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America is medicated, drugged, and deceived

Tuesday, May 14th, 2024


(Wikipedia photo)

COGwriter

Those in the USA use a lot of medications:

Medicine Use

  • A total of 6.3 billion prescriptions were dispensed in 2020 with growth slowing to 1.7% after adjusting for the increased use of 90-day prescriptions for chronic therapies.

Medicine Spending and growth drivers

  • U.S. medicine spending increased 0.8% on a net price basis to $359 billion, which reflects an increasing gap between list or invoice prices and manufacturer net revenues.
  • Real net per capita spending – adjusting for net prices, population, and economic growth – declined in 2020 to $1,085 and has increased only $56 since 2010.  • Specialty medicines now account for 53% of spending, up from 27% in 2010 and driven by growth in autoimmune and oncology therapies.   accessed 06/26/22 https://www.iqvia.com/insights/the-iqvia-institute/reports/the-use-of-medicines-in-the-us

If it seems like about half the country is on drugs, that is because it is actually true. According to a new survey from the National Center for Health Statistics, almost half of all Americans have taken a pharmaceutical drug within the past 30 days, and that officially makes us “the most medicated country in the world”. And needless to say, those dealing these drugs are becoming exceedingly wealthy at our expense. The average American spends $1,200 a year on prescription drugs, but of course many Americans spend far more than that and others spend nothing at all. …

Without a doubt, there are some pharmaceutical drugs that greatly help people. In fact, many people wouldn’t be alive today without them.

On the other hand, it has been estimated that Americans spend somewhere around $200 billion a year on drugs that they do not need, and this new survey from the National Center for Health Statistics discovered that 46 percent of all Americans have taken a prescription drug within the last 30 days…

I am sorry, but there is no way that half the country needs to be hooked on drugs.

And for senior citizens that number is much higher. In fact, the survey found that a whopping 85 percent of Americans over the age of 60 are currently on at least one pharmaceutical drug.

For adults under the ago of 60, antidepressants are being taken more than anything else…

For young adults antidepressants are king. According to the most recent numbers, 11.4 percent of 20- to 59-year-olds had taken a drug to help with their mood in the last month when they took the survey.

Could this help to explain why so many people are walking around like zombies these days?

And since nearly all mass shooters have been found to be on some kind of mind-altering drug, perhaps Congress should finally take some action in this area. It can be exceedingly difficult to get off these insidious drugs, and many that get hooked on them end up staying on them for the rest of their lives.

Of course antidepressants are just one part of the problem. For example, opioids are some of the most addictive drugs on the entire planet, and their overuse has destroyed countless lives all across America. 05/08/19 http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/the-most-medicated-country-in-the-world-46-of-americans-have-taken-a-pharmaceutical-drug-within-the-last-30-days

Plus, more and more are accepting the use of marijuana. Many have been deceived about medications and drugs like marijuana.

Before going further, note that there are side effects also from medications. Notice this report:

Diabetes drug may cause infection that destroys genitals, study warns

A certain type of drug used to treat diabetes may help manage the disease, but a new study advises physicians to look for troubling signs of a dangerous flesh-eating infection in patients taking that drug—one that could even kill.

Per USA Today, the study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine examined ties between sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors, used in Type 2 diabetes treatment, and a genital infection called Fournier gangrene, an “extremely rare but life-threatening” disorder, per the Food and Drug Administration, which looked at 55 cases of patients with the infection. https://fox8.com/2019/05/09/diabetes-drug-may-cause-infection-that-destroys-genitals-study-warns/

As far as medications and costs go, notice that an earlier report found that the United States spends more on medications than other developed nations, yet Americans do not live longer:

November 5,, 2015

Americans spend twice that of other developed countries on drugs, but don’t live longer.

An annual report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development compares spending on health care and outcomes for its 34-member nations. Here are some of the findings:

  • The U.S. spends twice the average annually on pharmaceuticals.
  • Health care spending is 16.5 percent of GDP, the highest of all the organization’s nations and 2.5 times more than the average.
  • In 1970, average life expectancy in the United States was a year above the average. Now it is almost two years behind the average, at 78.8 years versus 80.5.
  • Although the growth of U.S. health care spending has slowed, high-priced medicines will continue to drive up costs in coming years.

Two factors drive spending on pharmaceuticals: more Americans than ever take prescription drugs and companies have been hiking prices. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/americans-pay-more-for-drugs-but-dont-live-longer/

November 4, 2015

The United States spends more on health care than any other developed nation.

That’s one finding from a new report, “Health at a Glance 2015,” from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

We’re spending more than twice the amount on health care compared to several other countries including Germany, Canada, and France, where actual health outcomes have been better for years.

In 2013, the report found, we outspent all other OECD countries “by a wide margin,” shelling out roughly $8,713 for each resident.

The average of all OECD countries in the report was $3,453, putting our spending at 2.5 times that amount. http://www.businessinsider.com/oecd-health-report-on-health-expenditure-2015-11

Pharmaceutical drugs, artificial medicines, are not the answer for many health issues. For what its worth, it has been several decades since I personally took any medications (I do take nutritional supplements, which I do not consider to be in the same category).

The results of the report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development brought to mind some scriptures, which I then added to:

11 In vain you will use many medicines; You shall not be cured. (Jeremiah 46:11)

12 And in the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa became diseased in his feet, and his malady was severe; yet in his disease he did not seek the Lord, but the physicians. (2 Chronicles 16:12)

4 But you forgers of lies, You are all worthless physicians. (Job 13:4)

25 Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years, 26 and had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and was no better, but rather grew worse. (Mark 5:25-26)

The USA is already technically bankrupt, meaning that it cannot pay back its bills so it keeps borrowing more. The cost of prescription drugs, which President George W. Bush signed into law (called the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act) in 2003, and the ‘Affordable Care Act’ (ObamaCare), that Barack Obama signed into law, are both expensive and are adding to the debt burden of the USA (for something else on ObamaCare, see CBS: Obamacare designed to take advantage of the stupidity of USA voters).

There are multiple factors that affect health and for many of those, medications really cannot help.

The USA pushes and promotes GMO ‘foods’ around the world that I have major health concerns about (GMOs and Bible Prophecy). The USA also pushes and promotes a lot of excessively-processed ‘foods’, which now also include GMOs.

For example, grits, which once were made of ground, whole organic corn, are now made with degerminated GMO corn, ‘fortified’ with synthetic (petroleum-derived) vitamins. After corn was ‘degerminated’ thousands of people in the Southern USA died from a disease called pellagra. Instead of going back to whole corn, chemically-derived synthetic vitamins were added, which I consider to be dangerous.

Breakfast cereals used to be one of the original ‘health foods’ when Dr. Kellogg first introduced Corn Flakes at his clinic in Battle Creek, Michigan. It was basically made of whole organic corn. Now, it seems to be made with GMO corn (its label does not state otherwise, which in the USA means the corn source is almost always genetically-modified) and is ‘fortified’ with synthetic vitamins.

Many other breakfast cereals, especially the ones targeted towards children are made of refined, degerminated grains, synthetic vitamins, a lot of sugar, and artificial colors. Pop-Tarts are made of refined, degerminated grains, synthetic vitamins, fruit, sugar, gelatin (probably biblical unclean; see also The New Testament Church and Unclean Meats), and artificial colors.

As far as sodas go, they are not healthy, often contain GMOs, and most should avoid them, yet the USA is a big consumer of them.

As far as bacon (biblically unclean), biscuits, and gravy go, a study came out showing that the typical Southern diet (which tends to contain those) was unhealthy and increased risk for strokes (see Obesity, processed foods, health risks, and the Bible).

Processed and uncleaned meats are a health risk for many (see Certain American ‘foods’ gross out foreigners, while American hotdogs often have ingredients no one should eat).

Furthermore, the Bible warns about eating things that are not really food:

2 Why do you spend money for what is not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good (Isaiah 55:2).

Refined processed “breads,” refined and artificial sweeteners, chemical additives, and some other items commonly associated with junk foods, and hydrogenated fats would seem to be consistent with that warning.

What should you eat? You should eat real food and be careful about your quantities.

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

People should try to eat real, not artificial, foods. Artificial medications are not the solution.

People should also get enough physical activity and exercise, if appropriate (1 Timothy 4:8).

Fasting can also be helpful.

The USA can spend its way into artificial health. It is currently spending its way into more debt.

Back in 1976, the old Worldwide Church of God published the following:

Psychoactive Drugs

Technically speaking, a drug is any substance (other than food) that by its chemical nature affects the structure or function of a living organism.

Doctors usually refer to a drug in terms of its ability to treat physical and mental diseases. They stress the therapeutic value. But many laymen now focus on the negative connotations of the word. For them, “drug” has become a four-letter word of the worst kind, an epithet, an obscenity. When used in conversation it provokes strong emotional reactions. It’s a good word to start an argument with, or even a fight.

Medicine and Menace

You encounter a lot of this when discussing drugs. They can relieve pain, prevent infection and save lives. That’s good! But they can also destroy bodily tissue, impair healthy bodily metabolism, enslave by addiction and ultimately kill. That’s bad!

The drug problem would be greatly simplified if drugs were not ambivalent, if they were very selective in their effects. If only drug X eased pain, but was not addicting, if only drug Y helped people relax but didn’t adversely affect the brain or the liver.

But drugs don’t work that way. Rather, their effects are varied and often ambivalent — they have the potential to simultaneously hurt or harm, depending on a number of variables. Because any drug can play both the role of medicine or health menace, any description of its effects is bound to sound like a “that’s-good, that’s-bad” routine.

Morphine presents a good example of a “that’s-good, that’s — bad” story. It came into widespread use as a pain-killer during the American Civil War (1861-65). So effective was it as an analgesic for wounds and amputations that physicians sometimes referred to it as “G.O.M.” — “God’s own medicine.”

That’s good!

But in time morphine was found to be addicting — prolonged use followed by abstinence led to agonizing withdrawal symptoms. “God’s own medicine” turned out to be “the Devil’s own misery.” Hundreds, if not thousands (accurate statistics are hard to come by), of war veterans inadvertently became drug addicts.

That’s bad!

But that’s the nature of opiates. And it illustrates a fundamental principle of pharmacology: any drug can be dangerous depending on the dosage, the duration of use, its purity and many other factors. No drug is completely “safe.”

Recognizing this, the Federal government under the Controlled Substances Act regulates drugs according to their potential for abuse. The drugs are listed in five schedules in descending order of proven abuse potential and current medical usage.

Schedule I lists drugs deemed to have great abuse potential and no legitimate medical use. The score or so drugs on this list include heroin, LSD, mescaline, psilocybin and marijuana.

Schedule II lists drugs with great abuse potential that have legitimate medical uses. Drugs in this list can come under production quotas, and telephone and refillable prescriptions are prohibited. The psychoactive drugs listed here include the opiates such as morphine and synthetic opiates such as methadone and Demeral, certain barbiturates of the short-acting type, methaqualone and amphetamines. Altogether over 1300 drug preparations are listed!

Schedules III, IV and V list drugs with correspondingly less proven abuse potential. The widely used tranquilizers Librium and Valium are in Schedule IV — a classification the manufacturers have protested. Altogether over 3600 drug preparations are covered by these three schedules.

The list is not static. On the basis of new evidence and accumulated experience, drugs are often being added to the list. And drugs already listed are sometimes moved to higher schedules, indicating greater proven abuse potential.

The dual nature of drugs guarantees that the debate over their benefits versus hazards will continue for some time. (Graunke DP. The Dilemma of Drugs. Worldwide Church of God, 1976)

Since that came out in 1976, the opioid crisis has worsened.

Notice also the following:

The term “big pharma” is really making its rounds as more and more people become aware of the fact that the major corporations that manufacture the majority of our “medicine” are actually criminals. The latest example comes from a recent case where a federal jury found multiple top executives of Insys-Therapeutics, a well-known pharmaceutical company that sold a fentanyl-based painkiller (opioids), guilty of racketeering charges and contributing to America’s current opioid epidemic.

According to the New York Times:

The verdict against Insys executives is a sign of the accelerating effort to hold pharmaceutical and drug distribution companies and their executives and owners accountable in ways commensurate with the devastation wrought by the prescription opioid crisis. More than 200,000 people have overdosed on such drugs in the past two decades. Federal authorities last month for the first time filed felony drug trafficking charges against a major pharmaceutical distributor, Rochester Drug Cooperative, and two former executives, accusing them of shipping tens of millions of oxycodone pills and fentanyl products to pharmacies that were distributing drugs illegally. …

The U.S. Department of Justice document reads:

Several pharmaceutical executives and managers, formerly employed by Insys Therapeutics, Inc., were arrested today on charges that they led a nationwide conspiracy to bribe medical practitioners to unnecessarily prescribe a fentanyl-based pain medication and defraud healthcare insurers.

Pretty wild, isn’t it?

This is great, but how deep does the deception go? How much power do these corporations and their executives hold? Below is a great quote from Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that explains the issue quite well:

The pharmaceutical companies have been able to purchase congress. They’re the largest lobbying entity in Washington D.C.. They have more lobbyists in Washington D.C. than there are congressman and senators combined. They give twice to congress what the next largest lobbying entity is, which is oil and gas… Imagine the power they exercise over both republicans and democrats. They’ve captured them (our regulatory agencies) and turned them into sock puppets. They’ve compromised the press… and they destroy the publications that publish real science. (source)

We don’t really live in a democracy, we are living in a ‘corporatocracy.’ There are many products manufactured by pharmaceutical companies that are highly questionable in light of evidence like the example above. Take, for example, when pharmaceutical companies were not disclosing all information regarding the results of their drug trials. Researchers looked at documents from 70 different double-blind, placebo-controlled trials of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) and serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRI) and found that the full extent of serious harm in clinical study reports went undocumented. (source)

Another great example comes from documents showing that pharmaceutical companies are deliberately concealing information for the sole purpose of getting us to comply with an “official” vaccination schedule. https://www.collective-evolution.com/2019/05/09/big-pharma-exec-pushing-opioids-found-guilty-of-racketeering/

Yes, many in the pharmaceutical industry are drug pushers. And yes, money influences a lot of “medical” decisions.

