07 july 2008

The International Prophetic Voice for the EndtimesThe International Prophetic Voice for the Endtimes

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• Satan Restrained?• Trinity

• Why Israel?Pg. 43

JULLY 2008—$4.75LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Wicked Money and theGreat Endtime

Wealth TransferPg. 22

God’s Purpose forthe Church

PART IV

Pg. 16

8Hunger ThatCannot BeSatisfiedBy Marcel MalgoThe words of Amos 8:11-12 speak clearly of aspiritual hunger for the Word of God, which cannotbe satisfied.The prophet Amos had to proclaimdivine judgment to the ten tribes of Israel because oftheir apostasy. Could it be that in our day also ahunger for the Word of God is there, but that this canno longer be satisfied?

16 God’s Purpose for the ChurchPART IVBy Dr. Ron J. Bigalke Jr.

22Money: Ends & Trends

Wicked Money and the Great EndtimeWealth TransferBy Wilfred HahnAccording to some teachers, Proverbs 13:22 means that the Church will soon inherit the wealthof the wicked.They believe there will be a massive, worldwide, last-day gathering of souls, forwhich this wealth will be used. But can any of these ideas be broadly supported in Scripture?

31Jesus is ComingBy Norbert Lieth

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4 M I D N I G H T C A L L

“Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish's belly” (Jonah 2:1).

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Jonah finds himself in thebelly of a specially “preparedgreat fish.” It is significant

that the time span is given,“three days and three nights.”Quite logically, we assume that

three days and three nights would equal72 hours. Let us therefore take a closerlook at this issue relating to the threedays and the three nights.

The book of Jonah is counted amongthe 12 Minor Prophets. Thus, it is aprophetic book. The content is targetedtoward the Gentiles primarily, on waterto the Gentile sailors and on land to thecity of Nineveh.

At one particular instance, Jesusmade reference to Jonah and Nineveh.This occurred at the time when thePharisees asked for a sign: “Master, wewould see a sign from thee.” We readthe response: “But he answered and saidunto them, An evil and adulterous gen-eration seeketh after a sign; and thereshall no sign be given to it, but the signof the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was

three days and three nights in the whale'sbelly; so shall the Son of man be three daysand three nights in the heart of the earth”(Matthew 12:39-40). Every Easter, this is-sue is brought up by many who insist thatChrist was not crucified the day beforeSabbath, that is, on Friday. This is primar-ily based on the assumption that “threedays and three nights” require 72 hours tofulfill this prophecy. But if we carefully fol-low the events of the Crucifixion to theResurrection, we may come to a differentconclusion.

In the Gospel of Luke we read, “Thisman went unto Pilate, and begged thebody of Jesus. And he took it down, andwrapped it in linen, and laid it in asepulchre that was hewn in stone,wherein never man before was laid. Andthat day was the preparation, and thesabbath drew on” (Luke 23:52-54).There is no doubt that Christ died Fri-day evening. The Sabbath begins at sun-set Friday, the sixth day of the week.The preparation day for the Sabbathends the evening of Friday. Then they

JULY 2008 5

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STATEMENT OF FAITHWE BELIEVE in the divine inspiration of the whole Bible andtherewith the infallibility of the Holy Scripture, which is God’sWord, and in the eternal Triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

WE BELIEVE Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was conceived of theHoly Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, lived a sinless life, and shedHis blood to save mankind. He died and arose bodily the thirdday and later ascended into heaven.

WE BELIEVE that the Lord Jesus Christ died in the place ofeach individual sinner and that all who believe in Him as theirpersonal Savior are justified through His shed blood and havebecome children of God.

WE BELIEVE that Israel is God’s chosen people, and that therestoration of the Jews to their own land is the fulfillment ofthe Word of God.

WE BELIEVE in the pre–tribulational appearance of Jesus Christfor the Rapture of His Church (all born again believers).

WE BELIEVE in the immortality of our souls and the resurrectionof our bodies, and in the resurrection of the just and the unjust, theeverlasting blessedness of the saved and the everlasting punishmentof the lost.

The Prophet ic Voice for the Endt imes PRINTED IN 12 LANGUAGES

ISSN 1094–8600

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rested on the Sabbath Day, as is recorded in Luke 23:56: “And they re-turned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbathday according to the commandment.”

Next we read, “Now upon the first day of the week, very early in themorning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they hadprepared, and certain others with them. And they found the stone rolledaway from the sepulchre. And they entered in, and found not the body ofthe Lord Jesus. And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed there-about, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments: And as theywere afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them,Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen: re-member how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, Saying, TheSon of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be cruci-fied, and the third day rise again” (Luke 24:1-7). This is fulfillment of Bibleprophecy: “the third day rise again.” We must take notice that it does notsay “after three days” but “on the third day.”

We have another testimony on that same day: “But we trusted thatit had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this,to day is the third day since these things were done” (Luke 24:21).They too testified that “to day is the third day.” The disciples knewsomething we apparently overlook, namely that the Lord's death onFriday evening and His resurrection early Sunday morning fulfills therequired “three days and three nights.” If Christ will have laid in thegrave only but one split second, it would count unto Him for one dayand one night. Why? Because that one split second violated the entireone day. Note very carefully that it says, “they came very early in themorning.” John actually records, “early when it was yet dark” andMark specifically mentioned that it was “very early in the morning,the first day of the week” (Mark 16:2).

To understand this better, let us look at another example in Scrip-ture: “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in onepoint, he is guilty of all” (James 2:10). The law is very complex: it notonly includes the 10 commandments but much more. Yet if one littlelaw is broken, though the person has kept perfectly the rest of the law,“he is guilty of all.”

Jonah prophetically demonstrated the death, burial and resurrec-tion of Christ our Lord.

The other issue much debated is whether Jonah died in the belly ofthe great fish and then was resurrected, or whether he stayed alive theentire time. I would agree with the latter, because the Bible specifi-cally tells us Jonah “prayed out of the fish's belly.”

Prophetic PrayerHere is Jonah's testimony of his prayer: “And said, I cried by reason

of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of

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hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice. For thou hadst cast me intothe deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about:all thy billows and thy waves passed over me” (Jonah 2:2-3). What issignificant is that Jonah was fully convinced that God heard him. Hedescribes the depths of hell, although this was not the hell of fire, butthe hell of “water” and being swallowed alive by a fish. His confidenceis expressed in verse 4: “Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple.” He cast himself totally in theprovidence of God, in the most horrible situation one can think of.

Read his prayer: “The waters compassed me about, even to the soul:the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about myhead. I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth withher bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life fromcorruption, O LORD my God. When my soul fainted within me I re-membered the LORD: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thineholy temple” (verses 5-7). Jonah finds himself in the depths of thewaters, in total darkness with no hope of surviving this catastrophealive. He too could have prayed as David did when he cried the wordsJesus later uttered on the cross, “My God, my God, why hast thou for-saken me?” (Psalm 22:1).

When one reads this Psalm, one is overwhelmed by David's expres-sion of his lostness: “I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art myGod from my mother's belly. Be not far from me; for trouble is near;for there is none to help. Many bulls have compassed me: strong bullsof Bashan have beset me round. They gaped upon me with theirmouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion. I am poured out like water,and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted inthe midst of my bowels. My strength is dried up like a potsherd; andmy tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into thedust of death. For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of thewicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. I maytell all my bones: they look and stare upon me. They part my gar-ments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture” (Psalm 22:10-18).David prophetically foreshadows the suffering of the Messiah. Hishand and feet were pierced and the very garment of the Lord was of-fered by the casting of lots.

Now look at Jonah; he has no other refuge than the Lord and con-centrates upon God's residence: “into thine holy temple.” What seemsstrange is the fact that in this prayer, Jonah does not confess his sins,failure, and disobedience, but expresses his position in the Lord; totalreliance on Him.

His prayer proves beyond a shadow of doubt that Jonah had a deepand abiding faith in the God of heaven and earth; he had the absoluteinner conviction and assurance that while he was alive he would besaved from corruption. This too reminds us of the Lord, of whom we

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read in another Psalm: “For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; nei-ther wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption” (Psalm 16:10).Jonah's body did not “corrupt” in the belly of the fish.

Jonah is a testimony of the reality of the Living Lord in word and indeed: “They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy. But Iwill sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay thatthat I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD” (Jonah 2:8-9). There isno salvation outside the name which is above every name, the LordJesus Christ. Jonah's prayer presents to us a prophetic picture of beingforsaken by God on the one hand, yet having the absolute assuranceof personal salvation on the other.

God Himself determined the end of Jonah's three days and threenights in the whale's belly: “And the LORD spake unto the fish, and itvomited out Jonah upon the dry land” (Jonah 2:10).

Charleston Prophecy ConferenceTwo months are left until we meet in the historic city of Charleston,

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Whether people want to hear it or not, when we have come to a living faith inthe Lord Jesus Christ, we must proclaim the saving message of the Gospel tothem in word and deed—for there will come a time when it will be “too late!”

B Y M A R C E L M A L G O

Even in the Old Testament the Lord spoke theearnest warning, “When I say unto thewicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou

givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn thewicked from his wicked way, to save his life; thesame wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but hisblood will I require at thine hand”(Ezekiel 3:18).

We sometimes take it for granted that there areonly born-again Christians present when wepreach, or amongst our readers. Who is to say, how-ever, whether this is the case? For this reason, withthis contribution I want to take upon myself the re-sponsibility of which we have just read in the bookof Ezekiel. I shall not only speak about the absolutenecessity of a thorough conversion, but above allthat this may not be put off, for that would be fatal!

I would like to begin with the words of Amos8:11-12, “Behold, the days come, saith the LordGod, that I will send a famine in the land, not afamine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hear-ing the words of the Lord; and they shall wanderfrom sea to sea, and from the north even to the east,they shall run to and fro to seek the word of theLord, and shall not find it.” These words speakclearly of a spiritual hunger for the Word of God,which cannot be satisfied. How is such a thing pos-sible? The prophet Amos had to proclaim divinejudgment to the ten tribes of Israel because theyhad fallen away from the Lord. When we see howthis apostasy was expressed, we can perhaps under-stand why the Lord God had to resort to these se-vere measures.

Israel's apostasy……was expressed among other things in how they

rejected the Word of God. God had to say to themthrough Amos, “I raised up of your sons forprophets, and of your young men for Nazarites. Is itnot even thus, O ye children of Israel? saith theLord. But ye gave the Nazarites wine to drink; andcommanded the prophets, saying, Prophesy not”

(Amos 2:11-12). In Amos 7:10 we hear the falsepriest, Amaziah of Bethel say to Jeroboam, the kingof Israel, “Amos hath conspired against thee in themidst of the house of Israel: the land is not able tobear all his words.” Farther on Amaziah says toAmos, “O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the landof Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there:but prophesy not again any more at Beth-el: for it isthe king's chapel, and it is the king's court”(verses12-13).

The ten tribes of Israel had rejected the words ofGod that Amos had to proclaim to them becausethe people did not want to hear them. Amos couldpreach in the neighbouring country of Judah, butnot in Israel.

With this background in mind, we can under-stand what God had determined: there would comea time in which the exact opposite would take

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JULY 2008 9

The ten tribes of Israel had rejected the words of God that Amos had to proclaim tothem because the people did not want to hear them. Amos could preach in the neigh-bouring country of Judah, but not in Israel.

Engraving of the Prophet Amos by Gustave Doré (1891)

place. Then Israel wouldseek the Word of God andnot find it; she would desireit in vain, and hunger for itin vain. The Lord God didnot choose this punishmentlightly. He had, after all,tried to lead the peoplethrough hunger for realbread back to Himself, butHis attempts were all invain, “And I also have givenyou cleanness of teeth in allyour cities, and want ofbread in all your places: yethave ye not returned untome, saith the Lord”(Amos4:6). So God turned toother tactics. He sent ahunger for His Word to theland, without Israel beingable to satisfy this hunger.

When God is silentSomebody said in our church recently, “When

God is silent this means judgment.” But the Biblealso speaks of God's silence being love, “The Lordthy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save,he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in hislove, he will joy over thee with singing”(Zephaniah3:17). The Amplified Bible translates this, “He willrest in His love, He will rest and in His love He willbe silent.” This silence, as we see from the context,has to do with restoration and forgiveness, thereforewe may not confuse it with the silence of whichAmos speaks. The silence of God which Amosspeaks of is a terrible silence. It is something we canhardly imagine.

Let us go back a little farther in history. Why wasthe time when Samuel served the Lord under Eli so

awful? It was because theWord of God was no longerheard, “And the word of theLord was precious in thosedays; there was no open vi-sion”(1 Samuel 3:1). “Theword of the Lord was rare,”says the New InternationalVersion. God hardly spokein those days. And what wasthe worst thing for KingSaul when he had been re-jected by God? The fact thatGod no longer spoke tohim, “And when Saul sawthe host of the Philistines,he was afraid, and his heartgreatly trembled. And whenSaul enquired of the Lord,the Lord answered him not,neither by dreams, nor byUrim, nor by prophets”(1

Samuel 28:5-6). King Saul was so desperate on ac-count of this, for he wanted to hear God speak, thathe turned to a means that he had completely exter-minated at the beginning of his reign. He visited amedium, “Then said Saul unto his servants, Seekme a woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I maygo to her, and enquire of her”(verse 7). And sureenough, they found one who had survived his re-forms, “And his servants said to him, Behold, thereis a woman that hath a familiar spirit at En-dor.” Itis a terrible thing when God no longer speaks.

Does God still cease to speaktoday?

Could it be that in our day a hunger for the Wordof God is there, but that this can no longer be satis-fied? To receive a clear, Biblical answer to this ques-tion, I would like to mention a few people who


“Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land,not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord;and they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shallrun to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it.”

HUNGER THAT CANNOT BE SATISFIED

C O V E R S T O R Y

never came to God al-though they oftenheard His voice. Wemay suppose that in theWestern world almosteveryone has heardGod calling them atsome point in theirlives and know full wellthat He exists; most ofthem also know of HisSon, Jesus Christ.

