Last night my family and I watched a movie that has grown to be one of our favorites by the name of " The Magical Legend of The Leprechauns" created by Hallmark Entertainment. When we got to the end of the movie my newly turned 13 year old son made a comment that I thought was rather profound, not so much because it came from him but perhaps because I could understand his sentiments real well. What he said was this; "I don't know why but the end of the movie makes me sad." I understood exactly what he was talking about because it did the same thing to me, it always has ,but this was the first time that he had expressed such sentiment. Now for those of you who don't know this movie at the end their is a uniting of two kingdoms one of Fairies and the other of the Leprechauns through the wedding of the princess of the fairies to the leader of the Leprechauns son.It is a joyous occasion and there is much celebrating, but in the end the fairies and the leprechauns all start to disappear and you are left with the two humans that witnessed everything. Between all the happiness and the music it really plucks at your heart strings, but why should it make me and my son so sad? It was ,after all, a happy occasion.
I admit, that I am a romantic of sorts and that I love a good story where love wins, or the good guys triumph over all odds and the bad guys get their due but I have to wonder what about it can make me so emotional. The above mentioned movie has quite a bit of conflict in it, along with a lot of humor, before you ever get to the part of the rejoicing and wedding and so you can run the whole gambit of emotions but in the end it's just a movie so what does this to me?
I have a thought , nothing earth shattering or profound, but I wonder if G-D just kind of wired us this way. What I mean is that in our life we look at the world around us and can see that things just aren't right. So when we read a story thats really good or watch a movie, we get caught up in that world and we forget about our own, even if it's just for a few minutes, and when it's all over and the good guys have won and all is right in that world, you have to leave it and come back to this world. The sadness and craziness of our own world still waits but somewhere deep in our hearts we long for something better. Is there hope here that in the end G-D wins? Yes of course there is, but at the moment we can't see it and so it becomes easy to become a part of someone else's world and long for a better one in ours or wish that we could disappear into that one.
We have a picture on our wall that shows a log cabin, next to a lake/stream with woods and a mountain in the background, there is soft light coming out from the cabin and wood smoke coming from the chimney. I have stared at that picture at times and have wished that I could just step into it and vanish from this insane world but sadly I can't. Some might think I need to get a grip on reality, but I would submit to you that reality ,as we know it, needs to get a grip on G-D because with out His intervention our reality is going to destroy us.
I tend to believe though that our final ending is going to take on the qualities of some of our favorite movies. The scriptures, and this is true of both Christian and Jewish scripture, tells that in the end, G-D does win, His Anointed is king and we will live without fear. That is what I believe that my heart,and my sons, is longing for and that is why it makes us sad, it may have happened in the story but it hasn't happened to us yet. The day is coming, but it's just not here yet.
Meanwhile I'll keep watching fairies and leprechauns getting married and enjoy the touch of sadness...
Shalom,
Ignacio
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Ezekiel/ Gog and Magog
Have you ever taken the time to read the book of Ezekiel? It is the longest book in the Bible and it is not the easiest of books to read. There is much in the way of prophecy against all the nations, including Judah and Israel, and a whole lot of it isn't terribly pretty to read. I ask you this because if you haven't I would highly recommend that you do in light of all the things going on in this world ,especially in Israel ,and the entire middle east.
Ezekiel is a book that is full of dark and foreboding prophecies concerning Israel and Judah along with the nations that are around them. Judah is condemned for looking the other way when Israel is put into exile. The nations around both Israel and Judah are condemned for mocking both Israel and Judah when they are taken away and doing nothing to help them and this type of condemnation goes on and on. But then you have these brief moments where G-D speaks and says ( Uncle Iggy's condensed version ) that he would remember His people in their captivity, that he would remember those that he has scattered to the 4 winds and that he would bring them back to their ancestral homes and bring unity and peace back to Judah and Israel. In one place He even says that he will bring Egypt back under His wing along with Edom. Imagine that! That would truly be real peace in the Middle East when that day comes.
