CDU, CSU, SPD, FDP, Left Party, Greens, AfD, BSW…
Political Chaos In GERMANY
In Germany’s federal electoral system a single party or parliamentary group rarely wins an absolute majority of seats in the Bundestag, and thus coalition governments, rather than single-party governments, are the usually expected outcome of a German election.
This year could be very different. None of the established parties want to work with the AfD, branding it as “an extreme right wing group” - even bringing up memories of Hitler and the Nazis. Yet the AfD seems on track to make significant gains in the election on Sunday.
The problem right now is that many in Germany have lost faith in the German political establishment, as the following articles point out:
“The US vice-president, JD Vance, has launched a brutal ideological assault on Europe, accusing its leaders of suppressing free speech, failing to halt illegal migration and running in fear from voters’ true beliefs.” (theguardian.com)
“US Vice-President JD Vance Friday urged Germany’s mainstream political parties to drop resistance to cooperating with the far right, hours after Berlin rejected American ‘meddling’ ahead of its election. ‘Democracy rests on the sacred principle that the voice of the people matters,’ said Vance in a speech to the Munich Security Conference. ‘There’s no room for firewalls,’ he added, referring to the long-standing position of Germany’s established parties not to work with the far right.” (barrons.com)
There Are Real Problems Affecting Real People
“‘We used to have a lovely country. But now people won’t walk through the centre of this town after 8pm because they feel it is too dangerous.’
Infrastructure is creaking, be it the roads, trains or internet access, while one national obsession remains as healthy as ever: bureaucracy. Yet all the opinion polls are clear that immigration is the number-one issue in this election – and that was before Thursday’s outrage in Munich.
Germany’s political class has not felt this nervous in living memory.” (dailymail.co.uk)
“Mainstream politicians have failed to grasp the scale of the country’s immigration issue. More tragedy is inevitable. For Germans, this sort of attack is becoming normalised. Yet, the German political class seems largely indifferent.” (telegraph.co.uk)
“New forms of nationalism have arisen in a country that had thought itself permanently inoculated against the atavistic forces that propelled Hitler to power nearly a century ago and left Germany divided for 40 years. For the first time since 1945, Germany has a party on the far-Right, the Alternative for Germany (AfD), which is both large enough and extreme enough to pose a real threat to the post-war Western order. As Germans prepare to cast their ballots in a Europe riven by war, memories of dictators and death camps are stirring again. YET THE OLD PARTIES AND BUSINESS ELITES ARE SEEN TO HAVE FAILED, leaving a nation whose identity is built on material success to ask itself where it all went wrong.” (telegraph.co.uk)
Germany, A Country In Chaos
European leaders are… “running in fear from voters’ true beliefs.”
“Germany’s established parties will not work with the far right.”
“Germany’s political class has not felt this nervous in living memory.”
“The German political class seems largely indifferent.”
And now, to ramp up the pressure…
“As Mr Trump has made clear, and Mr Hegseth spelt out in language even a child could understand, AMERICA IS NOT INTERESTED IN UNDERWRITING EITHER UKRAINIAN OR EUROPEAN SECURITY. So the shape of the peace will depend on Europe – and that includes Britain.” (telegraph.co.uk)
And the answer to this situation?
CHANGE!
DRAMATIC Change Is Needed.
- The refugees need to be stopped from entering Germany.
- “Remigration” - mass deportations and expulsions of migrants and their descendants.
- A return to “traditional German culture” is needed.
- The rejection of Islam as part of German society.
- Family values must be upheld.
- Removal of diversity and gender issues.
- Replacement of the EU with a new organisation.
- No more belief that climate change is influenced by humans…
- And a return to nuclear energy.
This and more is the AfD electoral platform.
Europe is being forced to build up its military - to protect itself!
They are being forced to spend huge amounts of money to become militarily strong. Politically, much of Europe is already ruled by right wing governments.
Hitler And The Nazis
Today, there is no strong charismatic leader in the AfD. However, looking at the rise of Hitler, there certainly are some “rhymes”!
The problems back then were very similar to Germany today.
Dramatic change was required.
Dramatic change occurred!
What occurred in the 1930s led to the Second World War. Are events today laying the foundation for the Third World War?
