not want Gentile Christians to participate in uncleanness and that is something that they should repent of. Paul also wrote:

For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them (Ephesians 5:5-7).

Is eating biblically prohibited foods or not eating them a sign of disobedience? Is not consuming what the Bible prohibits covetous?

Although some feel that Christians can eat unclean meats, Paul wrote:

7 For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness (I Thessalonians 4:7).

The Apostle Peter added:

9…the Lord knows how…10 to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment, and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority (II Peter 2:9-10).

Some, sadly, despise biblical authority to eat whatsoever they lust after.

Most who profess Christianity, however, will claim to believe that Jesus declared all animals to be clean to eat, even though He did not.

I would also add that even Roman Catholic scholars realize that it was not until about a century and a half after Jesus was resurrected that their church accepted the consumption of unclean animals.

According to the Liber Pontificalis, the acceptance of unclean meat came about 150 years AFTER Jesus was resurrected and was pushed by the Roman Bishop Eleutherius:

He also decreed that no kind of food in common use should be rejected especially by the Christian faithful, inasmuch as God created it; provided it was a rational food and fit for human kind (Book of the Pontiffs (Liber Pontificalis) 2nd edition. Translation by Raymond Davis. Liverpool University Press – Translated Texts for Historians, Liverpool, 2001, p.17).

The Catholic Encyclopedia states:

The “Liber Pontificalis” ascribes to Pope Eleutherius a decree that no kind of food should be despised by Christians (Et hoc iterum firmavit ut nulla esca a Christians repudiaretur, maxime fidelibus, quod Deus creavit, quæ tamen rationalis et humana est).

It should be noted that Roman bishops were not called Popes that early (that did not happen until the late fourth century). Anyway, according to Lopes book The Popes, Eleutherius was bishop of Rome from 175-189 AD. This book (which I purchased at the Vatican itself) states this about Eleutherius:

He dispensed with the obligations of Christians to follow dietary laws of Judaic origin (page 5).

The above book should have said the obligations of biblical origin as the dietary restrictions began with God and not Jews (the distinction between clean and unclean animals was known by at least Noah’s time, since God so declared in Genesis 7:2-3). Perhaps it needs to be stated that no one called of God in the Old Testament is ever shown to have consumed unclean meat. Hence the Catholics (and the Protestants that follow this edict) are relying on a possible pronouncement of a bishop of Rome for justification of eating unclean meats more than they may realize. And this alleged decree did not happen until about 150 years after Jesus was resurrected.

Now, I should add that the Liber Pontificalis was composed in the fifth/sixth centuries and has a reputation, even among Roman Catholic scholars, for arbitrarily assigning events with certain “popes” (some of this is documented in the article What Does Rome Actually Teach About Early Church History?). It would seem, however, that this could not have been assigned any earlier than 175 A.D. because of Irenaeus’ writings. Hence, it is clear that well into the second century, the laws concerning clean and unclean meats were considered to have been in force for Christians in general (exceptions including the apostates in Alexandria and the apostate Justin). And that it is due to a later Catholic tradition that unclean animals became food for Roman supporters.

Consider that in the third century an elder named Pionius of Smyrna, who claimed to be part of the ‘catholic church,’ refused to eat unclean meat:

3. It was Saturday and after they had prayed and taken the sacred bread with water, Polemon the temple verger came in on them with his men in order to seek out the Christians and drag them off to offer sacrifice and to taste forbidden meats. “Surely you are aware,” said the verger, “of the emperor’ edict commanding us to sacrifice to the gods.” “We are aware,” said Pionius, “of the commandments of God ordering us to worship him alone.”

Polemon said: “Come then to the market-place; there you will change your minds.”

Sabina and Asclepiades said: “We obey the living God.” He led them off then without restraint and as they walked along everyone saw that they were wearing their chains, and such a crowd rushed up in haste as it were for a strange sight, that they jostled one another. As they came into the forum, by the eastern Stoa and the double gate, all the forum and the upper storeys of the porches were crowded with Greeks, Jews, and women. They were on holiday because it was a great Sabbath. They drew near, looking towards the tribunal steps and the voting urns.

6. There was a lawyer by the name of Alexander, a wicked man, who spoke: “Listen to us, Pionius.”

“You should be concerned,” said Pionius, “to listen to me. What you know, I know; but what I know, you are ignorant of.” Alexander was minded to make sport of him, for he said to him ironically: “Why are you wearing these chains?” “First of all,” said Pionius, “so that though we are passing through your city, we mlght not be suspected of having come to eat forbidden foods…

9. Then he interrogated him for the sake of the record, while a notary took everything down. “What is your name?” he asked him.

“Pionius,” was the answer. “Are you a Christian?” asked Polemon

“Yes,” said Pionius.

Polemon the verger said: “What church do you belong to?”

“The Catholic Church,” was the answer; “with Christ there is no other.” (The Martyrdom of Pionius and his Companions, Chapters 3,6, & 9. Text from H. Musurillo, The Acts of the Christian Martyrs (Oxford, 1972), 137-167. http://archive.is/abf7S accessed 07/25/15)

While some associated with the Greco-Romans, like Justin, apparently ate unclean meat, Pionius (who seems to have had a connection to Polycarp of Smyrna) did not. (As far as the ‘Catholic Church’ goes, the first two times this appears in the literature it is a reference to the Church of God in Smyrna. It was not until the late 4th century that the Church of Rome and its Eastern Orthodox confederation had it for its exclusive legal use because of a decree of the Emperor Theodosius related to the Council of Constantinople he called for in 381. Pionius was obviously NOT part of the Roman Catholic Church since he would not eat unclean meat decades after Bishop Eleutherius supposedly authorized it, plus he also kept biblical Holy Days, etc.) I should also add that the Church of Rome considers that the presbyter Pionius was a saint, hence the fact that he did not even wish to be accused of eating it in the mid-third century should show that those that considered themselves faithful Christians did NOT eat biblically unclean meats in the third century.

The Continuing Church of God is produced a video sermon which is at its ContinuingCOG channel.