As far as opioids go, the reality is that many people have physical and spiritual pain and they reach out to drugs for relief. This tends to be addictive.

The Continuing Church of God (CCOG) recently put out the following video on our Bible News Prophecy YouTube channel:


13:19

Since 1997, over 700,000 Americans have died related to opioids. What are opioids? What does the National Institute on Drug Abuse teach about them? Why do people use them? Are they effective? Can they be addictive when medically-prescribed? Does the UK have a problem with opioids? Did Great Britain force China to accept opioids in the 19th century? Has pharmaceutical greed been a factor in the opioid crisis? What is the dilemma of drugs? Is switching to non-opioid substances like marijuana the answer? Does the Bible provide insights related to mind altering substances? Dr. Thiel addresses these issues and more. A written article of related interest is available titled “Opioid Crisis Leaves 700,000 Americans Dead.”

Here is a link to the sermonette video: Opioid Crisis.

While the USA is facing an opioid epidemic that it is hoping to fight, it is in the process of increasing its marijuana epidemic, which more and more US states are encouraging.

18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18)

21 For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty (Proverbs 23:21)

Notice something the Apostle Paul was inspired to write:

19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

As God inspired Jeremiah to write:

11 In vain you will use many medicines; You shall not be cured. (Jeremiah 46:11)

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

Spiritual Samaritans: Old and New Who were the Samaritans? Do the represent true Christianity or something else? Here is a link to a related sermon: USA in Prophecy: Samaria.
Hope of Salvation: How the Continuing Church of God differs from Protestantism How the real Church of God differs from mainstream/traditional Protestants, is perhaps the question I am asked most by those without a Church of God background. As far as some changes affecting Protestantism, watch the video Charismatic Kenneth Copeland and Anglican Tony Palmer: Protestants Beware! [Português: Esperança do salvação: Como a igreja do deus difere da maioria de protestantes]. Several related sermon 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?; and How Does the Church of God Differ from Protestantism? These sermons also cover materials not in the book.
Should Christians Smoke Tobacco or Marijuana? Is smoking a sin? What does the Bible teach? What have COG leaders written? Can smokers change? What about marijuana? Here is a link to a related video: Should You Smoke? Would You Like Help to Quit?
Marijuana: Should a Christian Get High? There is increasing acceptance of the use of marijuana. How should Christians view this? Here is a related video titled How Should a Christian View Marijuana?
Alcohol: Blessing or Curse? This is an article from the old Good News magazine that attempts to answer this question.
Binge Drinking, Health, and the Bible Many college students and others overindulge in alcohol. Are there health risks? What does the Bible teach? A related video is also available: Binge Drinking and the Bible.
Prayer: What Does the Bible Teach? This free booklet contains 28 biblically-based tips on improving the effectiveness of your prayers. This is a pdf. A related two part sermon is available: What Does the Bible Teach About Prayer? and What does the Bible Teach About Prayer (& Healing)?
Importance of Fasting An old article by Herbert W. Armstrong on this subject. Here is a link to it in Mandarin Chinese 禁食的重要性.
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.
Living as a Christian: How and Why? In what ways do Christians live differently than others. What about praying, fasting, tithing, holy days, and the world? There are also two YouTube video related to this: Living as a Christian: How and Why? and Living as a Christian: Pure Milk of the Word. The Day of Atonement–Its Christian Significance The Jews call it Yom Kippur, Christians “The Day of Atonement.” Does it have any relevance for Christians today? What is the Jubilee? Is fasting healthy? Here is a link to a sermon: Day of Atonement: How Jesus fulfilled His part for the Atonement. Here is a link to a related article in the Spanish language: El Día de Expiación –Su significado cristiano.
Building Character: Going on to Perfection Once you have accepted Jesus, do you need to strive for perfection and build character? A related video sermon is available: Going on to perfection and building character.
What is the Meaning of Life? Who does God say is happy? What is your ultimate destiny? Do you really know? Does God actually have a plan for YOU personally? If you would like to watch videos covering subjects of this article, you can click on the following links: Why YOU? Why Do YOU Suffer? and What is the meaning of your life?
American foods that gross out foreigners A study done in the Fall of 2014 found out which foods that non-USA Americans considered weird or gross that Americans eat. This video discusses those foods, ingredients in some of those foods, and warns against consuming ‘that which is not bread’ (Isaiah 55:2). Dr. Thiel also warns about synthetic vitamins and some of the issues associated with them. He also discusses something promoted by the late Seventh-day Adventist, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg.
Obesity, processed foods, health risks, and the Bible Does the Bible warn about the consequences of being obese? Is overeating dangerous? Is gluttony condemned? What diseases are associated with eating too much refined foods? A related video would be Eating Right, Eating Too Much, and Prophecy.
Ten Simple Rules that Lead to Health Herbert Armstrong gives his opinions on this.
Eating Right, Eating Too Much, and Prophecy Are there disadvantages to being overweight? Is junk food really bad for you? Does the Bible discuss overeating and/or obesity? Is overeating having an effect on the US military? What are the ramifications of personal and national health for overeating? What should you eat? This is a sermonette-length YouTubevideo.
GMOs and Bible Prophecy What are GMOs? Since they were not in the food supply until 1994, how could they possibly relate to Bible prophecy? Do GMOs put the USA and others at risk? Here are some related videos: GMO Risks and the Bible and GMOs, Lab meat, Hydrogenation: Safe or Dangerous?
Chimeras: Has Science Crossed the Line? What are chimeras? Has science crossed the line? Does the Bible give any clues? A video of related interest is Half human, half pig: What’s the difference?
Ten Simple Rules that Lead to Health Herbert Armstrong gives his opinions on this.
Does God Heal Today? What does the Bible teach? Herbert Armstrong tries to explain this.
UK Study Supports Daniel Diet Daniel and his companions looked better eating more vegetables and avoiding strange meats. Has modern science confirmed this?
The New Testament Church, History, and Unclean Meats Are foods considered to have been unclean in the Old Testament considered to be food in the New Testament? This article discusses this from the perspective of the New Testament. It also has a list of clean and unclean animals. It also answers the question, is pork healthy or is pork dangerous? There is also a sermon-length video on this: Christians and Unclean Meats; a short video is also available: Did Jesus declare all animal flesh food?
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-Celtic 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?
British are the Covenant People What do ‘British’ and ‘Britain’ mean in Hebrew? Are the descendants of the Anglo-Saxons people of the covenant? Does the British royal family connect to the throne of David? What does the Bible teach? What does history show us? Is there any DNA evidence related to British-Israelism? When did Christianity make it to the British Isles? Could Jeremiah have made it to the British Isles? What type of Christians made it to the British Isles? Did the last King of England believe in British Israelism?
Australia and New Zealand in Prophecy Do biblical prophecies help explain the wealth blessings for Australia and New Zealand? Might cursings from disobedience come in the 21st century?
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? Two related sermons are available 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? 2029 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.
Armageddon Who is involved and when will this gathering happen? Here is also a video from Dr. Thiel, from Tel Megiddo in Israel: Armageddon. Other videos include: Armageddon Will it come on Trump’s watch?, Iraq, Armageddon, & Prophecy, Freemasonry, Armageddon, and Rome, Is China paving roads to Armageddon?, and Jordan, Petra, and Armageddon.

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Domestic violence: A ‘national crisis’ in Australia and elsewhere

Monday, April 29th, 2024

(Pixabay photo)

COGwriter

Domestic violence in Australia is in the news:

Australian prime minister describes domestic violence as a ‘national crisis’

April 29, 2022

CANBERRA, Australia — Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday described domestic violence as a “national crisis” after thousands rallied around the country against violence toward women.

Thousands protested in cities around Australia on Sunday to draw attention to the deaths of 27 women so far this year allegedly caused by acts of gender-based violence in a population of 27 million.

Albanese said Monday that the rallies were a call to action for all levels of the Australian government to do more to prevent gender-based violence.

“Quite clearly, we need to do more. It’s not enough to just have empathy,” Albanese told Nine Network television.

“The fact that … a woman dies every four days on average at the hand of a partner is just a national crisis,” he added.

Albanese said there needed to be more focus on perpetrators and prevention of violence. “We need to change the culture, we need to change attitudes — we need to change the legal system,” he told the rally. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/australian-prime-minister-describes-domestic-violence-national-crisis-rcna149735

Yes, attitudes and culture need to be changed.

But so does morality and religion.

The problem is not limited to Australia. The United Nations has the following on its website:

What Is Domestic Abuse?

Domestic abuse, also called “domestic violence” or “intimate partner violence”, can be defined as a pattern of behavior in any relationship that is used to gain or maintain power and control over an intimate partner. Abuse is physical, sexual, emotional, economic or psychological actions or threats of actions that influence another person. This includes any behaviors that frighten, intimidate, terrorize, manipulate, hurt, humiliate, blame, injure, or wound someone. Domestic abuse can happen to anyone of any race, age, sexual orientation, religion, or gender. It can occur within a range of relationships including couples who are married, living together or dating. Domestic violence affects people of all socioeconomic backgrounds and education levels.

Anyone can be a victim of domestic violence, regardless of age, race, gender, sexual orientation, faith or class

Victims of domestic abuse may also include a child or other relative, or any other household member. …

For Concerned Staff – How Can You Help?

How you can help victims of domestic abuse?

  • Listen and believe the abused person to let them know they are not alone.
  • Encourage her/him seek support through a confidential hotline to connect with a professional in the field.
  • Express concern for him/her, show support, and offer referrals to available resources.
  • If you have not been directly approached but have reason to believe that a colleague may be in an abusive relationship, consult with your Organization’s Counselling or Ombudsman’s Office >

Note: Keep in mind that a survivor often makes several attempts to leave the abusive relationship before succeeding.

For Abusive Partner – Are You An Abuser?

The old Worldwide Church of God put out the following:

The problem of battered women and children must be understood, dealt with and solved.

THERE are some subjects so gruesome that humans don’t want to hear about them.

Yet in our world of increasing violence, these problems must be faced.

The rising tide of domestic violence, which includes wife beating, child beating and even beating of aging parents, has forced the public to become aware of what, in the past, has been a behind-closed-doors, secret sin.

No Longer Secret

This once-hidden sin is still extremely difficult to discuss publicly. But discuss it we must.

While this article was being prepared for the press, I noticed a Los Angeles, California, television station had announced a weeklong segment of their evening news would be devoted to the problem of battered women. I tuned in.

The reporter who had worked on the project began the broadcast something like this: “When our program planners suggested a segment on battered women, no one wanted the task of investigating this horrible social problem. We all knew we would find shocking stories, fear, isolation, tears and pain. But we also knew it was our journalistic responsibility to make the public aware of the severity of this problem.”

I knew how that reporter felt. It is far easier to turn to something much more pleasant to write. But once one focuses on the tragedy of family abuse, no one can shake it from the mind. And by reporting it, we hope that maybe, just maybe, someone will be helped. That some of the abused can escape their plight. We even hope that those who are doing the abusing will somehow see the need to change.

Worldwide in Scope

Our regional office managers around the world investigated this problem in their areas. The truth confirmed our suspicions — it is indeed a shocking worldwide problem. From Europe, Australia, South America, Africa — it mattered not where — attention has been awakened to the problem of battered women and other tragic family abuses.

Our West German office sent in translation this official report from the Federal Ministry for Youth, Family’ and Health:

“From the beginning of the project [a center for abused women and children in Berlin], approximately 2,500 women, and just as many children, came to the abuse center for protection and help in a seemingly hopeless situation. The center was constantly overcrowded — something that almost all abuse homes for women experience shortly after their establishment….

“The experience of the women’s homes showed violence against women occurs in all social classes, educational and professional groups.”

From one of our offices in Africa comes this published summary: “African women have learned a painful lesson about the liberation of their continent from colonial domination. They’re still in bondage — to their menfolk. And the continent’s men, traditionally absolute masters over their wives, want to keep it that way.”

That report continued, “Men are up in arms over suggestions … that husbands should be taken to court if they beat their wives.”

One postal clerk in Zimbabwe responded to a survey on wife beating, “You cannot talk sense to a woman who nags or is lazy. You must take a stick to her back. That is the custom and all the family agrees.”

On August 21, 1983, the Los Angeles Times reported the results of a Gallup poll taken in South Korea. In answer to the question, “Have you ever beaten your wife?” more than 61 percent of the South Korean men who were asked said yes. Fewer than I percent refused to reply to the question. …

Then What Is the Answer?

While there are no easy answers to complex questions, there are answers. We can tell you, from the pages of the Bible, how a husband should treat his wife and his children. This problem spans all ethnic, national and socioeconomic boundaries. So the solution must span all these as well. It boils down to whether or not an individual who is abusing his wife or children is willing to apply the way of life that leads to happiness.

Safe houses, shelters for battered women, homes for abused children are only a small part of the answer. They are noble causes that help as many as they can.
But unfortunately such shelters cannot solve the cause of the problem. Such methods are the best human means so far devised to treat the result. In the end, only those who are committing the sin can stop it, and perhaps put together again a family imbued with love for wife and children.

Dr. James Dobson put it as well as I have ever seen it put. While he was not specifically dealing with the problem of family abuse in his book Straight Talk to Men and Their Wives, he said, “If America [or any other nation] is going to survive the incredible stresses and dangers it now faces, it will be because husbands and fathers again place their families at the highest level on their system of priorities!”
Nothing could be more applicable to the subject of battered women and children.

The first and most important step in treating the cause of family abuse is for men who have become husbands and fathers to realize the awesome importance of their responsibilities. Loving, providing for and protecting a wife is infinitely more important than rising to fame and fortune in the business world. Spending time with, teaching and loving children makes any other accomplishments in this life pale into insignificance.

The apostle Paul must have looked into our time today when he described the society of the last days: “People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, ABUSIVE, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God” (II Tim. 3:2-4).

If that doesn’t describe this last half of the 20th century A.D., then I don’t know what does.

That same apostle gave vivid, explicit and loving instructions on building the proper marital relationships.

Here’s what he wrote in Ephesians 5:25-29: “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy… and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church.”

What a world it would be if just those verses were applied in marriage!

If just one husband who has abused a wife reads this article and sets his will to change, it will well be worth the time and effort.

