THE APOSTASY GALLOPING

Indications are showing that the apostasy is rapidly growing, as reported in The Journal published in the January 2009 issue from Summit Ministries. America is fast moving toward secularization. The population that accepts evolution is edging up. More than ever now believe that the Bible is built on legends and fables. This has soared from 1 in 10 to nearly 1 in 4 in just thirty years. Atheists and agnostics have increased in number from two million in the 1950s to as many as sixty million (a fifth of the population) according to the Harris polls.    The nonreligious population has doubled in the last fifteen years. Only half of Americans now believe absolutely in a personal God, which is below from a historic level in comparison to what is found in many second and third world countries. Church membership has declined to about half of what it was fifty years ago. It has accelerated rapidly after September 11, 2001. Only a fifth of the population turns up in church on any given Sunday. Mainstream denominational churches have dwindled almost to a minority status. Conservative churches too are losing ground. Those who hold to the Bible as the literal Word of God has fallen markedly from 4 in 10 to less than a third over the last thirty years.    Evangelical churches are shifting to the left and moving quickly from proclaiming and teaching the Truth from the pulpit. Light sermons, sermon-ettes, and devotionals, are the mainstay in most churches now. All out apostasy and liberalism will be the next phase which will cause churches to finally shrink to the size of a prune and then disappear altogether! Christ will continue to build His church right up to the end—to the day of the rapture of the church, the removal of true believers from the earth just prior to the prophesied Tribulation and Wrath of God that will last seven years. During the last days of the church dispensation, the numbers will be less and less. Persecution will probably be experienced by most who are trusting Christ. Churches will be under the gun but will probably be more healthy than at any time in the recent past.    Pastors, you need to prepare your congregation and flock for these changing times! –Dr. Mal Couch

FOR THE CAUSE OF ZION

Scofield's latest book, For The Cause Of Zion, is receiving some extremely kind endorsements. One reader said: Dr. Couch, thanks for a challenging and thought-provoking book. I have only begun to read it, but the chapter on the Messiah (chapter 2) is one of the best summaries of this subject I've read to date. God bless your ministry. –Fort Worth     And, Dr. Couch, I could not put down your new book. It's full of information about history I've never read before. What is your latest book about? --California     I'm glad you asked. I'm now working on a book entitled Satan, the Nations, and the End Times. It will be out about March! The book costs just $11 including shipping. Also, I'm open to sending a bunch for any who will distribute them to their congregation. –Dr. Mal Couch

THE APOSTASY: SLIDING TOWARD THE ABYSS!

Christianity is finished in Europe. While there are of course many who trust Christ in Europe and England, the vast majority of the population are lost, and profess to be either atheistic or agnostic. In total numbers, few are born again. Evangelicals in America are moving away from what the Bible teaches and are buying into what the world says about homosexuality. In ten years we will be where Europe is today. The Church will be snuffed out! (Though there will always be many who are born again right up to the end when the rapture takes place!) We reported that the vice president of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE), Richard Cizik, resigned after making positive statements for same-sex civil unions. However, what he said is in line with the rapid changes about belief over the issue of homosexuality among Christians. We are falling into the Pit! Over the past few years a massive shift has taken place. Now 30% of white Evangelicals and black Protestants agree with Cizik's stance. In two years, the shift has moved to being in favor of same-sex civil unions. And these are people who claim to hold to the principles of Scripture, and claim to be born again. The statistics jumped from about 15% to around 30%. What will it be in another two years? 58% of white Evangelicals ages 18 to 29 support either gay marriage or civil unions. Interestingly, the numbers went the other way with those over 30 years of age. This confirms what I've been saying. Our nation is split on this issue by age because those who are younger have been brainwashed by the culture, by the government socialistic and anti-God schools. 25% of white Evangelicals say "gay and lesbian couples should have the same legal rights to marry as do a man and a woman." What is happening is there is a loss of authority of the Word of God. Most churches are not teaching from the pulpit strong and viable doctrine. Feel good messages, devotionals, are what people want. And, the Bible is not seen as the guide in real life issues. One liberal author said the Bible does not prohibit gay marriage, so why not? "The Bible is bent toward inclusiveness." There is no turning back the present trend. Judgment just hangs over the heads of people in this nation. And, Evangelicals will someday see and experience the error of their ways. If one studies the history of Rome, it is clear that in many, many ways, America is going the same direction. One of the emperors married his black male slave. Homosexuality, lesbianism, prostitution, sports, welfare, drove the nation in its last days. Almost half of each year was given over to sports holidays! Also, the Roman government practiced an outright rejection and persecution against all things Christian. Dispensationalists have been teaching for generations that the dispensation of the Church will someday fail, just as all other periods failed through history. The poor Covenant guys will not get it! They are misleading the sheep and not showing and explaining what the Bible teaches about the failure of the Church. They do not believe in what the Bible clearly teaches about an impending apostasy, the rapture of the Church, a worldwide tribulation, and the coming of the literal reign of Jesus Christ on the earthly throne of David. Without these great doctrines, the Church will go to sleep and have no clue where history is going. –Dr. Mal Couch

WHO OWNS THE LAND?