But God does notcall people again andagain. There comes atime when it is too latefor people who are notconverted, at a point intime determined byGod. Those who have not had a radical change ofheart by then, by claiming the atoning death of theLord Jesus Christ for themselves, have missed theirchance.

Why is this so? Because one day the momentcomes when God stops speaking to a person. Thenit will no longer be possible to be converted andborn again. Those who have not done this, al-though they heard God's voice and maybe evenagreed with Him, will never hear it again.

Perhaps someone is saying, “But is it not so thatas long as a person lives he has the chance of beingconverted?” Certainly a person can be converted onhis deathbed, but the question is whether he missedevery opportunity he had. And nobody can saywhether they will be able to think clearly on theirdeathbed and make a clear decision for Jesus.

A short while ago I stood by the grave of a 16-year old boy who had been taken from this earththrough sudden heart failure. I know that he is nowwith his Saviour because he had already acceptedthe Lord Jesus during his lifetime.

The book of Jobspeaks of a sinnerupon whom the judg-ment of God hadcome with all severity,but then suddenly theforgiving love of Godappeared to this man,who prayed to theLord to have mercy onhim. In Job 33:27-28we read, “He lookethupon men, and if anysay, I have sinned, andperverted that whichwas right, and it prof-ited me not; He willdeliver his soul fromgoing into the pit, and

his life shall see the light.” But this song of deliver-ance is followed by the important teaching, “Lo, allthese things worketh God oftentimes with man, tobring back his soul from the pit, to be enlightenedwith the light of the living”(verses 29-30). Hereagain the New International Version has an alterna-tive translation, “God does all these things to aman—twice, even three times—to turn back hissoul from the pit.” In other words, when an incorri-gible sinner ignores this repeated, clear voice ofGod, he can not reckon with grace any longer, evenif he desires it.

I want to return to King Saul. On account of hiscontinual disobedience, God no longer spoke tohim. In his desperation, therefore, he sought amedium. What is so terrible about this example? Itis that Saul hungered after God's voice, that he de-sired to hear Him speak—but he could no longerhear Him, “And when Saul saw the host of thePhilistines, he was afraid, and his heart greatlytrembled. And when Saul enquired of the Lord, theLord answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by

JULY 2008 11

Certainly a person can be converted on his deathbed, but the question is whether hemissed every opportunity he had. And nobody can say whether they will be able tothink clearly on their deathbed and make a clear decision for Jesus.


Urim, nor by prophets”(1 Samuel 28:5-6). Is Godstill silent today, or can we say that under the newcovenant, in which the grace of Jesus reigns, thiscan no longer happen?

The writer of the letter to the Hebrews warns us,“Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heedto the things which we have heard, lest at any timewe should let them slip. For if the word spoken byangels was stedfast, and every transgression and dis-obedience received a just recompence of reward;how shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation;which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord,and was confirmed unto us by them that heardhim?”(Hebrews 2:1-3). And in Hebrews 12:25 itsays, See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For ifthey escaped not who refused him that spake onearth, much more shall not we escape, if we turnaway from him that speaketh from heaven.” Thesetwo texts speak of incorrigible sinners in the OldTestament, and then explain that there is no differ-ence between them and stubborn sinners in theNew Testament. This means that just as God pun-ished people who did not want to come to Him inspite of His continual calling and warning under theold covenant, He can also do this under the newcovenant. Whether or not He does this is subject toHis sovereign will, but it is a fact that He can anddoes do this, whether we like it or not.

The thief on the crossNot everyone who persistently resists God's call-

ing is given the grace the thief on the cross receivedto be able to be converted shortly before dying. Itcan even be that people suddenly realize in the hourof their death that they have neglected the most im-portant thing in life and yet they cannot turnaround. Suddenly they realize, “I should have re-ceived Jesus then.” They are hungry, they desire thechance to turn around, but this is no longer possi-ble.

We know of the atheist, David Hume, who at hisdeath exclaimed, “I am in flames!” The death ofVoltaire, the famous/infamous mocker, must havebeen so terrible that the nurse caring for him said af-terwards, “I would not see another unbeliever diefor all the money in Europe!” Thomas Hobbes, anEnglish philosopher, who had spent all his life ex-plaining away the existence of God, said shortly be-fore his death, “I am standing before a terribleplunge into darkness.” And Goethe cried when hisdeparture from this earth had come, “More light!”On his gravestone it said, “Here lies Johann Wolf-gang von Goethe. All his life he was lucky, but hewas never happy.” Finally the great English states-man, Sir Winston Churchill, when he died went toeternity with the words, “What a fool I've been!” onhis lips.

“I am in flames!” David Hume

“I am standingbefore a terrible

plunge into darkness.”

Thomas Hobbes

“More light!” Goethe

“What a fool I'vebeen!”

Winston Churchill


C O V E R S T O R Y

The last words of these men testify of a suddenbut bitter awakening. Did they all have the desirefor it to be different? If God had spoken to thesepeople at that moment when they suddenly came tounderstand, and given them a last chance to turnaround, would they have taken advantage of it?Probably they would have, but now it was too latefor them. We have to assume that God no longerspoke to them. They could no longer come to Himbecause they had missed their chance. The LordGod had warned these men earnestly during theirlifetime, but because they did not heed his warning,they missed eternal life and were ultimately lost.

Are your sins forgiven?My dear reader, who among you is saying to him-

self or herself in the depths of his or her heart, “Ishould come to Jesus Christ,” but up to this day hasnot taken this step? There are so many “Christians”who go to church on Sunday, sing in their churchchoir, participate in the prayer meeting, or eventeach children in Sunday School, yet they have noreal relationship with Jesus Christ because theyhave not yet claimed His atoning blood for the

cleansing of their sins. Are you one of these “Chris-tians”? If so, then I must earnestly warn you, forthe day will come when it will be too late for youtoo.

Perhaps you will try to come to God at the lastmoment, because you have a certain hunger forHim. But it will not be possible, because God is nolonger speaking, and no liberating and redeemingwords from heaven can reach you!

The artist Pablo Picasso was once asked thequestion, which of his colleagues was the greatestartist, in his opinion. He answered, “Peter PaulRubens, for he created roughly 600 paintings in hislifetime, of which 2,700 still remain!” It is surelyclear what Picasso meant with his answer, for thereare nowhere so many forgeries as in the world ofart. Is this really the case?

No, my dear reader, for there is another sphere inwhich perfect fakes are in circulation: amongstChristians. How many so-called Christians are notgenuine because they have never been born again? Iwant to ask you urgently, therefore, if you haveheard the voice of the Lord through this message,then turn around and go the whole way with Him,“For yet a little while, and he that shall come willcome, and will not tarry”(Hebrews 10:37). Is thisthe last chance for you to be converted?

To be saved makes you want to saveI want to say to all my readers who have already

accepted Jesus, let us never cease to thank the Lordthat we belong to the saved! What does it mean thatwe are saved? We read in Malachi 3:17, “And they

JULY 2008 13

There are so many “Christians” who goto church on Sunday, sing in theirchurch choir, participate in the prayermeeting, or even teach children in Sun-day School, yet they have no real rela-tionship with Jesus Christ because theyhave not yet claimed His atoning bloodfor the cleansing of their sins.


shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that daywhen I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, asa man spareth his own son that serveth him.” Weare confronted here with three glorious spiritualtruths:

1. We belong to the Lord.2. The Lord will spare us.3. We are sons or children of the Lord.Those who know Jesus and belong to Him should

continually think of these three truths and givethanks for them. When we think that in this world,perhaps in our nearest vicinity, there are people whodo not know Jesus, we cannot do otherwise than tokneel down and say, “Lord, who am I that Youshould have mercy on me, that you should saveme?”

When the Lord God made a covenant with Davidthrough the prophet Nathan, David had to say,“Who am I, O Lord God? And what is my house,that thou hast brought me hithterto?”(2 Samuel7:18). And later on when David invited Miphi-bosheth, the son of Jonathan, to dine at his tabledaily, it says, “And he bowed himself, and said,

What is thy servant, that thou shouldest look uponsuch a dead dog as I am?”(2 Samuel 9:8).

Those who have found Jesus Christ throughsheer grace should have hearts full of compassionfor those who are not yet saved. Does that meanthat Christian women should preach to their yetunconverted husbands about their sinful lives andabout death and damnation? No, unbelieving hus-bands are far more likely to be saved when theirwives obey the Word of God as it is written in 1 Pe-ter 3:1, “Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection toyour own husbands; that, if any obey not the word,they also may without the word be won by theconversation (behaviour—New International Ver-sion) of the wives.” Or must Christian fathersthreaten their children or punish them if they donot read the Bible or come to church? Certainlynot! Unsaved children are convinced when we asfathers are loving in our contact with them. This iswhy Paul admonishes, “Fathers, provoke not yourchildren to anger, lest they be discouraged”(Colos-sians 3:21).

How can we have a heart full of compassion fora lost world? When we become like Jesus, of whomit says, “But when he saw the multitudes, he wasmoved with compassion on them, because theyfainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep havingno shepherd”(Matthew 9:36). How can we becomelike Jesus? When we obey the Word of God uncon-ditionally, as Jesus obeyed His Father (John 5:19and Philippians 2:8).

What obedience producesIsrael was destined to show the surrounding na-

tions that there is only one God. They were givenclear instructions as to how they were to carry outthis task, “Now therefore, if ye will obey my voiceindeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be apeculiar treasure unto me above all people: for allthe earth is mine: and ye shall be unto me a king-dom of priests, and an holy nation. These are thewords which thou shalt speak unto the children of

Unsaved children are convinced when we as fathers are loving in our contact withthem. This is why Paul admonishes, “Fathers, provoke not your children to anger,lest they be discouraged”(Colossians 3:21).


C O V E R S T O R Y

Israel”(Exodus 19:5-6). Israel was to be a blessingon earth so that the other nations could come intocontact with the God of Israel. The prophet Isaiahalso speaks of this, “This people have I formed formyself; they shall shew forth my praise”(Isaiah43:21).

If Israel had kept the covenant of the Lordthrough obedience, and done what Malachi says,“Remember ye the law of Moses my servant…withthe statutes and judgments”(Malachi 4:4), thenthis blessing would have been passed on to the na-tions at that time.

Even with Abraham, obedience of faith was de-cisive. After he had been prepared to sacrifice hisson, Isaac, God said to him, “By myself have Isworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast donethis thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thineonly son: that in blessing I will bless thee, and inmultiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars ofthe heaven, and as the sand which is upon the seashore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of hisenemies; and in thy seed shall all the nations ofthe earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed myvoice” (Genesis 22:16-18). Later on this truth wasproclaimed to the whole nation of Israel, “And theLord hath avouched thee this day to be his pecu-liar people, as he hath promised thee, and thatthou shouldest keep all his commandments; andto make thee high above all nations which he hathmade, in praise, and in name, and in honour; andthat thou mayest be an holy people unto the Lordthy God, as he hath spoken”(Deuteronomy 26:18-19).

Israel would have become a blessing to the sur-rounding nations if she had obeyed the Lord'scommandments with all her heart. It is the samefor us. We can only be a blessing for the unsavedpeople around us if we walk in the ways of theLord with all our hearts. Peter writes in his firstletter, “Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priest-

hood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that yeshould shew forth the praises of him who hathcalled you out of darkness into his marvellouslight”(1 Peter 2:9). We are called to proclaim thepraises of the Lord. Peter explains two verses far-ther on just who is in a position to do this, “Dearlybeloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims,abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against thesoul; having your conversation honest among theGentiles: that, whereas they speak against you asevildoers, they may by your good works, whichthey shall behold, glorify God in the day of visita-tion”(verses 11-12).

We can barely imagine what possibilities, whatpower and what authority lie in a life which is sur-rendered to Christ. Something wonderful can em-anate from your life if you walk with Jesus Christwith all your heart. Do you not want to arousehunger and thirst in other people who have notyet found Jesus, by surrendering yourself to Himcompletely, “not a famine of bread, nor a thirst forwater, but of hearing the words of the Lord.”

For every person who has hunger and thirst forthe Word of God, it is not too late if you beginnow to “eat” and “drink,” if you receive the LordJesus into your life. But if this hunger only ariseswhen the one concerned is at the gateway to eter-nity, it could be too late. As we have already men-tioned, it is not definite whether you will have thepossibility of accepting Jesus then. It is irrevoca-bly too late for a person if he has entered intoeternity; then the possibility of making a decisionis over.

To the indecisive, unregenerate people amongstmy readers I want to call, “To day if ye will hearhis voice, harden not your hearts”(Hebrews 3:15)!And to the Christians among my readers I want tosay, “And of some have compassion, making a dif-ference: and others save with fear, pulling themout of the fire”(Jude 22-23). Mitternachtsruf 0303

JULY 2008 15

For every person who has hunger and thirst for the Word of God, it is not too late ifyou begin now to “eat” and “drink,” if you receive the Lord Jesus into your life. Butif this hunger only arises when the one concerned is at the gateway to eternity, itcould be too late.

MC


B Y D R . R O N J . B I G A L K E J R .

PART IV

JULY 2008 17

As deduced from the statement inRevelation 20:4 (“...and theycame to life and reigned with

Christ for a thousand years”), the wordmillennium is derived from the Latinmille (“thousand”) and annum (“year”).The early church referred to the millen-nium by the Greek term, chiliasm. Inconservative theology, there are threemajor views concerning the nature ofthe thousand years of Revelation 20.How one understands the millenniumwill also influence views concerning thedetails of eschatology.1 Currently, amil-lennialism and premillennialism are the dominant views of the millennium(postmillennialism was dominantamong early liberalism; however, todayit is dominant only among Reconstruc-tionists, leaders within the Word ofFaith Movement, and the cults). Thereare hermeneutical (interpretative) rea-sons for the differences, such as whetherto understand “thousand” in Revelation20 as literal or symbolic.2 The purposeof this article is not to examine thesedifferences per se, but to explain thedoctrine of the kingdom and its relation-ship to the church. When appropriate,premillennial doctrine will be regardedas the biblical teaching.