There is simply no excuse at any time and for any reason for a man to hit, kick, bruise and batter his wife — or any woman or child.

Peter admonished husbands: “In the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker [physically] partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers” (I Pet. 3:7).

When God created mankind in his own image he made Adam, the man, first. But Adam was not complete — he was only half there. God permitted him to experience, for a few hours, what it was like to be alone. In all the animal kingdom there was not a suitable companion for Adam.

So God caused a deep sleep to fall upon him and made the first woman, Eve, from his own bone and flesh. Together they could love, share, reproduce. Apart from each other they were unable to accomplish any of these.

Woman was not made a subspecies. A lesser creature. A property to be dragged about by a hank of hair.

In all human history there has not been a society, ancient or modern, that has fully understood the plain truth. Satan has deceived them all.

With God’s help though, you can understand.

Husbands and wives should never abuse one another, their children or their parents. Their intentions and desire should be one of constant love — growing love — and the establishment and maintenance of a strong family headed by a loving husband and father who guides his responsive family.

Then and only then will there be no secret sins of battered wives and children cowering for fear behind closed doors.

When God’s ways are practiced, family dignity and love abound. It’s the only way that will ever work. (Kelly R. DOMESTIC VIOLENCE The Secret Sin. Plain Truth, April 1984)

Obeying the following scriptures would solve all spousal violence:

25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. 28 So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. 30 For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. 31 “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. 33 Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband. (Ephesians 5:25-33)

Sadly, there is less proper fear of God in many places and this leads people to harm others:

13 “Their throat is an open tomb; With their tongues they have practiced deceit”; “The poison of asps is under their lips”;
14 “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.”
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 Destruction and misery are in their ways;
17 And the way of peace they have not known.”
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Romans 3:13-18)

The Bible shows that God is against violence and that destruction will come because of it:

23 ‘Make a chain,
For the land is filled with crimes of blood,
And the city is full of violence.
24 Therefore I will bring the worst of the Gentiles,
And they will possess their houses;
I will cause the pomp of the strong to cease,
And their holy places shall be defiled. (Ezekiel 7:23-24)

28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality…30…violent, proud, boasters,…31…unmerciful; 32 who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them. (Romans 1:28-32)

8 … And the violence of the land and the city, And of all who dwell in it. ( Habakkuk 2:8)

Consider also the following prophecy for the last days:

1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, (2 Timothy 3:1-4).

We are in “the last days.” We are in what Jesus referred to in Matthew 24:4-8 as the “beginning of sorrows.” Sadly, many are brutal and unloving.

But, ultimately, there will be good news. Jesus will return and the millennial Kingdom of God will be established, and such violence will be stopped.

Pray for that Kingdom to come (Matthew 6:10).

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

Husbands Love Your Wives An article written by the late Selmer Hegvold.
Crime can be stopped…here’s how! This was a booklet that was edited with some updates by Dr. Thiel. Here is a link to a related sermon: Crime and How it Will be Stopped!
Why Terrorism? Is Terrorism Prophesied? What does the Bible teach? Which nations may be affected? Here is a link to a related sermon: Terrorism, Christianity, and Islam.
The Ten Commandments Reflect Love, Breaking them is Evil Some feel that the ten commandments are a burden. Is that what Jesus, Paul, Peter, James, and John taught? For a more detailed discussion of the first four commandments, please see the video The Ten Commandments: Loving God. For a more detailed discussion of the last six commandments, please see: The Ten Commandments: Loving Your Neighbor. Here is a link to a related article in Mandarin Chinese 十条诫命显示爱，违反诫命的就是邪恶的
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.

Posted in Other News | Comments Off on Domestic violence: A ‘national crisis’ in Australia and elsewhere

109th anniversary of the Armenia genocide

Wednesday, April 24th, 2024


Murdered Armenians 1915

COGwriter

April 24th marks the 109th anniversary of the date traditionally believed to have been the start of the Armenian genocide in 1915:

April 24, … is Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, marked annually to commemorate the genocide of 1.5 million Armenians a century ago, a mega-crime the nation of Turkey has never acknowledged. 04/23/21 https://www.wnd.com/2015/04/the-armenian-genocide-and-my-grandmothers-secret/

The US Congress has discussed it in the past and voted for it to be declared genocide by the Biden-Harris Administration:

April 24, 2021

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has formally recognized that the systematic killings and deportations of hundreds of thousands of Armenians by Ottoman Empire forces in the early 20th century were “genocide” — using a term for the atrocities that his White House predecessors have avoided for decades over concerns of alienating Turkey.

With the acknowledgement, Biden followed through on a campaign promise he made a year ago Saturday — the annual commemoration of Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day — to recognize that the events of 1915 to 1923 were a deliberate effort to wipe out Armenians.

Biden used a presidential proclamation to make the pronouncement. While previous presidents have offered somber reflections of the dark moment in history via remembrance day proclamations, they have studiously avoided using the term genocide out of concern that it would complicate relations with Turkey — a NATO ally and important power in the Middle East. https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-turkey-government-and-politics-middle-east-europe-dbe6bc9ddac90c1393e6c33ff2220781

This has pleased Armenians around the world.

Notice a Russian report related to the Armenian genocide:

YEREVAN, April 22. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov visited earlier on Friday the Tsitsernakaberd Armenian Genocide memorial complex.

He examined the museum exposition, left a note in the book for official delegations and then laid a wreath at the eternal flame. “Thank you for preserving this memory so that the Armenian people’s tragedy is never forgotten,” the minister’s note says. http://tass.ru/en/politics/871829

Germany released a statement about it before:

April 24, 2015

YEREVAN — Armenia marked the centenary Friday of a mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks as Germany became the latest country to recognize it as a genocide.

Turkey denies that the killing of up to 1.5 million Armenians in what is now Turkey in 1915 constitutes genocide, and relations with Armenia are still blighted by the dispute.

Germany’s parliament approved a resolution Friday branding the killings a “genocide,” risking a diplomatic rupture with Ankara in a significant change of stance for Turkey’s biggest trade European Union trade partner.

The European Parliament refers to the killings as genocide, as did Pope Francis this month. The U.S. has refrained from doing so. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan as recently as Thursday refuted the description of the killings as genocide. http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/armenian-genocide-100th-anniversary-germany-becomes-latest-use-term-n347641

Here is some information about what happened over a century ago:

The Armenian Genocide (Armenian: Հայոց Ցեղասպանություն Hayots Tseghaspanutyun), also known as the Armenian Holocaust, the Armenian Massacres and, traditionally by Armenians, as Medz Yeghern (Armenian: Մեծ Եղեռն, “Great Crime”), was the Ottoman government’s systematic extermination of its minority Armenian subjects from their historic homeland within the territory constituting the present-day Republic of Turkey. The total number of people killed as a result has been estimated at between 1 and 1.5 million. The starting date is conventionally held to be 24 April 1915, the day Ottoman authorities rounded up and arrested some 250 Armenian intellectuals and community leaders in Constantinople. The genocide was carried out during and after World War I and implemented in two phases: the wholesale killing of the able-bodied male population through massacre and subjection of army conscripts to forced labour, followed by the deportation of women, children, the elderly and infirm on death marches leading to the Syrian desert. Driven forward by military escorts, the deportees were deprived of food and water and subjected to periodic robbery, rape, and massacre. (Armenian Genocide, Wikipedia, accessed 04/12/15)

The government of Turkey has tended to deny it was genocide, instead saying that most were killed in WWI and civil wars during that time. The Armenians strongly disagree.

Armenians still face issues. A while back, a COG member sent me the following:

My mom’s side relatives have lived in Aleppo, Syria all their lives, which has had a large thriving Eastern Orthodox Christian Armenian community for nearly a century. A number of them have left during the recent turmoil if they were able. An article in a recent daily news update on cogwriter referred to Christian persecution there. Well, the rebel groups are the ones bombing churches and persecuting those who refer to themselves as Christians (including Armenians). Two of my relatives were kidnapped by rebel forces (now released by ransom money). My relatives are upset at the so-called Arab Spring. It has destroyed the peace, the economy and their way of life, which they were happy with. The more secular Arab leaders like Assad have treated professing Christians very well for decades (though they may be harsh in other ways). The Armenians had no trouble with their religion, churches, schools, cultural activities, and speaking the language. They were highly regarded in the community. Now the rebels want to overthrow the regime and have a fanatical Moslem government, and, like you say, eventually try to establish a caliphate across the Middle East. They persecute any group calling itself Christian and are causing the disintegration of the Orthodox Christian communities.

The situation in Syria has been horrible, but hopefully since ISIS lost its territories, it may be improving. I have been praying for those affected in Syria for some time and again ask others to also do so.

While the Continuing Church of God does not consider that the modern Armenian Orthodox are part of the Church of God, there are certain doctrinal similarities (as well as important doctrinal differences, see Some Similarities and Differences Between the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Continuing Church of God).

The records of history demonstrate that as early as the first century A.D. there were Church of God Christians in Armenia. The Armenian Orthodox have claimed:

Christianity was preached in Armenia as early as the second half of the first century by the two disciples of Jesus Christ, namely, St. Thaddeus (John 14:22-24) and St. Bartholomew (John 1:43-51). During the first three centuries Christianity in Armenia was a hidden religion under heavy persecution.

The true Church of God has long endured persecution and I do believe that there were true Christians in Armenia for quite some time, though not really the way many Armenians understand it.

Around the time of Constantine it was known that there were binitarian Paulicians in Armenia who also kept the seventh-day Sabbath. Tamar Davis reported:

Eustathius was succeeded by Erius, a priest, and semi-Arian…Erius…condemned multiple marriages by the priests … Erius also condemned fasts, stated feasts, prayers for the dead, and the celebration of Easter; he urged a purer morality and a stricter observance of the Sabbath. He had many followers, whose numbers were augmented by one of Paul of Samosota, from whom they were called Paulicians. Notwithstanding the opposition of the prelates, who invoked the secular arm to prevent the defection of their spiritual subjects, the tenets of this sect struck deep root in Armenia and many of its eastern provinces, and finally the great body of Christians in the former country, withdrew from the Episcopal communion, and publicly espoused the sentiments of the Paulicians … The bishops of Syria, Pontus, and Cappadocia, complained of the defection of their spiritual flocks … induced the Grecian emperors to commence, and continue for nearly two centuries, the most terrible persecutions against the Paulicians.

Armenian scholar Nina Garsoian in The Paulician Heresy, wrote: “It would, then, appear that the Paulicians are to be taken as the survival of the earlier form of Christianity in Armenia” (p. 227). She also wrote that the Paulicians were “accused of being worse than other sects because of adding Judaism” (p. 213).

The Catholic Encyclopedia calls the Paulicians heretics because they were basically against idolatry and Catholic ritualism:

The Paulicians, as part of their heresy held … that all external religious forms, sacraments, rites, especially material pictures and relics, should be abolished. To honour the Cross was especially reprehensible.

Furthermore, note this historical writing about the Paulicians in Armenia:

From the earliest ages they have devoutly hated the error and idolatry of the Greeks. Like the primitive Christians, they have ever exhibited an unconquerable repugnance to the use or abuse of images, which, in the eighth and ninth centuries spread like a leprosy…and supplanted all traces of genuine piety in the visible church …

The Greco-Roman Catholic saint and doctor Jerome said that various of the Nazarene Christians were in Armenia in the fourth and fifth centuries (see Nazarene Christianity: Were the Original Christians Nazarenes?). Some of the Paulicians and many of the Nazarene Christians were part of the Church of God. See also: Beliefs of the Original Catholic Church.

In the eighth and ninth centuries, many of the Armenian Paulicians were forcibly resettled in the Balkans by Byzantine emperors. After being relocated to the Balkans, the Paulicians came to be called Bogomils.

The Eastern Orthodox also oppressed the Bogomils. Notice this odd admission from an Orthodox scholar (bolding mine):

The Orthodox, as have all religions, berated other confessions and denominations. But Orthodoxy was always benign – no “jihad”, no bloodshed, no forced conversions and no mass expulsions – perhaps with the exception of the forcible treatment of the Bogomils. It was all about power and money, of course. Bishops and archbishops did not hesitate to co-opt the Ottoman administration against their adversaries…

Notice that the Orthodox claim to have not caused bloodshed, forced conversions, or mass expulsions of any group, except what they did to the Bogomils. It is not completely clear how they treated others, but obviously, they felt mistreating people that were associated with the original Church of God was acceptable. Of course, some of the Orthodox began their persecutions much prior to the Bogomils with the early Paulicians (not just the Samosatans), various (like 4th century) Sabbath-keepers, and the Quartodecimans.

This type of persecution is consistent with what happened to true Christians in the Pergamos and Thyatira eras of the true Church of God.

The historian, Fred C. Conybeare observed this about the Armenians affiliated with the Paulicians:

They are accused by their Armenian opponents of setting at naught all the feasts and fasts of the Church, especially Sunday…The Sabbath was perhaps kept… they were probably the remnant of an old Judaeo-Christian Church, which had spread up through Edessa into Siuniq and Albania…We know that the Pauliani continued to keep Passover on the fourteenth of Nisan…Of the modern Christmas and of the Annunciation, and of the other feasts connected with the life of Jesus prior to his thirtieth year, this phase of the church knew nothing. The general impression which the study of it leaves on us is that in it we have before us a form of Church not very remote from the primitive Jewish Christianity of Palestine.

The following is from the Catholic Priest Basil Sarkisean’s work Manichaean Paulician Heresy and is from a 987 A.D. letter written by Gregory of Narek against the Paulicians (Note that I have left out additions by the editor/translator F. Conybeare):

Then among the observances which we know to have been repudiated by them as neither apostolic or divine the mysterious prayers of genuflexion…

The Font is denied by them…

the communion of immortality…is denied…

We know that they deny the adored sign, which God, made man, raised and carried on his shoulders.

Harvard scholar H. Brown wrote:

The Bogomils…Its doctrine of God is highly dualistic…There is no True Trinity

One of their so-called “dualistic” teachings was that this is Satan’s world. One scholar noted that an:

… important idea of Bogomils and Cathars, i.e. that this world is the kingdom of the devil.

