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The trumpet for snatching the saints from the earth is not the same as the last trumpet Those who hold to a mid-tribulation rapture teach that the seventh trumpet of Revelation 11:15 and the last trumpet of 1 Corinthians 15:52 and 1 Thessalonians 4:16 are identical. Those who teach a pretribulation rapture identify them as separate events. What difference does it make, and how can we know the truth? In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul is writing to believers concerning the transition from this life to eternal life. Our mortal bodies will be transformed into immortal, incorruptible bodies, prepared for the eternal kingdom of God. Verse 52 says, “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” Paul addresses the same subject to the Thessalonians, and specifically connects it with the rapture of the church. “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:16–17). There is no question that God has revealed these things to us and that He intends for us to be encouraged and instructed by them. The question is whether these trumpets are the same. If they are the same, then the rapture of the church happens in the middle of the tribulation period, and saints need to be prepared to endure those trials. If they are not the same, then we need to know when the last trump will sound, so that we can be prepared for it. In order to find out whether they are the same, we can compare the events they are associated with. It is clear that the first two passages (Corinthians and Thessalonians) fit together, but the third doesn’t appear to have any correlation in either the events described or the intended results. The argument connecting them has to depend on the meaning of the word last in 1 Corinthians 15:52. The Greek word eschatos can mean either “last in point of time” or “last in point of sequence.” This trumpet sounds before the wrath of God descends, yet Revelation 6:17 speaks of the wrath of the Lamb as having come, and the seventh trumpet doesn’t sound until Revelation 11:15. The trumpet of 1 Thessalonians is given in a moment, whereas Revelation 10:7 indicates that the seventh trumpet will be sounded for a number of days. Even though the seventh trumpet is the last one described in Revelation, Matthew 24:31 indicates there is yet another trumpet which will sound “after the tribulation of those days,” when Christ returns to the earth, which parallels with Revelation 19. In summary: 1-      Both 1 Thessalonians & 1 Corinthians were written long before Revelation, so Paul could not have referred to the last trumpet in Revelation 11 2-      Paul’s writing was distinctly in reference to the church and the closing of the church age at the rapture (which can also be translated as “carrying off or snatching away”) 3-      The trumpet in Thessalonians & Corinthians sounds before the wrath of God descends, yet Revelation 6:17 speaks of the wrath of the Lamb as having come already 4-      The trumpet in Thessalonians & Corinthians is given in a moment, but in Revelation 10:7 the 7th trumpet seems to last for days 5-      Even though the 7th trumpet is the last one described in Revelation, Matthew 24:29 indicates there is yet another which will sound “after the tribulation of those days”, when Christ returns to the earth, which paralles with Revelation 19 6-      The trumpet that summons the church is called “The Trumpet of God”, but in revelation are angelic trumpets 7-      Numbers 10 instructs that there are different kind of trumpet blasts, indicating different signals for different groups & tribes, so in regards to the rapture & end-times 8-      Five differences in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 1-      For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven 2-      With a shout 3-      With the voice of the archangel 4-      And with the trumpet of God 5-      And the dead in Christ will rise first

I never thought I would see the day… When churches would see our mind-numbing headlines and stories and suggest that there are perhaps a hundred or a thousand years before Jesus returns! They say we’ve always had perilous times. Nothing is new. I never thought I would see the day… When the champion of the hurting around the world, the Red Cross, would deny care and medication to Israeli hostages and instead scold the hostages for Gaza’s destruction. I never thought I would see the day… When the International Court of Justice would declare Israel guilty of genocide when it was Israel who experienced a genocidal attack. Imagine, portions of the free world siding with barbarians rather than a democratic ally. I never thought I would see the day… When a U.S. Secretary of State would tell another country—Israel—they cannot win a war. They cannot defeat terrorists who perpetrated genocide on them. I never thought I would see the day… I would watch entire church denominations side with those who perpetrated the worst slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust. What Bible are they reading? They believe Jesus was a Palestinian. Really? I never thought I would see the day… The nation of Nigeria, with its Christian population nearly decimated by Muslims, but largely ignored by the media & the UN! I never thought I would see the day… When biological males are competing in women's sports. I never thought I would see the day… When often you can't tell anymore if one is male or female. I never thought I would see the day… When the world would favour elements of society who cry “Death to Israel” and “Death to America” and glorify these thugs. When “Israel Derangement Syndrome” would overtake entire nations, and when universities would favour them, even as Jews hide in closets and secret rooms. I never thought I would see the day… When at the most significant time in history, believers would talk about “rapture fatigue” and “end-time burn-out” because they were tired of watching and waiting for Christ’s return. It’s just taking too long. I never thought I would see the day… When lockdowns would become a part of normal society! First it was Covid lockdowns. Now I am learning about climate lockdowns coming. I guess the mantra is, “You will go nowhere and be happy!” I never thought I would see the day… That the subject of Israel—who is the primary subject of the Bible—would be the issue causing enormous church splits since October 7. Denominations don’t want to acknowledge that Jews wrote our Bible or play a prominent role today. I guess theology matters to some and their theology erases the nation of Israel! The Bible is clear that the last days would be perilous and filled with unruly and selfish people. It says society would be “given over” (Romans 1). We just didn’t think it would be this bad. But God placed you and me in it for such a time as this! We are here on assignment and not by accident. We can be the salt and light needed for our times! The followers of Jesus Christ are to shine no matter what the circumstances and no matter how bad it gets. Hang on a little longer. It is the darkest before the dawn—but the Lord's return is soon.

