I read Hannah's post with the photo of Johanna and Hannah is right: Our hope is in heaven. Jesus said, "do not worry..." and we need not worry!

Because of Hannah's post, I have consolidated on this one page a summary of 30 years of study and selected a few items that help us always be prepared to give an answer for the hope that is in us.

I have often been amazed by the history of Israel subsequent to the Exodus from Egypt: from the spies entering the land, the fall of Jericho, and all the ways in which "God fights for us"... even through to Nehemiah. I have noticed that sometimes, God fights and His people simply stand and watch. At other times, God fights using a super small group. And at other times, the entire militia is the means by which God fights.

The LORD looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion. (Exodus 14:24)

The LORD threw them into confusion before Israel, so Joshua and the Israelites defeated them completely at Gibeon. (Joshua 10:10)

The LORD threw Sisera and all his chariots and warriors into a panic. (Judges 4:15)

But that day the LORD thundered with loud thunder against the Philistines and threw them into such a panic that they were routed before the Israelites. (1 Samuel 7:10)

Throughout scripture, the Lord has "thrown into confusion" the armies of those assembled against His people, and this time period is no different, for in 1948, 1967, 1981, and 2007, the Islamic armies intent on destroying Israel have been "thrown into confusion"... and just as their counterparts thousands of years ago, they cannot see that they are on the WRONG side of God.

The history of the world (note: "history" is His-Story) can be drastically boiled down into this brief:

• God made man, saw the evil, and flooded the world saving only a remnant (Noah's family) by baptism.
   
• Noah's sons became the table of nations with the descendents of Japheth moving North and East all the way through to the Americas, the descendents of Ham primarily spreading out over the African continent and a small contingent (Canaan) in the Middle East, and the descendents of Shem spreading out in the Middle East through Persia, Pakistan, and India.
   
• A lineage of redemption was planned by God and implemented through Abraham, and as long as that lineage devoted itself to God it was blessed, and when it turned from God it was punished (typically by enslavement and dispersion), yet God always welcomed it back and prophesied of such repeated returns, including one massive one at the end of time.
   
• When Jesus embodied God's plan for redemption, the Jews did not recognize their Messiah as prophesied (Isaiah 53) and were dispersed with the Roman destruction in 70 AD, but Jesus Himself stated that "Jerusalem will be trodden under the foot of the Gentile until the time of the Gentile is complete and then the end will come" (Luke 21:24).
   
• Jewish prophets also spoke of a return in the end times, even referring to God as "no longer remembered as the God who brought Israel up out of Egypt but as the God who brought Israel out of the North" (Jeremiah 16:14-15) -- something that did not happen in all of history prior to WW2.
   
• Satan, the liar who promises enlightenment (even at the beginning with Eve), has seduced mankind with a rejection of history and of God (in varying degrees so as to misdirect us with endless debates among ourselves), for he knows his time is short and a cataclysm is drawing near, and the participants in that cataclysm are named primarily according to the descendents of Noah (Gog, Magog, etc.).
   
• A clock, of unknown duration, began with the re-establishment of Israel in 1948, and Jesus' prophesy regarding Jerusalem was fulfilled in 1967 such that the only remaining question is: What does it mean 'the time of the Gentiles is complete, and then the end will come'?
   
• The rapid acceptance of Islam as a legitimate "peaceful" religion is spreading quickly throughout the entire world, blinded to the truth of the violence and hatred that the religion actually espouses (as is seen in the actual Qur'an and Hadiths -- linked in the column at right), while an all out assault on the Judeo-Christian world view is simultaneously spreading rapidly.
   
• The perversions of pagans, sexual disorientation, terrorism, racism (we ALL came from Noah), etc. are also spreading rapidly and are invading the Christian body of believers.
   
• The lie of pacifism has been spreading for decades among believers in Christ and the vitriol against Jews and Christians is approaching the same degree as occurred against the Jews in 1930s Germany, followed by a holocaust in less than a decade.
   
• This time, Israel will not be led as sheep to the slaughter and the prophesies of both testaments indicate an overwhelming victory subsequent to a long period of "tribulation".
   