Perhaps it should be noted that groups like the faithful in the Church of God also believe that this is Satan’s world (cf. Matthew 4:8; Luke 4:5; 2 Corinthians 4:4). This will change, however, when Christ returns (Revelation 11:15). This being Satan’s world is part of the reason that the Bible warns us to not love this present world (1 John 2:15-17).

Another reason that their teachings are called dualistic is probably because, as non-trinitarians (see also Did the True Church Ever Teach a Trinity?), they would have most likely been binitarian (see also Binitarian View: One God, Two Beings Before the Beginning).

Notice this from The Catholic Encyclopedia:

The heresy of the Bogomili was started in the tenth century…followers called themselves Christians and considered their faith the only true one. In Bosnia they were named Paterines. The Paterines, or Bogomili…forbade intercourse with those of other faiths, disbelieved in war.

The true Church of God remains opposed to Christians participating in carnal warfare (see Military Service and the Churches of God: Do Real Christians Participate in Carnal Warfare or Encourage Violence?).

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. They were Iconoclasts, rejecting all pictures…

The whole ecclesiastical hierarchy is bad, as also all Sacraments and ritual. They had a special aversion to monks…

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…

In Armenia the sect continued in the “Thonraketzi” founded by a certain Smbat in the ninth century. Conybeare attributes to this Smbat a work, “The Key of Truth”, which he has edited. It accepts the Old Testament and the Sacraments of Baptism. Penance, and the Eucharist. This work especially has persuaded many writers that the Paulicians were much maligned people. But in any case it represents a very late stage of their history, and it is disputed whether it is really Paulician at all.

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 Manichaean (Note that 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.

Those who opposed idols and icons (see What Did the Early Church Teach About Idols and Icons?) were often persecuted (see Persecutions by Church and State).

Interestingly, The Catholic Encyclopedia article also admits:

The emperor Alexius Comnenus is credited with having put an end to the heresy. During a residence at Philippopolis, he argued with them and converted all, or nearly all, back to the Church (so his daughter: “Alexias”, XV, 9). From this time the Paulicians practically disappear from history. But they left traces of their heresy. In Bulgaria the Bogomile sect, which lasted through the Middle Ages and spread to the West in the form of Cathari, Albigensians, and other Manichaean heresies, is a continuation of Paulicianism. In Armenia, too, similar sects, derived from them, continue till our own time.

Notice that even some Roman Catholic scholars know that it is possible that some called Paulicians were the survivors of an early and pure Christianity and that they had spiritual descendants that continued into the future (Alexius Comnenus died in A.D. 1118 and essentially dealt with the Paulicians at Philippopolis in the late eleventh century), such as those within the Thyatira era, and well into modern times! This, combined with Gibbon’s account, is supportive of the view that a laying on of hands continued from the beginning, through the late eleventh century and beyond. The Cathari were also known to be pacifists, as were the faithful among the Paulicians. Of course, there were many called by those names that were not faithful. But completely faithful or not, they were often persecuted.

There has long been a history of persecution against those who hold Church of God teachings. And the Armenians, including those that no longer hold Church of God teachings, have also been persecuted. The persecution and atrocious massacre by the Turks about a century ago is still an important issue for Armenians. The persecution of Armenians in Syria and elsewhere in the 21st century is atrocious as well.

Between civil war, chemical weapons, murders, deaths, and war crimes, it is terrible what the people in Syria, Armenian or not, have had to endure. They, along with all of us, need to pray “Thy kingdom come” (Matthew 6:10, KJV).

Some prophetic information related to Armenia is in the article: The Eurasian Union, the Kings of the East, and Bible Prophecy.

Items of possibly related interest may include:

Persecutions by Church and State This article documents some that have occurred against those associated with the COGs and some prophesied to occur. Will those with the cross be the persecutors or the persecuted–this article has the shocking answer. There is also a YouTube video sermon you can watch: The Coming Persecution of the Church. Here is information in the Spanish language: Persecuciones de la Iglesia y el Estado.
The Spanish Inquisition and Early Protestant Persecutions Was the Church of Rome really responsible for this? What happened? A video of related interest is titled: The Past and Future Inquisition.
Ten Steps to Rid Yourself of Fear This is a vastly expanded version of a shorter article by the late Dr. Herman Hoeh on getting past fear. Here is a link to a related sermon: Ten Plus Steps to Rid Yourself of Fear.
The Eurasian Union, the Kings of the East, and Bible Prophecy Is there a Eurasian union that will be formed? Is one being formed right now? Are any leaders working on that in the 21st century? Does the Bible teach that there will be a Eurasian union? If some type of Eurasian union is formed, who might it benefit and who will it destroy? A related video would be Is The Eurasian Union Rising?
Turkey in Prophecy Do you know the Turkish people descended from? Did the Ottoman Empire possibly fulfill a promise in Genesis? Will Turkey support the European King of the North or Arabic King of the South? Will it betray one of them? Will Turkey be involved in the encouraging the destruction of Israel? Is Turkey going to become Catholic? Is Turkey mentioned in Psalm 83, Daniel 11, and elsewhere in the Bible? A related video is also available: What Should You Know About Turkey in Prophecy.
Nazarene Christianity: Were the Original Christians Nazarenes? Who were the Nazarene Christians? What did they believe? Should 21st century Christians be modern Nazarenes? Is there a group that exists now that traces its history through the Nazarenes and holds the same beliefs today? Here is a link to a related video sermon Nazarene Christians: Were the early Christians “Nazarenes”?
The Pergamos Church Era was predominant circa 450 A.D. to circa 1050 A.D. An especially persecuted Church.
The Thyatira Church Era was predominant circa 1050 A.D. to circa 1600 A.D. The Church during the Inquisition.
Some Similarities and Differences Between the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Continuing Church of God Both groups claim to be the original church, but both groups have differing ways to claim it. Both groups have some amazing similarities and some major differences. Do you know what they are?
Military Service and the Churches of God: Do Real Christians Participate in Carnal Warfare or Encourage Violence? Here are current and historical perspectives on a matter which show the beliefs of the true church on military participation. Is war proper for Christians? A related sermon would be: Christians, Violence, and Military Service.
What Did the Early Church Teach About Idols and Icons? Did Catholic and Orthodox “saints” endorse or condemn idols and icons for Christians?
Binitarian View: One God, Two Beings Before the Beginning Is binitarianism the correct position? What about unitarianism or trinitarianism?
Is The Father God? What is the view of the Bible? What was the view of the early church?
Jesus: The Son of God and Saviour Who was Jesus? Why did He come to earth? What message did He bring? Is there evidence outside the Bible that He existed? Here is a YouTube sermon titled Jesus: Son of God and Saviour.
Did the True Church Ever Teach a Trinity? Most act like this is so, but is it? Here is an old, by somewhat related, article in the Spanish language LA DOCTRINA DE LA TRINIDAD.
Was Unitarianism the Teaching of the Bible or Early Church? Many, including Jehovah’s Witnesses, claim it was, but was it?
Binitarianism: One God, Two Beings Before the Beginning This is a shorter article than the Binitarian View article, but has a little more information on binitarianism.
Is the Future King of the South Rising Up? Some no longer believe there needs to be a future King of the South. Might Egypt, Islam, Iran, Arabs, or Ethiopia be involved? Might this King be called the Mahdi or Caliph? What does the Bible say? A YouTube video of related interest may be: The Future King of the South is Rising.
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.
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?
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 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.
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. It is available in hundreds of languages at ccog.org. Here are links to four kingdom-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.
Just What Do You Mean the Kingdom of God? A booklet that was written by Herbert Armstrong answers questions about the Kingdom.
Damascus and Syria in Prophecy Will Bashar Assad hold power as he has it? Does the Bible show that Damascus, the capital of Syria, will be destroyed? What will happen to Syria? Will the Syrians support the final King of the South that the Bible tells will rise up? Which scriptures discuss the rise and fall of an Arabic confederation? Does Islamic prophecy predict the destruction of Syria. This is a YouTube video.
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?
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.
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.

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World Water Day 2024

Friday, March 22nd, 2024


Many in Africa and elsewhere do not have safe drinking water.

COGwriter

Today has been declared as World Water Day. World Water Day became a UN observance day in 1993:

World Water Day March 22, 2024

771 million (1 in 10) people do not have access to safe water. Furthermore, about 4 billion people, representing nearly two-thirds of the world population, experience severe water scarcity during at least one month of the year. The United Nations has reported that “Water use has been growing globally at more than twice the rate of population increase in the last century, and an increasing number of regions are reaching the limit at which water services can be sustainably delivered, especially in arid regions.” If nothing changes, intense water scarcity could displace 700 million people by 2030.

Gaining a better understanding of how water impacts economic, political, and social stability around the globe and knowing how to solve these problems is vital to addressing the growing water and sanitation crisis.

Why It Matters:

Water is essential not only to health, but also to poverty reduction, food security, peace and human rights, ecosystems and education. Below are a handful of facts and statistics about how sanitation and access to clean water impact people and communities around the world.

Health and Hygiene

  • Hygiene promotion is the most cost effective health intervention. (World Bank 2016)
  • 700 children die every day from diseases linked to unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene. (WHO/UNICEF 2021)
  • 1 in 3 healthcare facilities does not have access to hand hygiene where care is provided.Almost 2 billion people depend on health care facilities without basic water services.
  • Timely hand hygiene prevents up to 50 per cent of avoidable infections acquired during health care delivery, including those affecting the health workforce.
    (WHO/UNICEF 2021)
  • Over the past five years, half a billion people have gained access to basic hand hygiene facilities – a rate of 300,000 per day. (WHO/UNICEF 2021)

Education

  • Women and girls are responsible for water collection in 8 out of 10 households with water off premises, which means reducing the population with limited drinking water services will have a strong gender impact. (WHO and UNICEF, 2017)
  • 43% of schools around the world lack access to basic handwashing with soap and water (WHO)
  • 1 in 3 schools worldwide have either limited drinking water or no drinking water at all (WHO)

Environment

  • People living in poverty are especially vulnerable to the impact of climate change because of their reliance on unstable water and sanitation systems, weaker institutional protections, and limited access to funding.
  • Climate change affects water and sanitation, and water and sanitation services contribute to climate change because of the use of energy.
  • Increasing access to sanitation and improved wastewater management can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
  • The potential risks to water and sanitation services posed by climate change include damage to infrastructure, leading to the loss of services and to deterioration in water quality – impacts that will increase risks to health.
  • Floods and other water-related disasters account for 70 per cent of all deaths related to natural disasters (UN)

Economic 

What is World Water Day?

World Water Day, on 22 March every year, is about focusing attention on the importance of water. The theme for World Water Day 2018 is ‘Nature for Water’ – exploring nature-based solutions to the water challenges we face in the 21st century.

Damaged ecosystems affect the quantity and quality of water available for human consumption. Today, 2.1 billion people live without safe drinking water at home; affecting their health, education and livelihoods.

Sustainable Development Goal 6 commits the world to ensuring that everyone has access to safe water by 2030, and includes targets on protecting the natural environment and reducing pollution. http://worldwaterday.org/

The day was first observed in 1993 when the United Nations General Assembly declared March 22 as World Day for Water. This day was first formally proposed in Agenda 21 of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Observance began in 1993 and has grown significantly ever since.The UN and its member nations devote this day to implementing UN recommendations and promoting concrete activities within their countries regarding the world’s water resources. Each year, one of various UN agencies involved in water issues takes the lead in promoting and coordinating international activities for World Water Day. Since its inception in 2003, UN-Water has been responsible for selecting the theme, messages and lead UN agency for the World Day for Water.In addition to the UN member states, a number of NGOs promoting clean water and sustainable aquatic habitats have used World Day for Water as a time to focus public attention on the critical water issues of our era. The text “World Water Day” has been taken from www.cute-calendar.com February 12, 2016Four billion people — or two out of every three on the planet — do not have enough water to meet their basic needs. That is far greater than previously understood, according to a new study that presents a more accurate picture of the problem.

Water scarcity is fueled by population growth, consumption habits and demands from agriculture. http://www.voanews.com/content/four-billion-people-lack-fresh-water/3188751.html

To celebrate water’s big day, here are some facts about access to water around the globe, courtesy of Water.org:

1. 1.8 billion people around the world lack access to safe water.

2. Globally, a third of all schools lack access to safe water and adequate sanitation.

3. In low- and middle-income countries, a third of all healthcare facilities lack a safe water source.

4. The World Economic Forum in January 2015 ranked the water crisis as the No. 1 global risk based on impact to society (as a measure of devastation).

5. The incidence of children suffering from stunting and chronic malnutrition — at least 160 million — is linked to water and sanitation.

6. More than 840,000 people die from a water-related disease each year, including diarrhea caused by bad drinking water, hygiene and sanitation.

7. Eighty-two percent of people who don’t have access to “improved” water live in rural areas.

8. More than one-third of people worldwide lack access to a toilet, more than the number of people who have a mobile phone.

9. Women and children spend 125 million hours collecting fresh water every day. Individual women and children spend as many as six hours collecting fresh water daily.

10. Every 90 seconds a child dies from a water-related disease.

11. Universal access to safe water and sanitation would result in $18.5 billion in economic benefits each year from deaths avoided alone, a return of $4 for every dollar spent on safe water access.

12. The amount of safe water could drop by 40 percent in 15 years if people do not change the way they use water. March 22, 2016 http://www.ibtimes.com/world-water-day-2016-12-facts-things-know-2340534

Many places in the world have water problems. Drinking water problems are probably the worst in parts of Africa and Asia.

Keeping water clean is a major problem in much of the developing nations.

Fresh water shortages affect many parts of the world, including part of the USA.

That being said, World Water day has linked itself to ‘climate change’:

Adapting to the water effects of climate change will protect health and save lives.

Using water more efficiently will reduce greenhouse gases.

We cannot afford to wait. Everyone has a role to play. accessed 02/09/20 .https://www.worldwaterday.org/

Biblically, people’s role includes turning to God.

Notice, for example, the following scriptures from the Book of Amos:

7 “I also withheld rain from you,
When there were still three months to the harvest.
I made it rain on one city,
I withheld rain from another city.
One part was rained upon,
And where it did not rain the part withered.
8 So two or three cities wandered to another city to drink water,
But they were not satisfied;
Yet you have not returned to Me,”
Says the Lord.

