Congress shall make no law… abridging the freedom of speech…” –The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States
The former chair of the Federal Election Commission, Ann Ravel, has declared that “political speech must be controlled on social media” ( https://heatst.com/politics/former-fec-chairwoman-calls-for-regulations-of-political-speech-on-the-internet/ ).
She has attributed opposition to her scheme to “misogyny.” Well, Ann, your idea would suck just as much if you were a man.
The Constitution is the law of the land, written in language that just about anybody can understand. But we all know what Democrats and other libs think of that whole “law of the land” business. Check out their position on immigration laws.
Gee, they’d sure be unhappy if Donald Trump ever proposed controlling political speech from his end of the stick. But we all know their position on hypocrisy, too: it’s only hypocrisy when someone else does it.
If we don’t exercise and defend our freedoms, there are a lot of people who’d be only too glad to take them away from us.
They must never, ever again be allowed to take power in this country.
It’s all unraveling.
And it’s only going to get worse until Jesus arrives to put an end to it!
Yep, I agree. I think that some very major events are taking place and especially, I see the Middle East setting up for God of Magog like a line of dominoes.
Indeed. We must closely watch the Middle East. The eighth that comes out of the seventh appears to be forming.
I agree. It’s pretty staggering to watch. Erdogan was granted nearly total power in Turkey by yesterday’s referendum. The next thing I expect to see is some action on Turkey’s part, involving Syria.
Yes, he was. It’s an awesome thing to watch all that Our Lord told us beforehand actually coming to fruition right before our eyes. While it’s going to get worse than people can imaging (Jeremiah’s description is quite staggering), it’s an incredible time to live!
You both are correct, and there is only one nation spoken of in the Bible for which we are commanded to pray. We know from Scripture that the world will come into opposition to God’s nation. Being on the wrong side of this controversy is a very dangerous place to be.
Amen, Erlene! Even so, come Lord Jesus!
And can you imagine being surrounded by enemies on every side? And yet, it is God Himself who puts hooks in the jaws. Prayer – fervent prayer – is the order of the day.
Yeah, I know. The bible tells us (Jeremiah 31) that Israel will lose their heart of stone and gain a heart of flesh, so there will be faithful people there, literally at the site where God of Magog happens.
I went from being a committed supersessionist to believing that modern Israel has a place in biblical prophecy mostly by observing events and comparing them to Zechariah, etc. In the last year or so, a Two State Solution has become synonymous with “Peace & Security” in the minds of a growing number of people.
Just a few years ago, I wouldn’t have even taken note of that development, but I can’t ignore it any longer. Perhaps the most interesting thing about this, is to remember what God told Abram. To loosely paraphrase, He would bless those whom blessed Abram and curse those whom cursed Abram.
With that in mind I have initiated a policy of being VERY careful with regard to this matter. If my understanding is correct, the Nations will literally attack Israel as a rejection of God’s sovereignty. I would not want to be found behind their line when that happens.
It would be easy to foresee those that have rejected God chanting “Peace & Security” as they try to impose a Two State Solution upon Israel and resorting to a literal attack to enforce their choice. It’s scary and sad, but a true awesome display of God’s power will be the result. Hopefully all of us here will see that day and be able to bear witness to the vindication of God’s name.
And we cannot overlook the supernatural/spiritual aspect. We cannot overlook the fallen ones’ influence upon those nations coming against Israel. Evil, demonic entities still have influence in this fallen world – but not for long! Praise God!
At the risk of getting everybody here really cheesed off at me–it wouldn’t be the first time I got defenestrated for my lack of eschatological smarts–I have to say that modern Israel, to me, resembles nothing so much as it does an American Blue State. A sort of Massachusetts in the Middle East. I support Israel because it’s surrounded by bloodthirsty savages, but that’s about as far as it goes for me.
I feel uneasy about taking Biblical prophecy very, very literally and concluding from it that The End is just around the corner. I think of Acts 1:6-7, in which the disciples ask the risen Christ, Lord wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? “And he said unto them, ‘It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.'”
When Christ’s mission was to save the entire human race, talking about restoring the kingdom to Israel seems like a singularly short-sighted perspective.
When the Lord returns, if He returns in my own lifetime and not a thousand years from now, I would rather he found me at my post, doing what I can to advance His kingdom in the earth, than trying to work out a timetable for the events described–in rather figurative language–in the Revelation.
What do I mean, figurative? Well obviously “Babylon,” in the sense of the former Great Power with its capital at Babylon, was already a dead letter at the time St. John was given the vision. It can’t possibly mean Babylon in the same literal sense that Jeremiah meant it.
I’m saying we have to be careful, and not convince ourselves that we know more than we know. The Lord has left us with plenty of work to do, without that.
Yes, Lee, much of Israel is humanist and/or atheist at this point in time. Ancient Israel also went whoring after other gods. But Our God – and Israel’s God – made a covenant that He will keep. At that time, He will turn Israel’s heart of stone into a heart of flesh and they will mourn for Him as they would for an only child (paraphrasing). And as He said, He will curse those who curse her and will bless those who bless her.
And I should also mention that Israel – as she has in the past – continues to look for secular human governmental solution to her problems, rather than looking to God.
Israel is not restored for the sake of Israel, it is restored for the sake of God’s name. Ezekiel 36:22 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came.
God made a covenant and He will keep it. When he made that covenant with Abram, He had Abram butcher several sacrificial animals, cut them in half, and passed between the halves like a fire. I don’t claim to have a handle on the symbolism employed, but He obviously wanted to make a point with regard to this covenant.
If the restoration of Israel is prophetically significant, then the timing is likewise significant. I’m not about to pin down a date, but God is not going to signify something, then just back away and let matters smolder.
Agreed, we should “occupy” and go about our business. We should bear witness and speak on behalf of our Creator and His son. We certainly shouldn’t fold our hands and give up on life, but we should rejoice that we are seeing prophecy fulfilled before our eyes.
As to judging the works of Modern Israel: I’m certain that will be attended to. There is plenty of room in Zechariah’s words to allow judgement against the obstinate and disobedient, even in Israel itself.
I was at the point of losing hope. I had been exposed to all sorts of End Times notions from my earliest memories and had seen all of them collapse into nothing, because they were based upon human reasoning. I washed my hands of that reasoning and moved on.
Some time later, a friend casually mentioned that Israel was the only nation in history to be restored after having gone out of existence as a nation. I filed that under “Hmmmm?”, but gave it little thought. One day I looked into the restoration prophecies that I had always believed had a spiritual fulfillment in the Christian Church.
After reading Zechariah 12-14 and Ezekiel 37, my attention was certainly peaked. As I have learned (the hard way) with regard to bible study, it’s essential to consider context. The Bible wasn’t written in chapters and verses, it was written as individual books with no further subdivisions. Reading backward from Ezekiel 37 I found the verse in Ezekiel 36:22 which placed perspective on the matter.
Israel wasn’t being rewarded when they were restored to the Promised Land, they were fulfilling a prophetic role. Israel today is still plagued with wickedness and immorality. There are growing numbers of Israelis whom study the Bible and there are growing numbers that accept Jesus as messiah. There may be a spiritual awakening happening, at least among some.