Hitler’s Rise To Power
“Hitler… determined to pursue a notionally legal course to power.
The German economy was made dependent on the United States by the Dawes plan, and it began to collapse.
Adolf Hitler was a well-known figure with widespread support.
Hitler did not seize power in a coup
The Nazi Party was popular in Germany.
In fact, when the Nazi movement first began in the early 1920s, it was small, ineffective, and marginal. 10 years later… in power!
Their success was largely the result of an economic and political crisis in Germany.
Adolf Hitler and the Nazis won followers by playing on people’s hopes.
To fix the economy and put people back to work;
To return Germany to the status of a great European, and even world, power; and create a strong authoritarian German government.
Many Germans lost faith in their leaders’ ability to govern.” (encyclopedia.ushmm.org)
It’s Not Just In Germany
“Britain’s in decline. Democracy has lost its way. Yes, many would squeal - but it’s no wonder so many of my generation believe it’s time for a dictator. To our parents and grandparents, steeped in the baggage of the Second World War, ‘freedom’ is the ultimate democratic right. But many in Generation Z can see that our ‘free’ society has degenerated into instability and uncertainty.
If ‘freedom’ means being unable to afford a home, to live in overcrowded and overpriced rented accommodation, to work soulless jobs in order to pay sky-high taxes, and to have no sense of belonging or identity, perhaps freedom is not what we need.
So it’s no shock to read that a recent survey commissioned by Channel 4 found that 52 per cent of Britons aged 13 to 27 have lost faith in democracy and would welcome a dictator - a strong leader ‘who does not have to bother with parliament and elections’.
Supposedly neutral institutions such as the Civil Service, the judiciary, the NGOs, the BBC, schools and universities and corporations and their HR departments all have the same worldview: AN UNMISTAKABLE LEFT-WING AGENDA. Ours is not a meaningful democracy. And that is why so many of us are looking elsewhere, writes Charlie Downes.” (dailymail.co.uk)
Epic Indictment Of Socialist Policies
“Afroditi Latinopoulou, a Greek member of the EU parliament representing the ‘Voice of Reason’ party, delivered an epic and fiery indictment of Europe’s socialist policies. Latinopoulou argued that 50 years of socialist rule and the modern pervasiveness of woke ideology have decimated economies and destroyed Europe, not the ‘far right.’
Latinopoulou began, ‘Seriously, ladies and gentlemen? Did the right destroy industry? Did the right idolize Greta Thunberg? Did the right impose green energy at the expense of industry, destroying the EU’s competitiveness?’
‘Or was it the socialist governments that have been ruling the European Union for 50 years? France, Italy, Germany, Spain, and my homeland Greece have been devastated by groundless socialist policies. And today you, the destroyers of Europe, have the audacity to point fingers at us, saying that we conservatives are a threat to Europe? Lower taxes, increase competitiveness, bring back plastic straws, leave lignite alone, invest in the industry and, above all, face reality: YOU HAVE FAILED.” (thegatewaypundit.com)
Italy, Finland, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia and the Czech Republic — have hard-right parties in government…
Joined now by Austria…
Far-Right Surge In Austria
“Far-Right surge in Austria: Is Europe headed for an authoritarian wave? After the shocking (AfD) election results in the German „Länder“ of Saxony, Brandenburg and Thuringia, it is now Austria’s turn. The far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) has become the dominant political force with 28.9 per cent of the vote, followed closely by the Conservatives with 26.3 per cent. The Social Democrats, in a distant third place, secured only 21.1 per cent, marking the poorest results in the party’s history.
A right-wing wave is sweeping through Europe, impacting countries from Austria to Italy to the Netherlands. While the Austrian result was somewhat expected, the scale of it is shocking. It represents a democratic, human rights, and politico-cultural disaster.” (socialeurope.eu)
Swing To The "Extreme Right" Being Pushed By… America
“The man likely to be the next German chancellor is out for revenge against Elon Musk. Friedrich Merz, the leader of the Christian Democratic Union and the front-runner in polls ahead of this month’s election, said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that Musk must face ‘consequences’ for daring to support a right-wing political party. ‘What happened in this election campaign cannot go unchallenged,’ Merz said of Musk’s support for the AFD.
