Our Last Wake-Up Call

I never have liked alarm clocks very much. Most of you probably don't, either. Since we all have to get started in the morning, they are needed, but they sure are annoying.

You're asleep in your bed, probably dreaming peacefully, when...

BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP

Being suddenly jarred awake just doesn't seem appropriate! If you have a tendency to hit the snooze button, you may have already moved the clock to the other side of the room some years ago.

"Aw, come on!" you may be thinking, "what would be wrong with just a few more minutes?"

If it were not for the alarm going off, a lot of us would never keep a job, get to school or get going with what needs to be done. That is just the way we are, right?

God knows this better than we do. This is why there are so many warnings in the Bible of what is to come. Mostly, we just hit the "snooze button" again, and keep doing what we do best...
- - - business as usual!

It may come as a surprise that our Creator has actually arranged for a last "Wake-Up Call" to get us all "out of bed" and back to the business He intends.

What is this "wake-up call" you may be wondering. Just what exactly is God's "alarm clock?" Look at the Lord's words, recorded by the prophet, Ezekiel...

..."And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
...'Son of man, let your face be turned against Gog, of the land of Magog, the ruler of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and be a prophet against him,'
...And say, 'This is what the Lord has said: See, I am against you, O Gog, ruler of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal:
...And turning you round, I will put hooks in your mouth and make you come out with all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them in full war-dress, a great force with breastplate and body-cover, all of them armed with swords:
...Persia, Cush, and Put with them; all of them with body-cover and metal head-dress:
...Gomer and all her forces; the people of Togarmah in the inmost parts of the north, with all his forces: a great number of peoples with you.
...Be ready, make yourself ready, you and all the forces who are with you, and be ready for my orders.
...After a long time you will get your orders: in the last years you will come into the land which has been given back from the sword, which has been got together out of a great number of peoples, on the mountains of Israel which have ever been a waste: but it has been taken out from the peoples and they will be living, all of them, without fear of danger.
...And you will go up, you will come like a storm, you will be like a cloud covering the land, you and all your forces, and a great number of peoples with you.'
...This is what the Lord has said: 'In that day it will come about that things will come into your mind, and you will have thoughts of an evil design:
...And you will say, I will go up to the land of small unwalled towns; I will go to those who are quiet, living, all of them, without fear of danger, without walls or locks or doors:
...To take their property by force and go off with their goods; turning your hand against the waste places which now are peopled, and against the people who have been got together out of the nations, who have got cattle and goods for themselves, who are living in the middle of the earth.
...Sheba, and Dedan and her traders, Tarshish with all her traders, will say to you, Have you come to take our goods? have you got your armies together to take away our property by force? to take away silver and gold, cattle and goods, to go off with great wealth?'
...For this cause, son of man, be a prophet and say to Gog, These are the words of the Lord: 'In that day, when my people Israel are living without fear of danger, will you not be moved against them?
...And you will come from your place in the inmost parts of the north, you and a great number of peoples with you, all of them on horseback, a great force and a strong army:
...And you will come up against my people Israel, like a cloud covering the land; and it will come about, in the last days, that I will make you come against my land, so that the nations may have knowledge of me when I make myself holy in you, O Gog, before their eyes.'
...This is what the Lord has said: 'You are he of whom I gave them word in earlier times by my servants, the prophets of Israel, who in those days went on saying, year after year, that I would make you come up against them.
...And it will come about in that day, when Gog comes up against the land of Israel,' says the Lord, 'that my wrath will come up, and my passion and my bitter feeling.
...For in the fire of my wrath I have said, Truly, in that day there will be a great shaking in the land of Israel;
...So that the fish of the sea and the birds of heaven and the beasts of the field and everything moving on the earth, and all the men who are on the face of the earth, will be shaking before me, and the mountains will be overturned and the high places will come down, and every wall will come falling down to the earth.
...And I will send to all my mountains for a sword against him,' says the Lord: 'every man's sword will be against his brother.
...And I will take up my cause against him with disease and with blood; and I will send down on him and on his forces and on the peoples who are with him, an overflowing shower and great ice-drops, fire, and burning.
...And I will make my name great and make myself holy, and I will make myself clear to a number of nations; and they will be certain that I am the Lord.' " (Ezek 38) bev

So, what does this all mean?

It is critical, in my opinion, for us to remember that our modern names for people, places, technology, weapons and even modes of transportation did not exist in Ezekiel's time. We can NOT expect people then to have known our modern terms for these things, any more than it would have been logical for Genghis Khan to be expected to have known the names of the cities in England, today. People who insist that this prophecy is wrong, for these reasons, are doing Satan's work for him. So, lets look at the meaning of some of the terms used here...

Gog - means either a mountain, lofty height or supreme leader

Magog - the south/central part of Asia, used to be part of the Soviet Union (the Islamic Republics)

Rosh (also Ros or Rus) - is the name for a specific group of people dwelling in a specific area in Europe, now named for these same people - Russia

Meschech - a part of present-day Turkey

Tubal - also a part of present-day Turkey

Persia - now called Iran

Cush - now called Sudan

Put - current called Libya

Gomer - part of present-day Turkey

Togarmah (also Beth-Torgarmah) - southern Turkey

OK, so it looks like the leader of Russia and several Islamic nations will stage an attack upon Israel, in part, to forcibly take back the land that was given to the Jewish people peaceably, and by treaty. It appears that this will not come about until Israel feels itself to be somewhat more at peace, perhaps they will be fooled by a false treaty. The invaders plan to completely take over the country, steal everything, and probably kill the entire population. They will attack in overwhelming numbers, "like a cloud covering the land," making their intentions quite obvious.

The Lord will allow this attack so that He can make plain His power, "so that the nations may have knowledge of me." God has said that His "wrath will come up", and His "passion and bitter feeling."

Why, you may ask?

At this time, God is giving the world one last chance. He wants the Jewish people to recognize that His Son is the Messiah. He wants all of us to accept our salvation. Remember, "The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some count slowness; but is longsuffering towards us, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." (2Pet 3:9) wev

Some time after this occurs, there will come the Rapture. Sometime after that will come a seven-year treaty with Israel, which signals the start of the Tribulation, which will be something like a sentence to Misery and Suffering Prison.

We do NOT know when the alarm will go off, because God does NOT want us to think we can wait until the last minute to get our lives in order.

All we really know is that it will be soon...

...maybe today!

......maybe tomorrow!

.........Don't Oversleep!

See you soon (very soon?), in Paradise!