9 “I blasted you with blight and mildew.
When your gardens increased,
Your vineyards,
Your fig trees,
And your olive trees,
The locust devoured them;
Yet you have not returned to Me,”
Says the Lord. (Amos 4:7-9)

Without mentioning here much about what the Bible teaches about weather and rain (some of which can be found in the article Weather Blessings and Sorrows), a point about sanitation should be considered now. Notice the following:

12 “Also you shall have a place outside the camp, where you may go out; 13 and you shall have an implement among your equipment, and when you sit down outside, you shall dig with it and turn and cover your refuse. 14 For the Lord your God walks in the midst of your camp, to deliver you and give your enemies over to you; therefore your camp shall be holy, that He may see no unclean thing among you, and turn away from you. (Deuteronomy 23:12-14)

So, the Bible teaches that there should be places designated for defecation and that human feces should be covered and not seen. This was written over three thousand years ago and still would improve human health today if places that do not heed this would now do so.

While obviously it would be helpful to have toilets in private locations, as far as the water-borne diseases like cholera, dysentery, and diarrhea that accompany poor elimination habits, if the biblical injunction to cover human feces was followed, the incidents of those diseases would be reduced.

The laws of God work and will be implemented around the world when Jesus returns and sets up His kingdom. But until then, there are even more troubles and sorrows expected (cf. Matthew 24:4-22).

Perhaps in closing I should mention that in CCOG we sent funds for two water pumps to be purchased in Malawi a few years ago to assist the people there. That and more is mentioned in the CCOG: Letter to the Brethren: March 19, 2020. In CCOG, we strive to be doers of the word and not hearers only.

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

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. It is available in hundreds of languages at ccog.org. Here are links to four kingdom-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.
The Bible, Christians, and the Environment How should Christians view the environment? Does the Bible give any clues? What are some of the effects of air, water, and land pollution? Is environmental pollution a factor in autism and death? Do pollutants seem to double the autism risk? What will Jesus do? Here is a link to a related sermon: Christians and the Environment (there is also a YouTube video available titled Air Pollution, Autism, and Prophecy, one titled Will Pollution lead to the End?, and one called COP 27 and Solving Climate Change).
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.
United Nations: Humankind’s Last Hope or New World Order? Is the UN the last hope for humanity? Or might its goals end up with sinister results? Two related videos include UN’s ‘New Universal Agenda’ is a False Gospel! and United Nations and Vatican Are Planning the New World Order.
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;  When Will the End of the Age Come?;  Rise of the Prophesied King of the North; Christian Persecution from the Beast; WWIII and the Coming New World Order; and Woes, WWIV, and the Good News of the Kingdom of God.

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Vladimir Putin wins re-election and states world is laughing at the USA

Monday, March 18th, 2024

Valdimir Putin (photo from Kremlin.ru via Wikipedia)

COGwriter

As widely expected, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin won re-election:

March  18, 2024

Russian President Vladimir Putin celebrated winning a new six-year term …

Putin told supporters that he considered the election democratic and dismissed those who protested the vote.

“We have many tasks ahead. But when we are consolidated – no matter who wants to intimidate us, suppress us – nobody has ever succeeded in history, they have not succeeded now, and they will not succeed ever in the future,” Putin said.

The three-day election that began Friday to extend Putin’s 24-year rule took place in a tightly controlled environment …

Results from Russia’s Central Election Commission showed Putin got 87% of the vote. …

China congratulated Putin on his win, highlighting strategic ties between the two countries.”We firmly believe that under the strategic guidance of President Xi Jinping and President Putin, China-Russia relations will continue to move forward,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters when asked about the vote.The leaders of North Korea, Honduras, Nicaragua and Venezuela also issued messages celebrating Putin’s victory. …But despite the show of opposition to Putin, the longtime Russian leader’s victory was not in doubt. If he completes the new six-year term, Putin would pass Josef Stalin and become Russia’s longest-serving leader in more than two centuries. https://www.voanews.com/a/putin-wins-election-with-no-effective-opposition/7531874.html

Vladimir Putin excoriated U.S. democracy on Sunday in a speech claiming victory in the Russian presidential election that, despite a war aboard and protests at home, only ever had one possible outcome: extending his political reign for another six years.

“Out of every voice, we are building a common will of the people of [the] Russian Federation,” he said from his campaign headquarters in Moscow, according to the BBC.

He shrugged off international criticism—including from the United States, where a White House National Security Council spokesperson decried the elections as “obviously not free nor fair.”

“What did you want, for them to applaud us?” Putin asked, The Guardian reported. “…Their goal is to contain our development. Of course they’re ready to say anything.”

He went on to suggest “the entire world is laughing” at the U.S., saying it was “a disaster, not a democracy,” according to a translation by Sputnik, a state-owned news agency.

“I have every reason to believe that no democracy, at least in the presidential election campaigns in certain countries of the West, including the United States, does not exist,” he continued. 03/17/24 https://www.thedailybeast.com/protests-erupt-outside-russian-polling-stations-ahead-of-putins-victory-in-election-landslide

Considering the USA and other elections, remember that the Bible teaches that God decides who He wants in various offices:

17 ‘This decision is by the decree of the watchers, And the sentence by the word of the holy ones, In order that the living may know That the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, Gives it to whomever He will, And sets over it the lowest of men.’ (Daniel 4:17)

Anyway, in addition to limited opposition, many Russians approve of Vladimir Putin because of the Russian economy, the moves of annexing territories such as Crimea and parts of the Donbas, as well as on matters such as the LGBTQ+ agenda.

As far as Russia’s economy goes, notice the following:

Despite several rounds of sanctions levied by Western powers over the war in Ukraine, the Russian economy registered strong growth in 2023 after a recession the previous year. Fuelled by increased public spending – particularly military spending – other industrial sectors also benefited from the war in Ukraine, with the country’s economic resurgence aided by continued revenue from oil and gas exports. …

In recent weeks, the Russian president has again denounced the wide-ranging Western sanctions that have targeted his country since the start of the February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, labeling them a “failure”.

“We have growth and they have decline,” Putin said in a January speech in Moscow, referring to Ukraine’s allies. …

Russia has recorded robust growth since the economic contraction of 2022, surpassing many expert forecasts. Rosstat, Russia’s national statistics agency, reported a growth rate of 3.6 percent for the Russian economy in 2023 while the International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimated growth at around 3 percent. The IMF has thus revised its forecast for 2024 upward to 2.6 percent given the Russian economy’s strong performance last year.

“It’s interesting to note that Russia’s growth surpassed even the most optimistic forecasts, including those of its own institutions,” said Igor Delanoë, deputy director of the Franco-Russian Observatory. https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20240316-after-two-years-war-ukraine-russian-economy-resilient-sanctions-putin-but-how-long

As far as LGBTQ+ matters, back in late 2021, Vladimir Putin held his annual end-of-the year Q&A session and made some true statements that western leaders did not like:

President Putin: I Will Never Allow the ‘New World Order’ To Pervert Nature – There Are Only TWO Genders

December 24, 2021

Speaking to journalists at an end-of-year press conference, Putin warned that the elites in the West are deliberately trying to pervert nature by claiming that men can be women and women can be men.

“It’s inevitable [that these concepts will arrive in Russia],” Putin warned. “If someone thinks men and women are the same thing, let them think that, but let us think about common sense.”

“I believe that the traditional approach is correct. Male is male, female is female, mother is mother, and father is father. I sincerely hope that our society has the moral armor to protect us against this,” Putin added.

He also spoke about the far-left movement in the US to allow inmates to legally change their gender to female in order to enter women’s prisons.

“To fight against that, we should not just shout and point fingers, but we should support our own traditional values,” he declared.

Rt.com reports: Putin’s statement isn’t the first time a senior Russian politician has spoken out against modern, progressive ideas in regards to gender issues. Earlier this month, Russian Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matvienko said that it is “unacceptable” to impose foreign values on a country without taking into account its history, faith, religion, and national characteristics.

“They are trying to impose alien values on us. And not only on us but on the advancement in the world in general,” she said. “It’s sexual minority rights. There are already 85 genders in Europe. It is unacceptable for us.” https://newspunch.com/president-putin-i-will-never-allow-the-new-world-order-to-pervert-nature-there-are-only-two-genders/

As far as two genders go, females have xx chromosomes and males have xy. There are also differences in bone structure, brain connectivity, voice, blood thickness, muscle/fat composition, etc. Surgery does not change one’s sex–it changes mainly how one may appear. Let me add that some in Europe have at least publicly suggested that gender mutilating surgeries be at least reduced–so not every leader outside of Russia is insane about this.

As far as the Putin Administration goes, it has been consistently supporting the idea of biblical marriage as well as not pushing the LGBTQ agenda. Actually, it has long been my view that it is precisely because of that, that Hillary Clinton and the Obama Administration turned against Russia years ago (I figured that out after reading Hillary Clinton’s book Hard Choices as she was not pleased with Russia’s response to her pushing LGBTQ matters inside of Russia). That led to US support to overthrow the Russia-supporting, lawfully-elected government of Ukraine. And is still a factor in how various politicians in the US view Russia.

Vladimir Putin has been the most powerful political leader in the world to take a stand against several parts of the LGBTQ+ agenda, vulgarity (see Russia’s Vladimir Putin takes a stand against vulgar language), and some other sins that plague western society. China’s President has taken some views as well, but not quite as publicly and on as much as Vladimir Putin has.

Yes, there are ongoing horrors associated with Russia’s ‘Special Military Operation’ into Ukraine.

Not to excuse that, but the USA itself needs to consider its ongoing horrors of advocating the mutilation of children in the USA and elsewhere under the guise of falsely labeling that ‘gender-affirming treatment.’

That said, let me close by stating that despite his re-election, Vladmir Putin is NOT the prophesied Prince of Rosh as PCG has claimed (see Putin and Lavrov: Ukraine is about pushing aside USA dominance; PCG wrongly posts that Vladimir Putin is the prophesied ‘Prince of Rosh’).

However, Vladimir Putin is a leader that could well be involved in fulfilling various biblical prophecies against the USA and Europe.

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

Russia and Ukraine: Their Origins and Prophesied Future Russia in prophecy. Where do the Russians come from? What about those in the Ukraine? What is prophesied for Russia and its allies? What will they do to the Europeans that supported the Beast in the end? There is also a video sermon available: Russia in the Bible and in Prophecy as are two video sermonettes Russia, Ukraine, Babylonian Europe, and Prophecy and Ukraine in Prophecy?
Is Russia the King of the North? Some claim it is. But what does the Bible teach? Here is a link to a video, also titled Is Russia the King of the North?
Ezekiel 38: For Russia & Iran in Our Day? Is Ezekiel 38 about to be fulfilled? Are we close to the battle with Gog and Magog? Four related videos are available: Ezekiel 38 Gog and Magog War: Is it Soon?, Ezekiel 38: For Russia, Ukraine, & Iran Now?, Russia, Iran, Syria, & the Bible (Code), and Gog, Magog, Vladimir Putin, and Ezekiel 38?
Russia and Ukraine: Their Origins and Prophesied Future Russia in prophecy. Where do the Russians come from? What about those in the Ukraine? What is prophesied for Russia and its allies? What will they do to the Europeans that supported the Beast in the end? There is also a video sermon available: Russia in the Bible and in Prophecy as are two video sermonettes Russia, Ukraine, Babylonian Europe, and Prophecy and Ukraine in Prophecy?
PCG: Teachings Unique to the Philadelphia Church of God Simply calling oneself ‘Philadelphia’ does not make one so (see Revelation 3:7-9), nor does Gerald Flurry calling himself “that prophet” make it so. This article provides many quotes from this group which tries to look faithful.
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? Do you really know what will happen to Europe and the English-speaking peoples? What about the peoples of 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;  When Will the End of the Age Come?;  Rise of the Prophesied King of the North; Christian Persecution from the Beast; WWIII and the Coming New World Order; and Woes, WWIV, and the Good News of the Kingdom of God.

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USA, etc. Daylight Saving Time

Friday, March 8th, 2024

COGwriter

Sunday at two a.m., the USA and some other nations change their clocks to go off of Standard Time and back to Daylight Saving Time.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Time isn’t on your side this weekend.

One less hour (of sleep) isn’t the end of the world, but you may be a bit sleepier Sunday morning.

Time to abide by the adage to spring forward (though it’s not yet spring). The shift from standard to daylight saving time comes at 2 a.m. local time Sunday across most of the United States. Consider setting clocks an hour ahead before bed Saturday night.

Daylight will begin to last longer into the evening but the sun will take an hour longer to emerge in the morning.

No time change is observed in Hawaii, most of Arizona, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam and the Northern Marianas. 03/09/19 https://www.apnews.com/a8f1b380a486431895b3f95efad43911

At 2 a.m. on the morning of Sunday, March 12, those in the USA and many other nations will need to spring our clocks forward – and losing an hour of the day – for Daylight Saving Time. Sunset will be an hour later.

Because of that, sunset will be over an hour later next Friday.

Those of us who observe the weekly Sabbath from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday may wish to remember that.

Come Sunday at 2 a.m., Daylight Saving Time clicks into place like, well, clockwork. You know the drill: Spring ahead — as in, shift your timepieces an hour forward before you turn in on Saturday night. Sure, you’ll wake up groggy on Sunday. …

DST was introduced in the U.S. in 1918 when President Woodrow Wilson signed the Standard Time Act into law. It’s been something of a bumpy ride since. DST was repealed a year later, but parts of the U.S. continued to observe it. Which meant headaches for transportation and broadcasting businesses. In 1966, Congress enacted the Uniform Time Act, which ensured that states observing DST began and ended the time adjustment on the same dates. Start and stop dates have changed over time. Since 2007, DST has been bookended by the second Sunday in March and the first Sunday in November. http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/8-illuminating-facts-daylight-saving-time-article-1.2994488

Here is a link for Sunset Times for the U.S.A. (and international cities if longitudinal location is known).