‘It can be a political response. It can be a legal response,’ he continued. ‘I want to analyze this calmly after this election campaign. The fact that someone from outside Europe intervenes in a national election campaign in this way is new.’
As Germany drowns under the strain of mass immigration and cultural disharmony, Musk has publicly expressed his support for the AFD and even made an appearance at their conference via video link. ‘I THINK IT COULD DECIDE THE ENTIRE FATE OF EUROPE, MAYBE THE ENTIRE FATE OF THE WORLD,’ Musk said during his address. ‘That is the significance of this election. So that’s why it’s very important to talk to your friends and family and convince them to consider voting for AfD.’” (thegatewaypundit.com)
The Frankenstein Monster
1955
After WWll, America stepped in and poured billions of dollars into rebuilding Germany. This laid the foundations for the modern highly prosperous industrial Germany we see today.
Seventy years ago, God’s end time Apostle gave the following warning:
“In its final phase, to appear in our day, will merely be a restoration of that ancient Roman Empire – a United States of Europe which we are beginning to foster within the confines of the ancient Roman Empire! We are building the Frankenstein Monster that is destined to destroy us!” (The Plain Truth, June 1955)
He pointed out that the USA was then “beginning to foster” a United States of Europe.
He then made it quite clear that this United Europe was the “Frankenstein Monster”, being created by the United States, that was destined to destroy both the USA and Britain.
1982 - The Russian Threat To Europe
Over 40 years ago, in 1982, Mr Armstrong warned that fear of Russia would cause Europe to unite.
“Now one of the great things that is urging Europe on, and perhaps the greatest thing that WILL CAUSE THEM TO HURRY AND GET TOGETHER on this, is their FEAR of what’s going on in the Kremlin and the Soviet Union [Russia]. And Andropov [now Putin] is frightening them, and that is going to rush them.
THEY ARE LOSING CONFIDENCE IN THE UNITED STATES AS HAVING A MILITARY UMBRELLA OVER THEM TO PROTECT THEM, and they want their own military force to protect themselves.” (Sermon - 27 November, 1982)
Europe Cannot Rely On US Protection
“Europe can no longer count on the United States to come to its defence if Russia attacks, Pete Hegseth warned Nato allies on Wednesday. ‘I’m… here today to directly and unambiguously express that stark strategic realities prevent the United States from being the primary guarantor of security in Europe,’ he told a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group at Nato headquarters.
The remarks, his first at a Nato meeting since being confirmed as Donald Trump’s Pentagon chief, will spark fears amongst European allies that they could be left on their own in the face of a resurgent Russia.” (telegraph.co.uk)
NATO Was Put To Death This Week
“Washington increasingly lukewarm. EU security is not a priority, so the future of NATO is at stake. Trump asks allies to increase military spending but the EU remains disoriented and uncertain. FOR THE UNITED STATES, EUROPE IS NO LONGER A PRIORITY. Hegseth said it in plain English on Wednesday to a room of some 50 NATO counterparts and partners.” (worldcrunch.com)
AfD: Replace The EU With A New Organization
“The AfD wants to limit NATO’s operational area to the territory of its member states and replace the EU with a new organization.” (dw.com)
It certainly looks like the foundations are being laid for the end time ten nation Europe that will be a formidable fighting force.
Now that the promise of US protection has been removed, Europe is being forced to defend its own territory.
“And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?” (Revelation 13:4)
A New Nazi Germany!
“So long as present German prosperity continues… the Nazi takeover will not be possible! But — should any severe THREAT to that hard-won prosperity come — the picture will change — and change VIOLENTLY, in Germany! Remember! It was the afterwash of the disastrous stock market crashes of 1924 and 1929 that fanned the flames of violence in Germany to pave the way for Hitler!
That hard-won prosperity IS under threat today. Unless dramatic change takes place in Germany, “the picture will change — and change VIOLENTLY.”
The Warning Continues: Trade wars and a financial collapse.
HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF, they say. And your Bible predicts a great TRADE WAR between the burgeoning economic power in Europe and the United States. It predicts terrible financial COLLAPSE for this country [USA]! Make no mistake! Germany, and all Europe, would not escape unscathed in a hot trade war between the Common Market and the United States. Terrible economic disasters would result! And the result from such disasters? A NEW NAZI GERMANY!