The millennium is the kingdom of theLord Jesus Christ, and includes not onlyspiritual blessings, but also glorious ex-pectation. Specifically, the term premil-lennialism refers to the future literalreign of Jesus Christ on David's thronein Jerusalem. Premillennialism is in con-trast to amillennialism and postmillen-nialism. Amillennialism does not denythe literal return of Jesus Christ (which

is taught to occur at the consummationof the church age), but it does commu-nicate falsely that the church age ispresently the kingdom of God; there-fore, (according to the amillennial view)there will not be a future literal reign ofJesus Christ on the earth. Postmillenni-alism also does not deny the literal re-turn of Jesus Christ (which is taught tooccur after the millennium), but it doescommunicate that the church will inau-gurate the kingdom of God (which isnot a literal thousand years but ratherconsisting of a long indefinite duration)through the moral and spiritual influ-ence of Gospel preaching and teaching.

Amillennialism does not deny the literal return of Jesus Christ (which is taught to occur at theconsummation of the church age), but it does communicate falsely that the church age is presentlythe kingdom of God; therefore (according to the amillennial view) there will not be a future literalreign of Jesus Christ on the earth.


Indeed, the beginning of the church was her formation at Pentecost. God’s plan of salvationtruly began when He provided the skin of an animal to cover the nakedness of Adam and Eve(Gen 3:21). However, the church is not merely another phase in salvation history.

THE DOCTRINE OF THE KINGDOMPremillennialism is the biblical teaching

that when Jesus Christ returns to earth, Hewill inaugurate His kingdom for a literalthousand years. Christ will reign personallyand visibly during the millennium. This is animportant distinction because many conserv-ative evangelicals believe there is only onegeneral, inclusive rule of God in the hearts ofall His people. According to such an under-standing, the kingdom of God is essentiallysoteriological (soteriology is the doctrine ofsalvation). For instance, Dr. John Walvoordexplained the amillennial view.

Amillennial interpreters combine various

forms of “kingdom” into one concept, namely, a

kingdom of God. . . . In keeping with this general

conclusion that all the kingdoms are phases of

one kingdom idea,many hold that soteriology is

the one factor that binds them all together. . . .

Salvation is obviously a major part of this revela-

tion, but not the totality. The whole theory that

all kingdoms should be reduced to the soterio-

logical equivalent is not what the Bible teaches

in its doctrine of the various kingdoms.3

As Walvoord noted, the concept of thekingdom cannot be reduced to soteriologyalone. There are other aspects of the kingdomin Scripture. The concept of the kingdom ofGod is the major theme or purpose of divineelection. The entirety of world history—fromGenesis to Revelation—concerns the pro-gression of the kingdom of God. The doc-trine of the various kingdoms of Scripturecan be visualized in the following diagram.

As seen in the diagram, the concept ofthe kingdom includes more than one as-pect. The definition of a kingdom wouldinclude the following: (1) the ruler; (2) theruled; and, (3) the realm. Walvoord notedthe importance of observing “that theScriptures themselves give a detailed de-scription of various spheres [aspects] ofkingdom.” Therefore, to ignore the biblical

GOD’s PURPOSE FOR THECHURCH

KINGDOMS OF SCRIPTURE

Seco

nd C

omin

g

UNIVERSAL/SPIRITUALKINGDOM

UNIVERSAL/SPIRITUALKINGDOM

MosaicLaw

Theocracy/Monarchy

Church Age MIllenniumTribulation(seven years)

Eternal State

MysteryForm of

Kingdom

MillennialKingdom

EternalKingdom

JULY 2008 19

distinctions will result in “erroneous con-clusions in the doctrine of the kingdom”and confusion in regards to an “under-standing of God's promises.”4 The variousaspects of the kingdom include: (1) theuniversal kingdom; (2) the millennial (Da-vidic/Messianic) kingdom; (3) the mysteryform of the kingdom; (4) the spiritualkingdom; and, (5) the kingdom of man.

The universal kingdom is God's sovereignrule of history from creation throughout eter-nity (1 Chron 29:11; Ps 96:13; 103:19; 145:9-13; Dan 2:37). The ruler of the universalkingdom is the triune God. The ruled is allcreation (including heaven and earth). Therealm is all time and eternity. It is God's inclu-sive sovereign rule of history from creationthroughout eternity.

The millennial (Davidic/Messianic)kingdom is according to God's promise toIsrael (2 Sam 7:5-16; 1 Chron 17:3-15; Rev20:1-10). The ruler of the millennial king-dom will be the King, Jesus Christ (as KingDavid ruled in history). The ruled is theearth and its inhabitants. The realm is dur-ing the thousand year following the secondcoming of Jesus Christ. This kingdomcould also be called the single, unified, me-diatorial kingdom that existed historicallyunder the Mosaic Covenant and wasprophesied by the Old Testament prophetsto be restored in its former glory at thesecond coming. It is the same kingdomJohn the Baptist preached and Jesus of-fered to Israel at His first coming. It is,therefore, the same kingdom that Israel re-jected in the first century. The kingdom ishistoric, prophetic, offered, and rejected.

The mystery form of the kingdom is thechurch age, which encompasses the periodbetween the comings of Christ (Matt 13).The ruler of the mystery form of the king-

dom is Jesus Christ. The ruled is Christen-dom. The realm is the period between thecomings of Christ.

The spiritual kingdom is God's rule overHis people at all times in history (John 3:3;Col 1:13; Heb 1:4-14; 2 Pet 1:11). The ruler isthe triune God. The ruled includes the electof humanity and the angels. The realm isfrom eternity past to eternity future.

The kingdom of man includes humanityas ruler (Gen 10-11; 11:31-12:9; Rev 17-18).The ruled, of course, is mankind. The realmbegan at the Tower of Babel and will culmi-nate at the beginning of the millennial king-dom. God's blessed provision to end thekingdom of man began in history with thecalling of Abram for the purpose of establish-ing His kingdom though the nation of Israel.

THE CHURCH AND THE KINGDOMIt is noteworthy that the Greek terms

ekklesia (“church”) and basileia (“king-dom”) are distinguished. Enns noted, “Theterms church and kingdom are never usedinterchangeably in Scripture. Of the 114occurrences of the word church (GK.Ekklesia), it is never equated with the king-dom.”5 The uses of the terms in the NewTestament indicate distinctions.

Radmacher clarified, “Thus, this entireadvancing change of emphasis from basileiato ekklesia and back to the basileia yet tocome may not be overlooked . . . it serves toemphasize the fact that the ekklesia and thebasileia are two distinct entities in the eter-nal program of God.”6 Consequently, themillennial (Davidic/Messianic) kingdomwill be different from the church age.

There is, however, a relationship of thechurch to the kingdom. Ryrie explained, “Ifone were to try to summarize the relationshipof the church to the kingdom, he would have

The spiritual kingdom is God's rule over His people at all times in history (John 3:3; Col 1:13; Heb1:4-14; 2 Pet 1:11). The ruler is the triune God. The ruled includes the elect of humanity and theangels. The realm is from eternity past to eternity future.


The church age, however, is not a component of the millennial (Davidic/ Messianic) kingdom.The kingdom was rejected by Israel at the first coming, and it will not be fulfilled until after thesecond coming. This kingdom is a political kingdom, whose ruler is the Lord Jesus Christ. It willcommence after the second coming and bring conclusion to the Gentile world domination overthe nation of Israel.

to say that it is related but not equiva-lent to certain concepts of the king-dom; it is unrelated to anotherconcept; and is equivalent to another.The concept of kingdom must be de-fined before one can determine the re-lationship of the church to it.”7

The church age can be understood asa component of the universal kingdom.Since God created the church, it existsin the world as a component of theuniversal kingdom. God “designed it,brought it into being, and rules over it,as He does all aspects of His universe.”8

The church age, however, is not acomponent of the millennial (Davidic/Messianic) kingdom. The kingdom wasrejected by Israel at the first coming,and it will not be fulfilled until afterthe second coming. This kingdom is apolitical kingdom, whose ruler is theLord Jesus Christ. It will commence af-ter the second coming and bring con-

clusion to the Gentile worlddomination over the nation ofIsrael. The millennial king-dom will remove all previousearthly kingdoms. The fulfill-ment of all God's promises inthe covenants will be realizedin the millennial kingdom.“When this kingdom is estab-lished the church will havebeen resurrected and willreign with Christ over the mil-lennial kingdom.”9

The church is now a com-ponent of the mystery form ofthe kingdom. The “mystery”aspect is concerning the unre-

vealed nature of this kingdom in theOld Testament. This aspect of the king-dom “does not correspond precisely toany of the other kingdoms. It is notspecifically the kingdom of God(though it includes the kingdom ofGod) because there are some in it whoapparently are not saved.”10 Therefore,the relationship of the church to theconcept of the kingdom cannot be re-garded as a component of other aspectsof the kingdom (i.e. the millennial-Da-vidic/Messianic-kingdom).

CONCLUSIONTo define the doctrine of the king-

dom necessitates that one observe allthe various aspects that are revealed inScripture. These aspects of the king-dom include the universal kingdom,the millennial (Davidic/Messianic)kingdom, the mystery form of thekingdom, the spiritual kingdom, and

GOD’s PURPOSE FOR THECHURCH

Tower of David, Jerusalem

the kingdom of man. Each of these as-pects of the kingdom is described dis-tinctly in Scripture. Understanding therelationship of the church to the king-dom necessitates discernment regard-ing what aspect of the kingdom isbeing referenced in Scripture. The mil-lennial kingdom is clearly distinctfrom the present church age, that is,the mystery form of the kingdom.However, the church will have beenresurrected prior to the inauguration ofthe millennial kingdom and will reignwith Christ in that aspect of the king-dom, as it is God's intent to rule per-sonally and visibly upon the earth.Presently, the church is a component ofthe kingdom of God in the mysteryform (interadvent period) of the king-dom.

ENDNOTES1 See the six-part series,“Prophetic Timing & the Millen-

nium,” Midnight Call (August 2007-January 2008).

2 Since the text mentions the term “thousand” six times,

a plain reading would deduce that the duration is one

thousand years.

3 John F.Walvoord,“Biblical Kingdoms Compared and

Contrasted,” in Issues in Dispensationalism, gen. eds.

Wesley R.Willis and John R. Master (Chicago: Moody

Press, 1994), 84-85.

4 Ibid., 74.

5 Paul Enns,The Moody Handbook of Theology

(Chicago: Moody Press, 1989), 352.

6 Earl D. Radmacher,The Nature of the Church

(Hayesville, NC: Schoettle, 1996), 172.

7 Charles C. Ryrie, Basic Theology (Colorado Springs: Vic-

tor Books, 1986), 399.

8 Ibid., 398.

9 Ibid., 399.

10 Walvoord,“Biblical Kingdoms,” 81.MC

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MONEY: ENDS & TRENDS $

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Wicked Money and the GreatEndtime Wealth Transfer

Many researchers today say that America is in the midst of the biggestwealth transfer ever. Some $40 to $100 trillion and more will changehands as the older generation passes off its wealth to the next generationin future years.

B y W i l f r e d H a h n

Similar such shifts, of course, applyeverywhere. But there is yet onemore great wealth transfer predicted

to occur in the near future. According tosome teachers, the Church with soon in-herit the wealth of the wicked.

Reputedly, there is a Bible verse thatsupports this idea. Found in Proverbs13:22, it reads, “A good man leaves an in-heritance for his children's children, but asinner's wealth is stored up for the right-eous.” It is mainly from this one singleverse that the “wealth of the wicked” isconjured up for divine distribution toChristians living today. But really, whatdoes this verse mean and to whom does itapply?

There seem to be a number of answersthat have gained popular support in re-

cent years. Representing a growing view,says C. Peter Wagner, “[…] the body ofChrist needs to come into alignment withGod's declared purpose to release un-precedented amounts of wealth for the ex-tension of His kingdom on earth.”1

Wagner is one of the key proponents ofthe view that the transfer of the “wealth ofthe wicked” is a premillennial event and isspecifically meant for the Church … moreprecisely, his own association of churcheswhich is under his senior apostolic au-thority. Dr. Wagner, who was also a majorimpetus behind the “Church GrowthMovement” and the “Third Wave,” hasmuch influence. Supposedly, this wealthtransfer is a glorious development of thelast days that enervates and honors theChurch.

$Wicked Money and the Great Endtime Wealth Transfer

There are quite a number of loose in-terpretations of Proverbs 13:22. Appliedto the Church, this concept is also oftenlinked with the teaching that a massive,world-wide, last-day ingathering of soulswill yet occur. It is also well known thatprosperity gospel preachers like to hangtheir theology on this same Scriptureverse found in Proverbs, though they ap-ply it to the individual Christian.

Can any of these ideas be broadly sup-ported in Scripture? We want to investi-gate.

Undocumented TransfersWill the Church soon be showered

with the wealth of the unrighteous, thusbeing able to fund the last, great globalharvest of souls? Again quoting C. PeterWagner, “I think the time is ripe for thoseof us who are apostles to begin to under-stand the crucial role we have in God'splan to release the wealth of the wickedfor the advance of the kingdom of God.”2

But what does the Bible say? Pursuing ahistorical-grammatical interpretation—inother words, interpreting the Bible as itreads—try as one might, one cannot findthis view supported in the Bible.

Dealing first with the “wealth transfer”notion, indeed, we do find that there is agreat wealth transfer prophesied in Scrip-ture. However, it has nothing to do withthe Church, but rather applies to Israeland the Millennial period. There are manymore Scripture verses connecting thisevent to Israel, rather than the Church.Here are six:

1. “You will feed on the wealth of na-tions, and in their riches you will boast”(Isaiah 61:6).

2. “Then you will look and be radiant,your heart will throb and swell with joy;the wealth on the seas will be brought toyou, to you the riches of the nations willcome (Isaiah 60:5).

3. “I will extend peace to herlike a river, and the wealth of na-tions like a flooding stream”(Isaiah 66:12).

4. “Rise and thresh, O Daugh-ter of Zion, for I will give youhorns of iron; I will give youhoofs of bronze and you willbreak to pieces many nations.”You will devote their ill-gottengains to the LORD, their wealthto the Lord of all the earth(Micah 4.13).

