JESUS ON THE END TIMES: Part Four- Is ANYONE Paying attention??!
So I'm waiting in line for the automated check out at a national chain grocer. I'm in the "quick" lane behind a couple and a single person. I look over at the next checkout lane which is for larger grocery carts and has it's OPEN light on. A woman with a full cart stands in the line but right before the line is a shelf of candy bard and mints and beef jerky. She shops around for something on the shelves, bent down, searching, moving items around.
The lady who supervises the lanes is standing at the front of my row and motions and yells back to me: "You can use that lane." She motions toward the lane with the woman bent down out of sight from her angle.
I point toward that line and yell back, "There's someone there." The shopping women remains bent over, apparently enraptured by candy bars.
The lady supervisor motions back: "You can use that line!"
Another lady shopper ahead of me, apparently thinking I missed it the second time, pointedly says to me: "You can use that line." Her husband keeps his eyes faced forward. He's not getting involved. He has seen something like this before and he values what's left of his time on this planet being peaceful.
I reply to them both loudly because I am beginning to lose my patience: "There Is SOMEONE there!"
The supervisor then walks over toward the lane, finally sees the woman bent there and her very full cart, and walks back to her place.
No apology needed. It is almost as if she discovered this all by herself and now understands that I couldn't get over there. An expression on her face like it's really too bad I never told her. As the couple ahead of me leaves, that woman also checks the lane.
Is anyone paying attention to conversations or was the assumption that a man in a grocery store is somehow out of his element and can't possibly know what he is doing the way prejudiced folks once thought women had no place in the work environment and some still assume they can't use a hammer?
Is it easier to let our prejudices rule than to pay attention?
Perspective. Can you and I see the same thing or am I in the wrong spot to see what you see?
I was touchy that day because I had chest congestion, had been losing sleep nd had an earache. I kept postponing seeing the doctor because I had a physical scheduled. At the physical, the chest congestion and earache were explained as pneumonia and a bacterial infection in my eardrum. No wonder I wasn't feeling well. Fortunately drugs exist to handle the problem and I'm healing after a month of buying OTC medicine.
I thought I was a little sick. from my Doc's perspective, I was a step away from a hospital bed and an IV.
Sometimes we are too close to see. We need to take the step BACK.
One of my leaders at work told me a story. He was walking with one of his workers talking about something, hurrying because they were worried about a furnace, He was intent on talking and walked right into one of the thin steel posts that run to the ceiling in various sections of our factory. His safety glasses protected him from a black eye. Sometimes we are hurrying, talking, rushing to do the job and don't see the poles in our way.
Sometimes we are famous and blinded by prejudice.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x899fR1WnII
Since the exact opposite happened in Syria and since the former President of the USA has not been revealed at the AC, this would make the former congressperson who was speaking as a Christian representative and taking money for it at the time something of a a false prophet.
Yet:
http://www.skylineun.com/
The question in my mind remains: Is anyone paying attention to what the Bible says?
President Trump has an 80% favorable rating in the Republican party polls. Any news of his obvious failures, of his bigotry, of his capitulation to anything Russia wants gets shoveled under whatever throw rug is available. And the anger of US citizens rises on both sides threatening a civil war, which could also cripple the US and serve Russia's purposes.
Putin has an 80% favorable rating in his country which he feels needs to be bolstered. This can at least be blamed on his control of the media. Also that Russians are doing relatively well in their lives as opposed to the times when the USSR was broken up. His siding with Islam has nothing to do with belief in their correctness and everything to do with taking Russia to a new peak of power. And God will take the idolatry of country and crash the country Putin loves on the fallen rocks of his dreams if he continues.
What some people perceive as either evil or as monsters others perceive as heroes. The dreams that kill are still the dreams that comfort the fallen part of us.
It occurs to me that, in reviewing Revelation, I am writing about monsters, the ones the Bible says will be there at the destruction of the Earth, the ones who will be in power as the end comes. But also men and women who think their leader's dreams are the things the world needs, who want the dream of unity and peace at any cost and, like the false prophets, are seduced by the power and money and glory of the accomplishment of the dream. Monsters can think nightmares are beautiful dreams.
It also occurs to me that the monsters would not be in power if there were not monsters in us all wanting them to succeed.
In His Word, God reveals the monsters and reveals the monsters in us and tells us where those monsters will lead us if we follow. The destruction of the Earth in the End Times reveals what happens to every individual who follows the monster in them, destruction of the highest order. And we will feed that monster if we are not careful. On all the hate in the internet. On all the lies coming from news feeds on both sides of issues. On the issues themselves. Our anger, what Jesus warns us about, can overshadow the best intentions ans swamp our love with all that rage, accumulated even as the Holy Spirit comforts and holds it at bay. We can wrap our arms around the cold comfort and blaze with fury or we can give the rage to Christ and let it be righteous and powered by the sadness that some will not be saved.