You need to be WATCHING — and keeping your eyes on developments in EUROPE — as never before! You, at least, have been WARNED!” (The Plain Truth, December 1963)
The Building Blocks Are Ready - for the final resurrection of the Holy Roman Empire.
- We see a right-wing wave is sweeping through Europe
- We see trade wars being threatened…
- We see a right wing party in the German parliament…
- We see a German economy in free fall…
- We see the Russian threat in Ukraine…
- We see that many Germans have lost faith in their leaders…
- We see American protection of Europe - removed!
Catalyst For Catastrophe
“…I can see now the event that is going to trigger the formation of reunification in Europe; the resurrection of the Medieval Holy Roman Empire that we’ve been looking forward to, that is prophesied to come.
…I believe that some event is going to happen suddenly just like out of a blue sky that is going to shock the whole world and is going to cause the nations of Europe to realize they must unite.
Well, now I think I can see what may be the very event that is going to trigger it and that is the economic situation in the world.
Now when the financial structure breaks down, all civilization is going to break down. I just wanted to say that much - maybe you can begin to see how serious this thing can become!” (Sermon - 7 July 1984)
German Election - Sunday 23rd February 2025
“The world’s richest man, Elon Musk, spoke today to AfD members in Halle, Germany, via video feed.
‘I think this election coming up in Germany is incredibly important. I think it could decide the entire fate of Europe, maybe the fate of the world. That is the significance of this election.’
He might find he is a little closer to the truth than he thinks!
“The only thing you learn from history is that no one learns anything from history.” (Georg Hegel)
Mr Armstrong, in a private meeting with Count Otto von Habsburg, the son of the last Austro-Hungarian Archduke:
“In my private meeting with him, Dr Habsburg expressed disappointment that progress on the European reunification had moved so slowly. I expressed the conviction that some totally UNEXPECTED WORLD-SHOCKING EVENT COULD OCCUR SUDDENLY at any time that would high pressure EUROPEAN NATIONS TO GO TOGETHER OVERNIGHT, adopting the constitution already prepared by the European Parliament.
This Parliament, although without substantial power, is composed of leaders who are framing the constitution in advance. He mentioned that there are madmen such as Kadafi and Khomeini who could pull off some startlingly UNEXPECTED INTERNATIONAL ACT that would press the panic button in Europe.
Now let me tell you why I know God has held back end-time world events – and why He will cause things to snap together SUDDENLY WHEN LEAST EXPECTED and bring this world SUDDENLY TO ITS END, and the coming of Christ in supreme power and glory to rule all nations, ushering in the Kingdom of God and the World Tomorrow!…
In Matthew 24:32-35 Jesus said that when we see world events now occurring, we are to know that this end is very near – within this generation. Yet of the day and hour (verse 36) we cannot know. Yet when it strikes it WILL STRIKE SUDDENLY, unexpectedly, like a trap that springs shut on a hapless rat without warning. If one knew at what hour a thief would come in the night to burglarize his house, he would have watched and been ready to resist him.
We have been seeing these end-time world events coming for several years now. God has delayed – held up world events.
Yet He will SUDDENLY CUT HIS WORK SHORT, and end things, as UNEXPECTEDLY AND SUDDENLY as when the trap springs on a rat before he can move.
When Europe suddenly unites, our work, which Christ is doing with and through us, WILL QUICKLY BE OVER, and Christ’s coming very soon thereafter.” (The Autobiography - Chapter 83)
The warning went out to the world…
The warning went out to the Church…
That warning is still valid…
Watch!
Holding a Life-Saving Vision
"Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he." (Proverbs 29:18)
"Arbeit macht frei" – Work sets you free.This infamous sign was erected at the Auschwitz 1 main gateway, a former Polish Army Barracks converted into a concentration camp which initially did commence operation as a labour camp but along with Auschwitz 2 a mile or so away (Birkenau) was complicit in the mass murder of more than a million people - as part of the Nazi's "Final Solution" to the Jewish question.
On 27 January 1945, Auschwitz was liberated by the Soviet Red Army. Although most of the prisoners had been forced onto a death march, about 7,000 had been left behind. The date is recognized as International Holocaust Remembrance Day and its 80th anniversary was just a couple of weeks ago.