1:16:37

Christians and Unclean Meats

Does the Bible teach that Christians should eat the flesh of animals that the Old Testament called unclean? Did Jesus purify all animals? Did Jesus teach that there were animals that were not good to be eaten? Does the Bible show that anyone called of God ate biblically unclean animals? The acceptance of eating unclean meats was endorsed by the falsely named ‘Epistle of Barnabus’ (he did not write it) and supposedly in the late second century by the Roman Bishop Eleutherius. Is uncleanness a New Testament concept? Are pork products dangerous? What should faithful Christians do?

The Continuing Church of God also produced a shorter video which is available at its Bible New ProphecyYouTube channel:

Did Jesus declare all animal flesh food?

In at least three books of the Bible, eating the flesh of pigs (an unclean animal) is prohibited–and a couple of references in the Book of Isaiah are negative and prophetic–that means that unclean meats are still unclean.

Thus, those who rely on the Bible realize that the prohibitions against pork were NOT nailed to the cross or otherwise done away with (see also Which Laws were Superceded? Which Remain?). Jesus’ death did NOT change the flesh of pork or reduce its ability to pass on health problems (more details are in the article The New Testament Church, History, and Unclean Meats.

It may also be of interest to note that in the New Testament, Jesus also makes negative comments towards pigs/swine. Notice:

6 “Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces. (Matthew 7:6)

The Bible also teaches:

2 … Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good (Isaiah 55:2).

God did not intend pork, or the flesh of other unclean animals, to be food for human beings.

It should be pointed out, that even according to a lecture on virology from Columbia University, ALL viruses humans get come from animals AND the vast majority of serious ones seem to involve biblically unclean ones.

Perhaps it should be mentioned that there REMAIN numerous health problems associated with eating bats (Ebola transmission and probably COVID), pork, and many other biblically-unclean animals.

While some believe that COVID-19 came from intentional-human design, the most official view is that it came from biblically unclean animals–such as bats, snakes, and/or pangolins. Some basically believe a bat virus mutated inside a pangolin or some other animal. The reality is that even if COVID-19 was humanly engineered, that too would seem to have begun with a biblically unclean animal.

Related to COVID and unclean animals, the Continuing Church of God (CCOG) put together the following video on our Bible News Prophecy YouTube channel:

Here is a link to the video: COVID, Pandemics, and Unclean Meat.

Our Creator knew from the beginning that unclean animals were not good for humans.

As a scientist who has studied virology, I can attest that viruses look like biological compositions. It is likely that on rare occasion, improper digestion of unclean animals results in the production of viruses and/or increased human susceptibility to acquire them.

There is a HUGE cost to society in consuming biblically unclean animals.

And as far as history goes, even the Church of Rome admits that early Christians did not consume pork (some details are in the article The New Testament Church, History, and Unclean Meats).

Faithful modern Christians do not consume pork.

We in the Continuing Church of God do not consume unclean animals–and the Bible supports this position.

The Continuing Church of God also put out the following sermon on its ContinuingCOG channel:

St Sophia’s Cathedral in Kyiv, Ukraine
(Photo by Paweł ‘pbm’ Szubert)

COGwriter

Israel365News reported the following:

Is the Russian-Ukrainian conflict a religious war?

January 3, 2022

The Russian Orthodox Church has been strongly pro-Putin, calling his rule a “miracle of God.”  Russian Patriarch Kirill publicly blessed the Russian invasion of Ukraine and promised forgiveness of sin to Russian soldiers who died in the war.

Putin views the invasion as a religious imperative. In a 2021 article published on the Kremlin’s official website and titled “On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians”, Putin claimed that the basis for unifying Russia and Ukraine was religious. …

ZELENSKY’S ANTI-CHURCH BAN

Last month, Zelensky signed a ban targeting Russian-affiliated religious groups and imposing sanctions on a number of pro-Moscow bishops. The measures focused on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP), an affiliate of the Russian Orthodox Church. Zelensky proposed a bill exclusively permitting churches that are subordinate to the recently-formed Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU).

“The National Security and Defense Council has instructed the government to propose to (parliament) a bill to prevent the activities in Ukraine of religious organizations affiliated with the centers of influence in the Russian Federation, in accordance with international law in the field of freedom of conscience and Ukraine’s obligations in connection with accession to the Council of Europe.”

“National security officials should intensify measures to identify and counteract the subversive activities of the Russian special services in the religious environment of Ukraine,” the president added, highlighting the Ukrainian government’s view that some Orthodox churches have become distribution centers for propaganda, and intelligence sources for Russian spies and collaborators.

The ban comes in the wake of raids on Orthodox churches, monasteries, and religious schools.

The OCU, which formally separated from the Russian Orthodox Church in a declaration called autocephaly, requested a ban on the UOC-MP.

Orthodox Christians are the largest religious population in Ukraine and despite the measures, the Russia-affiliated UOC-MP still constitutes more than 60% of the Orthodox Christians in Ukraine. …

RUSSIA: WESTERN NATIONS SUPPORT UKRAINE’S ANTI-CHURCH AGENDA

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov accused Ukraine of “waging a war on the Russian Orthodox Church”.

This was echoed by Sergey Melnikov, chairman of the Russian Association for the Protection of Religious Freedom in an article in the business newspaper Vzglyad.

“The Ukrainian authorities stop at nothing and violate fundamental human rights, including the right to freedom of religion,” Melnikov said, criticizing Western countries for not relating to the Ukrainian offenses.

“Western human rights activists turned a blind eye to the violation of the rights of believers in Ukraine,” he said. “Currently, we see a full-fledged ideological war of Ukraine against Russia and the implementation of the Anti-Russia project. When implementing this project, the Ukrainian authorities stop at nothing and violate fundamental human rights, including the right to freedom of religion.”

Melnikov claimed that there was a motive behind the Western reluctance to challenge the anti-religious agenda of Ukraine which he claims is also taking place in the US.

“In particular, the Western media are extremely reluctant to report on forcing religious educational institutions in the United States and Great Britain to change the charters so that representatives of the LGBT community can comfortably study and teach there,” he said. “At the same time, a promotional video calling for voluntary demise [medically assisted euthanasia] was widely circulated in Canada.” https://www.israel365news.com/364820/is-the-russian-ukrainian-conflict-a-religious-war/

Last year, the Associated Press reported the following:

March 11, 2022

As Western leaders congratulate themselves for their speedy and severe responses to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, they’re also scratching their heads with uncertainty about what their actions will accomplish.

