The Dark Side of Bible Prophecy: Why We Must Discuss the Strange & Supernatural
(From an article by Gary Stearman found in April 2013 Prophecy in the News)
Introduction:
A Over the last few years we have learned about loud trumpets, glowing lights over the Temple Mount, glowing figures (12th Imam), pale riders in Egypt, “the nephilim” which some consider weird, bizarre.
1 Some say we should focus on the Gospel, or growing saints into mature Christians.
a Mainline churches for generations have shied away from the prophetical.
aa They say because prophesy is too confusing, controversial that it should be avoided.
bb They say lets just grow saints, equip them for works of service . . . that’s the real work of the church.
b That said, we really can’t afford to ignore biblical prophecy because it’s being fulfilled all around us today.
aa The stage is being set in the Middle East.
bb Israel is positioned to fulfill many of the prophecies laid out in the Old Testament.
cc What is occurring in Egypt, Turkey, Syria, Iran, Jordan and other revolutionary powers demand our attention.
c We are closer today to a one world government than ever before!
aa Stockpiling of superweapons, two world wars, holocaust, have brought us to the edge of the latter days.
bb We seeing the shadow of the fourth beast of Daniel’s prophecy emerging that will arise out of a series of wars & economic cataclysms.
2 For 50 years, many biblical prophecy scholars have been sounding alarms that can no longer be ignored.
a Even popular culture is aware of biblical prophecy; often lampooned, made fun of.
b Even the world knows we are looking for the Second Coming of Messiah. (They mock us, but they know the prophecy!)
B The Bible tells us that in the latter days there will be an explosion of dark and alien power.
1 Our culture has became infatuated with malevolent beings, demonic powers of hell: and an insatiable fascination with beings in the sky.
a Whether they’re outer-space aliens, angels, demons from the dungeons of the deep, they create a reality that haunts the mind of men.
bb There is a peeked fascination with the “undead.” (Werewolves, vampires, zombies and the like.)
cc The veil between the supernatural and the natural is growing thin.
b These “imaginary” creatures resemble biblical descriptions of the fallen angels/demons.
2 The response of biblical prophecy scholars is they are now writing & speaking on subjects that seemed out-of-bounds of Christian tradition.
a Most of the things being written have been on how geo-political shifts are signs of the times (Israel, Syria, Damascus, Iran, etc.)
b If the supernatural is manifesting itself on a global scale, should we ignore it? NO!
I Something New is Happening
A For decades prophecy teaching has been confined to certain classical approaches.
1 The Millennium, Daniel’s Seventy Weeks, Christ’s first & second coming, destiney of the Church, seven year tribulation, rise of the Antichrist, etc.
a Today, we are faced with more than just understanding the classical approaches.
aa After two world wars, development of computers, lasers, particle beam weapons, high tech surveillance systems, drones, microchips, government monitoring, genetic manipulation . . . we cannot afford to be like the ostrich.
bb DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research projects Agency, has declared its intent to develop geneitically enhanced super soldiers, and super-intellects with imbedded microchips.
cc Once these barn doors are opened, there is no recalling the horse into the barn. (We aren’t going back to analog now)
b What was once sci-fi terror is now front page reality.
2 Every world government has an agency that deals with the paranormal.
a Our own government has had orginizations in place well before Eisenhower Administration.
aa They are highly-funded programs that explore, investigate, and record “alien” activity.
bb I believe these “aliens” are not little green men, but are demonic entities.
3 It is well documented that the British military have a preoccupations with mysterious crop circles.
a Debunkers will say it’s a hoax perpetrated by people with too much time on their hands.
b But thousands witnessed military helicopters and jets flying low over the newly-emerging crop designs that appear in fields near Silbury Hill & Stonehenge.
aa Both are sites of ancient pagan religions . . . the “high places” of wicked sacrifices.
bb Whose making them? None other than ancient demonic powers.
B From vampires to crop circles, to the undead to ghostly apparitions seen by thousands there is no denying that interest in the demonic is here.
1 To explain these new experiences we must go to Scripture.
a Scripture tells us in Genesis 6.1-5, that “aliens” (demons) had illicit relations with humans.
1 Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them,2 that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful ; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose.3 Then the Lord said, "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years."4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.5 Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Gen 6:1-5 (NASB)
aa It tells us about the fallen angels (The Nephilim) and giants were on the Earth in ancient days, and their success in interbreeding with humans (corrupting the genes/DNA of humanity). HYBRID
bb Scripture speaks of the the ancient gods of Mesopotamia, Caanan and Egypt were human/animal hybrids, called “chimeras.”
b The coding of God’s genetic designs have been deciphered, enabling scientists to create genetic monsters in the name of improvement.
aa The geneticists have promised cures to diseases, end to birth defects, extended life but at what price?
bb The old world of Noah was destroyed precisely because of such genetic tampering.
2 Scripture tells us that there is NOTHING new about these things, as strange as they may seem. (The Bible is becoming more than a daily devotional; it is a manual that offers the ONLY hope for survival for surviving the coming maelstrom.
II Daniel is making more sense.