One of those 7,000 was psychiatrist Viktor Frankl, an Austrian Jew. In 1942, just nine months after his marriage, Frankl and his family were sent to the Theresienstadt concentration camp. His father died there of starvation and pneumonia. In 1944, Frankl and his surviving relatives were transported to Auschwitz, where his mother and brother were murdered in the gas chambers. His wife Tilly died later of typhus in Bergen-Belsen. As Frankl witnessed the brutality and degradation around him, he began to see that those inmates who had some meaning in their lives were more likely to survive.
Frankl observed that those who survived were able to connect with a purpose in life; something to feel positive about and who then immersed themselves in imagining that purpose in their own way, such as conversing with an absent/imagined loved one. According to Frankl, the way a prisoner imagined the future affected his longevity in the present. The stronger the hold a prisoner had on having a hope in the future, the more likely he was to survive but once a prisoner lost that hope, he was doomed.
Shortly after the liberation, Frankl wrote a book which became an international bestseller – and by the time of his death in 1997, had sold over 10 million copies and had been published in 24 languages. That book – "Man's Search for Meaning" – is still available today, and is now available in a staggering 52 languages.
"There's nothing in the world, I venture to say, that would so effectively help one to survive even the worst conditions as the knowledge that there is a meaning in one's life. As the saying goes; 'He who has a WHY to live for can bear almost any HOW'. In the Nazi concentration camps, one could have witnessed that those who knew that there was a task waiting for them to fulfil were most apt to survive." (Man's Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl)
The Builder's Stone
In her recently published book "The Builder's Stone ... How Jews and Christians built the West – and why only they can save it", Jewish journalist, author and broadcaster Melanie Phillips explains the "WHY to live" of the Jewish prisoners and how it was reflected in their actions in the most appalling circumstances. From an account in chapter 7, we read of inmates risking their lives to gather for Chanukah (the victory of the Maccabees over the Syrians) – albeit with just one solitary candle; of some writing prayers on cement sacks in lieu of paper – at the risk of death if found out; and the determination of some to keep the days of Unleavened Bread, a vital annual reminder of their rescue from a previous heinous slavery – Egypt!
In 1943, rabbis and other Jewish religious scholars incarcerated in the Auschwitz extermination camp painstakingly calculated and etched a cryptic, veiled Jewish calendar on the barrack's walls showing the times and dates of the Jewish festivals.
Before Passover that year, Jewish prisoners working in the camp's bakery secreted a little sprinkling of flour each day under cover of the routine cleanup. Meticulous care was taken to avoid anything coming near this flour that would make it unusable on Passover, when observant Jews ensure that nothing they eat has come into any contact at all with chametz, the term for any leavened products. Enough of this flour was set aside for the making of five matzos, the unleavened bread eaten during the festival.
At great risk, one of the bakers crept into the kitchen at night and administered the final checks to make the oven ready for Passover baking. The preliminary steps of koshering the oven – ensuring it contained not of crumb of chametz – had already been carefully taken in the final hours before the kitchen had been locked up for the day. Under camouflage, the oven had been scrubbed, cleaned and torched.
Five round matzos were rapidly shaped and baked. Ten men – the number who comprise a minyan, the Jewish quorum for prayer – were to eat it. It was decided that only those who vowed not to eat any chametz throughout the entire week of Passover would be part of this minyan. Camp inmates were emaciated, grossly malnourished and starving. The ten decided they would give away any chametz they received in their meagre rations to others who wanted it.
The ten each survived on a half matzo and water for that entire Passover week. There were those who ate their share within the first two days. Others made it last until the end of the seventh day, when Passover was deemed to have ended.