The U.S., NATO and the European Union have focused on strangling Russia’s economy and arming Ukrainian fighters. But it’s unclear how this will stop the war. No one knows what President Vladimir Putin is thinking, but there’s no reason to believe that even the toughest measures will shatter his determination to force the Western-leaning former Soviet republic back into Moscow’s orbit.

They may not say it publicly, but U.S. officials and their NATO allies don’t see a breaking point for Putin — either an economic toll so severe or battlefield losses so devastating — that would convince him to order his troops home and allow Ukraine’s leaders to govern in peace. … And no one is counting on an outright military victory by Ukraine. https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-putin-nato-european-union-europe-aca0de34f3644058256f1fc700e2da54

Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, leader of Russia’s dominant religious group, has sent his strongest signal yet justifying his country’s invasion of Ukraine — describing the conflict as part of a struggle against sin and pressure from liberal foreigners to hold “gay parades” as the price of admission to their ranks.

Kirill, a longtime ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, had already refrained from criticizing the Russian invasion – alienating many in the Ukrainian Orthodox churches who had previously stayed loyal to the Moscow patriarch during a schism in their country. Several of these former loyalists are now snubbing Kirill in their public prayers, with some demanding independence from the Moscow church even as their country’s political independence is imperiled.

Kirill, in a sermon delivered Sunday before the start of Orthodox Lent, echoed Putin’s unfounded claims that Ukraine was engaged in the “extermination” of Russian loyalists in Donbas, the breakaway eastern region of Ukraine held since 2014 by two Russian-backed separatist groups. Kirill focused virtually all of his talk about the war on Donbas — 03/08/22 https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-putin-religion-europe-moscow-0670305be2e010e02a4e195ced2b7523

Could religion being playing any role in this?

Yes, though it is more of a mixture of mainly politics with some religion.

Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church blamed Constantinople for causing a schism between the Eastern and Russian Orthodox churches in October 2018 (see Schism: Russian Orthodox meet with Vatican regarding Constantinople).

Shortly thereafter, leaders in Ukraine met to become independent of the Moscow patriarch:

15 December 2018

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has announced the creation of an independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church, marking a historic split from Russia.

He said national security depended on “spiritual independence” from Russia.

He was speaking at a special council of orthodox priests in Kiev, where a new leader of the Church was selected.

The Russian Orthodox Church cut ties with the spiritual authority of the world’s Orthodoxy after it recognised the Ukrainian Church’s independence.

Russia also fears that its churches in Ukraine could be seized. …

The special council was held in the ancient St Sophia’s Cathedral – one of Kiev’s best known landmarks.

Ukrainian clerics of different Orthodox denominations – including some bishops from the Moscow branch – elected Metropolitan Epifaniy as the leader of the new church.

“This day will go into history as a sacred day… the day of the final independence from Russia,” President Poroshenko told a crowd of thousands outside the cathedral. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-46575548

The Russian church was concerned about this and asked for international assistance. And while the Vatican and the World Council of Churches were sympathetic to the Russia position, the Patriarch of Constantinople made a ruling in favor of the nationalistic Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

There was not some new doctrinal change in the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) that caused Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople to recognize the Ukrainian Orthodox church as independent of the ROC.

Basically, the schism is due to politics.

Notice also the following about it back in 2018:

A council of Orthodox bishops has created a new Ukrainian church, marking an historic split from Russia which its leaders see as vital to the country’s security and independence.

The announcement on Saturday came after Ukrainian priests held a synod in capital Kiev’s 11th-century Saint Sophia Cathedral to establish an Orthodox church independent from Moscow. …

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko announced that 39-year-old Metropolitan Epifaniy of the Kiev Patriarchate church is the head of the new church. His secular name is Sergiy Dumenko. …

“Ukraine was not, is not, and will not be the canonical territory of the Russian church,” Poroshenko said, adding that an independent Ukrainian Orthodox Church was now a “matter of national security”. …

In Moscow, the Russian Orthodox Church protested vigorously and dismissed the synod as uncanonical.

Vladimir Legoida, a spokesman for the Moscow church, told Russian state television that the Kiev synod had “no church, religious or evangelical meaning” and that it will have “no canonical consequences”.

Representatives of Ukraine’s three Orthodox Churches attended the synod, but only two from the branch loyal to Moscow showed up.

Russian bishop Metropolitan Hilarion in Volokolamsk on Saturday compared the two representatives of the Moscow-backed church to Judas. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/12/ukraine-creates-orthodox-church-independent-russia-181215171220016.html

Back in 2018, I posted:

The schism between Constantinople and the ROC has the potential to cause Ukraine to split with part supporting Russia. (Thiel B. Ukrainian Orthodox meet to become separate: Russian Orthodox ask for the UN to intervene. COGwriter, December 15, 2018)

This has now happened. The Donbas region is in support of Russia and aligned with it.

Last month, Joseph Farah, editor and founder of World Net Daily and a former supporter of Volodymyr Zelensky, posted the following:

December 8, 2022

Zelensky has banned opposition parties. He’s shut down critical media by force. He’s arrested his political opponents. He has sent soldiers into churches. Zelensky’s secret police have raided monasteries across Ukraine, even a convent full of nuns, and arrested dozens of priests for no justifiable reason whatsoever and in clear violation of the Ukrainian constitution, which apparently no longer matters. And in the face of this, the Biden administration has said nothing.

Last week, he announced his plan to ban an entire religion, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – more than a thousand years old – and to seize its property, all for being insufficiently loyal to his regime. A free country does not ban a major religion.

Nor is it permissible in time of war to place soldiers in churches. It’s wrong to arrest dozens of priests. It’s a war crime. And he’s doing it to a Ukrainian church! … The Zelensky government bans all opposition voices and parties. Priests are arrested. Is that freedom?

I repent of my once-enthusiastic support of Zelensky and the immoral war in Ukraine. Not another dime for the U.S. war machine in Ukraine. Not now. Not ever. We were sold a bill of goods.