What is going on today in Israel is a lie perpetrated by the Palestinian Arabs. They are making a false claim to the land that actually belongs to the sons of Jacob. God is bringing a judgment against a false religion and a people who do not hold the title deed to the Promised Land. Many of the peoples now surrounding the Holy Land are descendants of Ishmael, Esau, the sons of Abraham's other children through his wife Keturah, and from his concubines. They were not to possess the land. It is clear that the land is promised in perpetuity to Jacob and not Esau. Esau and his children would be granted the land to the East, Edom, which is now Jordan. The so-called Palestinian people have no claim to the Holy Land, the Land of Promise, whatsoever. The title deed to the land was given to the descendants of Jacob, who was the father of the twelve tribes. The Lord appeared to Jacob and blessed him and said: Your name is Jacob; you shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name. I am God Almighty; be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come forth from you. And the land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give it to you, and I will give the land to your descendants after you. (Gen. 35:9-12) Then "Esau took his wives from the daughters of Canaan; …These are the sons of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan. … He had acquired in the land of Canaan and went to another land away from his brother Jacob. For their property had become too great for them to live together" (36:1-7). God used a natural method of driving Esau from the land. His people were too great to occupy the Promised Land together with the people of Jacob. Esau's generations are listed in chapter 36. The chapter closes with this statement: "Esau is the father of the Edomites. These are the chiefs of Edom according to their habitations in the land of their possession" (36:43). There is a burning hatred and flaming jealousy of the Edomites against the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob who have been brought by the Lord back to their Holy Land. The Arabs just can't stand the fact that the Jews through Jacob are being so prospered. Their intentions are so evil and they are fired up by a Satanic lie—that the land belongs to the Palestinians, which it does not! Unger states: "Esau not only intermarried with the Canaanites, displaying his profane nature, but also multiplied his wives. He therefore passed off the scene of spiritual blessing and left the land of promise." "It was not Jacob's faith, but God's grace carrying him on despite his unbelief [from time to time], that was most remarkable about this man." We know how the story is going to end in the Middle East, but the world does not! –Dr. Mal Couch

DANIEL 9:26-27: A DIFFICULT TRIBULATION PASSAGE

Daniel’s Seventy Weeks

One of the most emotionally charged passages on the last half of the tribulation is found in Daniel 9:26-27. While part of what is written here by Daniel is quite clear, there are thoughts by the prophet Daniel that are elusive. Since all Scripture is inspired by God, we know the verses are from His inspiration and revelation to Daniel. This does not make all of the Bible easy to understand. There are still sections that we grapple with. The reason is that (1) often we do not see everything about a passage we should see because of something lacking in our base of knowledge, and (2) sometimes a prophecy will become clearer as we approach its fulfillment. Both factors may be true about these verses.

Daniel’s Seventy weeks is a much-disputed prediction. “We could call this the heart of Daniel’s prophecy as well as the backbone of all predictions. It is the unanimous opinion of all students of prophecy that whoever does not understand these verse cannot possibly obtain a clear concept of unfulfilled predictions.” (Bultema)

It is not the purpose of this article to completely explain the Seventy weeks of Daniel (Dan. 9:24-27) that are determined upon the nation of Israel. It is suffice to say that this calculates out to the 490 years of the Lord’s timetable determined in His working with the nation of Israel. The clock starts ticking with the degree of Artaxerxes Longimanus to restore and rebuild Israel which began in 444 B.C. 483 years comes out to the week that Christ was rejected and crucified in Jerusalem. Therefore there are now 7 years left in God’s specific and directed working with Israel—this is the seven years of tribulation that unfolds in such detail in the book of Revelation.

What are the 490 years [the Seventy Weeks] about?

The 490 years “are decreed for [Daniel’s] people and your holy city” (v. 24a). During this period the Lord is going “to finish the transgression, [and] make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy place” (v. 24b). God is going to clean house with His own people, remove their sins, soften their stubborn hearts. And the holy place (the temple) will be made holy again.

Coming up to the final months of the 483 years, the Messiah, the Prince will be “cut off” (vv. 25b-26a) and the “people (the Romans) of the prince (the antichrist) will come and destroy the sanctuary (the temple)” (v. 26b). On this Walvoord summarizes:

This seems to be a general reference to the fact that from the time of the destruction of the city of Jerusalem (70 AD), trouble, war, and desolation [would] be the normal experience of the people of Israel. … History has certainly corroborated this prophecy, for not only was Jerusalem destroyed but the entire civilization of the Jews in Palestine ceased to exist soon after the end of the sixty-ninth seven, and that desolation continued until recent times. (Daniel Commentary, p. 231)

The Antichrist

But what happens next? The answer brings us up to this puzzling and profound passage, verse 27. The “prince” of the people (the Romans) who destroyed the city and the sanctuary (v. 26) will then “make a firm covenant with the many [people who will be back in the Land] for one week,” or for seven years (v. 27)! The Jewish rabbis in their commentaries say “the many” is probably a reference to “the great ones,” the chief leaders of the people! The leadership will be fooled by the antichrist, thinking that he is the promised Messiah! But he is not! The antecedent “prince” goes back to the prince of verse 26 who is part of the Roman peoples! Daniel did not know of the gap between verses 26 and 27. God during that intervening period stopped the clock in His divine work with Israel. The clock will start ticking again with the beginning of the seven year tribulation, and that is marked by the signing of or the making of a peace covenant between this prince and the Jewish people. It seems clear that with the signing of the covenant, the antichrist gives permission for the Jews to build again another temple. Peace will be established between the Jews and the Arabs. The antichrist, the prince, is an international hero! More on the antichrist and the temple is predicted in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-12.