5. “Your gates will always stand open,they will never be shut, day or night, sothat men may bring you the wealth of thenations-their kings led in triumphal pro-cession” (Isaiah 60:11).

6. “The wealth of all the surroundingnations will be collected-great quantitiesof gold and silver and clothing”(Zechariah 14:14).

There are additional indications of agreat wealth transfer prophesied in theOld Testament. Their context refers to thesame general time-late in the Tribulationand early Millennial period. For example,a prophecy applying to Tyre-this city be-ing a prefigurement of the godless com-mercial systems that aligns with theBabylon the Great of Revelation 18-speaksof wealth being set aside for “those wholive before the Lord.”

“At the end of seventy years, the LORDwill deal with Tyre. She will return to herhire as a prostitute and will ply her tradewith all the kingdoms on the face of theearth. Yet her profit and her earnings willbe set apart for the LORD; they will not bestored up or hoarded. Her profits will goto those who live before the LORD, forabundant food and fine clothes” (Isaiah23:17-18).

While this is not an exhaustive list ofreferences, we have at least establishedbroad Scriptural support for Israel being

JULY 2008 23

Will theChurch soonbe showeredwith thewealth of theunrighteous,thus beingable to fundthe last, greatglobal harvestof souls?


B y W i l f r e d H a h nMONEY: ENDS & TRENDS $

the recipient. Interestingly, there is notone verse we can find in the New Testa-ment that even indirectly refers to a greatendtime wealth transfer. Even the book ofRevelation is silent on this topic, thoughit refers to the destruction of the wealth ofBabylon the Great, which will “never berecovered” (Revelation 18:14). Assuredly,if such wealth were to be transferred tothe Church, support for this conceptwould have been found in the New Testa-ment. Instead, there we only find admon-ishments about the deceitfulness ofwealth and how the faith of many willgrow cold due to the cares of this life.

The Great Wealth Transfer ReceivedIf there is any concept of the “wealth of

the sinner” being transferred to the right-eous, it clearly applies to the beginningMillennial period and not to any previoustime. As such, Proverbs 13:22 is clearlytaken out of context by the Third Wavegroup of movements. This verse is not aprophecy, but rather, like most of the wis-dom literature of Proverbs, only points togeneral principles or ideals. In fact, in thevery same chapter are found two addi-tional statements about the wicked: “Mis-fortune pursues the sinner, but prosperityis the reward of the righteous” (verse 22);and, “The righteous eat to their hearts'content, but the stomach of the wickedgoes hungry” (verse 25).

Again, neither of these can be prophe-cies. For one, there will be neither misfor-tune nor hunger in the Millennial period,nor will there be any wicked during thattime to have such experiences. Secondly,as general physical principles, the twomaxims in these verses are simply not ob-servable upon earth during this presentdispensation. Other Scriptures clearlypoint out that the wicked do enjoy theirriches and that God indeed allows therain to fall upon both the wicked and

righteous. (For example, see Job 21:7-9,Psalm 73:12.)

There are many other problems withthe last-day wealth transfer notion apply-ing to the Church. For example, it isclaimed that there will yet be a last-dayglobal harvest before the Lord returns,and that the Church will need greatwealth to fund this objective as well aseradicating poverty in the world. SaysWagner, “In order to possess the gate ofwealth to, among other things, developplans to eradicate systemic poverty, weneed to develop new structures of inter-cession to do the spiritual warfare neces-sary to transfer wealth.3”

However, the Bible says directly other-wise. Clearly implying that there wouldbe little faith upon earth when He returns,Christ asked the rhetorical question:“When the Son of Man comes, will hefind faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8).Sadly, whatever great harvests there mightyet be, only a very small number of be-lievers will remain at the time of Christ'sreturn. Other Scriptures also underlinethis general “cold” spiritual condition ofthe last days.

In addition, with respect to the poor,Christ said that they would be with us al-ways (Matthew 26:11), indicating that thefallen state of mankind was not going tobe successfully transformed by the socialinitiatives of the Church or any other or-ganization.

A final point to consider in our brief re-view is that if the Church must first waitfor one great and final ingathering beforebeing raptured (as the Third Waveprophets and so-called apostles such asDr. Wagner prophesy), then the Biblicalprinciple of imminency is obviated. How-ever, nothing more is required to happenbefore the Rapture can occur. It is immi-nent. As such, it would be strange that theHoly Spirit himself would enable modern-

However, theBible saysdirectlyotherwise.Clearlyimplying thatthere wouldbe little faithupon earthwhen Hereturns,Christ asked therhetoricalquestion:“When theSon of Mancomes, willhe find faithon theearth?”(Luke 18:8).

Wicked Money and the Great Endtime Wealth Transfer

day prophets and apostles to foretell thatone great ingathering is yet ahead. If thatwere so, the Rapture would need to waitand the Trinity would have internal con-tradictions of truth.

As it is, if there is any last-day ingather-ing prophesied in the Bible, perhaps thiscould occur within the Tribulation period,though this view is also not without itsproblems. Here may be involved the144,000 that are sealed or the final Christ-ian converts that may respond to the an-gel that “had the eternal gospel toproclaim to those who live on the earth-toevery nation, tribe, language and people(Revelation 14:6). However, the text givesus no indication as to how many peoplemight respond, if any. Therefore we can-not prove that a great gathering would oc-cur then either, though there surely willbe believers during that time (See Revela-tion 20:4).

Respect for ScriptureSo is there a great, last-day wealth

transfer to the Church? Scripture easilyand clearly settles this question. Yet, the-ologians who should have sufficientknowledge of what the Bible says4 insteadprefer to trust their own intuitions andprophecies. This recent statement fromApostle Peter (also known as C. PeterWagner) provides an example of suchvanity, in which he appears to make hisown decrees supersede Scripture. Spokenon the great reverential authority of theclaimed office of an early New Testamentapostle, he literally commands the earth'sobedience. Not even the first Apostle Pe-ter spoke with such licence. (One alsowonders why the foundations of the NewJerusalem will be named after the original12 apostles and not more? -See Revelation21:14.)

“I hereby take the apostolic authoritythat I have been given by God “I decree

that vast amounts ofwealth will be releasedsupernaturally, evenfrom godless and pa-gan sources. I decreethat large numbers ofGod's chosen peoplewill be empowered infresh and creativeways to gain wealth according toDeuteronomy 8:18. New inventions willmultiply. Disruptive technologies willchange the life patterns of the whole hu-man race. The earth will disgorge vastriches of hidden resources. These will beentrusted to God's agents. Profits will in-crease exponentially. It is spoken. So mayit come to pass! Amen and amen!”5

Today, as all too frequently with otherThird Wave Christian movements sup-posedly marked by “fresh moves of theSpirit,” new or revised theologies havebeen revealed on the strength of newprophecies uttered by their own prophets.The serious issue here is that theseprophecies serve to revise what God origi-nally said through his prophets and Scrip-ture. Indeed, such revisions are not a newphenomenon, having been the mark ofmany if not all apostate movements or be-liefs.

These prophecies reveal a lack of rever-ence and respect for what God has said.Consider that Christ himself never onceclaimed to correct or revise any “jot or tit-tle” of the Scripture and the Prophets. Je-sus, though he was God, could not anddid not have the temerity to revise andimprove upon the testimony of theprophets. Yet, such conceit and disrespectof Scripture is legion amongst all revision-ists. Doing so, they “reject authority andslander celestial beings” (Jude 1:8). Thiswas true of Mohammed (who claimed hismission was to revise and correct the pre-vious prophets, including Christ) and to-

$

Today, as alltoo frequentlywith otherThird WaveChristianmovementssupposedlymarked by“fresh movesof the Spirit,”new or revisedtheologieshave beenrevealed onthe strength of newpropheciesuttered bytheir ownprophets.

JULY 2008 25


MONEY: ENDS & TRENDS $

day of many claimed Christian denomina-tions from Roman Catholicism (namely,its Magisterium) to a growing number ofProtestant sects.

Thoughts to PonderThe Bible does prophesy a major end-

time wealth transfer. It is not to theChurch, but rather to Israel and the right-eous of the Millennial Kingdom. Yet,some churches today do hanker afterworldly power and have set their eyesupon monetary wealth. As America itselfis in the midst of the largest wealth trans-fer in history, says the website of Philan-throCorp, a fundraising consultancy,“Churches can capitalize on the opportu-nity presented by this huge wealth trans-fer by pursuing a strategic planned givingprogram.”6

In fact, the apostate church and itsmany daughters, shown as Mystery Baby-lon the Whore in Revelation 18, are wellon their way to a full union with commer-cial Babylon of Revelation 18. The grandlast-day ecumenical lie of serving bothGod and Mammon is far advanced. Sincethis is impossibility—”You cannot serveboth God and Money.” (Matthew 6:24)—it is really a movement in which Mammonhas robed itself in the garb of religion andapparent “Christian godliness.”

The true Church of the last days, ifanything, is more of a remnant than beingresplendent with wealth. Revelation 3:8says that the church of the “open door” isweak and feeble; far from being imbuedwith worldly power and wealth. It is thislittle Philadelphian band of believers, towhich is promised, “Since you have keptmy command to endure patiently, I willalso keep you from the hour of trial that isgoing to come upon the whole world totest those who live on the earth” (Revela-tion 3:10). If the Third Wave movementsare correct, one wonders why it is the rich

Laodicean church that is being repri-manded by Christ.

The Bible says, “The testimony of Jesusis the spirit of prophecy” (Revelation19:10). We therefore must ask: Is thespirit behind these prophecies of greatwealth and power coming to the Churchthe testimony of the Spirit of Jesus? (Acts16:7, Philippians 1:19). Such richeswould surely corrupt for wealth is deceit-ful (Matthew 13:22). Christ pointed tothe importance of true riches for His fol-lowers and the Church, saying: “So if youhave not been trustworthy in handlingworldly wealth, who will trust you withtrue riches? And if you have not beentrustworthy with someone else’s property,who will give you property of your own?”(Luke 16:11-12)

Where should we look for wealth andpower? “Worthy is the Lamb, who wasslain, to receive power and wealth andwisdom and strength and honor and gloryand praise!” (Revelation 5:12)

ENDNOTES1 C Peter Wagner, Personal invitation to this author to

participate in an ad hoc “invitation-only” Apostolic

Roundtable on Kingdom Wealth, in Colorado, October

2004. On file with The Mulberry Ministry.

2 C. Peter Wagner, Releasing Wealth in Apostolic Times.

<http://www.globalharvest.org/index.asp?action=we

alth> Accessed April 17, 2008.

3 C. Peter Wagner, Cindy Jacobs et al. January 10, 2008.

<http://www.elijahlist.com/words/display_word/6056

> Accessed April 18, 2008

4 Dr.Wagner was a long-time professor at Fuller Theo-

logical Seminary (28 years).

5 C. Peter Wagner, Global Link Volume 3, Issue 23, June 9,

2006.

<http://www.globalharvest.org/global_link_95.htm>

Accessed April 17, 2008.

6 PhilanthroCorp website: <http://www.aboutplanned-

giving.com/page.php> Accessed April 25, 2008.

The trueChurch of thelast days, ifanything, ismore of aremnant than beingresplendentwith wealth.Revelation 3:8says that thechurch of the“open door”is weak andfeeble; farfrom beingimbued withworldly powerand wealth.

MC

The Francis Marion Hotel387 King Street, Charleston, SC 29403

28-30 September

ndeed, today we are racing toward a global world.This is our theme at theCharleston Prophecy Conference, September 2008. Presently, seven speakers haveaccepted our invitation to participate in this important meeting to highlight theprogress that is being made politically, economically, and especially religiouslytoward the global world.We must keep in mind that what is written in Revelation13:8 will come to pass: “All that dwell upon the earth shall worship him (thebeast).” How we can know that we are in the midst of this frightful developmentand how we as believers should act will be the focus of this important meeting.

By all means, reserve the last three days of September for the CharlestonProphecy Conference. Fill in your registration form now and return it to us by mail soyour place will be secured.

Meet the SpeakersRoger Oakland is an author-lecturer and founder of a ministrycalled Understand The Times International. His easy tounderstand teaching style communicates to people of all agesand backgrounds. Over the past twenty years he has lectured atnumerous churches, conferences, universities and educationalfacilities in over 40 countries.The topics he speaks about

present a biblical worldview of the past, as well as an understanding of the presentand an insight into the future based upon a biblical perspective.

Arno Froese is the executive director of Midnight CallMinistries and editor-in-chief of the critically-acclaimedprophetic magazines Midnight Call and News From Israel. Hehas authored a number of well-received books, and hassponsored many prophecy conferences in the U.S., Canada, andIsrael. His extensive travels have contributed to his keen insight

into Bible prophecy, as he sees it from an international perspective.

Dave Hunt is an internationally known author and lecturerwho has written several dozen books with a combined sale ofover 4 million copies. Some of his bestsellers include: A WomanRides the Beast; The Seduction of Christianity; A Cup of Trembling;In Defense of the Faith and Judgment Day!

Wilfred J. Hahn has accumulated extensive and relevantexperiences in the global financial industry during his career;thus, he is able to speak knowledgeably and authoritatively onglobal events in economics, investment markets andinternational, social and political affairs. He is the executivedirector of Mulberry Press Inc. and editor of Eternal Value

Review. He is the author of The Endtime Money Snare: How To Live Free.

Rev Joseph Chambers has authored six books,co-authored 2 books,has written over 185 booklets,and made over18 videos on various Christian- related subjects.He is famous for hisvideo series giving a negative expose on the Pensacola Outpouring,Benny Hinn,Kenneth Hagin, and The False Anointing.He is marriedto Juanita H.Chambers and has three children and six grandchildren.

He was a pastor in Black Mountain,North Carolina between 1964-1968,and went on tobecome the Senior Minister of Paw Creek Ministries in Charlotte,NC,where he still resides.

Phillip Goodman is the president of Thy Kingdom Come,a Bibleprophecy ministry based out of Tulsa,Oklahoma.He is the author ofThe Assyrian Connection and The Sequence of End Time Events . He isthe host of the television program Prophecy Watch,which can beseen throughout North America on Direct TV.He and his wife Mary,anative of Bethlehem,Israel,have four sons.