I regret my support for this quagmire – just one more permanent war for the war party. https://www.wnd.com/2022/12/admit-fooled-zelensky-ukraine/

Yes, there are religious aspects to this war, but also political ones.

Vladimir Putin is Russian Orthodox and has the support of its Patriarch Kirill.

Patriarch Kirill approves of Vladimir Putin’s restrictions against pushing the LGBTQ+ agenda to children in Russia. Patriarch Kirill also wants those in Ukraine to support his church.

As far as USA and Russian relations go, some may recall that when Hillary Clinton was US Secretary of State, she brought a box to her Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov. The box had a ‘reset button,’ that they were to push in order to ‘reset’ USA and Russian relations. That was supposed to bring about a new and better era of relations between the two countries. Later, then USA President Barack Obama also took some steps, including one that he was unaware was recorded, to try to appease Russia.

But then something happened.

Which was?

The Obama-Biden Administration’s global push of the LGBTQ+ agenda. They thought Russia would support it.

They were wrong:

Notice something that Hillary Clinton wrote that she did with Russia when she was Secretary of State:

When I pressed Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to do more to protect the rights of LGBT people, the normally cool and restrained diplomat turned nasty. …

Meanwhile, I looked for ways to make progress closer to home, by better supporting LGBT members of the State Department. . . . I supported the State Department’s annual Pride event, hosted by a group called GLIFFA, Gay and Lesbians in Foreign Affairs Agencies. (Clinton HR. Hard Choices. Simon & Schuster, 2014, pp. 577-578)

Sergey Lavrov basically told Hillary Clinton that the USA was not to dictate internal policies for Russia. He was offended at how hard Hillary Clinton was trying to push Russia to promote homosexuality.

USA-Russian relations have gone downhill since the State Department pressed the LGBT agenda and Russia would not go along with it.

Hillary Clinton and the Obama-Biden Administration was pushing a type of immorality that Russia wanted no part of.

From then on, that Administration turned against Russia, and that is part of what has been a reason for the distance between Russia and the USA.

The international reality is that Vladimir Putin has been the most influential political leader who has tried to publicly block aspects of the LGBTQ+ agenda.

Patriarch Kirill appreciates that, as well as other support Vladimir Putin has given the Russian Orthodox Church.

That being said, yes politics plays a role in what is happening between Russia and Ukraine.

But religion is also involved as political leaders have long invoked it when it comes to military conflict.

Pray to the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6) for God’s kingdom to come (Matthew 6:10).

(Unsplash photo)

COGwriter

Recession talk is in the air:

A recession is coming for most developed nations in 2023, and this is where economists predict the worst

January 3, 2023

With 2023 upon us, many bankers, economists, and business leaders have cautioned to brace for a global economic contraction that will send many countries plunging into a recession. As much as one-third of the global economy could enter recession territory this year, IMF director Kristalina Georgieva said over the weekend, warning of a “tough year” ahead for the world.

Georgieva said simultaneous contractions in three major economies—the U.S., the EU, and China—will be the driving forces behind a global recession, as wealthy nations will be unable to escape economic slowdowns.

U.K. in trouble

But with the lingering effects of the pandemic and the Ukraine war continuing to drag down growth for the rest of 2023, some developed countries are set to fare far worse than others.

The U.K. is facing a “deeper and more prolonged recession” than any nation in the G7, a global policy forum representing seven of the world’s most advanced economies, as around four-fifths of economists say the U.K. will be burdened by a much longer recession than its peers, according to a Financial Times survey released Monday. …

Vladimir Putin has punished Western sanctions by severely limiting Europe’s access to Russian natural gas, which sent energy prices soaring last year. The supply squeeze has sparked an energy crisis on U.K. shores, given the country relies on natural gas for 40% of its electricity generation and 84% of its heating, and unlike the EU has a very limited gas storage capacity to fall back on during times of high energy demand. https://fortune.com/2023/01/03/recession-2023-g7-nations-kristalina-georgieva/

There is a growing consensus that 2023 is going to be a miserable year for the U.S. economy and for the global economy as a whole.

#1 The IMF: “We expect one-third of the world economy to be in recession. Even countries that are not in recession, it would feel like recession for hundreds of millions of people”

#2 Bloomberg: “Economists say there is a 7-in-10 likelihood that the US economy will sink into a recession next year, slashing demand forecasts and trimming inflation projections in the wake of massive interest-rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.”

#3 The World Bank: “As central banks across the world simultaneously hike interest rates in response to inflation, the world may be edging toward a global recession in 2023 and a string of financial crises in emerging market and developing economies that would do them lasting harm, according to a comprehensive new study by the World Bank.”

#4 Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan: “We’re going to have a shallow recession” …

Our politicians in Washington kept borrowing and spending trillions upon trillions of dollars that we did not have, and that definitely delayed our day of reckoning.

And the Federal Reserve kept the financial markets artificially propped up for years by endlessly pumping giant mountains of fresh cash into the system.

But such foolish measures only made our long-term problems even worse, and now our leaders are losing control.

All of the “mega-bubbles” are starting to burst, and the system is beginning to fall apart all around us. 01/02/23 http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/11-ominous-predictions-for-2023/

The economies of many nations are built more and more on a foundation of debt.

The UK is still reeling from Brexit and COVID likely will look to increase its debt.

The government of the USA last week again agreed to increase its debt (see also RP: Omnibus shows Congress’s Priorities: Authoritarianism and War).

This “trick” will not work indefinitely.

The Bible warns about something that will happen to a heavily indebted nation. Notice what the Hebrew seer Habakkuk wrote over 2,600 years ago:

³ For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, It will not tarry … ⁵ Indeed, because he transgresses by wine, He is a proud man … ⁶ “Will not all these take up a proverb against him, And a taunting riddle against him, and say, ‘Woe to him who increases What is not his—how long? And to him who loads himself with many pledges’? ⁷ Will not your creditors rise up suddenly? Will they not awaken who oppress you? And you will become their booty. ⁸ Because you have plundered many nations, All the remnant of the people shall plunder you… (Habakkuk 2:2-3,6–8). …

Notice that what is to happen is so bad, that people who read the prophecy should run, when it is time for it to be fulfilled. Since that prophecy is to be fulfilled at the appointed time of the end, it is still for the future, but perhaps not too far distant in the future. No nation has ever been in as much total debt as the U.S.A. And on a per capita basis, the U.K. and Canada are in similar positions.