THE WAR in Ukraine is having an enormous impact on the whole of Europe  and has changed the direction of foreign policy in the EU. It is causing the  members of the EU to boost security to such an extent that one can foresee  the EU becoming the major military power in the world. When Ukraine becomes a member of the EU the population of Europe will be  almost a half a billion of developed people and whereas before the Ukraine  war, those countries allowed the US to take care of security, now they are  determined to boost their own arms industries such that they could equal the  US, China and Russia. Also they are leaning toward Israel for technology. Germany is well known for its engineering expertise and has used it in two  world wars. Under the flag of the EU, Germany can now draw on the resources  of nearly 30 countries and whereas a few years ago the EU was flirting with  Communist Russia, she now sees Russia as an enemy. The war in Ukraine is  reshaping Europe’s foreign policy and defence industries. Germany has just doubled its defence budget and is ramping up its  manufacturing capability to produce high-tech military equipment. In fact  all the nations of Europe are uniting to increase manufacture of defence  equipment to fill their arsenals in preparation for WWIII or what the Bible  calls the Great Tribulation. When Antichrist appears at the mid-point of the  Tribulation, men will say, “Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?” (Rev.13:4). The EU is the revived Roman Empire of Bible prophecy and whereas in the  past, Europe has consisted of many independent nations, scripture indicates  that in the last days there will be structural changes in the political system and  there will be “ten kings” or rulers who  “receive power as kings with the Beast…and give their power and strength to  the Beast” (Rev.17:12-13). The wording of this scripture is most significant. These ten kings “receive  power with the Beast”. How this occurs is not mentioned. Whether it is by  elections, rigged or otherwise, or by appointment we are not told. However it  sounds as though a central Government person or body will appoint “the ten”  who then become subservient to the one who appointed them. It certainly  sounds like politics with a pay-back for favours. In business it is often said, “There is no such thing as a free luncheon.” Obviously the Beast must wield tremendous power and authority in order to  be able to appoint the ten and then to receive their allegiance. Also, the Beast must have a powerful military machine. After the Arab nations  are weakened, Russia, Turkey, Iran, Libya and Sudan decimated in Israel and  the Kings of the East slaughtered in the Great Asian War, of the first half of the  Tribulation, the Beast will reign supreme and the Revived Roman Empire will  rule the world. Nobody will be able to make war with him. The arms build-up  in Europe is a sign we are in the last days!

There is much talk going around these days about how unified, triumphant, and glorious the Church will be in the end times right before the return of Jesus. This image of the Church is certainly attractive, but it does not correspond with what the Bible prophesies. Apostacy The picture of the Church in the end times that is portrayed in the Bible is not a very pretty one. For one thing, the Bible prophecies that the Church will be racked by apostasy. Jesus prophesied that “many will fall away” (Matt. 24:10). Likewise, Paul said the Anti-Christ cannot be revealed until “the great apostasy” takes place (II Thess. 2:3). Paul reveals the source of the apostasy in II Timothy 3:5 — “Men will hold to form of religion but will deny its power.” The fulfillment of this prophecy began in the 1920’s with the ascendancy of the German School of Higher Criticism. This school of thought, which quickly swept seminaries, advocated that the Bible should be approached like any other piece of literature — with a critical eye. The concepts of the special inspiration and inerrancy of the Bible were rejected. The Bible came to be viewed as Man’s search for God rather than God’s revelation to Man. As a human product, it was considered to be full of myth, legend, and superstition. This assault on the integrity of God’s Word opened the floodgates of apostasy. Before long Christian theologians and ministers were laughing about the virgin birth of Jesus, discounting His miracles, casting doubt on His resurrection, and flatly denying His second coming. As the uniqueness