Dr. John Cionci is a Philadelphia native and graduate of Central High School, University of Pennsylvania, andPhiladelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. He is a memberof the American Osteopathic Association and Chair of the AIDSAssociation. Dr. Cionci has been a practicing physician since1950. Semi-retired since 1988, he has dedicated his retirement

to serving people with AIDS and educating the public about this disease.

I

2008 Charleston Prophecy Conference The Francis Marion Hotel

387 King Street, Charleston, SC 29403

28-30 September

With the average temperature in September being a comfortable 83 degrees, we expect great weather at theconference this year, perfect for a stroll down the battery or taking a walking tour! When it comes toattractions in this city, the possibilities are endless.

Historic Churches • Historic Homes • The Battery Fort Sumter • Market Street • Charleston City Market

Shopping • Gardens • The Citadel Carriage rides and walking tours

The Francis Marion Hotel offers spectacular views of Charleston’s historic harbor, church steeples andlegendary King Street.The Francis Marion Hotel, with its central downtown location, is an easy walk to the

antebellum homes, magnificent gardens, antique shops and boutiques, andworld-class restaurants.

Double $109.00 per nightLimited space, book now to take advantage of this special rate Midnight Callhas arranged for your stay at the Francis Marion Hotel, on the National Historic

Registry! Please call 1-877-756-2121 for thehotel reservation.

• Banquet is $38 per person • Registration is $59 per person• Book your room, banquet, and

registration together by the 1st of July and take $10 off your registration!

Vist our website www.midnightcall.com for the latest information

Charleston, SC

The Francis Marion Hotel

Historic Carriage Tours

Broad Street

Patriots Point

Middleton Place Gardens

CONFERENCE REGISTRATION

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HOTEL RESERVATION

Time Sunday, 28 September Monday, 29 September Tuesday, 30 September

Dave HuntTwo World Rulers Coming Soon

Wilfred HahnBeginning and End:

Globalization Prophesied

Arno FroeseRacing Toward Economic

Globalism

Joseph ChambersA Worldwide System of Perfect Control

Dr.John CionciIdentifying the SORES of

Revelation 16:11

Phillip GoodmanThe Global World Agenda

Dave HuntAn Overlooked Spirit of Antichrist

Arno FroeseRacing Toward Political Globalism

Roger OaklandThe Emerging Church – Road to

Rome

Roger OaklandThe Emerging Church – Road to Babylon

Phillip GoodmanThe Heavenly Global Agenda

Joseph ChambersHeavenly Jerusalem and

the Ivory Palaces

Wilfred HahnA Premillennial View on

Global Collapse

Questions & Answers

Dave HuntThe Ultimate Kingdom

Arno Froese Racing Toward Religious Globalism

8:45

9:30

10:00

10:45

14:00

14:45

19:00

19:30

20:!5

Introduction/Welcome

Break Break

Lunch Lunch

Evening Banquet

CONFERENCE SCHEDULE2008 Charleston Prophecy Conference

28-30 September

There has been much discussion over and muchwritten about the words, “…looking for and hastingunto the coming of the day of God.” Some peoplethink that we as Christians can actually influence orhasten the return of Jesus Christ. Others say thatthis is impossible, as God, who alone knows the dayand the hour, has already determined the time ofthe return of the Son of God. From the AmplifiedBible we see that the word “hasting” can be trans-lated “expecting” or “hastening.” So actually what isimportant is that we are prepared for the day of Je-sus’ return for the Rapture and for eternity. Howcan we be prepared for this?

We must pursue holiness and godliness

We see this from 2 Peter 3:ll, “Seeing then that allthese things shall be dissolved, what manner of per-sons ought ye to be in all holy conversation andgodliness.” Because man can never attain to the ho-liness of God of himself, and is not capable of livinga holy life, God has already done everything for him

in the Lord Jesus Christ. He has opened the doorthat was closed to us. Only through Him can webe saved: “But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and right-eousness, and sanctification, and redemption” (l Corinthians l:30). Through Jesus Christ and Hiswork on Calvary’s cross, we are made acceptable toGod and are saved. Through Him we come:

• out of fear of God to joy in Him.• from fear of the Judge to comfort in the

Father.• from flight from God to refuge in God.• from hiding because of guilt to being able to

come into the light for forgiveness.Jesus is the way to heaven, for, as we have al-

ready seen, He was made to be our wisdom, right-eousness, sanctification and redemption. JesusChrist is God’s great offer of forgiveness of sinsand eternal fellowship with the Father. This offeronly has to be accepted. This is the grace of God,that He does not give us what we deserve, butwhat we do not deserve.

¨”But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night...that ye

may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless”

(2 Peter 3:10-l4).

Jesus is ComingB Y N O R B E R T L I E T H

JULY 2008 31


Man boasts of and lives for things that have no value as far as eternity is concerned, but aredestined to perish. Everything earthly is temporal, which is why the Bible says they will be“dissolved.” But eternity is forever.

If we believe in Jesus, we shouldawait eternity and concentrate on itwith all our hearts

Whoever believes in Jesus should be looking for“the coming of the day of God,” be hastening to-wards it and preparing themselves for it. We shouldsee temporal things in the light of eternity, “Seeingthen that all thesethings shall be dis-solved…look for newheavens and a newearth, wherein dwellethrighteousness” (2 Peter3:ll-l3). We should bearin mind that all that isearthly and visible hasno permanent durationand will be dissolved,because the Lord willmake a new heaven anda new earth, in whicheternal righteousnesswill dwell and everything will be immortal.

Material things bear the signs of mortality. TheBible says in the Old Testament, “The people shalllabour in vain, and the folk in the fire…” (Jeremiah5l:58). In the New Testament we are told, “Love notthe world, neither the things that are in theworld…but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever” (l John 2:15-l7).

Rich—and yet poorI read of a man who had everything and yet noth-

ing. He had a coin-operated telephone installed inhis castle so that guests and staff could not tele-phone at his expense. He got friends and acquain-tances to give him a lift so that he could spare theexpense of a taxi. He had the windows of his statelyhome fitted with bars. He hated the many lettersbegging for money that reached his desk daily. Andhe envied other people who were younger and hap-pier than he was.

This was Paul Getty, the richest man in the worldin his time. On a British television program therewas a portrait of the American oil magnate, whosename was spoken with reverence by financial ex-perts all over the world. He was called “The LonelyBillionaire.” Getty earned over a million dollars aday through his participation in great oil companies.

But how did he live?What did his life consistof? What gave him joy?The lonely old man wasseen with his trainedguard dogs walkingthrough the parks andthrough the giganticrooms of the castle. “I have a lot to do,” hesaid. From the way hespoke, his almost im-moveable face whichseldom showed the hintof a smile, and his cold

eyes it was clear: for this man only business andmoney counted.

Paul Getty was married five times. His wives lefthim. For him business always came first. He hadeverything—and yet nothing.

Man boasts of and lives for things that have novalue as far as eternity is concerned, but are destinedto perish. Everything earthly is temporal, which iswhy the Bible says they will be “dissolved.” But eter-nity is forever.

Christians who know of this truth do well to turnaway from the toys and tinsel of this world and tolive their lives turned towards God and His eternity.This does not mean that they have to flee from theworld or that they may not use the things of thisworld. That would not be realistic. As born-againChristians, we live in this world, and have to livewith it and through it. But we should live in, withand through this world to be able to live for God.We should attach the correct value to things and

Jesus is Coming

JULY 2008 33

seek first the kingdom of God. It is necessary for usto put more emphasis on the spiritual than the ma-terial, attach more value to the eternal and less tothe transitory. The Lord Jesus warned us, “Lay notup for yourselves treasures upon earth, where mothand rust doth corrupt, and where thieves breakthrough and steal: but lay up for yourselves trea-sures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust dothcorrupt, and where thieves do not break throughnor steal” (Matthew 6:l9-20).

We should bear in mind that one day we shallstand before Jesus: “Wherefore, beloved, seeing thatye look for such things, be diligent that ye may befound of him in peace, without spot, and blameless”(2 Peter 3:l4). We are awaiting eternity, a newheaven, and a new earth; therefore we want toplease Him with all our hearts and in all things.Someone once said:

“The life of the Christian is no longer determinedby fear of evil and threats, but by the light of thecoming day on which Jesus will return. This leadsthem to behaviour which does not need to fear thelight like licentious behaviour or secret vices.”

In Luke 2l:34-36 we are told what belongs topreparing for the return of Jesus, “And take heed to

yourselves…and to standbefore the Son of man.”Excessive drinking andan extravagant lifestyleare just as much sin asbeing overcome by thecares of daily life.

As born-again Chris-tians, we want our livesto be like the life of theLord Jesus, to be con-formed to His image. Inour own strength we cannever accomplish this,for our lives are too fullof faults. This is why wemay hope in His graceand put our trust in it,

“…so that ye come behind in no gift…by whom yewere called unto the fellowship of his Son JesusChrist our Lord” (l Corinthians l:7-9). If you love Hisappearing and long for the revelation of the Lord Je-sus, you will automatically adapt your life accord-ingly. You will then experience the faithfulness ofGod in your life, and He will complete His work inus as it pleases Him. The best way to sanctification isthe longing for the return of Jesus.

We must prepare for the return of Jesus today, forwhen He suddenly comes there will be no moretime. This is shown to us clearly in the parable ofthe ten virgins. When the call came, “Behold, thebridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him”(Matthew 25:6), for five of them it was too late be-cause they did not prepare early enough and did nothave enough oil in their vessels (verses 7-l2).

Therefore, receive God’s unspeakable gift in Hisbeloved Son. Come today, now, with all your sinsand cares to Jesus Christ and ask Him for forgive-ness. He will forgive you, give you His Spirit andgive you a longing for Him and His appearing inyour heart. To those of you who are already childrenof God, wait for the revelation of our Lord JesusChrist alone. Mitternachtsruf 0500

We must prepare for the return of Jesus today, for when He suddenly comes there will be no moretime. This is shown to us clearly in the parable of the ten virgins.

MC


“For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea” (Habakkuk 2:14).

M I S S I O N S U P D A T E

B y A r n o F r o e s e

ü

Many readers who have been re-ceiving Midnight Call for yearsknow that this ministry was

launched in 1955 through radio, partic-ularly Radio Luxemburg, the station thatcovered all of Europe and beyond. Sincethose days, Midnight Call Radio has notceased to broadcast. Now, with satelliteradio and television, global reach is pos-sible. In the future, we will provide moreinformation about our radio outreach.

As Christians, we are obligated tosend forth the message of salvation to allpeople everywhere whenever opportu-nity presents itself. The Apostle Paulwrites in 2 Timothy 4:2: “Preach theword; be instant in season, out of sea-son; reprove, rebuke, exhort with alllongsuffering and doctrine.” We mustnote that the above verse is found in themidst of judgment that is proclaimed

upon the people. It is the Lord’s inten-tion, which He will fulfill in due time.Yet the earth shall be filled with theknowledge and the glory of the Lord.The prophet Isaiah also made this state-ment: “They shall not hurt nor destroyin all my holy mountain: for the earthshall be full of the knowledge of theLORD, as the waters cover the sea” (Isa-iah 11:9).

When God, through His prophets, pro-claims judgment, He always includesgrace. The opportunity is given to repent,to seek the Lord, and to search for Histruth. This is the revelation of the two-edged sword, which divides truth fromlie, reward from judgment, and glory fromdamnation. God’s intention to save isclearly expressed in 1 Timothy 2:4: “Whowill have all men to be saved, and to comeunto the knowledge of the truth.” Will all

JULY 2008 35

Missions Update ü

men be saved? The Scripture is clear onthis matter, and the answer is no. Whynot? Because man, inspired by the enemyof God—Satan—refuses to come to theknowledge of the truth. Yet, we must add,many will and continue to come to theTruth: they come to Jesus, who declared,“I am the Truth.”

Therefore, dear brethren, let us dili-gently go forward in the task the Lord hasplaced into our hands, because He will ac-complish His will through those who areobedient.

Go into all the world and preachthe gospel to all creation!Dear friends of Radio New Hope:

In Mark 16:15 our Lord says: “Go intoall the world and preach the gospel to allcreation”! We want to obey this GreatCommission, and we particularly want todo this through the radio work of RNH.

As you already know from previousnewsletters, RNH is broadcasting 24/7 viathe Hotbird satellite since January 1,2008. Now 150 million households can bereached with the message of the gospel viaAstra and Hotbird. This is a great joy forus, but it is a great responsibility and chal-lenge, too. Our greatest concern is theproduction of quality programs. This iswhy we continue to look for good pro-gram partners who are ready to broadcasttheir programs via RNH and to whom weare offering this free service.

Since April 1, 2008, our variety of pro-grams has been even greater. For instance,we began broadcasting the program RadioBible School by the Bible Center Brecker-feld. Missionswerk Mitternachtsruf (Mid-night Call) also began broadcasting itsSunday services from our church “Zion-shalle” near Zurich every Sunday morn-ing at 10:00 a.m. We have also added newlectures of Professor Werner Gitt andmessages of Heinrich Kemner, the

founder of the Conference Center inKrelingen.

In our studios in Dübendorf (nearZurich) we continue to produce new ra-dio programs for the Arab world. We arevery pleased to announce that we will

Missions Update ü

soon broadcast the program Through theBible where the Bible will be read in Ara-bic, with matching background music.Please pray with us that many searching,Arabic speaking people will come acrossthe programs of RNH and hear the procla-mation of the gospel.

Another new program Dare to Ask (inEnglish) is an addition to the programsthat are broadcasted via Hotbird. Thisprogram is targeted at people who are dis-cussing the Christian faith with Muslims.However, the series will also provide an-swers for Muslims who are asking ques-tions about Jesus Christ.

You can listen to the Astra and Hotbirdprograms via satellite (a receiver andsatellite dish are re-quired) or world-wide via our websitewww.rnh.de.

The letters and e-mails that we receiveare encouraging usto press ahead withthe radio work. Lis-teners are writingfrom as far asTunisia and SouthAfrica. We and ourprogram partnersget encouragingfeedback from manyother parts of theworld. Thank youfor your faithfulsupport and prayers!