To deal with inflation, the US Federal Reserve raised interest rates. Now, just paying interest on the USA official debt is coming to close to $1 trillion per year.

But those rates are still artificially low.

When the time comes that the Federal Reserve is no longer able to keep interest rates artificially low, the U.S.A. will continue past the point of no return. And its debt level already seems to be there.

The USA, etc. remain greedy. Notice that is believed to have been a cause of the Great Depression:

GREED — the Root Cause of the Crash

The true causes of the Depression are still with us. Burgeoning personal debt, workers demanding higher wages (often without producing any more), business cutting corners, employee theft, and stock market speculation.

The question is: HOW will these causes express themselves in the nation’s economic picture?

Statistician Roger Babson, who successfully predicted both the 1920 and 1929 crashes, has made this point clear over more than half a century of economic forecasts, and dozens of books on the subject. In essence, he said the technical statistics that economists watch are only wall thermometers telling the present “temperature” of today’s economy.

If you want to see what the temperature of the future will be, Babson counseled, look at the barometer reading — the way people as a whole are dealing with each other and how they live their own lives. In other words, are workers producing more, are employee and shoplifting thefts down, are we borrowing less, is the federal economy in the black?

On such readings of the economy, Babson was virtually the only major economist to foresee the serious crash.

The top economists scoffed when he said, on September 5, 1929, “Sooner or later a crash is coming and it may be terrific… factories will shut down… men will be thrown out of work… the vicious circle will get in full swing and the result will be a serious business depression” (John Kenneth Galbraith, The Great Crash, Houghton-Mifflin, 1955, pp. 89-90).

Government economists, on the other hand, seemingly clambered over each other to reassure the many paper-thin speculators that such talk was impossible, unthinkable, perhaps even un-American. “Don’t Sell America Short” was a common aphorism in 1929.

The Money Scramble

But had the economists looked at the furnace room — at the basic social or moral problems expressing themselves economically they would have KNOWN some kind of a “crash” was coming. Had the economists based their forecast on the materialistic attitude of most Americans, they would have seen the handwriting on the wall.

The root motivation was greed, but the main specific cause of the 1929 Depression in particular was “that private indebtedness was increasing faster than earning power, that purchasing was not keeping pace with production …” (Bining and Kleen, op. cit., p. 452).

In other words, people had bought so many items on time payments, that they couldn’t afford any more — even on installments! The people were “bought out” while the newly installed assembly lines were producing record numbers of new gadgets.

In 1929, there was a surplus of goods, but almost no buying power (money). The situation in America today is different — too few American-made goods are chasing too much available money. One causes depression, the other inflation. Both are equally catastrophic to a nation.

What then are the chances for a new kind of “depression”?

Today, America and the West still have not learned their lesson. Money madness is still a fixation of a significant sector, especially of the U. S. public. (Alexander G. THE GREAT DEPRESSION COULD it Happen AGAIN? Plain Truth, December 1970)

Yes, a great depression could happen again.

A recession and/or depression is likely to become one of the final factors that will cause creditors to rise up and destroy the U.S.A.

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

Might the U.S.A. Be Gone by 2028? Could the USA be gone by the end of 2028 or earlier? There is a tradition attributed to the Hebrew prophet Elijah that humanity had 6,000 years to live before being replaced by God’s Kingdom. There are scriptures, writings in the Talmud, early Christian teachings that support this. Also, even certain Hindu writings support it. Here is a link to a related video: Is the USA prophesied to be destroyed by 2028? In Spanish: Seran los Estados Unidos Destruidos en el 2028?
Anglo – America in Prophecy & the Lost Tribes of Israel Are the Americans, Canadians, English, Scottish, Welsh, Australians, Anglo-Saxon (non-Dutch) Southern Africans, and New Zealanders descendants of Joseph? Where are the lost ten-tribes of Israel? Who are the lost tribes of Israel? What will happen to Jerusalem and the Jews in Israel? Will God punish the U.S.A., Canada, United Kingdom, and other Anglo-Saxon nations? Why might God allow them to be punished first? Here is a link to the Spanish version of this article: Anglo-América & las Tribus Perdidas de Israel. Information is also in the YouTube sermons titled Where are the Ten Lost Tribes? Why does it matter? and British are the Covenant People. A short YouTube of prophetic interest may be: Are Chinese threats against Australia for real?
When Will the Great Tribulation Begin? 2023, 2024, or 2025? Can the Great Tribulation begin today? What happens before the Great Tribulation in the “beginning of sorrows”? What happens in the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord? Is this the time of the Gentiles? When is the earliest that the Great Tribulation can begin? What is the Day of the Lord? Who are the 144,000? Here is a version of the article in the Spanish language: ¿Puede la Gran Tribulación comenzar en el 2020 o 2021? ¿Es el Tiempo de los Gentiles? A related video is: Great Tribulation: 2026 or 2027? A shorter video is: Can the Great Tribulation start in 2022 or 2023? Notice also: Can Jesus return in 2023 or 2024? Here is a video in the Spanish language: Es El 2021 el año  de La Gran Tribulación o el Grande Reseteo Financiero.
Lost Tribes and Prophecies: What will happen to Australia, the British Isles, Canada, Europe, New Zealand and the United States of America? Where did those people come from? Can you totally rely on DNA? What about other peoples? Do you really know what will happen to Europe and the English-speaking peoples? What about Africa, Asia, South America, and the Islands? This free online book provides scriptural, scientific, historical references, and commentary to address those matters. Here are links to related sermons: Lost tribes, the Bible, and DNA; Lost tribes, prophecies, and identifications; 11 Tribes, 144,000, and Multitudes; Israel, Jeremiah, Tea Tephi, and British Royalty; Gentile European Beast; Royal Succession, Samaria, and Prophecies; Asia, Islands, Latin America, Africa, and Armageddon; and When Will the End of the Age Come?
Biden-Harris: Prophecies and Destruction Can the USA survive two full presidential terms? In what ways are Joe Biden and Kamala Harris apocalyptic? This book has hundreds of prophecies and scriptures to provide details.  A Kindle version is also available and you do not need an actual Kindle device to read it. Why? Amazon will allow you to download it to almost any device: Please click HERE to download one of Amazon s Free Reader Apps. After you go to your free Kindle reader app (or if you already have one or a Kindle),  you can go to: Biden-Harris: Prophecies and Destruction (Kindle) to get the book in seconds.