There are many other stories of Jewish concentration camp prisoners going to extraordinary lengths to observe the Jewish festivals, despite the murderous and depraved conditions in which they were being systematically starved, beaten, tortured, and gassed. Such stories provoke astonishment. These inmates could barely remain alive on their starvation rations. They lived in terror of their vicious and barbaric Nazi guards. Any step out of line risked almost certain death. One might think their attention would be focused wholly upon how to survive each day. And yet untold numbers of them were focused on something else – something that would actually be crucial in keeping them alive, even while it increased the danger of being murdered. ("The Builder's Stone" by Melanie Philips, chapter 7)
Sabbath Made for Man
- And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: (Mark 2:27)
One hundred years ago this year, Mr Armstrong faced the dual challenges of which day was the Christian Sabbath and creation rather than evolution. These were the issues that God used to bring him to an in-depth study of His Word:
Then I began to see that on the very seventh day of creation week, God set that day aside from other days. On that day He RESTED from all He had created by WORK. On that day He created the Sabbath, not by work, but by REST, putting His divine presence in it! He made it HOLY TIME. No man has authority to make future time holy. No group of men – no church! Only GOD is HOLY! Only GOD can make things HOLY. The Sabbath is a constantly recurring space of time, marked off by the setting of the sun. God made every recurring Sabbath HOLY, and commanded man (Exodus 20) to keep it holy.
WHY did He do it? WHY does it make any difference? I found it in the SPECIAL SABBATH COVENANT in Exodus 31:12-18. He made it the SIGN between Him and His people. A SIGN is a mark of identity. First, it is a sign that GOD is the CREATOR, because it is a MEMORIAL OF CREATION – the CREATION is the PROOF of God – it identifies Him. No other space of time could be a memorial of CREATION. Thus God chose that very space of time for man to assemble for worship which KEEPS MAN IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUE IDENTITY OF GOD AS THE CREATOR. Every nation which has NOT kept the Sabbath has worshipped the created rather than the Creator. It is a sign that identifies God’s own people, because it is they who OBEY God in this commandment, while this is the very commandment which everyone else regards as the LEAST of the commandments – which they REBEL against obeying! (Autobiography Volume 1, chapter 16)
Note: the Sabbath was made for mankind in general, and at a time when there were only two human beings on earth and neither of them were Jewish! And not only does keeping the seventh day Sabbath remind us of WHO we are – the Israel of God, (Exodus 31) but also WHAT we are, as it points us to our Creator, in whose image we have been made (Genesis 1:27), as opposed to nothing more than a bundle of cells which has developed over billions of years to become the top of the evolutionary tree.
- Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you.
- Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.
- Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant.
- It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed. (Exodus 31:13, 15-17)
An Identifying Sign
There is a saying that it's not so much that the Jews keep the Sabbath, as it's the Sabbath that has kept the Jews. This fits with what Ms. Phillips points out:
Performing these rituals, however truncated and inadequately, reaffirmed these prisoners' connection to their historic identity ... It meant that the Nazi's attempt to dehumanize them had failed. They still knew who they were. And this gave them strength to resist the despair that would otherwise certainly kill them.
In the midst of that hell, where others may have concluded existence was rendered meaningless, they found meaning and the will to live through reaffirming their communal identity, the identity on account of which they were being slaughtered – and expressing gratitude for it. That reaffirmation was the key to survival for those who lived. After the Nazi genocide, it was also key to the astounding renaissance of the Jewish people. It is, in fact, they key to survival of any people. ("The Builder's Stone" by Melanie Philips, chapter 7)
This is why "The Lost Ten Tribes of Israel" became lost to world history. Unlike the Jews who keep the Sabbath, it was by giving up on Sabbath observance they steadily lost their identity until they themselves, and most of the entire world today, believe them to be gentiles!
Holy Days - OUR Identity
After proving the veracity of the command to keep the weekly Sabbath, Mr. Armstrong saw the need to also keep the annual Sabbaths, so he and his wife went on to keep the Holy Days for 14 years, not understanding why initially, but being willing to obey God's clear commands in the Bible.
So God has given the Church seven annual Holy Days. Now He gave the Sabbath to man. And Jesus said the Sabbath was made for man; and therefore Jesus, the Son of man, is Lord of the Sabbath day. So the Sabbath is the Lord's Day, not Sunday. The Sabbath was given when man was made. Man was made on the sixth day of what is called “Creation Week”, which is only a re-creation; and, on the very next day, God made the Sabbath for man. The first thing He made for man was the Sabbath.