• Both man-made and natural events predicted, and yet to occur--Two specifically I mention:
  • God striking Eqypt at the Aswan dam (prophesied 3000 years before the dam was built--Ezekiel 29:10--Aswan is also translated Syene, as far as the border of Cush = Sudan, Ethiopia, and Somalia)
     
  • An asteroid slamming into an ocean causing massive global devastation (Revelation 8:8)
     
    Of course, there are a number of yet to be fulfilled prophesies, but I mention these two specifically because since they are so very specific, we may actually see and recognize them immediately if they occur in our lifetime.
     
• An anti-Christ (who I believe is the Muslim 12th Imam, the Mahdi) will arise to make war against the Jews and Christians. (See Understanding the Number 666 and Curriculum: Islam)

While there is much, much more that could be added, the brief above is an accurate summary of history and prophesied future. The timing of things is near, and one thing you can notice is that about every 2000 years God does something huge.

• From Adam to the promise made to Abraham when he offered Isaac on the alter is exactly 2056 years of exactly 360 days (for the calendar changed to 365.25 days after a spatial event as recorded in the days of Hezekiah as recorded in Isaiah 38).
   
• From the sacrifice of Isaac to the sacrifice of Jesus is something a little over 2000 years.
   
• We are now (in the year 2016 AD) about 1984 - 1987 years since the sacrifice of Jesus (born between 7 - 4 BC and crucified about 26 - 29 AD, using 365.25 day calendaring -- born between 4 - 15 AD and crucified about 37 - 40 AD, using 360 day calendaring).
   
• Since the spatial event causing the sun to go backward in the days of Hezekiah and the necessity to revise calendaring, approximately 40 years of 360 days have been "absorbed" into the current calendar. (That would make our year 2018 = approximately the year 2046 in 360 day increments as originally established at the Creation).
  
  Calendaring over the centuries since the days of Hezekiah has been imprecise, but the first period is actually precisely given by Moses through the genealogies in Genesis.

All of this means that the timing is near, though we will never know the day or hour of "the end". What we can readily see is the hatred against Judeo-Christian peoples is exploding, the spread and acceptance of Islam is rapid, and the iniquity of the rest of man is rising fast in all kinds of vile forms.

Twenty-five years ago, I thought I would probably see the beginning of the global conflict in my lifetime, and I may yet still see that, but over the years I have started to think that the timing may be just beyond my years. Another world war may begin in the next 20 years, or it may delay a bit longer. We never know for sure about such things, only that God is in control and has told us it will happen and we need not be afraid for He will fight for us.

As for knowing the truth, I have throughout my adult life studied all of the major religions (with high focus on the scriptures of Islam) and analyzed many, many documentaries, all while understanding that today's experts have been "enlightened" by the enemy of God, thus the need to understand each presenter's bent.

Below I have compiled a few items that will give you the ability to answer those who deny truth or dismiss the importance of the historical record in scripture. All together it will take about six hours of your time, but I think you will find it to be six of the best hours you could ever spend. This is a summary of what was for me many hundreds of hours of my adult life.

• If Archaeologists and "scientific experts" were not trying so hard to disprove the Bible, this is what would be taught in our schools (click here). What this proves is that man's calendaring of events (while ignoring scripture) is full of errors yet proclaimed as science based on miniscule data (just as the climate alarmists proclaim climate change to be scientifically settled for a vast history while having only miniscule data of prehistoric ice chips and less than 150 years of incomplete temperature records).
   
• "When God Fights for You", including four documentaries of modern examples where the enemy has been thrown into confusion (click here).
   
• An intellectually honest documentary--the most honest I have seen--regarding the conflict in the Middle East (click here).
   
• Exactly "When Should the Trumpet Sound?" (click here).
   
• Modern syncretism and the insidiously politically correct view of Islam (click here).
   
• A Yale educated Imam in the USA preaches rape and murder of Christians, a frequent occurrence in American mosques in the early 21st century, and the media completely ignores this (click here).
   
• A full analysis of the Qur'an and Hadiths regarding sexual slavery and rape of women (click here).
   
• Multiple prophesies fulfilled in our lifetime (click here).
   
• Crucifixion has returned to be a new tool of terror (click here).

To my daughters and their forthcoming families I say: Fear not for the Lamb has overcome!