COGwriter

Did early Christians keep Saturday or Sunday? While there are various opinions about this, some of those opinions are not based upon biblical or historical fact.

The Bible Sabbath Association, which is not a Church of God group (though it has members that are in the COGs, as well as members who are not), published a series of articles from me on this subject.

The following is in the January-February 2018 edition of its The Sabbath Sentinel magazine which helps give additional historical information:

Sabbath–Post New Testament

By Bob Thiel, Ph.D.

This is the fifth part of a five-part series explaining why certain early documents that are claimed against the seventh-day Sabbath are misunderstood and not actually against it.

In my previous articles, I explained that the Greek word Κυριακήν did not mean Sunday and many have misinterpreted writings from the Didache and Ignatius of Antioch’s Letter to the Magnesians as endorsing Sunday. Thus, the earliest claimed post-New Testament documents cited as “proof” that the seventh-day Sabbath was done away truly did not do so.

Is there other proof?

Yes.

If Jesus and/or His apostles did away with the Sabbath as many claim, then it would be reasonable to conclude that the later faithful disciples would not keep it. Yet, other records and writings demonstrate that the faithful did continue to keep the seventh-day Sabbath.

It is well know that from the first century until about 135 A.D. the first fifteen bishops/pastors of Jerusalem all kept the seventh-day Sabbath and were all circumcised Jews (Eusebius. The History of the Church, Book III, Chapter V, Verses 2,3.& Book IV, Chapter 5, Verses 2-4, pp. 45, 71).

Although they have their own biases, even the historians Philip Schaff and Johann Gieseler correctly noted:

The Jewish Christians, at least in Palestine, conformed as closely as possible to the venerable forms of the cultus of their fathers, which in truth were divinely ordained, and were an expressive type of the Christian worship. So far as we know, they scrupulously observed the Sabbath, the annual Jewish feasts, the hours of daily prayer, and the whole Mosaic ritual (Schaff, Philip, History of the Christian Church, Chapter 9. Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc. 1997. This material has been carefully compared, corrected¸ and emended according to the 1910 edition of Charles Scribner’s Sons by The Electronic Bible Society, Dallas, TX, 1998.)

While the Jewish Christians of Palestine retained the entire Mosaic law, and consequently the Jewish festivals, the Gentile Christians observed also the Sabbath and the passover (1 Cor. v. 6-8), with reference to the last scenes of Jesus’ life, but without Jewish superstition (Gal. iv. 10 ; Col. ii. 16) (Gieseler, Johann Karl Ludwig. A text-book of church history, Volume I, Chapter II. New York : Harper & brothers. Date 1857-80).

It is known that early Jewish Christians did keep the Sabbath and biblical holy days. And as prophesied by Isaiah (Isaiah 56:1-7), so did the faithful Gentile Christians (and the Isaiah prophecy still has future application).

Ignatius and Polycarp

The faithful Gentile Christians were also keeping the Sabbath outside of Jerusalem. In the early second century, Pastor/Bishop Ignatius of Antioch wrote:

…to Polycarp, bishop of the Smyrnaeans…So approving am I of your godly mind, which is as it were, grounded upon an unmovable rock, that my praise exceeds all bounds…Do not let those who appear to be trustworthy yet who teach strange doctrines baffle you. Stand firm, like an anvil…Grace will be…always…with Polycarp [Ignatius. Letter to Polycarp. In: Holmes, pp. 194-201].

And according to the later testimonies of Irenaeus, Polycrates, and Tertullian, the leader of the Sabbath-keeping Smyrnaeans [The Martrydom of Polycarp. Verse 8.1. In: Holmes, p. 233], Polycarp, did just that in Asia Minor.

Polycarp also taught that Christians should keep the commandments [Polycarp. Letter to the Philippians. In: Holmes, pp. 206-221].

And on the following sabbath he said; ‘Hear ye my exhortation, beloved children of God. I adjured you when the bishops were present, and now again I exhort you all to walk decorously and worthily in the way of the Lord…Watch ye, and again Be ye ready, Let not your hearts be weighed down, the new commandment concerning love one towards another, His advent suddenly manifest as of rapid lightning, the great judgment by fire, the eternal life, His immortal kingdom. And all things whatsoever being taught of God ye know, when ye search the inspired Scriptures, engrave with the pen of the Holy Spirit on your hearts, that the commandments may abide in you indelible.’ [Life of Polycarp, Chapter 24. (1889) from J. B. Lightfoot, The Apostolic Fathers, vol. 3.2, pp. 488-506]

(Note: While some claim Polycarp also kept Sunday, that appears to be a later edition to the text [Monroy MS. The Church of Smyrna: History and Theology of a Primitive Christian Community. Peter Lang edition, 2015, p. 31].)

According to the The Martyrdom of Polycarp by the Smyrnaeans [The Martyrdom of Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, Verses 7.1 & 8.1. Charles H. Hoole’s 1885 translation] and other sources [Sozomen. THE ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY OF SOZOMEN. Book VII, Chapter XIX.], Christians in Polycarp’s area kept the Sabbath after he died.

And since Polycarp referred to Ignatius as ‘blessed’ and endorsed Ignatius’ letters in his Letter to the Philippians [Polycarp. Letter to the Philippians, verse 13.2. In: Holmes, p. 219], it is logical to conclude that Ignatius was faithful to the same teachings and practices that Polycarp did.