And our current concern is the monster called Antichrist and the "abomination of desolation."
Mt 24:15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)
16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!
20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.
(KJV)
https://www.gotquestions.org/abomination-desolation.html
Answer: The phrase “abomination of desolation” refers to Matthew 24:15 (KJV): “So when you see standing in the holy place 'the abomination that causes desolation,' spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand.” This is referring to Daniel 9:27, “He will confirm a covenant with many for one 'seven.' In the middle of the 'seven' he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing [of the temple] he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.” In 167 B.C. a Greek ruler by the name of Antiochus Epiphanies set up an altar to Zeus over the altar of burnt offerings in the Jewish temple in Jerusalem. He also sacrificed a pig on the altar in the Temple in Jerusalem. This event is known as the abomination of desolation.
In Matthew 24:15, Jesus was speaking some 200 years after the abomination of desolation described above had already occurred. So, Jesus must have been prophesying that some time in the future another abomination of desolation would occur in a Jewish temple in Jerusalem. Most Bible prophecy interpreters believe that Jesus was referring to the Antichrist who will do something very similar to what Antiochus Epiphanies did. This is confirmed by the fact that some of what Daniel prophesied in Daniel 9:27 did not occur in 167 B.C. with Antiochus Epiphanies. Antiochus did not confirm a covenant with Israel for seven years. It is the Antichrist who, in the end times, will establish a covenant with Israel for seven years and then break it by doing something similar to the abomination of desolation in the Jewish temple in Jerusalem.
Whatever the future abomination of desolation is, it will leave no doubt in anyone’s mind that the one perpetrating it is the person known as the Antichrist. Revelation 13:14 describes him making some kind of image which all are forced to worship. Turning the temple of the living God into a place of worship for the Antichrist is truly an “abomination.” Those who are alive and remain during the tribulation should be watchful and recognize that this event is the beginning of 3 1/2 years of the worst of the tribulation period and that the return of the Lord Jesus is imminent. “Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man” (Luke 21:36).
Keep in mind that Jesus talks from the Jewish perspective here. The Abomination has to do with false sacrifice, but more. The pig is unclean, so not only is the sacrifice false, but it is the filthiest sacrifice possible and desecrates the altar. It symbolizes that false death and resurrection of the Antichrist against the truth of Jesus' resurrection. It testifies to the complete falsehood of the AC and tells everyone around him and who witnesses the event, likely on some form of mass media or on all of them, that this IS the Bad Guy.
But from the monster perspective, this event christens the true leader. The monster will rush to take the tattoo on the forehead or the hand. Just as the Christian is sealed for Christ, the tattoo will symbolize that the followers of the AC are sealed for eternity in Hell.
Perspective. We see heroes or monsters depending on our perspective.
But Jesus also referred to 70 AD:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/history/issues/issue-28/ad-70-titus-destroys-jerusalem.html
Gessius Florus loved money and hated Jews. As Roman procurator, he ruled Judea, caring little for their religious sensibilities. When tax revenues were low, he seized silver from the temple. As the uproar against him grew, in A.D. 66, he sent troops into Jerusalem who massacred 3,600 citizens. Florus’s action touched off an explosive rebellion—the First Jewish Revolt—that had been sizzling for some time.
Launching the Revolt
The Jewish Revolt began—and met its bitter end—at Masada, a hunk of rock overlooking the Dead Sea. The Romans had built a virtually impregnable fortress there. Yet the atrocities of Florus inspired some crazy Zealots to attack Masada. Amazingly, they won, slaughtering the Roman army there.
In Jerusalem, the temple captain signified solidarity with the revolt by stopping the daily sacrifices to Caesar. Soon all Jerusalem was in an uproar, expelling or killing the Roman troops. Then all Judea was in revolt; then Galilee.
Cestius Callus, the Roman governor of the region, marched from Syria with twenty thousand soldiers. He besieged Jerusalem for six months, yet failed. He left six thousand dead Roman soldiers, not to mention weaponry that the Jewish defenders picked up and used.
Emperor Nero then sent Vespasian, a decorated general, to quell the Judean rebellion. Vespasian put down the opposition in Galilee, then in Transjordan, then in Idumea. He circled in on Jerusalem. But before the coup de grace, Nero died. Vespasian became embroiled in a leadership struggle that concluded with the eastern armies calling for him to be emperor. One of his first imperial acts was to appoint his son Titus to conduct the Jewish War.
https://www.britannica.com/event/Siege-of-Jerusalem-70
Siege of Jerusalem, (70 CE). The fall of Jerusalem was a pivotal moment in the first Jewish-Roman war. It resulted in the destruction of the ancient temple of Solomon and much of the surrounding city by a fire started by the Roman army under the command of the future emperor Titus.