[With superb scholarship, Hoehner places the start of the Seventy week prophecy on March 5, 444 BC, with the cutting off of the Messiah in Jerusalem during the week of March 30, AD 33. See his The Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ]

The Difficult Passage

Daniel now deals with the final seven year period, the one week, the final period of God’s working with the nation of Israel. This seven years will be a judgment on the wayward nations and a spiritual purging on the Jewish people. Following this seven years the Messiah will return to earth and begin His Davidic millennial reign, the one thousand year rule of peace! But before He comes, this seven year time of wrath and judgment will come. It is described in a very emotionally charged way in verse 27b.

“In the middle (three and a half years) of the (seven year)week he (the prince, the antichrist) will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering (in the temple); and

on the wing of abomination will come one who makes makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.”

From the Hebrew text I translate the passage another way: And upon the wing of detestable [idolatrous] things (by doing terrible things), he (the prince, the antichrist) shall be causing a holocaust, that is, until the annihilation gushes forth, that is, the determined end, upon the horrifying scene.

On the wing of abomination: “This is one of the most difficult passages in Daniel,” if not in the entire Bible. (Rabbinical commentaries) “The clause contains an obscure word (“abomination”) which is further complicated by an unintelligible syntax” in the Hebrew. (Daniel, Montgomery, p. 386) Remember that Daniel is elderly, and in his old age, he is overcome by emotion by what he sees and what he is told! He writes in emotional spurts and bursts!

Some have suggested the “wing” is the top part of a roof, the topmost point, or the pinnacle. The term can mean the structural wing of a building, the most prominent and obvious visual location. If this is so, many, many scholars surmise, this could be the pinnacle of the rebuilt temple on which some kind of pagan symbol is made visible! Some rabbis say it refers to an elevated position somehow related to the temple. Further, “The Jewish commentators take ‘wing’ as a figure of speech signifying an ‘elevated position’ and render: ‘upon an elevated position among detestable things (will be placed) an image which causes appallment.’” (Soncino Rabbinical Commentary)]

Van der Palm gives one of the most accepted free translations of the passage:

And on the pinnacle (of the temple) will stand the destroying abomination until everything is demolished and irreparable destruction has been poured on the destroyer.

“We may suppose a heathen image or emblem.” (Montgomery) This would be the emblem of the antichrist who is setting himself above God and all the gods of the world (2 Thess. 2:4). Or, another view: “It is more reasonable to understand ‘wing’ as a figure for the vulturelike role of the Antichrist as he swoops down on his beleaguered victims for the purposes of oppression and despoliation.” (Gaebelein)

Price basically concurs but with some differences:

The term “wing” (Hebrew, k’naf) has a direct association with the abomination of desolation and most likely describes the ‘place’ where it will occur in relation to the temple. This ‘wing’ may be understood metaphorically, has been the subject of extensive controversy and fanciful interpretation in both ancient and modern commentaries. It is possible that k’naf suggests the place where the abomination of desolation is placed: in the Holy of Holies in the place of the Ark of the Covenant, which was topped by winged cherubim.(The Popular Bible Prophecy Commentary, p. 256)

The abomination … makes desolate refer to the Desolator [who will come]. (Unger, p. 1670) “As the text stands it can be literally translated only as follows: “and upon the wing of abominations is a desolator.” (Ellicott) The Desolator of course is the person who causes the desolations mentioned in verse 26. That the Desolator will be doomed, nothing is said here. But “the prince” (the antichrist/desolator) appears merely as the instrument pre-ordained by God, by whose people both city and sanctuary are to be destroyed.” (Ellicott) “The word would be more properly rendered in this passage desolator, referring to some one who would produce desolation.” (Barnes)

In Matthew 24:15 and Mark 13:14 Jesus refers to the “abomination of desolation” as something (or this someone) standing in the holy place, the sanctuary. He is prophetically speaking of the antichrist who will desecrate the temple itself. Again, Paul says this about this evil one, the lawless one, the antichrist. The apostle writes that he will “oppose and exalt himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God” (2 Thess. 2:4).

Until a complete destruction: “Right up to the end that causes desolation.” Christ had this in mind when He predicted in His Olivet Discourse (cf. Matt. 24:15) the final horrors of the Tribulation. It is important to observe that this reference to “the abomination that causes desolation,” or “of desolation” conclusively proves that Jesus Himself regarded the fulfillment of the prophecy in Daniel as yet future.” (Gaebelein)
Or the passage could read: “The dictator will hold sway till the wrath of God is poured out in fury on the God-defying world of the Beast (little horn or ruler).” (Gaebelein)

As for the “desolator” himself, it is simplest to take him to be the world dictator of the last days, who will resort to violence to carry through his ruthless policy of despotism. The account in Revelation 13 indicates that the eschatological little horn will remain in control of world affairs down to the End, enforcing his will by violent means till the final conflict of Armageddon. (Gaebelein)

Is poured out on the one who makes desolate: This refers to the final pouring out that climaxes at Armageddon, when the blasphemous world ruler will be crushed by the full weight of God’s judgment.