There are also health ramifications associated with the change:

5 ways DST can affect your health

1. “A 2014 study published in Open Heart found a 25% jump in the number of heart attacks occurring the Monday after DST starts, compared to other Mondays during the year.” Health.com

2. “In general, ‘losing’ an hour in the spring is more difficult to adjust to than ‘gaining’ an hour in the fall. An ‘earlier’ bedtime may cause difficulty falling asleep and increased wakefulness during the early part of the night.” WebMD

3. “People who already are at risk for stroke may face an increased risk after the switch to daylight saving time — at least temporarily, a new study shows.” Cleveland Clinic

4. The US National Highway Transportation Safety Administration “found a very small, but significant, increase of road deaths on the Monday after the clock shift in the spring. The number of deadly accidents jumped to an average of 83.5 on the “spring forward” Monday compared with an average of 78.2 on a typical Monday.” Vox.com

5. “When your body hasn’t had enough rest, the nervous system is overworked, causing stress. Also, consistent lack of sleep can negatively affect your body’s ability to regulate stress hormones, which leads to high blood pressure.” The Active Times

http://www.newsnet5.com/news/its-not-your-imagination-5-ways-daylight-saving-time-can-affect-your-health

CNN reported the following:

(CNN) Daylight saving time is Sunday, and losing sleep after clocks “spring forward” an hour could be more than just an annoyance. This small time shift can significantly raise the risk of health-related issues.

A recent study found that the overall rate for stroke was 8% higher in the two days after daylight saving time. Cancer victims were 25% more likely to have a stroke during that time, and people older than 65 were 20% more likely to have a stroke.

The researchers, based in Finland, compared the rate of stroke in more than 3,000 people hospitalized the week after a daylight saving time shift to the rate of stroke in more than 11,000 people hospitalized two weeks before or after the week of transition.

“Stroke risk is highest in the morning hours,” Dr. Jori Ruuskanen, study author from the University of Turku, said in an email. “Previous studies have also shown that the disruption of the circadian clock due to other reasons (e.g. due to rotating shift work) and sleep fragmentation are associated with an increased risk of stroke. However, we did not know whether stroke risk is affected by DST transitions. What is common in these situations is the disturbed sleep cycle, while the immediate mechanisms for the increased risk are unknown at the moment.

Daylight saving time is a small change, Ruuskanen said, but it affects whole nations twice a year. 03/11/16 http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/11/health/daylight-saving-time-health-effects/

Irrespective of any possible health risks, the changing of the clocks, etc. can be annoying and affect sleep cycles. Either way, in the USA the clocks change at 2:00 a.m.

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

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?
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 Dramatic Story of Chinese Sabbathkeepers This reformatted Good News article from 1955 discusses Sabbath-keeping in China in the 1800s.
Is God Unreasonable? Some have suggested that if God requires Sabbath-keeping He is unreasonable. Is that true?
Is There “An Annual Worship Calendar” In the Bible? This paper provides a biblical and historical critique of several articles, including one by the Tkach WCG which states that this should be a local decision. What do the Holy Days mean?
Holy Day Calendar This is a listing of the biblical holy days through 2033, with their Roman calendar dates. They are really hard to observe if you do not know when they occur 🙂 In the Spanish/Español/Castellano language: Calendario de los Días Santos. In Mandarin Chinese: 何日是神的圣日？ 这里是一份神的圣日日历从2013年至2024年。.

Posted in Other News | Comments Off on USA, etc. Daylight Saving Time

International Woman’s Day 2024

Friday, March 8th, 2024


1914 Poster from Germany

COGwriter

March 8th is considered to be International Women’s Day. Here is a little bit of its history:

March 8 was suggested by the 1910 International Socialist Woman’s Conference to become an “International Woman’s Day.” After women gained suffrage in Soviet Russia in 1917, March 8 became a national holiday there. The day was then predominantly celebrated by the socialist movement and communist countries until it was adopted in 1975 by the United Nations. …

In 1914 International Women’s Day was held on March 8, possibly because that day was a Sunday, and now it is always held on March 8 in all countries. The 1914 observance of the Day in Germany was dedicated to women’s right to vote, which German women did not win until 1918.

In London there was a march from Bow to Trafalgar Square in support of women’s suffrage on March 8, 1914. Sylvia Pankhurst was arrested in front of Charing Cross station on her way to speak in Trafalgar Square.

On March 8, 1917, on the Gregorian calendar, in the capital of the Russian Empire, Petrograd, women textile workers began a demonstration, covering the whole city. This marked the beginning of the Russian Revolution. …

The day is an official holiday in Angola, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, China (for women only), Cuba, Georgia, Guinea-Bissau, Eritrea, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Madagascar (for women only), Moldova, Mongolia, Nepal, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, and Zambia.

In some countries, such as Cameroon, Croatia, Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria and Chile, the day is not a public holiday, but is widely observed nonetheless. (Wikipedia, accessed 03/08/18)

#BalanceforBetter is the theme for this year’s International Women’s Day, which is observed each year on March 8. The 2019 initiative is aimed at gender equality, a greater awareness of discrimination and a celebration of women’s achievements, according to the International Women’s Day website. That includes reducing the global pay gap between men and women and making sure all are equal – and balanced – in activist movements, boardrooms and beyond. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2019/03/07/international-womens-day-2019-balanceforbetter-theme/2904077002/

As far as women go, they do have rights, and should not be mistreated.

Sadly, in modern times, many act like being able to kill unborn babies is an important right for women–and murder is wrong.

That being said, here is something from the old Radio Church of God related to women:

To be truly happy, a real woman should bear in mind the purpose of which she was created – and set herself definite GOALS to fulfill in the accomplishment of that purpose.

First of all, she should remember that she was called to help and supplement her husband. She should learn to be responsive to him and to his direction of the home, entertainment and way of life.

She should realize that her husband’s success is her success also – and fully SHARE and delight in the triumphs and achievements of her husband, knowing that they are partly her own. Also, she should equally share in his sorrow and disappointments – trying always to give the right kind of balanced and positive sympathy and encouragement so that he will rebound to other successes in the future.

A second area in which a woman should cultivate success and service is that of bearing and TRAINING her children. Certainly, young mothers exert a powerful influence on the leaders of tomorrow. And women should realize the overwhelming IMPORTANCE of zealously and joyously dedicating themselves to this as their highest physical calling. FAR MORE IMPORTANT it is than that of an office worker or secretary on any level.

In His Word, God instructs older women: “That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, KEEPERS AT HOME, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed” (Titus 2:4-5). …

The ULTIMATE Goal

Then, for the woman who reads and understands the Bible, another goal presents itself. That is the goal of preparing to help RULE and reconstruct this entire society in the World Tomorrow (Rev. 2:26; 5:10). Some Christian women wonder how they are being prepared for this. If they, themselves, are not leading and directing businesses, families and public activities today, how are they learning and preparing for tomorrow’s world?

The ANSWER is that a woman, with the physiological and psychological nature given her by God has magnificent opportunities – too often untapped – for preparing toward this goal. She needs to set herself to be a really successful wife, mother and contributor today. (True Womanhood: A Lost Cause?)

As far as the role of women in the church, check out the article: Women and the New Testament Church. A related sermon is also available: Women’s Roles in the Church.

There are many roles for women in the church and in the Continuing Church of God we have women supporting the work and preparations for the Final Phase of the Work.

Some items of possibly-related interest may include:

Women and the New Testament Church What roles did women play in the ministry of Jesus and the apostles? Did Jesus and the Apostle Paul violate Jewish traditions regarding their dealings with women? Do women have any biblical limitations on their role in the Church? Were there female prophets? Do women have any special responsibilities in terms of how they dress? What does the New Testament really teach about women? Here are links to two related sermons: Women’s Roles in the Church and New Testament Women.
True Womanhood: A Lost Cause? Is there still a place for being feminine? Here is an article from Herbert Armstrong about his thoughts relating to women and womanhood.
Abortion, the Bible, and a Woman’s Right to Choose Do you know what the Bible teaches on this? Has the Roman Catholic Church allowed abortions? What about the real Church of God? Some may wish to view the YouTube videos: Abortion and Birth Control: History and Scriptures. Abortion, the Bible, and US Debt, American Infanticide, Euthanasia: Mercy killing or murder?, and Land of ‘Free’ Abortions and Debt.
Priscilla and Aquila An early Christian married couple from Rome who moved to Asia Minor.
The Final Phase of the Work What is the final phase of the work? Who will lead it? Do you have the courage to support it? Here are two related YouTube videos titled Final Phase of the Work: Need and Background and The Final Phase of the Work. The written article has been translated into Spanish La Fase Final de la Obra.
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. It is available inover 1,000 languages at ccog.org. Here are links to four kingdom-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.

Posted in Other News | Comments Off on International Woman’s Day 2024

106th Anniversary of Turkey surrendering Jerusalem to the British

Saturday, December 9th, 2023


Ottoman WWI Navy

COGwriter

December 9, 2023 marks the 106th anniversary of Turkey surrendering Jerusalem to the British.

Here is some information about it:

For more than 2,500 years, officers had marched through the city to “liberate” it, always liberating it until the next conqueror arrived. So it was with the Babyloninan Nebuzaradan, Rome’s Titus, the Muslim Omar Ibn al-Khattab and the Crusader kings in the 11th century. So it was with the Mamluks and so it was as well for Sultan Selim I, who took Jerusalem without a battle, liberating it for the Ottoman Empire. Therefore, it is no surprise that the entry of Gen. Edmund Allenby through Jaffa Gate was so well documented.

The British conquest of Jerusalem was different than the victory in Be’er Sheva in every way. Even though the city didn’t have any strategic or military importance in 1917, the significance of entering the Old City was never lost on any general, whether his name was Allenby, Charles Watson or John Shea, or Mordechai “Motta” Gur, Yitzhak Rabin, Moshe Dayan or Uzi Narkiss. All of them knew exactly where the cameras would be snapping and in which alley the history books would be bound. It’s no coincidence that they marched, poised, precisely to that spot.

The British had waited 600 years – ever since the Crusades – for the right opportunity to liberate the city from its Muslim occupiers. The Ottoman army withdrew without a fight. 12/06/17 https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.827016

Jerusalem and environs fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1517 and they generally remained in control until December 9, 1917. Prior to the Turks, Arabs basically controlled Jerusalem. Before that the Persians, and before that, various aspects of the Roman Empire and other Gentile powers controlled Jerusalem since the seventh century B.C.

A COG leader, not officially in CCOG, sent me the following last night:

Good evening Dr. Thiel    … It is a big anniv. tomorrow as you have shown us a number of times. It may be on a fast in the ninth month in 604 BC when Jeremiah’s scroll was read and cut up and burned that the 2520 year count started. A dream led to the British getting the “surrender” on the proper day – that is so interesting. Have a restful Sabbath.  Larry C.

Now, I had planned to post about that today, but thought some would find his comments of related interest.

It is currently the 26th day of the ninth month of the Hebrew calendar (also commonly called Kislev).

Here is information from the Book of Jeremiah about some of what happened during that month:

9 Now it came to pass in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ninth month, that they proclaimed a fast before the Lord to all the people in Jerusalem, and to all the people who came from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem. 10 Then Baruch read from the book the words of Jeremiah in the house of the Lord, in the chamber of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the scribe, in the upper court at the entry of the New Gate of the Lord’s house, in the hearing of all the people.

11 When Michaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, heard all the words of the Lord from the book, 12 he then went down to the king’s house, into the scribe’s chamber; and there all the princes were sitting — Elishama the scribe, Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, Elnathan the son of Achbor, Gemariah the son of Shaphan, Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the princes. 13 Then Michaiah declared to them all the words that he had heard when Baruch read the book in the hearing of the people. 14 Therefore all the princes sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, to Baruch, saying, “Take in your hand the scroll from which you have read in the hearing of the people, and come.” So Baruch the son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand and came to them. 15 And they said to him, “Sit down now, and read it in our hearing.” So Baruch read it in their hearing.

16 Now it happened, when they had heard all the words, that they looked in fear from one to another, and said to Baruch, “We will surely tell the king of all these words.” 17 And they asked Baruch, saying, “Tell us now, how did you write all these words — at his instruction?”

18 So Baruch answered them, “He proclaimed with his mouth all these words to me, and I wrote them with ink in the book.”

19 Then the princes said to Baruch, “Go and hide, you and Jeremiah; and let no one know where you are.”

20 And they went to the king, into the court; but they stored the scroll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe, and told all the words in the hearing of the king. 21 So the king sent Jehudi to bring the scroll, and he took it from Elishama the scribe’s chamber. And Jehudi read it in the hearing of the king and in the hearing of all the princes who stood beside the king. 22 Now the king was sitting in the winter house in the ninth month, with a fire burning on the hearth before him. 23 And it happened, when Jehudi had read three or four columns, that the king cut it with the scribe’s knife and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the scroll was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth. 24 Yet they were not afraid, nor did they tear their garments, the king nor any of his servants who heard all these words. 25 Nevertheless Elnathan, Delaiah, and Gemariah implored the king not to burn the scroll; but he would not listen to them. 26 And the king commanded Jerahmeel the king’s son, Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to seize Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet, but the Lord hid them.

27 Now after the king had burned the scroll with the words which Baruch had written at the instruction of Jeremiah, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying: 28 “Take yet another scroll, and write on it all the former words that were in the first scroll which Jehoiakim the king of Judah has burned. 29 And you shall say to Jehoiakim king of Judah, ‘Thus says the Lord: “You have burned this scroll, saying, ‘Why have you written in it that the king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land, and cause man and beast to cease from here?'” 30 Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: “He shall have no one to sit on the throne of David, and his dead body shall be cast out to the heat of the day and the frost of the night. 31 I will punish him, his family, and his servants for their iniquity; and I will bring on them, on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and on the men of Judah all the doom that I have pronounced against them; but they did not heed.”‘”

32 Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah, who wrote on it at the instruction of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire. And besides, there were added to them many similar words. (Jeremiah 36:9-32)

Note that no matter what governmental leaders do or try to belittle, God’s plan will be accomplished. Daniel records what happened to Jehoiaim:

1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. 2 And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand … (Daniel 1:1-2).