of Jesus was downplayed, many denominations began to embrace the damnable doctrine of Universalism. And that is where we are today, caught up in the midst of a gross apostasy which says, “Believe what you want. The important thing is to be sincere. There are many roads to God.” All of which makes a liar of Jesus who said: “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:16). The result is that there are a lot of sincere people who are sincerely going to Hell. Cultism A second set of prophecies warn that the Church will be assaulted by cultic deception in the end times. Jesus emphasized this point repeatedly in His Olivet Discourse (Matt. 24:5, 11, 24). And Paul underlined it in the strongest possible language when he wrote: “The Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons” (I Tim. 4:1). In the 19th Century [we saw] the rise of Mormonism and its demonic teaching that Jesus is the brother of Lucifer, one of thousands of Gods created by the super god, Adam, an exalted man. The Jehovah’s Witnesses were next on the scene with their perverted teaching that Jesus is the Archangel Michael. This century has witnessed the rapid multiplication of the cults, just as prophesied. Today, life long Christians who do not know why they believe what they profess to believe are being sucked into the cults by the tens of thousands. Equally appalling is the direct penetration of the Church by cultic doctrine. Well known Christian leaders are advocating the ancient Shamanistic practice of visualization as the key to prayer. Others are teaching one of Satan’s oldest lies — that those who have been born again are “little gods.” The latest cultic fad is the concept of Satanic salvation; namely, that we do not owe our salvation to the blood Jesus shed on the Cross but rather to some imaginary torment which He suffered at the hands of Satan for three days in Hell. And then, of course, there is Masonry, the oldest form of cultic penetration of the Church, with its secret blood oaths, its works salvation, and its Universalism. Confusion A third group of prophecies indicate that in the end times the Church will be assailed by doctrinal error. These are doctrines that do not damn the soul but which confuse and weaken the spirit. In II Timothy 4:3-4, Paul says: “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths.” There are many popular myths in Christendom today that either rob people of the power of their faith or else deceive them into practicing a presumptuous faith. These including the following myths : Faith is to be placed in your faith and not in God. It is God’s desire that believers be financially prosperous. Believers can have what they want through positive confession. The winds of doctrine (Eph. 4:14) are blowing through the Church at gale force and believers are being tossed here and there by the waves, all in the fulfilment of prophecy. Worldliness A fourth characteristic prophesied about the Church in the end times is that it will be compromised and corrupted by worldliness. The prophetic picture of this worldly church is found in Revelation 3:14-22, where the church at Laodicea is described. The seven churches depicted in Revelation 2 and 3 are symbolic of seven periods of church history. The church at Laodicea, the last to be presented, is representative of the type of church that will prevail in Christendom at the end of the Church Age. The picture is a pathetic one. The Church is apathetic, neither hot nor cold. The apathy is a product of the Church’s adoption of a worldly attitude expressed in the words, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing.” Jesus responds with a scathing rebuke: “You do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.” In fulfilment of this prophecy, our churches today are filled with cultural Christians who have accepted Jesus as Saviour but not as Lord. They are double-minded / carnal Christians who walk with one foot in the Church and the other in the world. They are carnal Christians who shout “Hallelujah!” on the weekend but who live like pagans during the week. They are greedy Christians in pursuit of health, wealth, and power. The Cross and its message of sacrifice is as offensive to them as it is to the world. We must all be on guard spiritually. None of us is immune to deception. Everything must be tested by the Word. If a doctrine fails the test of Scripture, it is to be rejected, regardless of who is teaching it. Our trust is to be placed in the Word and not in men.