The Jewish-Roman war of 66 to 73 CE was the first of three rebellions by Jews against Roman rule in Judaea and is referred to as "The Great Revolt." The revolt started in 66 CE, following religious tensions between Greeks and Jews, but soon involved protests against taxation and attacks on Roman citizens. Shocked by the defeat of a legion under the command of Gallus, Emperor Nero sent military commander Vespasian, with a force of 60,000, to ensure that order was restored.
Despite victories elsewhere, Jerusalem proved difficult to take. Vespasian’s son, Titus, surrounded the city with a wall and a trench, and anyone caught trying to escape was crucified. Titus then put pressure on the food and water supply by allowing pilgrims to enter the city in order to celebrate Passover but not letting them out.
After a number of failed attempts to attack the city, the Romans set about the destruction of Jerusalem’s formidable defenses with a battering ram. Having breached these defenses, the Romans fought their way from street to street. Many Zealots sought sanctuary in the ancient temple of Solomon and in the fortress of Antonia. The Romans finally overwhelmed the fortress, and the ancient temple was destroyed by fire in the ensuing battle, reputedly against the wishes of Titus. The destruction of the temple is still mourned by Jews in the annual fast of Tisha be-Av, and the fall of Jerusalem is celebrated in Rome’s Arch of Titus.
Losses: According to Jewish historian Josephus, Jewish, 1.1 million dead and 97,000 enslaved; Roman, unknown.
Tony Bunting
We know that Christians right before the Roman invasion, based on the idea the Temple would be violated in the invasion, ran for the hills. We suspect they will also flee from Jerusalem when the AC appears in the Temple, healed and proclaiming himself the god humanity is to worship, will flee, perhaps the start of their return to Petra, taking Jewish followers and Jews who are enlightened by the "sacrifice" with them. And opening the gateway for Muslims to flee as well, since they will be repulsed by someone claiming Allah is a fraud. Lead to research of their Quran and the discovery it has only good things to say about the Savior. Perhaps at last coming to the God they thought they were worshiping all along.
An act of ultimate evil can lead others to salvation.
I want to conclude on the notion of perspective by discussing something i discovered doing my due diligence for this blog. I was checking the sources of hits for the posts and discovered some of them are "unsavory" by Christian definition. In fact, several are. From a self righteous Christian perspective, it would seem best to notify Blogger and have them stop that contact. However, I also have this realization there are likely three reasons for this activity, 1) There are Christians at those sites for whatever reason who have to use them as contact with the outside world. In which case I definitely want the contact to continue. 2) They are actually Christian sites who disguise themselves this way to exist in countries that ate less than accepting and I really don't want to "out" them. 3) There are curious folks at these sites who want to know more about "this Christ person" and come here to find things out. In which case, I am blessed by God to explain His plans to those who don't yet know Him. And truly, this may be the first case of these folks secretly visiting a Christian site instead of a Christian secretly visiting them.
Perspective is also a matter of perspective after all.
So I'm waiting in line for the automated check out at a national chain grocer. I'm in the "quick" lane behind a couple and a single person. I look over at the next checkout lane which is for larger grocery carts and has it's OPEN light on. A woman with a full cart stands in the line but right before the line is a shelf of candy bard and mints and beef jerky. She shops around for something on the shelves, bent down, searching, moving items around.
The lady who supervises the lanes is standing at the front of my row and motions and yells back to me: "You can use that lane." She motions toward the lane with the woman bent down out of sight from her angle.
I point toward that line and yell back, "There's someone there." The shopping women remains bent over, apparently enraptured by candy bars.
The lady supervisor motions back: "You can use that line!"
Another lady shopper ahead of me, apparently thinking I missed it the second time, pointedly says to me: "You can use that line." Her husband keeps his eyes faced forward. He's not getting involved. He has seen something like this before and he values what's left of his time on this planet being peaceful.
I reply to them both loudly because I am beginning to lose my patience: "There Is SOMEONE there!"
The supervisor then walks over toward the lane, finally sees the woman bent there and her very full cart, and walks back to her place.
No apology needed. It is almost as if she discovered this all by herself and now understands that I couldn't get over there. An expression on her face like it's really too bad I never told her. As the couple ahead of me leaves, that woman also checks the lane.