Theophilus

In the late second century, Pastor/Bishop Theophilus of Antioch wrote:

And on the sixth day God finished His works which He made, and rested on the seventh day from all His works which He made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because in it He rested from all His works which God began to create…Moreover, [they spoke] concerning the seventh day, which all men acknowledge; but the most know not that what among the Hebrews is called the “Sabbath,” is translated into Greek the “Seventh” (έβδομάς), a name which is adopted by every nation, although they know not the reason of the appellation…God having thus completed the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and all that are in them, on the sixth day, rested on the seventh day from all His works which He made (Theophilus of Antioch. To Autolycus, Book 2, Chapters XI, XII, XIX. Translated by Marcus Dods, A.M. Excerpted from Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 2. Edited by Alexander Roberts & James Donaldson. American Edition, 1885, pp. 99,102).

The early faithful Gentile Christians kept the Sabbath. Until the early third century, there was harmony between the faithful Christians in Antioch and Asia Minor.

Conclusion

Early Jewish and Gentile Christians kept the seventh day Sabbath. The faithful did not believe that the Sabbath was done away.

As explained in early parts of this article, neither the Didache or Ignatius’ Letter to the Magnesians actually mention the term Sunday or directly refer to the first day of the week. The Didache is not an endorsement of early Sunday observance.

Ignatius, himself, would have had to be a supporter of the seventh day Sabbath and would not have written against it. Nor, if properly translated, do Ignatius’ letters ever truly write against the seventh day sabbath–instead they endorse the concept that Christians are to keep the Sabbath in accordance with the commandments and the Lord’s way of living, but not according to the ways endorsed by unbiblical Jewish tradition.

There is no evidence whatsoever that any who professed Christ regularly worshiped on Sunday when Ignatius was alive. The simple fact is that Ignatius’ writings do not support the idea that the early New Testament Church observed Sunday.

The Greek expression he used in Magnesians (κυριακήν ζωντες) simply did not mean Sunday when Ignatius wrote his letters. And there is no other contemporaneous reference that any professing Christian at the time of Ignatius observed Sunday. Available evidence (including the Bible, i.e. Acts 13:42-44; Hebrews 4:9) clearly supports the idea that early Christians kept the seventh day Sabbath.

The first clear reference to Sunday worship, even according to Roman Catholic sources, was from Justin Martyr [Slater T. Sunday. Transcribed by Scott Anthony Hibbs. The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume XIV. Published 1912. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Nihil Obstat, July 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York]. Yet he held so many heretical positions [e.g. see Justin Martyr. The First Apology and Letter to Trypho], it makes no sense to this author that any could truly consider him to be a true Christian.

On the other hand, Polycarp and those faithful Christians who remained in Asia Minor and Antioch did continue to keep the Sabbath for centuries after Jesus died. Faithful Christians still keep the Sabbath to this day.

Here is a link to the first article I had published in The Sabbath Sentinel: The Sabbath Sentinel: The Didache and the Sabbath.

The published article is basically an extract from my article Another Look at the Didache, Ignatius, and the Sabbath. Because of the restrictions in article length for The Sabbath Sentinel, I submitted just a few pages which they published.

It is my hope and prayer that those who read the submitted articles will see that early church history supports Saturday, and not Sunday, as the Christian day of rest. This article should be able to reach people we have not been able to reach in other ways. It is also my hope and prayer that those who read the articles will see that we in the Continuing Church of God have a true and proper grasp of early church history.

The series of articles I have submitted and expected to be published in The Sabbath Sentinel should also help non-Sabbath keepers realize that the historical evidence points to early, faithful, Christians resting on Saturday and not Sunday.

Interestingly, even to this day, the Eastern Orthodox consider Saturday and Sunday festive days, different from other ones:

In the tradition of our Church, Saturday like Sunday is considered a festal day. Even during the Great Lent the rules of fasting are relaxed on Saturdays and Sundays (Calivas A. The Great and Holy Saturday. Copyright: 2002-2003 Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America).

And the Roman Catholics realize that the seventh day is the Sabbath:

The sabbath…The sacred text says that “on the seventh day God finished his work which he had done”…and that God “rested on this day and sanctified and blessed it”(Catechism of the Catholic Church, 345. Imprimi Potest + Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger. Doubleday, New York, 1994, p. 100).

Despite these views, both the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholics have prophecies against those who keep the Sabbath:

Blessed Hieronymus Agathaghelos (1279): And lo, an evil assembly of the crafty leader, dressed in black mourning apparel…those who were taking in a most hypocritical manner the most holy name of Christ…those were the most filthy citizens of Pentapolis…these are semi-godless men…they will have to pay the price before the public executioner of the Sabbatians. (Tzima Otto, H.  The Great Monarch and WWIII in Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Scriptural Prophecies. Verenika Press, Rock City (SC), 2000, pp. 134,135,240).

Catholic writer and priest P. Huchedé (19th century): “After having weakened the faith of Christ in the minds and hearts of many, he will proceed to show that the law of Moses still prevails; he will re-establish the Sabbath and all the legal observances; and he will invite the Jews to re-establish their nationality, after which he will declare himself the true messiah; he will endeavor to prove the truth of his assertion from Scripture—he will declare his design of rebuilding Jerusalem and the temple and of bringing the whole world under his dominion…According to St. Cyril of Jerusalem (Cath. 15), he will win the esteem and attachment of mankind by his urbane and unbounded kindness…he will work all kinds of miracles…He will therefore appear as performing miracles similar to all those wrought by Jesus Christ…Antichrist being a Jew, will be circumcised; he will observe the Mosaic law…Then by order of the tyrant the continual sacrifice shall be abolished (Dan. 9:27).  The holy sacrifice of the Mass shall no longer be offered up publicly on the altars.  The Church shall be devastated; the sacred vessels desecrated; the priests shall be scattered…It appears certain, then, that the Roman empire will be completely demolished by Antichrist and that he will substitute another in its place (Huchedé, P.  Translated by JBD. History of Antichrist.  Imprimatur Edward Charles Fabre, Bishop of Montreal.  English edition 1884, Reprint 1976.  TAN Books, Rockford (IL), pp. 17,18,26,54).

Persecution of Sabbath keepers has happened throughout history and will happen again (cf. Revelation 12:17; see also the article Persecutions by Church and State).

But, all scholars realize that the first Christians did keep the day we now call Saturday as the Sabbath.