The old Radio and Worldwide Church of God taught the following about that:

Palestine, after a punishment against the House of Judah, that began about 604 B.C., was brought back from the Gentile Turks in 1917-exactly 2520 years later, when it came under the control of Great Britain, and finally the Jews. The seven times of Israel’s punishment was a period of great privation and suffering, of slavery and war because they would not submit their wills and their ways to God, because they would not allow Him to rule their lives by His perfect laws, which could have brought them peace and prosperity and dominion. (Hoeh H. What are the Times of the Gentiles? Plain Truth, September 1955)

Prophecy Concerning Judah

There is one prophecy concerning the Jewish people, that they were to be invaded and conquered, driven out of their own land and would be punished for a period of 2,520 years. (See Leviticus 26:14-39 and, for a full explanation, write for our free book “The United States and Britain in Prophecy”.) Now, put that together with other prophecies such as Haggai 2:20-22. Exactly 2,520 years from the time that they were invaded and the land of Palestine was given over to King Nebuchadnezzar in 604 B.C. the very nation to whom that land was deeded by God Almighty took possession of it.

That nation was not the Jewish people, but birthright people who descended from Abraham. The birthright means right of birth, and includes the possession of the land, that is, it includes material resources and possessions. The possession of the land that God promised to Abraham was handed on to Isaac, Abraham’s son, and then to Jacob. And then Jacob, just before he died, and when his eyes were so dim with age that he couldn’t see, reached out and conferred that same birthright, including the possession of the land of Palestine, not upon Judah, the father of the Jews, but upon Ephraim, and together with him his brother Manasseh, both sons of Joseph.

Joseph was one of the 12 sons of the ancient patriarch Jacob, who was renamed Israel. Usually you don’t hear of any tribe of Joseph because Joseph was given a double portion. And his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, each became a tribe. And so, rather, you usually read of the tribe of Ephraim and the tribe of Manasseh. When the name Joseph is occasionally used, it includes the two tribes.

How Prophecy Was Fulfilled

Ephraim was made the chief birthright holder. And so, 2,520 years from 604 B.C. Ephraim was to take Palestine again counting 2,520 years from 604 B.C. brings us to A.D. 1917.

When it comes to translating time and getting down to an exact day of the year 2,520 years after Nebuchadnezzar came down to Jerusalem and Palestine was surrendered to him, the Bible gives us the date in terms of the Hebrew calendar. That calendar is set up according to the new moons, with every month being 30 or 29 days. Today we’re living under what we call the Roman calendar or, as it was slightly altered by Pope Gregory, the Gregorian calendar. Actually, it is a pagan Roman calendar. The Roman calendar is all that most of us know because we’ve been born in a world that uses that calendar and no other.

A certain date according to the Hebrew calendar, will coincide with a certain date on the Roman calendar one year, but the next year will be about 11 days earlier, or maybe about 18 days later in the year, because the Hebrew calendar — sometimes called the sacred calendar, which came from God — goes according to the moon and runs in 19-year cycles. The Roman calendar by contrast was concocted by men who tried to make it come out right every year, and they’ve never been able to make it do that!

So, when it comes to translating a certain prophesied date recorded in the Hebrew calendar (in this case the 24th day of the 9th month — see Haggai 2:20-22) to a date in 1917 according to the Roman calendar, it takes some effort to figure. I found the Hebrew date corresponded to December 9, 1917, which was 2,520 years from the time Nebuchadnezzar accepted the formal surrender of the Jews in 604 B.C.

I looked and found that the Turks, who are gentiles even though they, in part, descend from Esau, Jacob’s brother, possessed Palestine in 1917. Esau, remember, anciently possessed the birthright from Abraham through Isaac, but sold it for a bowl of red soup when he was hungry. The Turks surrendered Palestine to the British, on, what date? I had heard, and it had been published that the date was December 11, 1917. December 11, 1917, I found, on further investigation, was merely the date on which General Allenby and his army made their triumphal march into the city of Jerusalem. But it was two days before, on December 9, that the Turks made the surrender.

That prophecy was fulfilled down to the very day, December 9. And it was on the equivalent date, in 604 B.C., 2,520 years before, six centuries before the birth of Christ, that the Jews formally surrendered Jerusalem and Palestine to the gentiles from Babylon. God Almighty has been able to keep his prophecies. (Armstrong HW. The Bible SUPERSTITION OR AUTHORITY? 1985)

The Bible teaches “Ephraim is My firstborn” (Jeremiah 31:9). Ephraim is represented in this age by the British-descended peoples (see also Anglo – America in Prophecy). Many overlook that aspect of prophecy.

Now, let me state that I have verified that December 9, 1917 was indeed the date that the Gentile Turks surrendered to the British (e.g. see https://theworld.org/stories/2016-12-09/1917-jerusalem-tried-surrender-british-army-cook-who-was-lost-looking-eggs and http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/jerusalem-surrenders-to-british-troops accessed 07/28/17). I also verified that the 24th day of the ninth month (Kislev) was on December 9th in 1917 (e.g. http://www.hebcal.com/hebcal/?year=1917&month=x&yt=G&v=1&nh=on&nx=on&mf=on&ss=on&o=on&s=on&lg=s&vis=on&D=on&d=on&c=on&city=US-New%20York-NY&m=72#cal-1917-12 accessed 07/28/17).

Herbert Armstrong mentioned Haggai, so let us look at that:

20 And again the word of the Lord came to Haggai on the twenty-fourth day of the month, saying, 21 “Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying:

‘I will shake heaven and earth.
22 I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms;
I will destroy the strength of the Gentile kingdoms.
I will overthrow the chariots
And those who ride in them;
The horses and their riders shall come down,
Every one by the sword of his brother. (Haggai 2:20-22)

Now, there looks to be a future fulfillment of this beyond the overthrowing of the Turkish empire and the surrender of Jerusalem to the British on December 9, 1917.

Why?

Let’s look at the next verse:

23 ‘In that day,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘I will take you, Zerubbabel My servant, the son of Shealtiel,’ says the Lord, ‘and will make you like a signet ring; for I have chosen you,’ says the Lord of hosts.” (Haggai 2:23)

Because Haggai 2:20-23 did not occur in Zerubbabel’s lifetime, there must be a future fulfillment. Zerubbabel lived in the sixth century B.C.

A ‘Zerubbabel’ did not become a signet ring in 1917 nor was the strength of the Gentile kingdoms–plural–destroyed then (more on ‘Zerubbabel’ can be found in the article Who Are The Two Witnesses?).

Haggai 2:23 is to be finally fulfilled once Jesus returns.

So, while the surrender of Jerusalem was a type of fulfillment (the Gentile kingdom of the Ottomans fell–though it still had battles in 1918), a future fulfillment awaits (for more details, check out the article The Times of the Gentiles).

The old Radio and Worldwide Church of God pointed to several events that came 2520 years after something else–for details see The Times of the Gentiles.

Dr. Hoeh, in the old Radio Church of God, wrote:

Then again, many claim that the times of the Gentiles are synonymous with the times of Judah’s punishment, that the Gentile times have already ended-some say in 1914, others say in 1917 or 1936. Some even think that it might end this year. But all these supposed dates for the ending of the times of the Gentiles are mere guesses! The truth is that almost no one really knows what the times of the Gentiles are. … Let’s not assume, let’s study the Bible itself to see what these times really are.

Times of Israel’s Punishment a Key to Understanding

Israel was promised great national blessings, including national greatness if they would obey God. But God also promised that if they obstinately refused to obey Him, if they refused to follow His laws and let Him rule their lives, then He would punish them for a period called seven times (Lev. 26).

The Bible itself defines this period of seven times for us. If you turn to Revelation the twelfth chapter, and compare verses 6 and 14 you will see that the word time in prophecy simply means a year, hence seven times would be seven years or 2520 days. (Hoeh H. What are the Times of the Gentiles? Plain Truth, September 1955)

I suspect that we could consider that when what is prophesied to happen in Daniel occurs (see The ‘Peace Deal’ of Daniel 9:27), it will be about 2520 days until the establishment of the millennial Kingdom of God. A time when ALL the kingdoms of humans will be overthrown (cf. Revelation 11:15).

With what is going on between Israel, Hamas, Hezbollah, Syria, Iran, and others, we might even see the countdown begin as early as 2024.

That is something we all should “Watch” (Mark 13:37).

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

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.
Israel, 1948, and Prophecy Was the formation in 1948 of the nation of Israel prophetically significant? Was this event what Jesus referred to in His “parable of the fig tree”? Are most Israelites in the modern nation of Israel? Are most Jews in that nation? If the prophecies Jeremiah 23:3-6 and Ezekiel 34:13-30 do not point to 1948, when will those prophecies be fulfilled? Are there prophecies that will be fulfilled related to the nation of Israel? What was the first sign that Jesus said would be seen by a particular ‘generation’? When might that have happened? What are the signs that Jesus’ fig tree parable point to? This is a 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.
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? Do you really know what will happen to Europe and the English-speaking peoples? What about the peoples of 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;  When Will the End of the Age Come?;  Rise of the Prophesied King of the North; Christian Persecution from the Beast; WWIII and the Coming New World Order; and Woes, WWIV, and the Good News of the Kingdom of God.
Who Are The Two Witnesses? What is their job? What does the Bible reveal? What has the Church of God taught on this subject? Might even Roman Catholic prophecies give some clues here? A related sermon is available: Prophecy and the Two Witnesses. Here is a related link in Spanish/español:¿Quiénes son los dos testigos? Here is a sermon in Spanish: ¿Quienes son los Dos Testigos?
Gaza and the Palestinians in Bible Prophecy What does the Bible teach about Gaza and the fate of the Palestinians? Here is a link to a related video: Gaza and Palestine in Prophecy.
Turkey in Prophecy Do you know the Turkish people descended from? Did the Ottoman Empire possibly fulfill a promise in Genesis? Will Turkey support the European King of the North or Arabic King of the South? Will it betray one of them? Will Turkey be involved in the encouraging the destruction of Israel? Is Turkey going to become Catholic? Is Turkey mentioned in Psalm 83, Daniel 11, and elsewhere in the Bible? A related video is also available: What Should You Know About Turkey in Prophecy.
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.
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.
Could 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 2025 or? There is also a video titled: When Does the 6000 Years End? 2031? 2035? Here is a link to the article in Spanish: ¿Tiene Dios un plan de 6,000 años?
Will the Anglo-Saxon-Celtic 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?
British are the Covenant People What do ‘British’ and ‘Britain’ mean in Hebrew? Are the descendants of the Anglo-Saxons people of the covenant? Does the British royal family connect to the throne of David? What does the Bible teach? What does history show us? Is there any DNA evidence related to British-Israelism? When did Christianity make it to the British Isles? Could Jeremiah have made it to the British Isles? What type of Christians made it to the British Isles? Did the last King of England believe in British Israelism?
Canada in Prophecy: What Does Bible Prophecy, Catholic Prophecy, and other Predictions Suggest About the Future of Canada? There are prophecies that suggest involvement with Canada. And many are not positive about its future. A sermon of related interest is also available: Canada in Prophecy.
Australia and New Zealand in Prophecy Do biblical prophecies help explain the wealth blessings for Australia and New Zealand? Might cursings from disobedience come in the 21st century? Here is a link to a related sermon: Australia and New Zealand: Origins and Prophecy.
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.
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? Two related sermons are available Millennial Utopia and The Millennium.

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USA, etc. to go back to Standard Time

Saturday, November 4th, 2023

COGwriter

Sunday, November 5, at two a.m., the USA and several other nations (Canada, Bahamas, Bermuda, Cuba, and Haiti) change their clocks to go back to Standard Time and off of Daylight Saving Time:

It’s that time of year again.

The “fall back” day is coming to clocks across the nation…
Remember, you’ll “fall back” and set your clocks back one hour. Many electronic devices automatically adjust when Daylight Saving…Time begins or ends. http://ames.patch.com/articles/fall-back-daylight-saving-time-2012-ends-sunday-4b97ab65

Since the mid-1960s, most of Arizona has refused to adopt daylight saving time. It is also not observed in Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2015/1031/Daylight-saving-time-Why-it-isn-t-going-away-video

New Zealander George Hudson proposed the modern idea of daylight saving in 1895. Germany and Austria-Hungary organized the first implementation, starting on 30 April 1916/ 1 May 1916. Many countries have used it at various times since then, particularly since the energy crisis of the 1970s.

There are issues with it:

November 5, 2022

Here is something else related to it from Time:

That Daylight Saving Time began in Germany on May 1, 1916, in the hopes that it would save energy during World War I, according to Michael Downing, author of Spring Forward: The Annual Madness of Daylight Saving Time. But, though Germans were first to mess with their clocks, they likely got the idea from Britain—and from someone whose ideas about Daylight Saving had little to do with conserving fuel.

William Willett had in 1907 published The Waste of Daylight. Willett was inspired by an early-morning epiphany that “the sun shines upon the land for several hours each day while we are asleep” and yet there “remains only a brief spell of declining daylight in which to spend the short period of leisure at our disposal.” Though he did mention that it would save money to reduce the use of artificial lighting, his main purpose was the increase enjoyment of sunlight. He lobbied Parliament for such legislation until his death in 1915—not living to see the law passed in England shortly after it was in Germany. …

Across the pond, the first U.S. law on Daylight Saving Time went into effect on March 19, 1918 for the same fuel saving reasons, about a year after the country entered the war. But again, though the official reason was fuel saving, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce was the major backer for the policy, Downing argues, because Americans getting off work while it was still light out meant they would be more likely to go out shopping in the evening. http://time.com/4549397/daylight-saving-time-history-politics/

Because of the clock change, sunset will be over an hour earlier next Friday in the USA, Canada, Bahamas, Bermuda, Cuba, and Haiti.

Those of us who observe the weekly Sabbath from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday may wish to remember this time change.

This will affect not only those in the Churches of God, but others who keep the seventh-day Sabbath such as observant Jews, Messianic Jews, and Seventh-day Adventists.

Daylight Saving Time for Europeans ended last Sunday.