• Sydney (October 2023): A pro-Palestinian rally took place at the Sydney, Australia Opera House, where chants of “Gas the Jews” were heard. No mention of the 1,200 Israelis butchered by Hamas first information. No mention of the 1,200 Israelis butchered by Hamas first. • China (October 2023): Internet antisemitism is at an all-time high. • London (October 2023): A man was arrested for tearing down posters of the Israeli hostages in Gaza, claiming they were spreading false information. • Paris and suburbs (November 2023): Stars of David were painted on Paris buildings to identify where Jewish people lived, very reminiscent of 1938 Kristallnacht. No mention of the 1,200 Israelis butchered by Hamas first • United States (December 2023):  Harvard President Claudine Gay wouldn’t condemn Hamas and claimed that context had to be considered when “calling for the genocide of Jews.” No mention of the 1,200 Israelis butchered by Hamas first. .• Amsterdam (December 2023): Pro-Palestine leaflets dropped in a shopping Mall accompanied by an announcement about the Genocide of children by Israel in Gaza. No mention of the 1,200 Israelis butchered by Hamas first Did the world turn against the Allies when they joined forces to obliterate the Nazi regime? Were the “poor Nazis” the recipients of global humanitarian aid and did they become the poster boys for social justice, activism and resistance? Of course not, so why is the world still rooting for the terrorist organization that is Hamas and demonizing Israel? Simply put, this has everything to do with the Bible and God’s final plan for the ages. If you are still on the fence over the infallibility of the Bible and the existence of God, now would be a very good time to trust both as we are seeing all the predicted events falling into place like never before. This is the time to pray for and support Israel: Israel is our prophetic time clock and as Christians we are called to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. The Jewish people have been terribly persecuted throughout the centuries, even by people who called themselves "Christians".  Sadly Israel Replacement Theology has contributed to antisemitism which started with Augustine & indirectly resulted into Auschwitz. History is repeating itself, so we need to continue to show our love, support and prayers for Israel.  The Nazis where trying to keep their evil plans & actions secret, but many of the pro-Palestinian crowd are openly celebrating atrocities & calling for a "free Palestine" from the river to the sea, which is effectively calling for a genocide of the Jews.  Besides the people protesting, what is also concerning is the biased Mainstream Media, the Governments, UN, UNRWA & Red Cross etc allowing this to go on & condoning terrorist acts, by being silent & not speaking up against this wickedness. All of the above are directly or indirectly supporting the terrorist organisations Hamas & Hezbollah.  The road to another Holocaust is being paved with wokeness & apathy. Please consider these Scriptures in the context of what our source of information is, the generally antisemitic & biased media or the prophetic Scriptures: Proverbs 17:4 An evildoer listens closely to wicked lips; And a liar pays attention to a destructive and malicious tongue. Proverbs 17:5b And he who rejoices at [another’s] disaster will not go unpunished. Proverbs 17:15 He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the righteous are both repulsive to the Lord.

Lately we have been seeing a lot of posts about how "Jesus was Palestinian" - even from so-called academics. Even pics of nativities where baby Jesus is wrapped in a Keffiyeh First, let me say the (hopefully) most obvious part out loud: Jesus was a Jew. This is actually not up for debate. The real, historical Jesus (actual name: Yeshua ben Yosef) was a Jew born in the Roman province of Judea (translate: "Land of the Jews") to a Judean Mizrahi Jewish father (Yosef) and a Galilean Mizrahi Jewish mother (Miriam). We know that he wore the tzitzit and was well-versed in Torah - enough so that his followers called him "Rabbi". We also have an extensive genealogy that traces his lineage to King David of the Tribe of Judah (we cannot prove this to current genealogical standards, but even without the genealogy we can solidly say Jesus was a Judean Jew). I get it. Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus, lies in what is NOW the Palestinian West Bank. That does not make him magically, retroactively, a Palestinian. Actually, the words "Palestine" and "Palestinian" would have been meaningless to Jesus and his contemporaries, as the moniker "Syria-Palestina" was not placed on the region until approximately 100 years after Jesus' death - and it was only done by the Roman Empire as an insult to the Jews and in an attempt to alienate them from their homeland. Furthermore, the term "Palestinian" used to refer to a cohesive ethnic identity didn't occur until the 1960's. Just to be clear, that's about 1,930 years after Jesus' death. Let me put it this way: saying "2000 years ago the Aboriginal People of Australia & the Māori People of New Zealand were Australian & New Zealand Citizens”.  It's not only historically inaccurate, it's also pretty offensive. Now, bear with me because I'm about to get even more genealogical on you. The people we currently call "Palestinians" trace their heritage back to the Bronze Age Canaanites. By the Iron Age, the region was split into the Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judea (both ethnically-religiously Jewish). In the 7th century BC, the Assyrian army captured a portion of the Kingdom of Israel, known as Samaria. This is where we start to see a clear ethnic schism. The population of Samaria mixed heavily with the Assyrian conquerors and became distinct (genetically and religiously) from their Jewish neighbours. This brings us to the time of Jesus. While Jesus was very clearly NOT a Samaritan, having no Samaritan relatives and not being born nor raised in Samaria, modern day Palestinians, you might have guessed, can trace much of their heritage to the Samaritans. But it goes even further than that. About 600 years after the death of Jesus came the Muslim conquests of Israel. At this time, a great deal of Arab and Persian influence (cultural, linguistic, and genetic) entered the region while the Jews were pushed out (violently, if they did not flee of their own accord). In summary, the Palestinians are descended from the indigenous Samaritan population mixed with the Arab conquerors. Mizrahi Jews remained as an ever-constant presence in Israel and the Levant, albeit under heavy oppression, while the Jews of the exile mixed to an extent with their host countries (giving us the Sephardic Jews and Ashkenazi Jews). So, regardless of where Bethlehem now lies geo-politically, Jesus was not a "Palestinian". You cannot retroactively change someone's identity based on ever-flowing political boundaries. Not ethnically, not regionally, not religiously.