Some items of possibly related interest may include the following:

CG7.ORG This is a website for those interested in the Sabbath and churches that observe the seventh day Sabbath.
Another Look at the Didache, Ignatius, and the Sabbath Did Ignatius write against the Sabbath and for Sunday? What about the Didache? What does the actual Greek reveal? Are there intentional mistranlations? A related sermon is available: The Didache, Ignatius, and the Lord’s Way.
The Sabbath in the Early Church and Abroad Was the seventh-day (Saturday) Sabbath observed by the apostolic and post-apostolic Church? Here is a related sermon video The Christian Sabbath and How and Why to Keep It.
The Christian Sabbath. This is a series of articles from the Catholic Mirror essentially proving that the biblical Sabbath was Saturday, that the Lord’s day in Revelation 1 is not a reference to Sunday, that the Church of Rome implemented Sunday, and that nearly all Protestants followed Rome. Here is a link to a related sermon: Catholic teachings on the Sabbath, Sunday, and Protestantism.
Early Sabbath Keeping in North America When did Europeans first keep the Sabbath in North America? Did the pilgrims who arrived on the Mayflower keep Saturday or Sunday?
How to Observe the Sabbath How should you keep the Sabbath? This is an old article by Raymond Cole, with updated information for the 21st century.
The Dramatic Story of Chinese Sabbathkeepers This reformatted Good News article from 1955 discusses Sabbath-keeping in China in the 1800s.
Beliefs of the Original Catholic Church: Could a remnant group have continuing apostolic succession? Did the original “catholic church” have doctrines held by the Continuing Church of God? Did Church of God leaders uses the term “catholic church” to ever describe the church they were part of? Here are links to related sermons: Original Catholic Church of God?, Original Catholic Doctrine: Creed, Liturgy, Baptism, Passover, What Type of Catholic was Polycarp of Smyrna?, Tradition, Holy Days, Salvation, Dress, & Celibacy, Early Heresies and Heretics, Doctrines: 3 Days, Abortion, Ecumenism, Meats, Tithes, Crosses, Destiny, and more, Saturday or Sunday?, The Godhead, Apostolic Laying on of Hands Succession, Church in the Wilderness Apostolic Succession List, Holy Mother Church and Heresies, and Lying Wonders and Original Beliefs. Here is a link to that book in the Spanish language: Creencias de la iglesia Católica original., & Celibacy, and Early Heresies and Heretics, and Doctrines: 3 Days, Abortion, Ecumenism, Meats, Tithes, Crosses, Destiny, and more, and Saturday or Sunday?, The Godhead, Apostolic Laying on of Hands Succession, and Church in the Wilderness Apostolic Succession List.
Hope of Salvation: How the Continuing Church of God Differs from Protestantism The CCOG is NOT Protestant. This free online book explains how the real Church of God differs from mainstream/traditional Protestants. Several sermons related to the free book are also available: Protestant, Baptist, and CCOG History; The First Protestant, God’s Command, Grace, & Character; The New Testament, Martin Luther, and the Canon; Eucharist, Passover, and Easter; Views of Jews, Lost Tribes, Warfare, & Baptism; Scripture vs. Tradition, Sabbath vs. Sunday; Church Services, Sunday, Heaven, and God’s Plan; Seventh Day Baptists/Adventists/Messianics: Protestant or COG?; Millennial Kingdom of God and God’s Plan of Salvation; Crosses, Trees, Tithes, and Unclean Meats; The Godhead and the Trinity; Fleeing or Rapture?; and Ecumenism, Rome, and CCOG Differences.
Is God Unreasonable? Some have suggested that if God requires Sabbath-keeping He is unreasonable. Is that true? Here is a link to a related article in Mandarin Chinese 一个不合理的神？
Should You Keep God’s Holy Days or Demonic Holidays? This is a free pdf booklet explaining what the Bible and history shows about God’s Holy Days and popular holidays. Two related sermons would be Which Spring Days should Christians observe? and Fall Holy Days for Christians.
Is Revelation 1:10 talking about Sunday or the Day of the Lord? Most Protestant scholars say Sunday is the Lord’s Day, but is that what the Bible teaches?
Sunday and Christianity Was Sunday observed by the apostolic and true post-apostolic Christians? Who clearly endorsed Sunday? What relevance is the first or the “eighth” day? A related sermon is also available: Sunday: First and Eighth Day?
Where is the True Christian Church Today? This free online pdf booklet answers that question and includes 18 proofs, clues, and signs to identify the true vs. false Christian church. Plus 7 proofs, clues, and signs to help identify Laodicean churches. A related sermon is also available: Where is the True Christian Church? Here is a link to the booklet in the Spanish language: ¿Dónde está la verdadera Iglesia cristiana de hoy? Here is a link in the German language: WO IST DIE WAHRE CHRISTLICHE KIRCHE HEUTE? Here is a link in the French language: Où est la vraie Église Chrétienne aujourd’hui?
Continuing History of the Church of God This pdf booklet is a historical overview of the true Church of God and some of its main opponents from Acts 2 to the 21st century. Related sermon links include Continuing History of the Church of God: c. 31 to c. 300 A.D. and Continuing History of the Church of God: 4th-16th Centuries and Continuing History of the Church of God: 17th-20th Centuries. The booklet is available in Spanish: Continuación de la Historia de la Iglesia de Dios, German: Kontinuierliche Geschichte der Kirche Gottes, French: L Histoire Continue de l Église de Dieu and Ekegusii Omogano Bw’ekanisa Ya Nyasae Egendererete.
Tradition and Scripture: From the Bible and Church Writings Are traditions on equal par with scripture? Many believe that is what Peter, John, and Paul taught. But did they?
Polycarp of Smyrna: The Heretic Fighter Polycarp was the successor of the Apostle John and a major leader in Asia Minor. Do you know much about what he taught? A YouTube video or related interesy may be: Polycarp of Smyrna: Why Christians should know more about him.
Theophilus of Antioch This is one of the second century leaders of some Christians in Antioch and is considered a Patriarch of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch.
The Ten Commandments: The Decalogue, Christianity, and the Beast This is a free draft/unedited pdf book explaining the what the Ten Commandments are, where they came from, how early professors of Christ viewed them, and how various ones, including the Beast of Revelation, will oppose them. A related sermon is titled: The Ten Commandments and the Beast of Revelation.