Conclusion

After three and a half years the antichrist will break his alliance, cast off his mask, and turn against the apostate nation of Israel with all his demonic fury. He will cause the sacrifices of the temple service in the rebuilt temple to cease and reveal himself as a terrible destroyer. He will set himself up in the temple and pretend to be God.

The wording of the last part of verse 27 is very mysterious. Two things are clear, however. In the second part of the still future year-week the antichrist will destroy Israel in a terrible manner, and reciprocally at the end of the week divinely appointed destruction will be poured out on her. (Bultema)

Walvoord notes: “The fulfillment of this prophecy necessarily involves the reactivation of the Mosaic sacrificial system in a temple in Judea. The present occupation of Jerusalem [and the establishment of the new nation] by Israel [is] a preparatory step to the reestablishment of the Mosaic system of sacrifices. Obviously, sacrifices cannot be stopped and a temple cannot be desecrated unless both are in operation.” (Commentary, p. 235)

The antichrist will cause sacrifice and offering to cease and, in their place, erect, even unto the end of causing an overspreading influence, a detestable statue (or altar) in the temple, desolating in effect, says Wood.

Look for some peace process where the Arabs and the Jews co-inhabit the temple mount. The antichrist will bring in the miracle of peace. The world will say “peace and safety.” But the temple desecrated will bring a violent response from God Almighty, not only upon Israel and her rebellion, but on the world as a whole. The temple is a key component in understanding what happens the last of the tribulation.

--Dr. Mal Couch

BEN STEIN'S CONFESSION

Ben Stein recently made the following statement I have quoted below that I think you might find most interesting, whether you endorse what he said or not: -- Dr. Mal Couch

My confession:

I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees, Christmas trees.. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are: Christmas trees.

It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, 'Merry Christmas' to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu If people want a crïeche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.

Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship celebrities and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where these celebrities came from and where the America we knew went to.

In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking.

Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her 'How could God let something like this happen?' (regarding Katrina) Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, 'I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?'

In light of recent events... terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found a few years ago) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said OK.

Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.

Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with 'WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.'

Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says. Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.

Are you laughing yet?

Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it.

Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us..

Pass it on if you think it has merit. If not then just discard it... no one will know you did. But, if you discard this thought process, don't sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in.

My Best Regards, Honestly and respectfully,
Ben Stein

REPORT ON GLOBAL WARMING

At December's U.N. Global Warming conference in Poznan, Poland, 650 of the world's top climatologists stood up and said man-made global warming is a media generated myth without basis. Said climatologist Dr. David Gee, Chairman of the International Geological Congress, "For how many years must the planet cool before we begin to understand that the planet is not warming?" I asked myself, why would such obviously smart guy say such a ridiculous thing? But it turns out he's right. The earth's temperature peaked in 1998. It's been falling ever since; it dropped dramatically in 2007 and got worse in 2008, when temperatures touched 1980 levels. Meanwhile, the University of Illinois' Arctic Climate Research Center released conclusive satellite photos showing that Arctic ice is back to 1979 levels. What's more, measurements of Antarctic ice now show that its accumulation is up 5 percent since 1980. In other words, during what was supposed to be massive global warming, the biggest chunks of ice on earth grew larger. Just as an aside, do you remember when the hole in the ozone layer was going to melt Antarctica? But don't worry, we're safe now, that was the nineties. Dr. Kunihiko, Chancellor of Japan's Institute of Science and Technology said this: "CO2 emissions make absolutely no difference one way or the other ... every scientist knows this, but it doesn't pay to say so." Now why would a learned man say such a crazy thing? This is where the looney left gets lost. Their mantra is atmospheric CO2 levels are escalating and this is unquestionably causing earth's temperature rise. But ask yourself -- if global temperatures are experiencing the biggest sustained drop in decades, while CO2 levels continue to rise -- how can it be true? Ironically, in spite of being shown false, we must now pray for it. Because a massive study, just released by the Russian Government, contains overwhelming evidence that earth is on the verge of another Ice Age. Based on core samples from Russia's Vostok Station in Antarctica, we now know earth's atmosphere and temperature for the last 420,000 years. This evidence suggests that the 12,000 years of warmth we call the Holocene period is over. Apparently, we're headed into an ice age of about 100,000 years -- give or take. As for CO2 levels, core samples show conclusively they follow the earth's temperature rise, not lead it. It turns out CO2 fluctuations follow the change in sea temperature. As water temperatures rise, oceans release additional dissolved CO2 -- like opening a warm brewsky. To think, early last year, liberals suggested we spend 45 trillion dollars and give up five million jobs to fix global warming. But there is good news: now that we don't have to spend any of that money, we can give it all to the banks. John Tomlinson is a local conservative columnist for The Flint Journal. He lives in the Genesee County area.

PREPARE FOR THE COMING OF THE ARABS!