The last part of Ezekiel, chapters 40 -48 is a description of the third temple that is to come, may that day be soon, that G-D showed Ezekiel, but it's primarily Chapters 38-39 that I want to point out to you in conjunction as to what is going on in today's world.
Chapters 38-39 deal with a leader that is known as Gog and his nation Magog that decides to invade that land of Israel and destroy it. It tells how G-D is very much against him and his nation and is going to lead him and his nation against Israel so that G-d can destroy him and his nation. Along the way it speaks of many nations siding with Gog and Magog and joining in the assault against Israel. It speaks of an army so massive that it's like "a cloud covering the earth" and that they will attempt to attack the areas first that have been newly resettled by the returned people of Israel (see chapters 36-37)places that have no walls protecting them. But all of this is a part of G-D's plan. He is essentially going to lead Magog into it's own destruction as they try to destroy Israel. His purpose is two fold, first it is to punish Gog and Magog, along with the rest of the nations that join them, for their sins against G-D and the people of Israel, but it's main purpose is so that G-D's name will be honored and worshiped on the earth because all will see that G-D has done this and their will be no doubt that He has, and His eternal Kingdom will be established on the earth at that time.
This is what I like to refer to as Uncle Iggy's short condensed version because there is so much more there to read but I wanted to make it short and to the point, so please read all of it and decide for yourself.
The reason that I bring this up is it has been suggested by some religious leaders in both the Jewish world and the Evangelical world, that what we are seeing , with this flotilla is but the beginning of what is to come and is perhaps the start of Gog and Magog. Nations, Iran and Turkey, that have been identified as possible locations of Magog, and there are several others depending on who you ask, have offered to have military escorts for ships that are bringing "Aid" to Gaza. That would put Israel in a position that they would have to defend their borders against those that have vowed to wipe them off the map, Iran for instance,and further isolate them from the rest of the world. They are in a no win situation.
Israel is already surrounded by many nations that want to destroy her and, I might add, they have tried over and over, and now it would seem that all of the world, including the United States is going to take a stand against Israel this next week at the UN over the issue of the flotilla. Whats next? UN troops trying to invade Israel and keeping her from defending her borders?
The biggest battle and world event is quite possibly playing out, right in front of us,and the vast majority of the world is ignorant of it, why? Because many have taken the "Old Testament" scriptures and have either relegated them as to being irrelevant or to being nothing but a bunch of stories and fables. Or they live in a nation that doesn't allow the scriptures thus leaving the people ignorant of whats happening.
Christians see the end as being a battle over what they believe, never quite understanding that this has never been about them, but has always been about Israel and G-D's promises to both Judah and Israel. Does Christianity have a role to play in all this? Yes. You at least believe in the G-D of Israel and it may very well come down to you having to decide if you are going to stand with G-D's chosen people, Israel,and the G-D of Israel or if you are going to stand with the world in it's attempt to destroy Israel.
Some of you reading this, may discover that the prophecies that concern the return of Israel to it's land, concerns you because your ancestry is of the house of Israel, I didn't say of the house of Judah, though that is possible as well, but of the house of Israel which consisted of all the 10 tribes that were dispersed by G-D. With that thought in mind the battle lines become more clear and it becomes very personal for all of us.
Before you just disregard this as the ravings of a mad man or someone whom you consider to be "lost" go and read those chapters, in fact read from chapter 36 on , with an open heart and mind and come to your own conclusions.
I don't know for sure whether we are seeing the beginning of the end events or not, I can only live the life that G-D has given me and write that which He has put in my heart, but I do believe that we are seeing what I would believe is the set up for it, if not the main event itself.
Pray for Israel,pray that our nation will wake up to the danger before we become numbered amongst the nations with Gog and Magog.
Shalom,
Ignacio
Ezekiel is a book that is full of dark and foreboding prophecies concerning Israel and Judah along with the nations that are around them. Judah is condemned for looking the other way when Israel is put into exile. The nations around both Israel and Judah are condemned for mocking both Israel and Judah when they are taken away and doing nothing to help them and this type of condemnation goes on and on. But then you have these brief moments where G-D speaks and says ( Uncle Iggy's condensed version ) that he would remember His people in their captivity, that he would remember those that he has scattered to the 4 winds and that he would bring them back to their ancestral homes and bring unity and peace back to Judah and Israel. In one place He even says that he will bring Egypt back under His wing along with Edom. Imagine that! That would truly be real peace in the Middle East when that day comes.
