But this world does have its' god. Yes, the people of the world are backed by a powerful force. Notice what the next scripture tells us. 1 John 3:10-12 states: "The children of God and the children of the Devil are evident by this fact: Everyone who does not carry on righteousness does not originate with God, neither does he who does not love his brother. For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should have love for one another not like Cain, Who originated with the wicked one and slaughtered his brother." John 13:35 "By this all will know that you are my disciples if you have love among yourselves."
Do you see any resemblance between the love and unity that must exist among God's true servants and the course that world leaders and people in general have followed for many centuries? In our century alone, the slaughter of religious people by other religious people has taken tens of millions of lives. Often those killing one another have been of the very same religion as you know! That is sure evidence that God is not backing them. Instead, as God's Word shows, their backer is none other than Satan the Devil.
That is why the apostle John could say: "We know we originate with God, but the whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one." (1 John 5:19) Yes, it is true, Satan is the god of this system of things. Notice how 2Corinthians 4:3, 4 puts it: "among whom the god of this system of things has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, that the illumination of the glorious good news about the Christ, who is the image of God, might not shine through."
Revelation 12:9 adds; "So down the great dragon was hurled, the original serpent, the one call ed Devil and Satan, who is and Satan who is misleading the entire inhabited earth; he was hurled down to the earth, and his angels were hurled down with him." Satan is the power behind the leaders and people of this world whose actions show that these men cannot be from God. Thus the coming battle of Armageddon will be between Jesus and the nations of this world. Notice how this battle is described in the Book of Revelation at 19:17 18: "I saw also an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice and said to all the birds that fly in midheaven: 'Come here, be gathered together to the great evening meal of god, that you may eat the fleshy parts of kings and the fleshy parts of strong men and the fleshy parts of horses and of those seated upon them, and the fleshy parts of all, of freemen as well as slaves and of small ones and great.
Revelation 1919-21 continues: "And I saw the wild beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to wage war with the one seated on the horse and with his army." The prophet Daniel explained a dream that King Nebuchadnezzar had. It dealt with an image that represented world powers yet to arrive on the scene. ( Daniel 21_1- 4 7 ) After explaining the kings dream he added a prophecy for our day at verse44: "And in the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be brought to ruin. And the kingdom itself will not be passed on to any other people. It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, and it itself will stand to times indefinite."
Is this coming battle to be feared and dreaded by us? Only if we find ourselves on the wrong side of it. Otherwise, it will mean a new world for us live in. Gone will be robbers, murderers, rapists, thieves, liars, racists and greedy persons! Only those who fit the following description will be left over after the great tribulation.
Psalms 37:9-11 states: "For evildoers themselves will be cut off, but those hoping in Jehovah are the ones that will possess the earth. And just a little while longer, and the wicked one will be no more; and you will certainly give attention to his place, and he will not be. But the meek ones themselves wi41 possess the earth, And they will indeed find their exquisite delight in the abundance of peace."
For how long will the situation above last? Notice what verse 29 of the same chapter says: "The righteous themselves will possess the earth, and they will reside forever upon it." In contrast, look at the type of people who will mark the last days. The world is full hatred and greed. Just look at all the ethnic hatreds now being displayed in some former communists countries.
2 Timothy 3:1-5 warns us: "But know this, that in the last days critical times hard to deal with will be here. For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, self-assuming haughty, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, disloyal, having no natural affection, not open to any agreement, slanderers, without self-control, fierce, without love of goodness, betrayers, headstrong, puffed up with pride, lovers of pleasures rather than lovers of God, having a form of godly devotion, but proving false to its power; and from these turn away."
Mark 7:7 states: "It is in vain that they keep worshiping me, because they teach as doctrines commands of men. Letting go the commandment of God, you hold fast the tradition of men."
Certainly if God were actively running the world's affairs, we would not see the wide spread pollution now going on. We would not the deforestation that is now going on. We would not see-the extinction of so many species that occurred in this century. Not to mention the many animals that are now very close to extinction. We would not see the legal support now given for abortions in this and other countries. We would not see gay parades, with them demanding rights. We certainly would not see churches appointing some gays as priests or ministers. We would not see the wide spread drug use, and the crime that goes with it. We would be able to travel and live in peace, not FEAR.
We would not see the thousands and thousands of homeless people, that now live in every major city of the world. The rampant immorality of both gays and so-called straights would not be permitted in a nation that God supported. Basically, no nation today is truly serving God. Neither is there a nation that has Cod)s backing. In fact, as Daniel 2:44 states, all the nations will be replaced by God's kingdom!
This brings us to a topic that you the reader may find intriguing. The book of Revelation makes mention of the number 666. This is a symbolic number that individuals can receive on their foreheads and hands. This raises several interesting questions that deserve our consideration.
1) What does the number mean, what does it represent?
2) How can a person receive the number on their forehead or hand?
The next article will give you the reader, the Bible's view on the questions concerning the number 666. I welcome your comments and views. To continue your journey, just click on the number, 666.
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