Yours in Christ,Jonathan Malgo

M C M I N T E R N AT I O N A LT H O M A SS U P P O R T M I D N I G H T C A L L M I N I S T R I E S

Mail to: Midnight Call Ministries, P.O. Box 280008, Columbia, S.C. 29228

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ryearly r monthly rone time $_______.

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Radio Neue Hoffnung / Radio New HopeYour Christian Radio Station via Astra, Hot-bird and the InternetSwitzerlandRingwiesenstrasse 12aCH 8600 DübendorfTel. 0041 (0)44 952 14 14Fax 0041 (0)44 952 14 11GermanyKaltenbrunnenstrasse 7DE 79807 LottstettenTel. 0049 (0)7745 8001Fax 0049 (0)7745 201studio@radionewhope.orgwww.radionewhope.orgNewsletter2008-01Christian Radio over Satellite and InternetAstra: 19,2° OstDigital-Frequenz 10832 HSymbol Rate 22,000Eutelsat Hotbird 6: 13° Ost Digital-Frequenz 12597 VSymbol Rate 27,500


MC

Remsen BeitelFounder and Directorof US Operations

Govert RoosStudio

Esther RoosPlaylists

Andreas KlinnerStudio

Marc StolpStudio

Jonathan MalgoCoordination andManagement

Radio Hope Team

After the end of the cold warand with the accelerating

pace of globalisation, Europeans wereinclined to believe that greater eco-nomic inter¬dependence would emas-culate the power of nation states. Theinter¬national system instead entereda peculiar period in which rising coun-tries coexist, and there has been a re-turn to a power politics framed by theUS, China, India, Brazil and Russia.This baroque situation constitutes achallenge for Europe, which is bettersuited to dealing with intensified inter-dependence than with power politics.In such a context, what are the possi-bilities for Europe to influence theglobal system?

The first scenario could be calledpower in progress. A growing powerbecomes aware of its common inter-ests and develops policies that go be-yond the traditional realm ofeconomics, such as exists in the US.This is the most improbable scenariofor Europe. There is no demand formore political integration, a factcrudely revealed by the failure of theconstitutional treaty. As long as there isno European polity, the developmentof a federalist Europe is unthinkable.This fact may dismay a lot of us, but isan inescapable reality.

So if there is no chance of having asuper-federal state, what kind of ex-pectations can we have for Europe?

The only credible scenario for Eu-rope lies in its “normative power”—promoting standards that arenegotiated and legitimised within in-ternational institutions. Norms aimto discipline the behaviour of stateand non-state actors. To be efficient,those norms should rely on soft andhard mechanisms of enforcement.Of course, those norms could be bi-ased in favour of the dominant pow-ers, as some developing countriesargue. There is a risk, for example,that stringent environmental rules inEurope will hurt the development ofsome exporting countries that havelower standards. That is why normsneed legitimacy and mechanisms ofcompliance that allow weaker coun-tries to have a say. The World TradeOrganisation's dispute settlementsystem is one example of a rela-tively un¬biased enforcementprocess.

What are the domains in which nor-mative Europe can make a differenceand promote values reflecting its ownsocial preferences?

Climate change is probably themost important global issue and is the

area in which Europe has acquiredundisputed leadership.

Multilateral trade negotiation is asecond domain in which normativeEurope needs be committed. Themultilateral framework is the mostequitable system, even if there arefrustrations in the slow pace andtemptations to go bilateral, as theUS is doing.

Human rights are the potentialthird pillar. Here the results could bemixed because this issue is in thehands of nation states torn betweencolonial guilt, economic greed andethical concerns. Europe has both torespect national sensitivities and tokeep its options open, including talk-ing to all political stakeholders, suchas Hamas. It also has to develop thepower to name and shame rogueregimes by enhancing the role of theEuropean Parliament: what statescannot do, the Parliament can.

-Financial Times, 1 May 2008, pg. 13

The article is on target. Eu-

rope is the manifestation of the

final global kingdom identified

in the image described in Daniel

chapter 2.

It is also important to realize

that only Europe has conquered

the entire world. No other con-

tinent was able to subdue all of

the world's five continents and

install their law, language, cul-

ture, and business practices.

Furthermore, we must keep in

mind that the nations of the

world, as we know them today,

are the result of European po-

litical policies. The borders of

virtually all of these countries

were drawn by European colo-

nial powers. Now, with the

newly defined Europe, ex-

pressed in their motto, “United

in diversity,” nothing seems

impossible. As the article

states, Europe is capable of di-

aloging even with such ex-

treme fanatical groups as

Hamas. Thus we see Bible

prophecy in the process of ful-

fillment through the unifying

of the nations of the world un-

der the fourth and final king-

dom as documented in Daniel

7:23: “Thus he said, The fourth

beast shall be the fourth king-

dom upon earth, which shall be

diverse from all kingdoms, and

shall devour the whole earth,

and shall tread it down, and

break it in pieces.”

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The end of the unipolar moment, underlined by the American fiasco in Iraq and by the ascendancy of China, Brazil and India, raises again questions about the structure of theglobal system and how Europe fits within it.

E U R O P E

How Europe Can Shape the Global World

JULY 2008 37


If the U.S. health care system per-formed as well as those

of those top three countries,there would be 101,000fewer deaths in theUnited States per year,according to researcherswriting in the journal HealthAffairs.

Researchers Ellen Nolteand Martin McKee of the Lon-don School of Hygiene andTropical Medicine trackeddeaths that they deemedcould have been prevented by ac-cess to timely and effective health care, andranked nations on how they did.

In establishing their rankings, the researchersconsidered deaths before age 75 from numer-ous causes, including heart disease, stroke, cer-tain cancers, diabetes, certain bacterialinfections and complications of common surgi-cal procedures.

Such deaths accounted for 23 percent ofoverall deaths in men and 32 percent of deathsin women, the researchers said.

France did best—with 64.8 deaths deemedpreventable by timely and effective health careper 100,000 people, in the study period of 2002and 2003. Japan had 71.2 and Australia had71.3 such deaths per 100,000 people. TheUnited States had 109.7 such deaths per100,000 people, the researchers said.

After the top three, Spain was fourth best, fol-lowed in order by Italy, Canada, Norway, theNetherlands, Sweden, Greece, Austria, Ger-many, Finland, New Zealand, Denmark, Britain,Ireland and Portugal, with the United States last.

The research was backed by the Common-wealth Fund, a private New York-based healthpolicy foundation.

“It is startling to see the U.S.falling even farther behindon this crucial indicator of

health system performance,”Commonwealth Fund Senior VicePresident Cathy Schoen said.

“The fact that other countriesare reducing these preventable

deaths more rapidly, yet spending far less,indicates that policy, goals and efforts to im-prove health systems make a difference,”Schoen added in a statement.

(By Will Dunham; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

-news.yahoo.com, 8 January 2008

We rarely read such reports in our

media, which is primarily due to the

fact that it is negative from national

perspectives. But information of

such kind is now easily obtainable

through the internet. It stands to rea-

son that such ratings will encourage

competition among the nations.

There are many nations who are ea-

ger to send their rich and famous pa-

tients to the best clinics with the best

ratings. Healthcare doubtless is an

important part of the forming of a

united world.

W O R L D

Preventable Death Ranking: France First; US LastFrance, Japan and Australia rated best and the United States worst in new rankings focusing on pre-ventable deaths due to treatable conditions in 19 leading industrialized nations, researchers said.

US

Confidence Hits 28-year LowUS consumer confidence sank to its lowest level in 28 years as anxious shop-

pers grappled with surging food and fuel costs, according to a survey.

The Reuters/University of Michigan consumer confidence index plunged

from 62.6 to 59.5 in May, the lowest reading since June 1980. Meanwhile, one-

year inflation expectations rose to 5.2 percent, the most since February 1982,

and up from 4.8 percent last month.

A separate report revealed new construction of single-family homes dropped to the lowest level in 17 years.


EUROPE

Safety ZoneThe eurozone: engine of the world economy. It may sound strange but it has

more than a grain of truth. First-quarter gross domestic product grew 2.2 percent year on

year compared with forecasts of 1.7 percent.

In spite of some spectacular bank blow-ups and still tight money markets, the impact of the credit

crunch on the eurozone economy has been limited so far. Lending terms have tightened but, says the Eu-

ropean Central Bank, there is “little evidence” that financial market turbulence has had a strong impact on

credit provision. Unlike the US and UK, there has not been a decline in house prices across the continent as

a whole. Europe's heterogeneity has helped.-Financial Times, 16 May, 2008, pg. 12

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Last year, corporationsshouldered just 14.4% of

the total U.S. tax burden, comparedwith about 50% in 1940.

While companies are getting offeasy, thanks to loopholes, ordinarywage earners are getting stuckwith the tab. The tax burden on in-dividuals is expected to climb from$1.16 trillion in 2007 to $1.21 tril-lion this year, according to theCongressional Budget Office(CBO), while corporate tax re-ceipts are expected to decline from$370 billion to $364 billion. By2013, the CBO estimates, ordinarytaxpayers' bills may climb to $1.86

trillion while corporate tax billsdrop to $327 billion.

One strategy of corporations is tocreate “shell companies” in placeslike Bermuda, Gibraltar and theCaribbean to avoid federal taxes.Corporations “set up an offshore di-vision that has nothing more than apost office box,” says Rep. RichardE. Neal (D., Mass.), the chairman ofa House subcommittee probing taxbreaks.

In one recent case, KBR—a for-mer Halliburton subsidiary and thelargest Iraq war contractor—admit-ted to “reducing tax obligations”through two Cayman Islands divi-

sions, reportedly avoiding hun-dreds of millions of dollars inMedicare and Social Securitytaxes. A 2004 study by the GAOfound that 24 of the largest federalcontractors used Cayman Islandsunits to shave their tax bills.

In their defense, businesses saythat U.S. corporate tax rates arethe second highest in the devel-oped world, making our countryless competitive. But a study fromthe nonprofit group Citizens for TaxJustice found that, because ofloopholes, the corporate tax bur-den in the U.S. is actually theworld's third lowest when mea-

sured as a percentage of gross do-mestic product.

-Parade, 13 April, 2008, pg. 24

Not only the United States,

but also many other prosperous

nations are faced with the same

problem of not being able to col-

lect taxes due. Based on avail-

able information, the process of

eliminating tax shelters has been

in the works for decades and

will eventually be enforced by

international laws. That process

is just another step towards the

internationalization of planet

Earth.

U S A

Sixty-One Percent of US Corporations Pay No TaxesA 2004 U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) study found that61% of American corporations, including 39% of large companies,paid no corporate income taxes between 1996 and 2000.

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At a luncheon meetinghosted by a Washington

DC think-tank on K-Street, betterknown as a hangout for lobbyiststhan space buffs, the tableswere all named after Indianspace pioneers Dhawan, Chan-drasekhar, Sarabhai.

It was an audacious display bya country that till recently wasbanished from the US spacebusiness by a rigid sanctionsregime that didn't allow thetransfer of a screw, let alone itsdrivers. But this week, a top-flight delegation led by a personwho a US interlocutor described

as India's “Mr. Space” motoredinto town for talks on India's mis-sion to the moon and beyond, in-cluding Washington's involvementin the Chandrayan series offlights.

India will be able to sendmanned space flights in seven toeight years, India's space chiefMadhavan Nair said. “We havesensitised the government onmanned space flights. In sevento eight years, we will be able tocarry crew to orbit and back,”Nair added. He said India be-lieves space is the next frontierand international cooperation—

rather than competition—in thisfield will be the future.

In fact, so clued in are USspace buffs on India's giantsteps in space exploration (thatbegan as baby steps with UShelp) that Nair was examinedclosely on ISRO's progress ondeveloping a two-stage, two-or-bit cryogenic engine that will en-gender a reusable spacelauncher. A technology demon-strator will be ready by 2012 andsuch a system will be opera-tional by 2020-2025, Nair saidboldly.-The Times of India, 1 February 2008, pg. 13

India's technological progress

is nothing short of amazing. Al-

though there is nothing to be

gained in this space race, the pres-

tige is one trophy highly valued by

all nations; in this case, India. The

country now has the intellectual

capacity to be transformed from a

backward, undeveloped nation to a

member of the club of nations

reaching for space.

The real reason for space ex-

ploration is nothing less and noth-

ing more than a hidden rebellious

spirit against the God of Creation,

who has given the earth to man to

subdue it, but not space.

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JULY 2008 39

I N D I A

Crew to Be Sent in Space in 7 Years

On matters of space flights and exploration,India has put its cards on the table for the

United States to see—literally.

G E R M A N Y / V E N E Z U E L A

Hugo ChavezLikens GermanChancellor’s Partyto Hitler

Venezuela’s populist president HugoChavez has suggested that the political

party of German chancellor Angela Merkelshared the ideals of Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler.Chavez accused Merkel of urging Latin Ameri-can leaders to avoid ties with his government.He said Merkel was a member of the ChristianDemocratic Union, “the same right wing thatsupported Hitler and fascism”. Chavez was onthe verge of launching more insults, but sud-denly stopped short. “Mrs. Chancellor, you cango to…” After pausing for a moment, headded: “Because you are a lady, I won’t saymore.”

Reacting to the diatribe, a German govern-ment spokesman quoted Merkel as saying:“President Chavez does not speak for LatinAmerica.” European Commission presidentJose Manuel Barroso called the Germanchancellor a “great democrat,” and—in a clearreference to Chavez—said that “inflammatory,populist and aggressive” remarks go againstefforts to increase cooperation between Eu-rope and Latin America.

-worldjewishcongress.org, 13 May 2008

In spite of the extremely undiplomatic

language employed by Venezuela’s Presi-

dent Hugo Chavez, he has one thing in his

favor: the price of oil serves to his advan-

tage. In the end, however, each and every

national leader will have to succumb to

the dictates of the spirit of the end times.

There will be, according to prophetic

Scripture, unity, and that at any cost.

The al-Qaeda leader said the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was at the heart of

the Muslim battle with the west and an inspi-ration to the 19 bombers who attacked theUS in 2001.