The rich Arabs just spent thousands of dollars for a full page ad in The Seattle Times with a hate-filled against the nation of Israel. The ad was sponsored by the wealthy Arab American Community Coalition (AACC). The ad was also co-sponsored by twenty-one other Arab organizations, plus some terribly misguided Spanish and liberal church groups. The ad goes on and tells the readers they need to contact several named senators, and also President-Elect Barack Obama.    Only premillennial/dispensationalists really know what is happening worldwide, and also in the Middle East. We know what is happening and where all of this is going because we study our Bible and let it speak in its literal and normal way. Our hermeneutic is consistent. We interpret the first coming of Christ literally, and we also interpret His second coming literally.    Now is the time to increase the message of the soon coming of the only Savior and King, the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no salvation apart from Him, and there is no world peace without His return. We cannot cling to this life, and our wealthy lifestyle forever. Peace is not found in our American cornucopia of plenty by which we are smothered with materialism, more plastic, batteries, toys, and junk! Our eternal hope, and particularly the hope of Israel, is in a new world and the promise of the arrival of the Judge and the Savior! America is not it! And the church is not the savior of the world. The church is made up of short-sighted and limited believers! Someday, "the Lord will take away His judgments against Israel. He will clear away your enemies. The King of Israel, the Lord, will be in your midst; you will fear disaster no more. In that day it will be said to Jerusalem: Do not be afraid, O Zion; do not let your hands fall limp. The Lord your God will be in your midst, as a victorious warrior. … At that time I will bring you in [to the land], even at the time when I gather you together; indeed, I will give you renown and praise among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes, says the Lord" (Zeph. 3:15-20).      Praise God, we're almost there! –Dr. Mal Couch

THE BARNA GROUP

Recently, this survey organization made the following comments after interviewing many people about their religious beliefs. Please take careful note!    "Half of Americans recently surveyed now believe Christianity is just one of many options for genuine faith.    "Barna, the group's founder, believes the study confirms that more Americans are adopting a pluralistic mindset.    "Americans are increasingly very accepting of a diverse array of faiths. They're less likely to think that Christianity is right or accurate in what it teaches.    "The survey finds that many Americans are adopting their own ideas about faith, apart from God's Holy Word.    "People are deriving their biblical literacy and their views of spirituality from conversations that they have with friends, and they give that equal weight to things they might get in church or from other religious settings. They'll get their faith views from their own personal reflections as well as from their personal experiences and observations."    I have been saying now for months that we are galloping into the apostasy. This is clear proof that this is so. We are right behind what has happened in Europe many decades ago, and that we would be following the Europeans, I predicted as well. Only dispensatinalists fully understand what is happening because the Scriptures clearly tell us that the dispensation of the church will fail. Things will be made right only after the world comes through the prophesied judgment of the tribulation, followed by the return of Christ to reign and rule worldwide from Jerusalem.    Thousands are being misled by the false teachings of covenant theology that foolishly says the church is Israel and that God is through with the Jews. This heresy is known as replacement theology! Covenant theology also says the church is the promised millennial kingdom. Covenant theology proclaims a dual hermeneutic: taking part of the Bible literally and part of it, especially eschatology, allegorically, or in a "spiritualized" way. It is heresy to deny the actual return of Christ as Israel's King! –Dr. Mal Couch

THE JUDGMENT OF THE NATIONS COMING

The nations are building up a judgment that will pour forth will violent intensity at the end of the tribulation period. Israel will be the target and will be hated by the nations, especially by the Arab peoples who surround the restored Jewish homeland. This is made clear in Joel 3:1-17. A terrible judgment will take place when God has restored the fortunes of both the southern kingdom Judah, and the northern kingdom Israel. Then God "will gather all the nations, and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat ("Yahweh judges"), the valley that lies east of Jerusalem, the Kidron Valley. God will be defending His people who had been scattered "among the nations" (v. 2c). The Jewish people belong to the Lord in a special way. Joel says they are "His inheritance" (v. 2b). In the past, the nations had dispersed the Jewish people, they had "divided My land" (v. 2d) and had "cast lots for My people" (v. 3). Part of those to be judged are the descendants of Tyre, Sidon, "and all the regions of Philistia" (v. 4). These are the Canaanite-like peoples whose children have been in the land of Israel for centuries but no longer as a nation over the past 1,000 years or more. God says that He will "swiftly and speedily … return your recompense on your head" (v. 4). Thousands of years ago, these peoples had been guilty of selling "the sons of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks in order to remove them far from their territory" (v. 6). Unger notes: That these were the first Greeks the Jews knew. "No doubt the germ of Greek civilization was influenced through the Jewish slaves imported into Greece from Phoenicia by early traders." God has a long memory and will bring a judgment upon these people and upon the Greeks who so mistreated the Jewish people. God will hold court among the nations. "Let the nations be aroused and come up to the valley of Jehospaphat, for there I will sit to judge, all the surrounding nations" (v. 12). The Lord will shout from Zion and from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth will tremble. But the Lord is a refuge for His people and a stronghold to the sons of Israel (v. 16). The Lord, the Messiah, will be reigning in Jerusalem. "Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, dwelling in Zion My holy mountain. So Jerusalem will be holy" (v. 17). History will not be complete until Christ returns and reigns in the Holy Land, and throughout the earth! His coming will be literal and actual, not in a mystical spiritualized sense. Dispensationalists, along with the orthodox Jews, know that the Messiah's feet will touch the Mount of Olives and He will reign among His people! Only then will all the wrongs of this world be made right. This is what we look for! –Dr. Mal Couch

FRIGHENING STATISTICS!