A Daniel’s interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream is opening up a new to us.
1 31 "You, O king, were looking and behold, there was a single great statue; that statue, which was large and of extraordinary splendor, was standing in front of you, and its appearance was awesome. 32 The head of that statue was made of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. 34 You continued looking until a stone was cut out without hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them. Dan 2:31-34 (NASB)
a Traditional teaching on this text is that this image represented four-empires; one for each metal section.
aa Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, & Rome.
bb The latter-day revived Roman Empire is seen in the statues iron legs and its feet of iron & clay.
b Iron represents the metal of enterprise/industrial revolution.
aa Iron smelting allowed the Roman Empire/Western World to build well armed soldiers/machines of war; later in building ships, railroads, skyscrapers and bridges and more.
bb What happens when you try to mix clay & iron? Instability! Weakened foundation!
c What does the clay represent?
aa Until recently it was thought to be a man-made scheme to topple the iron empire. (Political marriages, alliances of nations, etc.)
bb Recent advances in science have given us a fresh look at the clay.
2 The verses that follow Dan. 2:31-34 mention a group of interlopers, who attempt to inject themselves into the human race.
a 42 As the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of pottery, so some of the kingdom will be strong and part of it will be brittle. 43 And in that you saw the iron mixed with common clay, they will combine with one another in the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, even as iron does not combine with pottery. Dan 2:42-43 (NASB)
aa In the latter-days a mystery group will endeavor to mix its own genetic material with the “seed of men.”
bb Can there be any doubt that this expression is not reference to human genome?
b We may not study this much but the Bible is preoccupied with idea that this seed is central to salvation.
aa From the seed of Adam and Eve came the seed of Abraham & the 12 tribes of Israel.
bb From the tribe of Judah came the seed of the woman; from it sprang the virgin-born Messiah, Jesus.
3 From this text in Daniel we can know that there will be a latter-day group that will attempt by the mysterious they to infiltrate the genome of mankind.
a They know that if human seed can be corrupted, it will render God’s plan of redemption null & void.
aa That’s is what was going on in Gen. 6, prophesied in Daniel 2.
bb AND prophesied by Jesus,
And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: . . .until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Luke 17:26-27 (NASB)
b In Gen. 6, the fallen angels who mingled their seed with seed of mankind, resulting in a societal monstrosity that God was forced to destroy in the Flood of Noah. (There is growing historical evidence that the entire creation-human & animal-was tainted.)
B Daniel’s prophecy tells us that just before the giant statue’s iron legs crumple (in the Day’s of the Great Tribulation), fallen angels will descend openly to Earth once again.
1 It is my opinion we are living “as it happened in the days of Noah.”
a Every story you hear of “alien” abduction has weird stories of probing, taking samples, etc.
aa Why? I know what they did in Genesis 6!
bb They were creating a hybrid of human-demon.
b Why would they do this? To make a race of beings from which the Antichrist will emerge.
aa In Revelation, the Antichrist is called the “beast.”
bb A beast is not a human being.
2 If it’s in the Bible, and if we see the first signs of it in daily observation, shouldn’t we at least discuss it.
C Daniel 11gives us a prophetic insight into the “beast” couched in terms of what we would call the “supernatural” but we must deal with as reality.
1 36 "Then the king will do as he pleases, and he will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will speak monstrous things against the God of gods; and he will prosper until the indignation is finished, for that which is decreed will be done. 37 He will show no regard for the gods of his fathers or for the desire of women, nor will he show regard for any other god; for he will magnify himself above them all. 38 But instead he will honor a god of fortresses, a god whom his fathers did not know; he will honor him with gold, silver, costly stones and treasures. 39 He will take action against the strongest of fortresses with the help of a foreign god; he will give great honor to those who acknowledge him and will cause them to rule over the many, and will parcel out land for a price. Dan 11:36-39 (NASB)
a Daniels description of the “beast” fits perfectly with John the revelators description of him.
aa he displays a persona of things mystical/paranormal.
bb He appears as superhuman, unlike anything the world has ever seen.
cc “no desire of women” (Possibly gay)
b The text strongly suggests that is controlled by a dark power who occupies his mind, guides his actions (v.39).
2 In short, he is seen as godlike, making amazing proclamations of divine nature, during the Tribulation.
a He does not honor the God of Abraham, Isaac, & Jacob.
aa He establishes himself in Jerusalem, apparently in a housing build on the Temple Mount.
bb Who is this “beast?”
b Seen in the context of Daniel’s prophecy, I suggest he’s something other than human . .. . a semi-human creature spawned by the mysterious “they” of Daniel’s earlier vision (Dan. 2.43.)
43 "And in that you saw the iron mixed with common clay, they will combine with one another in the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, even as iron does not combine with pottery. Dan 2:43 (NASB)
3 We live in the alarming proximity to the fulfillment of this prophesy.
a We are living in the times when the supernatural is becoming the natural.
b We have reached the time when Bible prophecy has become serious.
aa The dark sides, weird aspects, are becoming very visible.
bb This being the case, the end of the Church Age must be very, very near.
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