“We will continue, God permitting, thefight against the Israelis and their allies, andwill not give up a single inch of Palestine aslong as there is one true Muslim on Earth,” hesaid on an Islamist website.


The powerlessness of Osama Bin

Laden and all other terrorist groups is ev-

idenced by their repeated threats. Various

terrorist groups and their supporters have

tried desperately to wreck havoc among

the nations, particularly Israel, but con-

tinue to fail. One can imagine how des-

perate these people are who wish to

destroy, kill, and maim, but their power-

lessness is exposed in their exalted decla-

ration of words such as “We will

continue, God permitting, the fight

against the Israelis and their allies.”

Surely, if they could, they would, but

here again, the old proverb is true, “dogs

that bark loudest don't bite.”

I S R A E L

Continue the FightAgainst IsraelOsama bin Laden vowed in an audiotape to mark Israel's 60th anniversary tocontinue to fight the Jewish state and itswestern allies.

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You can soon make your paymentsthrough your mobile phone rather than

using a credit card or debit card. The ReserveBank of India, in its annual policy statement, saidit was formulating the guidelines fro a paymentsystem using mobile phones. RBI is in discus-sions with banks, service providers and industrybodies to develop the payment system. The banksaid the draft guidelines would be placed on itswebsite.

The reach of mobile phones in India hasbeen increasing rapidly. There are about 250 mil-lion mobile phone connections in the country.This is much larger than the number of creditcard holders at around 10 million. Therefore, useof the mobile for payments is being consideredfor quite some time. “The rapid expansion of thismode of communication has thrown up a new

delivery channel for banks,” RBI said in the pol-icy statement.

A senior banker, who has studied the sys-tem, said a person can access his bank ac-

count through his mobile phone. He can alsotransfer money from his account to another per-son's account. He said that later, the mobilephone could also be used as a charge card. Inthis you can load a certain amount of money inyour chip and make payments.

-Times of India, 30 April 2008, pg. 1

This reinforces the fact that it cannot

be too far off when physical money (pa-

per, coins) will become a rarity and elec-

tronic money be the currency of the day.

But, it's not the end, it's only the begin-

ning towards the goal of total control:

“And that no man might buy or sell, save

he that had the mark, or the name of the

beast, or the number of his name” (Reve-

lation 13:17).

I N D I A

Shopping by Cell PhoneL

JULY 2008 41

This discourse is not deliv-ered by a Hindu teacher but

by a Muslim scholar named M. AbdulSalaam, whose secular lectures arepopular in the local mosques andchurches as well. Four years ago,Salaam, who was then a Tamil lec-turer at a local college, was con-ferred the nickname “GeetaSalaam”, after he delivered an elo-quent discourse on Bhagavad Gita.He surprised everyone with hisknowledge about the holy book.

Later one day, Salaam even re-placed a Hindu scholar, who can-celled his lecture on Gita at the lastminute. And since then he becamethe most sought after speaker of

religious discourses at the local re-ligious institutions.

Salaam said he sees no contra-diction in giving discourses on Ra-mayana, Gita and the Holy Bible,besides the Koran.

“If I can understand the Koran, I can understand Gita and theBible, however, complex the phi-losophy is,” Salaam added.

“When we can read all sundrymaterial then why can't we ratherread scriptures of other religionsand try to understand it? After all,different religions show the samepath for enlightenment,” Salaamasked. He is also popular amongMuslims for his Milad Nabi lectures.

“The preachings of Islam andChristianity are almost same. “Sid-dha Prushas' (great persons) werethere among Hindus, Muslims andChristians. They did not dividepeople on religious or caste lines,”Salaam added.

It was certainly not a rosy pathto fame for Salaam, who initiallyhad to endure hostility from an or-thodox section of the community.

“When one talks of Rama or Allahor Christ…he or she talks aboutGod and forgets religion,” Salaamsaid. “My next ambition is to givelectures on Mahabharata. Inshaal-lah, I will do it…” Salaam concluded.

–Times of India, 28 April 2008, pg.

Religious unity is clearly

predicted in Scripture and will

come to pass. This Muslim

scholar who teaches Hin-

duism, Islam and Christianity

is an exception at this point of

time. However, there is little

doubt that religious philoso-

phy will continue to prosper

until the whole world unites

into a unified religion, al-

though each one may retain

their original identity. Revela-

tion 13 clearly states: “all that

dwell upon the earth shall

worship him (the Antichrist).”

That requires unity of all reli-

gions.

I N D I A

Muslim Scholar Teaches Gita,Koran,and BibleEvery Thursday the Kothanda Rama Swamy temple is fully packed bydevotees who are eager to listen to the discourse on Kamba Ramayana.

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U K

Britain toIssue NationalID Cards

Britain will begin issuing na-tional identity cards within

months, targeting foreigners, airportstaff and students in the first wave ofthe program, the government said.

Foreign nationals will need to pro-vide fingerprints and personal datafor a database linked to the planstarting in November, Home Secre-tary Jacqui Smith said.

Ministers say the cards and data-base will help tackle terrorism, crimeand illegal immigration. Opponentsinsist the system will be too expen-sive, provide little added security anderode personal freedoms.

Foreigners from outside the Euro-pean Economic Area—the 27-nationEuropean Union plus Iceland, Norwayand Liechtenstein—deemed at mostrisk of committing immigration offenseswill be targeted first, Smith said, includ-ing those using student or marriagevisas to live in Britain.

The identity cards will store details ofthe holders' immigration status, entitle-ments and specifics on how long theycan stay in the country, she said.

Beginning in 2009, citizens of theEuropean Economic Area who live inthe U.K. and Britons working in securesites, including some airport staff,power station workers and staff at theLondon 2012 Olympics, will be requiredto sign up for identity cards.

Students and young people willbe asked to join the program startingin 2010.

Smith said that from 2011 on,everyone in Britain applying to renewa passport will have his or her detailsadded to the national database. Shesaid she expected most people to beregistered by 2017.

The government has promisedParliament a vote before making itcompulsory to carry an ID card. Thedebate is expected in the next parlia-mentary session, with a vote likely in2010. “As citizens, it will offer us anew, convenient, secure way toprove our identity, Smith said.

–Philadelphia Inquirer,7 March 2008, pg. A5

The National Identity Card

awakens the fear of “Big Brother is

watching you.” In reality, however,

all nations require an ID card in one

form or another. In the United

States, it's the Social Security num-

ber combined with the driver's li-

cense, without which you cannot

open a bank account, get utilities

connected, and in some cases, can't

buy a motor vehicle. But, we ask,

what is the real reason for identity

cards? Is it really the fear of terror-

ism, foreigners or some unex-

plained threat? We do not think so.

The progress toward issuing ID

cards, in whatever shape or form, is

only part of the global registration

of all people, which ultimately will

be finalized in the fulfillment of

Revelation 13:16-17: “And he

causeth all, both small and great,

rich and poor, free and bond, to re-

ceive a mark in their right hand, or

in their foreheads: And that no man

might buy or sell, save he that had

the mark, or the name of the beast,

or the number of his name.”

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U S A

Survey Says Americans Value Free Time Over MoneyHaving enough free time is more important to most Americansthan being rich, according to a new poll.

Only 13 percent of morethan 2,400 people ques-

tioned in the telephone poll rankedbeing wealthy as most important tothem, while 67 percent ranked freetime as their top priority, higherthan having a successful career,getting married, and having chil-dren.

“Everyone wants free time to dothe things they want to do, young,middle-aged or old,” said RichardMorin, of the Pew Social & Demo-graphic Trends Project, which con-ducted the survey.

“So our desire to play unites us.”The poll also showed that peo-

ple who were university educatedvalued career success overwealth, as did middle-aged peo-ple.

Not surprisingly, those whodidn’t have money, ranked wealthvery highly. This included minori-ties, first generation Americansand less educated people.

The survey also revealed thata disproportionate number ofpeople under the age of 30 andretirees in the group made$20,000 or less a year.

But the emphasis on wealthlessens with age, with youngerpeople putting value on it buthardly any seniors.

“It just diminishes with time asthe reality sets in that you wouldnever be rich,” Morin said. “Butalso, the reality sets in that youdon’t have to be rich to lead avery comfortable and fulfillinglife.”

While wealth was not at the topof people’s list of priorities, 43 per-cent still said it was somewhat im-portant.

(Reporting by Irene Kuan; Edit-ing by Patricia Reaney)

-news.yahoo.com, 2 May 2008

The American work force

has already attained the title of

“least free.” In spite of Ameri-

cans working more diligently,

with longer hours and little to

no workers rights, the U.S. con-

tinues to face the problem of be-

ing unable to produce products

the world wants to buy. The

chance to gain more freedom at

this point of time is virtually out

of the question for the bulk of

average workers. Will it change

in the future? Not many experts

seem to see the light at the end

of the tunnel, considering the

immense debt load of the na-

tion. So the question is, where

will it lead to? The answer is

relatively simple: America will

be forced to be more willing to

actively participate in building a

global world. The more Amer-

ica becomes dependent on for-

eign countries, particularly

communist China, the more the

U.S. will be forced to adapt to

international law, rules, and reg-

ulations. We repeat, in the end,

all will have to become one—

it’s only a matter of time.

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“I thank God for allowing theJews to realize their quest for

a homeland.” Benedict was quotedas saying by ‘Israel Radio’. The re-marks were made as Benedict re-ceived Motti Levy, Israel’s newambassador to the Vatican. In an in-terview with Israel Radio, Levy de-scribed meeting the pontiff as “verymoving”. He said that Benedict had

endorsed Israel’s right to self-defensebut also appealed for an end toPalestinian suffering. The Pope fur-ther voiced concern about the dwin-dling number of Christians in the HolyLand.

According to a report by the‘Catholic News Service’, the Popesaid that the anniversary celebrationcould foreshadow “even greater re-

joicing when a just peace finally re-solves the conflict with the Palestini-ans.” Speaking of mutual interestsbetween Israel and the Vatican whichrepresented more than a simple con-vergence of political goals, Benedictsaid: “The holy cities of Rome andJerusalem represent a source of faithand wisdom of central importance forWestern civilization, and in conse-quence, the links between Israel andthe Holy See have deeper reso-nances than those which arise for-mally from the juridical dimension ofour relations.”

-worldjewishcongress.org, 13 May 2008

The statement, “The holy

cities of Rome and Jerusalem”

stand in contrast to Holy Scrip-

ture. There is only one holy city

and that is Jerusalem (Isaiah

52:1). We read in Psalms 125:1-2:

“They that trust in the LORD

shall be as mount Zion, which

cannot be removed, but abideth

for ever. As the mountains are

round about Jerusalem, so the

LORD is round about his peo-

ple from henceforth even for

ever.” Interestingly, no one in

the world agrees with Holy

Scripture when it comes to

Jerusalem, and thereby the na-

tions of the world pronounce

condemnation upon them-

selves, particularly those under

the leadership of the Vatican.

V A T I C A N

Pope Benedict Thanks GodFor Israel’s IndependencePope Benedict XVI has described the 60thanniversary of Israel’s independence as asign of God’s beneficence toward the Jews.

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JULY 2008 43

Satan Restrained?...Trinity...Why Israel?...

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR *Address letters for publication to: Letters to the Editor, Midnight Call, P.O. Box 280008,Columbia, SC 29228. Include full name, address, and daytime phone number. Without nameand address, letters will be discarded unread. All material is subject to editing. Midnight Callassumes all publishing rights on letters sent to the Editor.

Satan Restrained?Editor,

The Dr. Tom Ice article on page 20 inthe March 2008 issue reminded me of aconversation with a priest. He said,“Did you know we are already in themillennial reign? Did you know Satanis restrained?” When I disagreed thepriest revised a previous statement anddeclared Satan was actually only par-tially restrained. The actual 1,000 yearsbegan when in the year 538 the Caesarin the East at Constantinople declaredthe western bishop at Rome to be Lordof the Church and ended with Lutheranteachings wildly circulating by 1538.Therefore there cannot be another mil-lennial reign or Rome will have been

guilty of false teaching, something onlyLutherans are able to do today.

-John W. Ryan, Belvidere, IL

Answer: Thank you very much for the inter-

esting information about the 1,000 years and

Luther.

One item caught my special attention,

“Satan restrained?” That in actual fact is true.

Just think what would happen if God would

grant Satan free hand on earth. We would

then literally have hell on earth. That is yet to

come, according to Revelation 12:12.

The Bible says: “The whole world lies in

wickedness,” “There is none righteous, no,

not one,”“all have sinned and come short of

the glory of God,” plus “He who sins is of the

devil”; therefore, the devil legally owns this


LETTERS TO THE EDITOR * *

world.Yet that did not invalidate God’s

love and grace. God indeed has put a

restraining order on Satan so the

world can continue to function in a

somewhat civilized manner. But it is

only due to the grace of God, who

wants all men to be saved and come

to the knowledge of Christ.When God

does establish His 1,000 year Kingdom

of Peace, He will first of all abolish all

military weapons and infrastructure.

That will happen after the time of

grace has expired, and will be fol-

lowed by the seven years of Great

Tribulation. The climax will be the visi-

ble and literal return of the Lord Jesus

Christ on the Mount of Olives in Israel.

TrinityDear Brother Froese,

I have enjoyed Midnight Calland News From Israel for manyyears. I would appreciate yourthoughts on:

1. Jesus Christ’s presence dur-ing the Creation period.

2. His deity, His glorified bodyand His part in the Creation.

3. I have the same questionsabout the Holy Ghost.

4. To whom was God speakingwhen He said, “Let us make manin our own image.”

5. Were others present or didHe speak to Himself?

6. Explain John 1:3.Thank you for your time and

God bless your ministry.-Charles R. Brown, Grain Valley, MO

Answer: Somewhere I read that Au-

gustine pondered the thought of the

Trinity while he was walking on a

beach. There he noticed a small boy

taking a bucket, scooping water

from the ocean and pouring it in a

hole he had dug. When the boy was

asked what he was doing, he an-

swered, “I am emptying the ocean.”