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

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.
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.
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?
Is God Unreasonable? Some have suggested that if God requires Sabbath-keeping He is unreasonable. Is that true?
CG7.ORG This is a website for those interested in the Sabbath and churches that observe the seventh day Sabbath.
Messianic Judaism Beliefs Differ from the Continuing Church of God Both groups keep the seventh-day Sabbath, but have important differences in doctrines and practices. Here is a link to a related sermon: Messianic Jewish Beliefs.
SDA/CCOG Differences: Two Horned Beast of Revelation and 666 The genuine Church of God is NOT part of the Seventh-day Adventists. This article explains two prophetic differences, the trinity, differences in approaching doctrine, including Ellen White. Did Ellen White make prophetic errors? Did Ellen White make false prophecies? Here is a version in the Spanish language: SDA/COG Diferencias: La bestia de dos cuernos de Apocalipsis y 666. Here is a sermon in the English language: CCOG and SDA differences and similarities.
Is There “An Annual Worship Calendar” In the Bible? This paper provides a biblical and historical critique of several articles, including one by the Tkach WCG which states that this should be a local decision. What do the Holy Days mean? Also you can click here for the calendar of Holy Days.

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106th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration

Thursday, November 2nd, 2023


Balfour Declaration Letter

COGwriter

Now, today marks the 106th anniversary of something called the Balfour Declaration.

Here is some information about it:

The British peer Arthur Balfour barely makes an appearance in UK schoolbooks, but many Israeli and Palestinian students could tell you about him.

His Balfour Declaration, made on 2 November 1917, is taught in their respective history classes and forms a key chapter in their two very different, national narratives.

It can be seen as a starting point for the Arab-Israeli conflict.

The declaration by the then foreign secretary was included in a letter to Lord Walter Rothschild, a leading proponent of Zionism, a movement advocating self-determination for the Jewish people in their historical homeland – from the Mediterranean to the eastern flank of the River Jordan, an area which came to be known as Palestine.

It stated that the British government supported “the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people”.

At the same time, it said that nothing should “prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities”.

Palestinians see this as a great betrayal, particularly given a separate promise made to enlist the political and military support of the Arabs – then ruled by the Ottoman Turks – in World War One. …

“Do you think Britain committed a crime against the Palestinian people?” asks a teacher during a lesson in a Palestinian school in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Everyone puts up a hand.

“Yes,” a 15-year-old girl answers. “This declaration was illegitimate because Palestine was still part of the Ottoman Empire and Britain did not control it.”

“Britain considered the Arabs as a minority while they formed over 90% of the population.”

‘Huge hope’

Israeli children, inevitably, tend to see British involvement more positively when they study the Balfour Declaration in a lesson towards the end of their high-school years.

In Balfouria, a village in northern Israel, nine-year-old Noga Yehezekeli is already proudly able to recite a Hebrew version of the text off by heart.

“In the moment it was given, the declaration gave huge hope and a huge push for the Zionist movement,” says her father, Neve. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-41765892

November 2, 2017

Thousands of Palestinians took to the streets in protest across the West Bank Thursday marking a century since the Balfour Declaration, Britain’s promise to Zionists to create a Jewish home in what is now Israel.

In Ramallah, some 3,000 protesters marched from the city center to the British Consulate, with many waving black flags and banners with slogans such as “100 years of dispossession.” Smaller demonstrations took place in east Jerusalem and elsewhere in the West Bank.

Rawada Odeh, a demonstrator in Jerusalem, said she was protesting because Balfour promised a home to the Zionists while neglecting that there is a “Palestinian population here in our land.”

“The land does not belong to Balfour,” she said. “We are Palestinians, and we are living here and we are following our issue till we succeed.” 2 November 2017 http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/palestinians-protest-balfour-declaration-centenary-50880565

The situation remains tense in Israel as the Palestinians tend to consider the Balfour Declaration illegitimate, whereas the Jews have seen it as a sign of support. It is part of the current confusion in the region, as the Brits made seemingly contradictory promises to the Jews and the Arabs.

About five weeks after the Balfour Declaration, the Turks surrendered Jerusalem to the British.

The old Worldwide Church of God taught the following about that:

Prophecy Concerning Judah

There is one prophecy concerning the Jewish people, that they were to be invaded and conquered, driven out of their own land and would be punished for a period of 2,520 years. (See Leviticus 26:14-39 and, for a full explanation, write for our free book “The United States and Britain in Prophecy”.) Now, put that together with other prophecies such as Haggai 2:20-22. Exactly 2,520 years from the time that they were invaded and the land of Palestine was given over to King Nebuchadnezzar in 604 B.C. the very nation to whom that land was deeded by God Almighty took possession of it.

That nation was not the Jewish people, but birthright people who descended from Abraham. The birthright means right of birth, and includes the possession of the land, that is, it includes material resources and possessions. The possession of the land that God promised to Abraham was handed on to Isaac, Abraham’s son, and then to Jacob. And then Jacob, just before he died, and when his eyes were so dim with age that he couldn’t see, reached out and conferred that same birthright, including the possession of the land of Palestine, not upon Judah, the father of the Jews, but upon Ephraim, and together with him his brother Manasseh, both sons of Joseph.

Joseph was one of the 12 sons of the ancient patriarch Jacob, who was renamed Israel. Usually you don’t hear of any tribe of Joseph because Joseph was given a double portion. And his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, each became a tribe. And so, rather, you usually read of the tribe of Ephraim and the tribe of Manasseh. When the name Joseph is occasionally used, it includes the two tribes.

How Prophecy Was Fulfilled

Ephraim was made the chief birthright holder. And so, 2,520 years from 604 B.C. Ephraim was to take Palestine again counting 2,520 years from 604 B.C. brings us to A.D. 1917.

When it comes to translating time and getting down to an exact day of the year 2,520 years after Nebuchadnezzar came down to Jerusalem and Palestine was surrendered to him, the Bible gives us the date in terms of the Hebrew calendar. That calendar is set up according to the new moons, with every month being 30 or 29 days. Today we’re living under what we call the Roman calendar or, as it was slightly altered by Pope Gregory, the Gregorian calendar. Actually, it is a pagan Roman calendar. The Roman calendar is all that most of us know because we’ve been born in a world that uses that calendar and no other.

A certain date according to the Hebrew calendar, will coincide with a certain date on the Roman calendar one year, but the next year will be about 11 days earlier, or maybe about 18 days later in the year, because the Hebrew calendar — sometimes called the sacred calendar, which came from God — goes according to the moon and runs in 19-year cycles. The Roman calendar by contrast was concocted by men who tried to make it come out right every year, and they’ve never been able to make it do that!

So, when it comes to translating a certain prophesied date recorded in the Hebrew calendar (in this case the 24th day of the 9th month — see Haggai 2:20-22) to a date in 1917 according to the Roman calendar, it takes some effort to figure. I found the Hebrew date corresponded to December 9, 1917, which was 2,520 years from the time Nebuchadnezzar accepted the formal surrender of the Jews in 604 B.C.

I looked and found that the Turks, who are gentiles even though they, in part, descend from Esau, Jacob’s brother, possessed Palestine in 1917. Esau, remember, anciently possessed the birthright from Abraham through Isaac, but sold it for a bowl of red soup when he was hungry. The Turks surrendered Palestine to the British, on, what date? I had heard, and it had been published that the date was December 11, 1917. December 11, 1917, I found, on further investigation, was merely the date on which General Allenby and his army made their triumphal march into the city of Jerusalem. But it was two days before, on December 9, that the Turks made the surrender.

That prophecy was fulfilled down to the very day, December 9. And it was on the equivalent date, in 604 B.C., 2,520 years before, six centuries before the birth of Christ, that the Jews formally surrendered Jerusalem and Palestine to the gentiles from Babylon. God Almighty has been able to keep his prophecies. (Armstrong HW. The Bible SUPERSTITION OR AUTHORITY? 1985)

The Bible teaches “Ephraim is My firstborn” (Jeremiah 31:9). Ephraim is represented in this age by the British-descended peoples (see also Anglo – America in Prophecy). Many overlook that aspect of prophecy.

Now, let me state that I have verified that December 9, 1917 was indeed the date that the Gentile Turks surrendered to the British (e.g. see https://www.pri.org/stories/2016-12-09/1917-jerusalem-tried-surrender-british-army-cook-who-was-lost-looking-eggs and http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/jerusalem-surrenders-to-british-troops accessed 07/28/17). I also verified that the 24th day of the ninth month (Kislev) was on December 9th in 1917 (e.g. http://www.hebcal.com/hebcal/?year=1917&month=x&yt=G&v=1&nh=on&nx=on&mf=on&ss=on&o=on&s=on&lg=s&vis=on&D=on&d=on&c=on&city=US-New%20York-NY&m=72#cal-1917-12 accessed 07/28/17).

Herbert W. Armstrong mentioned Haggai, so let us look at that:

20 And again the word of the Lord came to Haggai on the twenty-fourth day of the month, saying, 21 “Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying:

‘I will shake heaven and earth.
22 I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms;
I will destroy the strength of the Gentile kingdoms.
I will overthrow the chariots
And those who ride in them;
The horses and their riders shall come down,
Every one by the sword of his brother. (Haggai 2:20-22)

Now, there looks to be a future fulfillment of this beyond the overthrowing of the Turkish empire and the surrender of Jerusalem to the British on December 9, 1917.

Why?

Let’s look at the next verse:

23 ‘In that day,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘I will take you, Zerubbabel My servant, the son of Shealtiel,’ says the Lord, ‘and will make you like a signet ring; for I have chosen you,’ says the Lord of hosts.” (Haggai 2:23)

Because Haggai 2:20-23 did not occur in Zerubbabel’s lifetime, there must be a future fulfillment. Zerubbabel lived in the sixth century B.C.

A ‘Zerubbabel’ did not become a signet ring in 1917 nor was the strength of the Gentile kingdoms–plural–destroyed then (more on ‘Zerubbabel’ can be found in the article Who Are The Two Witnesses?).

Haggai 2:23 is to be finally fulfilled once Jesus returns.

So, while the surrender of Jerusalem was a type of fulfillment (the Gentile kingdom of the Ottomans fell–though it still had battles in 1918), a future fulfillment awaits (for more details, check out the article The Times of the Gentiles).

Currently, many Palestinians are depressed, distraught, and many feel that they are without hope. Some have their hope in Hamas–which launched a major attack last month (see Hamas attacks and Netanyahu says, ‘We are at war’). The Palestinians are angry for many reasons, including the Balfour Declaration. Because of improper Islamic teachings and statements from their leadership, many believe that engaging in brutal, violent behavior will not only free them from problems in this life, but give them an opportunity to fulfill various lusts in the next (e.g. see Suicide bombers kill scores in Turkey–their hope for reward is flawed)–yet that is a false hope.

However, for a time, the Palestinians will have some “success” as the Bible indicates that the Palestinians will get control over more land in the current nation of Israel before Jesus returns (cf. Jeremiah 25:17-29; 47:2-7; see also Gaza and the Palestinians in Bible Prophecy).

Yet, that is not the solution to the problems for the Palestinians or with Jerusalem. Looking to this world’s politics and methods will not solve the problems in the Middle East (even though the Bible shows that there will be a temporary peace deal there–cf. Daniel 9:27; see also The ‘Peace Deal’ of Daniel 9:27).

The real solution is the return of Jesus Christ and the establishment of the Kingdom of God.

Until then, we will see conflict, temporary peace (Daniel 9:27), and conflict (Daniel 11:31-43) in the area of Judea/Palestine.

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

Gaza and the Palestinians in Bible Prophecy What does the Bible teach about Gaza and the fate of the Palestinians? Here is a link to two related videos: Gaza and Bible Prophecy and Gaza and Palestine in Prophecy.
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.
Israel, 1948, and Prophecy Was the formation in 1948 of the nation of Israel prophetically significant? Was this event what Jesus referred to in His “parable of the fig tree”? Are most Israelites in the modern nation of Israel? Are most Jews in that nation? If the prophecies Jeremiah 23:3-6 and Ezekiel 34:13-30 do not point to 1948, when will those prophecies be fulfilled? Are there prophecies that will be fulfilled related to the nation of Israel? What was the first sign that Jesus said would be seen by a particular ‘generation’? When might that have happened? What are the signs that Jesus’ fig tree parable point to? This is a 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 Are The Two Witnesses? What is their job? What does the Bible reveal? What has the Church of God taught on this subject? Might even Roman Catholic prophecies give some clues here? Here is a related link in Spanish/español:¿Quiénes son los dos testigos?
Gaza and the Palestinians in Bible Prophecy What does the Bible teach about Gaza and the fate of the Palestinians? Here is a link to a related video: Gaza and Palestine in Prophecy.
Why Terrorism? Is Terrorism Prophesied? What does the Bible teach? Which nations may be affected? Here is a link to a related sermon: Terrorism, Christianity, and Islam.
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.
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? Could the old Temple have been somewhere other than the “Temple Mount”? Here is a related article in the Spanish language ¿Por qué no se requiere un templo judío en Jerusalén? Here is a link to a sermon titled The Temple, Prophecy, and the Work.
How Will Middle East Peace be Brought About? Can humans bring peace to the Middle East? Here is a link to a related video: Middle East Peace? When?
Is the Future King of the South Rising Up? Some no longer believe there needs to be a future King of the South. Might Egypt, Islam, Iran, Arabs, or Ethiopia be involved? Might this King be called the Mahdi or Caliph? What does the Bible say? A YouTube video of related interest may be: The Future King of the South is Rising.
The Arab and Islamic World In the Bible, History, and Prophecy The Bible discusses the origins of the Arab world and discusses the Middle East in prophecy. What is ahead for the Middle East and those who follow Islam? What about the Imam Mahdi? What lies ahead for Turkey, Iran, and the other non-Arabic Muslims? An item of possibly related interest in the Spanish language would be: Líderes iraníes condenan la hipocresía de Occidente y declaran que ahora es tiempo para prepararse para el Armagedón, la guerra, y el Imán Mahdi.
Differences Between Islam and the Continuing Church of God What are some of the main differences? Are there any similarities? A video of related interest is titled: Islam: Any Christian Concerns or Similarities?
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?
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? Do you really know what will happen to Europe and the English-speaking peoples? What about the peoples of 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;  When Will the End of the Age Come?;  Rise of the Prophesied King of the North; Christian Persecution from the Beast; WWIII and the Coming New World Order; and Woes, WWIV, and the Good News of the Kingdom of God.

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