But He didn't give man the annual holy days until the Church started. And the Church started in two phases. One was the physical material phase of ancient Israel. And the other is the spiritual phase, which is the Church of God that started with Christ. And so the annual holy days were given to ancient Israel, and they didn't know the meaning of it. (Feast of Trumpets sermon 1985)
The observant Jews for millennia have kept the Holy Days in a physical way, not yet understanding that in each of them God lays out His plan for every single human being since the time of Adam and Eve ... Christ having been slain from the foundation of the world. (Revelation 13:8) And the Holy Days of Passover, Unleavened Bread and Pentecost in particular reveal OUR identity!
- For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
- The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: (Romans 8:15,16)
Holding the Vision - OT
One of the most well-known stories in the Bible is that of Joseph; his coat of many colours and the jealousy of his brothers leading to his imprisonment in Egypt. (Genesis 37) Life seemed to have dealt him a very unfair blow , and being just a young lad he would have experienced times of frustration and discouragement – but God knew where Joseph was and why, and would make sure he didn't forget those dreams. It wasn't until many years later – when he was about 40 years old and second in command under Pharaoh – that he could look back on those years and see them for what they really were ... training!
- And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
- So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. (Genesis 45:7,8)
In the same way, God also had a special purpose in calling Abraham, and although it would be many years before God fulfilled His promise of a son by Sarah, He continually encouraged him to have a clear vision of the future He had for him and his posterity:
- And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward:
- For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.
- And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.
- Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee. (Genesis 13:14-17)
- And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.
- And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.
- And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.
- And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness. (Genesis 15:3-6)
Holding the Vision - NT
In New Testament times also the individuals to whom God had given a specific – and often hard – "row to hoe" were given extra help through visions of some kind. The apostle Paul – whose life was far from easy – mentioned he'd been given visions of the third heaven. Peter, James and John had the vision of Christ talking with Elijah and Moses. Even the deacon Stephen, just before he died, was given the vision of Christ at the right hand of God. And the 12 apostles were given a clear vision of THEIR future, by being able to talk, walk and eat with the resurrected Christ.
The vast majority of church members probably won't experience these kind of visions but God HAS given us the ability to see the future in our mind's eye through the visions He gave to His prophets in the Old Testament. Depending on our individual situation and life's experiences, our "vision" will probably differ from someone else's ... but the important thing is that we hang on to and meditate on our personal part – and that of our seed – in the soon-coming millennial reign.
- For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring:
- And they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses.
- One shall say, I am the LORD’S; and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob; and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the LORD, and surname himself by the name of Israel. (Isaiah 44:3-5)
The Ultimate Freedom
Upon returning home, the prisoners had to struggle with two fundamental experiences that could damage their mental health: bitterness and disillusionment. The last stage is bitterness at the lack of responsiveness of the world outside—a "superficiality and lack of feeling ... so disgusting that one finally felt like creeping into a hole and neither hearing nor seeing human beings any more" (p. 113). Worse was disillusionment, the discovery that suffering does not end, that the longed-for happiness will not come. This was the experience of those who—like Frankl—returned home to discover that no one awaited them. The hope that had sustained them throughout their time in the concentration camp was now gone. [Frankl cites this experience as the most difficult to overcome.] (Wikipedia, "Man's Search for Meaning" Viktor Frankl)
For those with whom God is working, and has given the precious understanding of His Plan through the Holy Days, we have God's unbreakable promise that the individuals Frankl cited – and ALL mankind eventually – will experience TRUE freedom and will be joyfully reunited with their loved ones, as pictured by the Last Great Day. (Ezekiel 37 – the Valley of Dry Bones)
- For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
- For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
- For the [creation] was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
- Because the [creation] itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. (Romans 8:18-21)
Our life-saving vision embraces the understanding of WHO we are (God's firstfruits and His begotten children) and WHY we are (teachers in training) and should help us to endure our personalised "work experience", and leave the specifics – the HOW – to God, our Father and faithful Creator.
- Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
- To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen. (Jude 24,25)
- And in this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.
- And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations.
- He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it.
- And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation. (Isaiah 25:6-9)
Latest Audio - 2025-02-15
“Just what is an APOSTLE?”
Today we find the Church of God in a “wilderness of religious confusion!”
The confusion is not merely around the Church – within the religions of the world outside – but WITHIN the very heart of The True Church itself!
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