The last part of Ezekiel, chapters 40 -48 is a description of the third temple that is to come, may that day be soon, that G-D showed Ezekiel, but it's primarily Chapters 38-39 that I want to point out to you in conjunction as to what is going on in today's world.
Chapters 38-39 deal with a leader that is known as Gog and his nation Magog that decides to invade that land of Israel and destroy it. It tells how G-D is very much against him and his nation and is going to lead him and his nation against Israel so that G-d can destroy him and his nation. Along the way it speaks of many nations siding with Gog and Magog and joining in the assault against Israel. It speaks of an army so massive that it's like "a cloud covering the earth" and that they will attempt to attack the areas first that have been newly resettled by the returned people of Israel (see chapters 36-37)places that have no walls protecting them. But all of this is a part of G-D's plan. He is essentially going to lead Magog into it's own destruction as they try to destroy Israel. His purpose is two fold, first it is to punish Gog and Magog, along with the rest of the nations that join them, for their sins against G-D and the people of Israel, but it's main purpose is so that G-D's name will be honored and worshiped on the earth because all will see that G-D has done this and their will be no doubt that He has, and His eternal Kingdom will be established on the earth at that time.
This is what I like to refer to as Uncle Iggy's short condensed version because there is so much more there to read but I wanted to make it short and to the point, so please read all of it and decide for yourself.
The reason that I bring this up is it has been suggested by some religious leaders in both the Jewish world and the Evangelical world, that what we are seeing , with this flotilla is but the beginning of what is to come and is perhaps the start of Gog and Magog. Nations, Iran and Turkey, that have been identified as possible locations of Magog, and there are several others depending on who you ask, have offered to have military escorts for ships that are bringing "Aid" to Gaza. That would put Israel in a position that they would have to defend their borders against those that have vowed to wipe them off the map, Iran for instance,and further isolate them from the rest of the world. They are in a no win situation.
Israel is already surrounded by many nations that want to destroy her and, I might add, they have tried over and over, and now it would seem that all of the world, including the United States is going to take a stand against Israel this next week at the UN over the issue of the flotilla. Whats next? UN troops trying to invade Israel and keeping her from defending her borders?
The biggest battle and world event is quite possibly playing out, right in front of us,and the vast majority of the world is ignorant of it, why? Because many have taken the "Old Testament" scriptures and have either relegated them as to being irrelevant or to being nothing but a bunch of stories and fables. Or they live in a nation that doesn't allow the scriptures thus leaving the people ignorant of whats happening.
Christians see the end as being a battle over what they believe, never quite understanding that this has never been about them, but has always been about Israel and G-D's promises to both Judah and Israel. Does Christianity have a role to play in all this? Yes. You at least believe in the G-D of Israel and it may very well come down to you having to decide if you are going to stand with G-D's chosen people, Israel,and the G-D of Israel or if you are going to stand with the world in it's attempt to destroy Israel.
Some of you reading this, may discover that the prophecies that concern the return of Israel to it's land, concerns you because your ancestry is of the house of Israel, I didn't say of the house of Judah, though that is possible as well, but of the house of Israel which consisted of all the 10 tribes that were dispersed by G-D. With that thought in mind the battle lines become more clear and it becomes very personal for all of us.
Before you just disregard this as the ravings of a mad man or someone whom you consider to be "lost" go and read those chapters, in fact read from chapter 36 on , with an open heart and mind and come to your own conclusions.
I don't know for sure whether we are seeing the beginning of the end events or not, I can only live the life that G-D has given me and write that which He has put in my heart, but I do believe that we are seeing what I would believe is the set up for it, if not the main event itself.
Pray for Israel,pray that our nation will wake up to the danger before we become numbered amongst the nations with Gog and Magog.
Shalom,
Ignacio
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