The world hates the Jewish people—God's own earthly people! Someday, the Holy Spirit will touch the hearts of the children of Jacob and more and more will come to Christ. That spiritual awakening is already happening but it will accelerate as we move closer to the final days prophesied in Scripture. Presently, there could now be 15,000 born again Jews in the Holy Land! According to recent surveys, many in various countries really hate the people of the Lord. The numbers: 46% of the Spanish rate the Jews unfavorably. 34% of the Russians and 36% of the Poles echo the same feeling. 35% of the Germans, and 20% of the French also express negative opinions of the Jewish people. What is alarming is that these percentages have dramatically increased since 2004, according to a Pew report. There is no way to explain this except by Satanic influence. Satan hates God's own and will be working overtime to destroy the nation of Israel, especially as we come closer to the rapture of the church, and the terrible tribulation period. Revelation 12 makes this vividly certain. Consider doing what I do, and that is supporting the Holocaust Museum. (1-866-998-7466) –Dr. Mal Couch

IT IS OVER!

It is finished and done. Consider us there! We have entered into the period known in Scripture as the apostasy! The next great event will be the rapture of the church, the removing of believers out from under the wrath of God "that is on its way" (1 Thess. 1:10). "Jesus who delivers us out from the wrath that is on its way." Our new president has already made it clear he will open wide the doors for homosexuality, and for late term abortion. There is no stopping this or slowing it down. There will be an increase in raw socialism and government control through the so-called environmental movement. And that happens to be an effort to destroy our freedoms under the guise of environmental necessity. But what is worse, is that most of our Bible colleges and seminaries are becoming "socializing" schools, buying into the "changes" taking place in our culture. These things are not moving at a snails pace but at a tremendous and rapid shift. This is no longer the America we have known in the past. We have crossed the canyon, crossed the river, into another country. The younger generation does not see America as we once did. The past, with its imperfections and also its many blessings, is now gone! There is a rapid repudiation of our European and Reformed heritage. The younger crowd no longer wants or respects experience and wisdom. They worship freedom as their god and believe firmly in government control of their lives. And because they no longer have the Bible, the Word of God, as a governing factor, power and choice drives all decisions and changes that are coming down the pike! While believers have certain cultural and social responsibilities, our main concern should be spiritual. One of the "big" seminaries in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area has gone passionately "green." They have put out published articles making it a spiritual mandate if we believers in Christ do not join in on the green movement and the global warming issue. This is madness and foolishness! The shift has come that now places such social issues above our call to proclaim biblical truth to a spiritually blinded world. That you drive a hybrid car is more important than if you teach verse by verse, and with great passion, the Word of God in your church or Sunday school. Over night, the younger crowd, those around 35 and under, have fallen head-long for all the social and cultural "stuff" that fascinates the world. In a survey, they made it known that they see no big problems with abortion rights and homosexuals. We believers must now must join in with what the society thinks. Concerning the environment, we are not doing our spiritual duty if we do save the planet. It is only dispensationalists who have it straight. We know by the NT that the age of the church will self-destruct, just as all dispensations of the past failed. Proclaiming the gospel and helping believers grow spiritually by the Word is our most compelling responsibility. This does not mean we trash our environment. We respect the world that God has given us, but to make perfect our environment is not our mission. The environment is limited and it is going to fail. We are not first and foremost responsible for the planet, God is! And He tells us this is all going to burn up! The issue of human sin is the number one problem on the globe, not saving the planet! Christ said it plainly. "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in and steal; for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" (Matt. 6:19-21). --Dr. Mal Couch

THANK YOU, CHARLES HODGE

Charles Hodge, the great old Princeton scholar, was an amillennialist, but one who partially saw the light in regard to dispensationalism and premillennialism. He believed in the dispensations, all except one. Having said that, it is interesting to note that he came right up the edge of taking the Bible with a literal, normal hermeneutic. He was inconsistent in that he admitted that there would be a millennial kingdom, which many of his fellow amillennialists were not. Or certainly it is a fact that he saw clearly in Scripture a return of the Jews to the land, and as well, the conversion of the nation of Israel as a special people. I appreciate most of what Hodge wrote. The summer after my first year in graduate school, I read through all of the volumes in his systematic theology. And, I have all of his commentaries on various New Testament books. I love what he writes but he usually becomes so inconsistent and confusing when it comes to eschatology. For example, a few amillennial scholars in their Roman commentaries say that, when Paul writes that "The Deliverer will come from Zion" (11:26-27), he is only speaking of the first coming of Christ and not His second coming to reign and rule in Jerusalem. Can you imagine destroying the context of a passage that way? But Hodge sees the light, and he cannot deny the plain fact that these verses are speaking about Christ restoring the Jews to salvation and bringing them back to their Promised Land! This is enough to make present day allegorists and amillennialists weep! And, it warms the cockles of my heart! Hodge writes about these verses: All that can be safely inferred from [these verses] is, that the Gentiles, as a body, the mass of the Gentile world, will be converted before the restoration of the Jews, as a nation. Much will remain to be accomplished after that event; and in the accomplishment of what shall then remain to be done, the Jews are to have a prominent position. … It is in this retrospect that the foreshadowing of the future is seen to be miraculous and divine. Israel, here, from the context, must mean the Jewish people, and all Israel, the whole nation. The Jews, as a people, are now rejected; as a people, they are to be restored. … Their restoration in like manner is national. … The general idea expressed in these passages is, "God, [is] the deliverer, He shall come for the salvation of Jacob [Israel]," i.e. the Jews. And this is all that Paul desired to establish by these ancient prophecies. The apostle teaches, that the deliverance promised of old, and to which the prophet Isaiah referred in the passage cited, included much more than the conversion of the comparatively few Jews who believed in Christ at the [first] advent. The full accomplishment of the promise, that he should turn away ungodliness from Israel, contemplated the conversion of the whole nation, as such, to the Lord. All the apostle intended to prove, is proved, by the language of the prophets. The covenant of God with His ancient people secured, after their apostasy and consequent banishment in Babylon, and their dispersion over the earth, and their rejection of Christ, the ultimate purging away of their sins, and their restoration, as a nation, to the Messiah's kingdom. This national conversion is also predicted in Zech. 12:10, and in many other passages of the Old Testament. The Jews, he says, were now, as far as the gospel was concerned regarded and treated as enemies, for the benefit of the Gentiles; but, in reference to the election [of the Lord], they were still regarded as the peculiar people of God, on account of their connection with the patriarchs. … God foresaw and predicted their temporary defection and rejection from His kingdom, but never contemplated their being forever excluded. Well, that last statement destroys the idea of Replacement Theology! Thank you, Dr. Hodge. You are close to what the true premillennialists have been teaching all along! You are almost there! --Dr. Mal Couch