That was sufficient for Augustine to

realize that there is no human intel-

lectual answer to the question about

the Trinity. The same goes for the

Lord’s deity, His glorified body, the

Holy Ghost, or God speaking, “Let us

make man in our image.” Actually, I

see it as a dangerous path when you

attempt to comprehend spiritual

matters which are intellectually in-

comprehensible. Did you get an an-

swer to your six questions? No. Why

not? Because this is an issue of faith.

The Bible says, “Now faith is the sub-

stance of things hoped for, the evi-

dence of things not seen” (Hebrews

11:1).

Why Israel?Dear Arno Froese,

I am a very confused man;perhaps you can put me in thecorrect position where I couldunderstand just where we are inlife at this time and who is incharge.

I understand from what I haveheard that God the Father andGod the Son created all that wasever seen and all that will ever beseen by man.

He created from the soil of theearth, which is in itself a tiny mi-crocosm of the universe, andplaced the man and his wife in asmall garden called Eden. Thesetwo were the only representationof man, and they talked withGod. This planet was not to havebeen populated except that Godmade an imperfect thing—man.

We are told by many preachers that Israel isGod’s chosen people and as such deserves toreign over us, because we are Gentiles.I can’t understand a God who is so long suffer-ing that He will allow His Son to be still sittingin a boiling vat of animal dung for so long.Would you then explain to me why I should wor-ship a God with this mentality?

–STANLEY HOLLOWAY, NORTH CHICAGO, IL

*LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

First question: Was this deliber-ate?

God and Son created also theheavens with its inhabitants, in-cluding Satan, known as theMorning Star. He had magical in-struments in him which helpedmake him a very self-righteousperson. This finally got himkicked out of heaven.

To carry the story fast for-ward, man had children and anation was formed from Abra-ham. This nation Israel had theSon of God to come down andbe born as man. This ended theneed for flesh and fruit sacrificesto please God. His Son then diedon the cross and was risen.

Now the reason for the choiceof the birth place was that the Is-raelites were, from all people ofthe globe, the only people whowere chosen by God to be Hispeople. The devil had all therest.

We are told by many preach-ers that Israel is God’s chosenpeople and as such deserves toreign over us, because we areGentiles.

I can’t understand a God whois so long suffering that He willallow His Son to be still sitting ina boiling vat of animal dung forso long. Would you then explainto me why I should worship aGod with this mentality?

-Stanley Holloway, North Chicago, IL

Answer: You received your informa-

tion from the wrong place, because

the Son of God is sitting on the right

hand of the Father in heavenly

places. There is a day coming when

Philippians 2:10-11 will be fulfilled:

“That at the name of Jesus every

knee should bow, of things in heaven,

and things in earth, and things under

the earth. And that every tongue

should confess that Jesus Christ is

Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

That is the Jesus the Bible describes

clearly.

Obviously, you have an issue with

Israel. But you are not alone: the whole

world agrees with you. Any leader

who would dare agree that the coun-

try defined in Holy Scripture from the

river of Egypt to the river of Euphrates

is reserved for the Jews, would be

called outright crazy. That fact, how-

ever, clearly reveals that Israel is differ-

ent from all the peoples on the face of

the earth. I suggest that you carefully

read Romans 11, and note that this is

specifically addressed to the Gentiles.

You are right, Israel is a sinful na-

tion, until this very day; and I must

add, so is the rest of the world, but

look at the provision God has created,

the possibility for you and me and

everyone who believes to escape the

wrath which is to come. He will restore

Israel in righteousness. That is what

each of us who believes has experi-

enced. Undeservingly, we have been

made participants of His wonderful,

unspeakable, amazing grace.Each one

who believes has been transformed

into a new creature in Christ. Do you

think that God is limited and cannot

do likewise with the entire nation of

Israel?

15 Billion YearsDear Mr. Froese,

I question your intelligence inprinting page 25 of the April2008 Midnight Call, about PeterHiggs. The headline mentions 15billion years ago by the Big Bang.

Have you ever been ac-quainted with Dr. Henry Morris

and the Creation Research Soci-ety? They say the rate of decay ofthe earth’s magnetic core showsthe earth to have come aboutonly 7 to 10 thousand years ago,not millions and billions.

This is science at work. Evo-lution is a religion and not sci-ence. Science is based on facts.

-Charles Albin, Neoga, IL

Answer: We publish such material

to clearly show how in actual fact

the most brilliant minds of this

world are really foolish when it

comes to creation. Indeed, I am fa-

miliar with Dr. Henry Morris and

many others who have written vol-

umes about the fact that the world

was indeed created precisely in ac-

cordance with Genesis 1.

Wise and Foolish VirginsDear Arno Froese,

With all the deception andfalse teaching going on thesedays in the so-called Church, myquestion concerns the parable ofthe 10 virgins, the five wise andthe five foolish.

Does this represent those inthe Church who are going to beready for the Rapture and thosewho are not going to be readybecause they did not heed verse13: “Watch and be ready, for youknow not the day nor the hourwhen the Son of man cometh”?

-James Lynch, Indianapolis, IN

Answer: The story of the five wise

and five foolish virgins is a parable.

The moral of the story is to be ready

at any moment. Notice that both the

foolish and the wise slept; but five

JULY 2008 45

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR *

were ready and five were not. This

obviously is applicable for Israel but

also for the Church. The warning in

verse 13 is doubtless addressed to all

who read it.

RaptureDear Arno Froese,

I have not been fortunateenough to have read your book,119 Most Frequently Asked Ques-tion About Prophecy yet. How-ever, in the Midnight Callmagazine advertisement I re-ceived, which offered the bookwith a subscription, I noticed thefirst bullet showing the book’scontent was “What will happenafter the Rapture occurs.” Itwould seem that the first bulletshould have been “What hap-pens just before and during the 31/2 years of tribulation” (prior tothe Rapture).

Yes, prior to, for Jesus said Hewould not return until “Immedi-ately after the tribulation ofthose [end time] days” (Matthew24:29). He speaks of his four an-gels “gathering his elect” at thattime (Matthew 24:31). I havefriends who believe the oppositeis true, and many pastors I havewritten to believe the opposite istrue, even informing me of aninterdenominational conventionin which many pastors agreedthat the Rapture comes first.These pastors cannot substanti-ate their beliefs with Scripture. Itis my personal belief that theyabhor the idea of confessingtheir errors for fear of losing facewith their followers.

For myself, I follow Christ,and Christ informed me that Hewould not come until “Immedi-

ately after the tribulation ofthose days.” He further reiter-ated this when he said: “But andif that evil servant shall say in hisheart, My Lord delayeth hiscoming; And shall begin to smitehis fellow servants and to eatand drink with the drunken; Thelord of that servant shall come ina day when he looketh not forhim, and in an hour that he isnot aware of, And shall cut himasunder and appoint him hisportion with the hypocrites:there shall be weeping andgnashing of teeth” (Matthew24:48-51).

I know that during the Tribu-lation, Christian saints will behated, delivered up, afflicted,killed and offended (Matthew24:9-10 and Matthew 10:16-42).I suspect Jews will be deliveredup as well, unless they areamong the majority of Jews whoare hidden in the wildernesswhen they see the abominationof desolation stand in the holyplace.

Jesus said, “In the world yeshall have tribulation.” Thosewho look to escape actually arenot ready to go, as their selfstands in the way. When theycan see that this body is immate-rial (being flesh) but the Spiritcontinues, then they can be pre-pared for what will come on allmen…and that hour of tempta-tion is not tribulation; it mostlikely means when 666 is em-ployed.

-Linda Ragland, Eunice, NM

Answer: You actually made a good

point in support of the imminency of

the Rapture by quoting Matthew

24:48-51. These who are not immi-

nently waiting for the Lord are

scolded. That servant who was not

waiting is cast away: “The lord of that

servant shall come in a day when he

looketh not for him, and in an hour

that he is not aware of, And shall cut

him asunder, and appoint him his por-

tion with the hypocrites: there shall be

weeping and gnashing of teeth”

(verses 50-51). You are not waiting for

the Lord because you are waiting for

the Great Tribulation. The true servant

is the one who is waiting always. That

means the Lord could come today.

Quite obviously, you have been

mislead by applying Scripture to the

Church instead of Israel. Indeed, He

will come, “Immediately after the

tribulation” but not for the Church

because She is already gone. How do

we know? Read carefully verse 31

where it plainly says that the Lord

“shall send his angels.” How? With a

great sound of a trumpet. For what

purpose? “They shall gather his elect

from the four winds.” Where to? To

the land of the fig tree (Israel): “Now

learn a parable of the fig tree” (verse

32). Compare this with the Rapture of

the Church. The Lord is not going to

send His angels,“But the Lord Himself

shall descend from heaven with a

shout, with a voice of the archangel

and with the trump of God.” Also, this

is not a trumpet but the trump of

God. First Corinthians 15 identifies

this trump of God as “the last trump.”

This trump has no relationship to the

trumpets of judgment in Revelation.

This speaks of a unique event. The

first trump of God was sounded

when God presented His Word to His

people Israel. The last trump of God

calls the fruit created through His

Word unto the Living Word which

was made flesh.


MC

JULY 2008 47

This is an important question, but the answer iscomplex because there are so many variables.In the March issue of Midnight Call, I wrote

about how to find a good family doctor. Havingsurgery is even more important, because no surgery iswithout risk. We are talking about complications, in-fections, mistakes, and even death. I graduated frommedical school in June 1947 and spent the next fewyears training in different hospitals until I opened myfirst office in April 1950. One of the most importantthings I learned is that there are good doctors, andfairly good doctors, and there are good surgeons andbad surgeons. The difference is that the surgeon liter-ally holds your life in his hands. Keep in mind that asurgeon makes his living by performing surgery.Make sure your primary care physician is not alsoboard certified in surgery. The reason is that a special-ist looks at a medical problem from the perspective inwhich he is most qualified. This is obviously only nat-ural. But I believe that surgical intervention should bethe last resort, except in cases of extreme emergen-cies. Charles Inlander, a nationally recognized au-thority on medical quality, and the president of thePeople’s Medical Society, states that 10 to 20% of allsurgery is unnecessary. But, he prefers to focus onparticular operations. For example, he says that 90%of all hysterectomies (removal of a woman’s womb)are not necessary! He says that 80% of Caesarian sec-tions (delivery of a baby by cutting open a woman’sabdomen and uterus), rather than delivery by naturalchildbirth, are not necessary. Also, 50% of prostate re-movals, and 33% of heart bypass surgeries are unnec-essary! Mr. Inlander and other highly regardedmedical authorities say that there are many otherneedless operations, such as those for removal ofcataracts. For example, in 2002, the New York Timesreported on an ophthalmologist alleged to have con-

ducted unnecessary cataract surgery on the mentallyill, who had not even complained about their vision.Other cases are not so scandalous. In some cases, asurgeon who has been practicing for many years isjust behind the times, and is performing operationsthat no longer make sense, and are in fact obsolete.Mr. Inlander says it takes 10 or 15 years for an obso-lete operation to finally be discarded completely. Doyou see what I’m getting at? One authoritative studyby Dr. Lucia Leape of Harvard concludes, “Most un-necessary surgery results from physician uncertaintyabout the effectiveness of an operation.” Here is a sce-nario: You have pain in your abdomen or chest. Yougo to your primary care physician. He orders exten-sive blood tests. Then x-rays, next a CAT scan, and fi-nally an MRI. None show anything definitive. So, herefers you to a topflight internal medicine specialist.He orders more tests. Still nothing, so he refers you toa surgeon for an exploratory operation. Here is whereyou must step in. Ask for a second opinion. If the sec-ond surgeon agrees with the first one, then you musttake another step. Go online to a library and ask for acopy of Consumers Checkbook Guide to Hospitals,which rates over 4,500 hospitals. Choose the one thatis most accessible for you. Find out which or if bothof your surgeons practice surgery there, and who isthe most qualified. If neither does, then ask that par-ticular hospital for a list of their top surgeons. Now,ask for a third opinion, even if you have to pay for ityourself. If the third surgeon agrees, then make himor her your choice. This is the soundest advice I cangive you. Remember, surgery is not a science: it is anart. It’s your body and your life. So you deserve thebest.

“The integrity of the upright shall guide them: butthe perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them”(Proverbs 11:3).

Dr. John Cionci is aPhiladelphia native andgraduate of CentralHigh School, Universityof Pennsylvania, andPhiladelphia College ofOsteopathic Medicine.He is a member of theAmerican OsteopathicAssociation and Chairof the AIDS Association.Dr. Cionci has been apracticing physiciansince 1950.

H E A L T H W I S E �

Dr. John Cionci • 536 Fort Washington Ave., Fort Washington, PA 19034

How can I avoid unnecessary surgery?B y D r . J o h n C i o n c i

MC


HOW DEMOCRACY WILL ELECT THE ANTICHRIST

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The Mark of the Beast has long been the subject of heateddebate and even outrageous sensationalism.

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How much of Freemasonry has infiltrated our churches?Why are Masons allowed to retain their positions of leader-ship in our churches? Why is Freemasonry touted as aharmless fraternal organization when its roots are steepedin mysticism, magic and murder? These are just a few of themany questions author Keith Harris answers in The Ma-sonic/Christian Conflict Explained. We must take this issueseriously if we intend to take back our churches from unbe-lievers.

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News headlines from the war–torn Middle East areconstantly changing, and though those countries are on theopposite side of the globe, the events unfolding there have

a powerful effect on America. But the complexity of allthat’s happening makes it difficult to understandwhat it means and how it affects us. Authors JohnAnkerberg and Dillon Burroughs help bring clarity to

the issues as they answer these important questions:• Why does peace continue to elude the Arab nations andIsrael?• What part does Middle East oil have in all this?• Where do Iran, Lebanon, and Hezbollah fit into the bigpicture?• What can we expect from today’s new breed ofterrorists?• What does the United States have at stake?Readers who have perceived the Middle East conflict astoo complicated to understand will gain a newappreciation for how today’s events fits into God’s planfor the future.

MIDDLE EAST MELTDOWNITEM# 2233 • 206 pgs.Paperback

$11.99Authors: John Ankerberg &

Dillon Burroughs

07 july 2008

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