THANK YOU COMMENTS

Every day we receive letters, emails, and cards, thanking us for the ministry of Scofield. We are now up to almost 12,000 first time and repeat visitors per month on our website. We are most grateful and must be striking a meaningful spiritual note for those who are hungry for the Word. Below is a sample of two letters we just received: The Gathering Storm monthly CDs are possibly the best I have ever listened to. The roundtable discussion is outstanding and I particularly like the practical application of these topics. Seminary instruction is excellent, but these applications bring things down to earth on a practical level. Continue the outstanding work that you and the others are doing and our prayers are with you. I enclosed a check ($35) for the CDs on "Answering the Objections from Covenant Theology against Dispensationalism." Dear Dr. Couch, thanks so much for the work of Scofield Ministries. My wife and I are both enjoying the continued teaching, and I'm incorporating the good words into my own class teaching. We'd appreciate it if you could figure out how to continue your series on Israelology, as I think Israel is the key to understanding who Christ is, and the key to knowing the Old Testament and future prophecy. Thanks again for all you do. For those not receiving the Gathering Storm monthly CD, you're really missing some outstanding subjects and guests who share with me their insights into Scripture. The Gathering Storm is just $30 for the year subscription. Check only! God bless all of those who are writing and encouraging us. –Dr. Mal Couch

THE PRESENT TURMOIL: PRAY FOR THE JEWISH PEOPLE

It has happened over and over: the Jewish people are blamed for the problems of the world. Adolf Hitler said this decades ago. He continually shouted that the Jewish people were at fault for all the ills of civilization. Now, the Jewish people are blamed for the turmoil in Gaza and the West Bank.

By the way, the idea of a "West Bank" is a joke! That is the west side and even the core of the land, the very guts of the promised land deeded to Abraham. It is a significant part of the Holy Land given to Abraham and his descendants through Jacob—the twelve tribes of Israel. God is bringing the Jews, the descendants from the Northern Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom, back home, from their scattering to all the nations of the earth. They have returned to the land, restored their ancient nation, resurrected their language, and are there in preparation someday for the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ!

Many more each day are flowing back to what the Bible calls The Promised Land! At present, they are in the land in unbelief but God has begun to work in their hearts! It is now estimated that there are upwards of 15,000 believing Jews in Israel. The Spirit of God has begun to work! What dispensationalists have said all along is now coming to pass. Those who hold to Replacement Theology (the church has replaced the nation of Israel) are out in the cold.

(When I first began to travel to Israel thirty-eight years ago, the best estimate of people living there could only count on one hand the number of believers in the Lord!)


In plain language the Word of God prophesies of the return of the Jews. "In that day," declares the Lord, "I will assemble the lame, and gather the outcasts, even those whom I afflicted. I will make the lame a remnant, and the outcasts a strong nation, and the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion from [then] on and forever" (Micah 4:6-7).

Unger writes:

Israel is to be regathered into the Kingdom, when the events that are a necessary prelude to Israel’s establishment in the millennial Kingdom will transpire. … He has afflicted [the Jews for their sins], restoring a remnant that will be saved by passing through the Great Tribulation and be preserved for Kingdom blessing.

"The Lord shall reign" is of course a reference to the historic rule of Jesus when He returns to earth to sit on David’s throne in Jerusalem. Even the amillennial guy Ellicott gets the point and is honest about the passage. He writes here about Micah’s words: "The promise immediately refers to the return when God would re-establish the Jews, and eventually comes Himself to the restored Temple." But then Ellicott goes goofy and says: "His promise sanctions the words of Micah as to the abiding character of that legacy which He left to the Church." How can Ellicott jump from the literal promises to Israel and then to the Church? The Church is not Israel, and Israel is not the Church, though both have in common the salvation that comes through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross!


The Ownership of the Land belongs to the Jews, not the Palestinians

The Palestinians, and the immediate Arabs nearest the land of Israel, do not own the Holy Land. The title deed to the land was given to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (the father of the twelve tribes). The land is not given to the descendants of Ishmael, Esau, the sons of Abraham’s second wife Keturah, or to the sons of his concubines (Gen. 25:1-11). The sons of Keturah became the children of Medan, Midian, Sheba, and Dedan (vv. 1-4). These are Arabic peoples who do not own any part of the Holy Land. The sons of Abraham’s concubines were given gifts "and sent away from [Abraham’s] son Isaac eastward to the land of the east" (v. 6). "Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac" (v. 5). The sons of Hagar through Ishmael "settled from Havilah to Shur which is east of Egypt as one goes toward Assyria" (vv. 16-18).

Isaac passed the blessing of the covenant God made with Abraham to his son Jacob. He said "May [God] also give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your descendants with you, that you may possess the land of your sojournings, which God gave to Abraham" (28:4).

The Return to the Land Certain – Deuteronomy 30:1-10

Deuteronomy makes the return to the Holy Land certain:

1. After the blessing and the curse, you shall call them to mind among all the nations, where the Lord your God has driven you.


2. You shall return to the Lord your God and obey His voice.


3. The Lord your God will have compassion upon you, and will gather you again from all the nations, where He has scattered you.


4. Where yours are dispersed, the Lord your God will gather you, and from there will He bring you.


5. The Lord your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed and you shall possess it.


6. The Lord your God will circumcise your heart, and the heart of your children to love the Lord you God.


7. The Lord your God will make you abundantly prosperous in the land.

These words are to the Jews as they enter the Kingdom dispensation. This is not about the Church age!


The Jewish rabbis say: "If Israel seeks God, Israel will find mercy at the hands of the Lord, and be brought back to the Land of his fathers." Pray that with the present turmoil in the Land that God will open the eyes of the Jewish people and bring them to the feet of their Messiah, Savior, and King!

If you have anti-Semitism in your heart, you are being seduced by Satan to despise the Lord’s people. Remember Romans 11:26-28.

Thus all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, "The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob (the twelve tribes)." "And this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins." From the standpoint of the gospel they (the Jewish people) are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God’s choice they (the Jewish people) are beloved (in God’s eyes) for the sake of the fathers (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob)."

--Dr. Mal Couch

HOMOSEXUALITY WILL DEMORALIZE US!

Without repeating all of the anti-homosexual passages in Scripture we all know, there are two that are often overlooked and missed in the discussion. The passages are: 2 Peter 2:6-9 and Jude 7.

Sodom and Gomorrah were known first and foremost for their open homosexuality that governed all that these cities did. Peter says that God “condemned these cities by reducing them to ashes” (1 Pet. 2:6). To those who would follow after (that is presently in our day, our culture), these cities became an “example.” God rescued Lot who was “oppressed by their sensual conduct of these unprincipled men” (v. 7). The word unprincipled means “lawless.”

Righteous Lot “saw and heard” all that was happening around him, “while living among them” (v. 8). His soul was “tormented day after day with their lawless deeds” (v. 8b). Their “lawless deeds” means the “lawless activities, works,” done by the homosexuals. And that would be referring to their gross and sinful biological practices.

Jude tells us that Sodom and Gomorrah destroyed other cities also, those “cities around them.” The sins of homosexuality that were happening in Sodom and Gomorrah were causing these other cities “to indulge in gross immorality in the same way.” The homosexuals were dragged into their gross sins by going after other men sexually. They “went after strange flesh,” or abnormal relationships, man with man, and probably women with women! In Jude 7b, the apostle could be hinting at the fact that most homosexuals will not repent of their sins. They are spiritually doomed in that they are heading to “undergo the punishment of eternal fire.”

Swedish pastor Ake Green has warned that the homosexual agenda is increasingly creeping into Sweden’s schools. “We have seen time and time again how the homolobby works overtime (and over time) to gradually and systematically gain more influence to indoctrinate our vulnerable children, especially in our schools. They want access to our vulnerable children in order to introduce gender confusion into their minds.”

There is no winning and no turning back! We are into the spiritual apostasy in our churches and we are going toward the rapidly moving moral destruction of our western cultures. While we may fight along the way, and present the gospel to those who will listen, believers in Christ need to prepare for the total degeneration and collapse of the world as we have known it. This could happen even before the rapture of the church and the beginning of the seven year period of tribulation!

I urge all pastors to teach on the 2 Peter and Jude verses we have given above!

--Dr. Mal Couch

THE ECONOMY: OUT OF GOD’S WILL

America and the world is certainly violating God’s economic guidelines. Here in America we are doing the opposite of what the Bible says, and we are living contrary as to how past generations operated economically. William Boetcke in 1916 wrote:

1. You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
2. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
3. You cannot help the poor man by destroying the rich.
4. You cannot further the collective state of man by inciting class hatred.
5. You cannot build character and courage by taking away man’s initiative and independence.
6. You cannot help small men by tearing down big men.
7. You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.
8. You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income.
9. You cannot establish security on borrowed money.
10. You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they will not do for themselves.

Great advice! –Dr. Mal Couch