Is anyone paying attention to conversations or was the assumption that a man in a grocery store is somehow out of his element and can't possibly know what he is doing the way prejudiced folks once thought women had no place in the work environment and some still assume they can't use a hammer?
Is it easier to let our prejudices rule than to pay attention?
Perspective. Can you and I see the same thing or am I in the wrong spot to see what you see?
I was touchy that day because I had chest congestion, had been losing sleep nd had an earache. I kept postponing seeing the doctor because I had a physical scheduled. At the physical, the chest congestion and earache were explained as pneumonia and a bacterial infection in my eardrum. No wonder I wasn't feeling well. Fortunately drugs exist to handle the problem and I'm healing after a month of buying OTC medicine.
I thought I was a little sick. from my Doc's perspective, I was a step away from a hospital bed and an IV.
Sometimes we are too close to see. We need to take the step BACK.
One of my leaders at work told me a story. He was walking with one of his workers talking about something, hurrying because they were worried about a furnace, He was intent on talking and walked right into one of the thin steel posts that run to the ceiling in various sections of our factory. His safety glasses protected him from a black eye. Sometimes we are hurrying, talking, rushing to do the job and don't see the poles in our way.
Sometimes we are famous and blinded by prejudice.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x899fR1WnII
Since the exact opposite happened in Syria and since the former President of the USA has not been revealed at the AC, this would make the former congressperson who was speaking as a Christian representative and taking money for it at the time something of a a false prophet.
Yet:
http://www.skylineun.com/
The question in my mind remains: Is anyone paying attention to what the Bible says?
President Trump has an 80% favorable rating in the Republican party polls. Any news of his obvious failures, of his bigotry, of his capitulation to anything Russia wants gets shoveled under whatever throw rug is available. And the anger of US citizens rises on both sides threatening a civil war, which could also cripple the US and serve Russia's purposes.
Putin has an 80% favorable rating in his country which he feels needs to be bolstered. This can at least be blamed on his control of the media. Also that Russians are doing relatively well in their lives as opposed to the times when the USSR was broken up. His siding with Islam has nothing to do with belief in their correctness and everything to do with taking Russia to a new peak of power. And God will take the idolatry of country and crash the country Putin loves on the fallen rocks of his dreams if he continues.
What some people perceive as either evil or as monsters others perceive as heroes. The dreams that kill are still the dreams that comfort the fallen part of us.
It occurs to me that, in reviewing Revelation, I am writing about monsters, the ones the Bible says will be there at the destruction of the Earth, the ones who will be in power as the end comes. But also men and women who think their leader's dreams are the things the world needs, who want the dream of unity and peace at any cost and, like the false prophets, are seduced by the power and money and glory of the accomplishment of the dream. Monsters can think nightmares are beautiful dreams.
It also occurs to me that the monsters would not be in power if there were not monsters in us all wanting them to succeed.
In His Word, God reveals the monsters and reveals the monsters in us and tells us where those monsters will lead us if we follow. The destruction of the Earth in the End Times reveals what happens to every individual who follows the monster in them, destruction of the highest order. And we will feed that monster if we are not careful. On all the hate in the internet. On all the lies coming from news feeds on both sides of issues. On the issues themselves. Our anger, what Jesus warns us about, can overshadow the best intentions ans swamp our love with all that rage, accumulated even as the Holy Spirit comforts and holds it at bay. We can wrap our arms around the cold comfort and blaze with fury or we can give the rage to Christ and let it be righteous and powered by the sadness that some will not be saved.
And our current concern is the monster called Antichrist and the "abomination of desolation."
Mt 24:15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)
16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!
20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.
(KJV)
https://www.gotquestions.org/abomination-desolation.html
Answer: The phrase “abomination of desolation” refers to Matthew 24:15 (KJV): “So when you see standing in the holy place 'the abomination that causes desolation,' spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand.” This is referring to Daniel 9:27, “He will confirm a covenant with many for one 'seven.' In the middle of the 'seven' he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing [of the temple] he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.” In 167 B.C. a Greek ruler by the name of Antiochus Epiphanies set up an altar to Zeus over the altar of burnt offerings in the Jewish temple in Jerusalem. He also sacrificed a pig on the altar in the Temple in Jerusalem. This event is known as the abomination of desolation.
In Matthew 24:15, Jesus was speaking some 200 years after the abomination of desolation described above had already occurred. So, Jesus must have been prophesying that some time in the future another abomination of desolation would occur in a Jewish temple in Jerusalem. Most Bible prophecy interpreters believe that Jesus was referring to the Antichrist who will do something very similar to what Antiochus Epiphanies did. This is confirmed by the fact that some of what Daniel prophesied in Daniel 9:27 did not occur in 167 B.C. with Antiochus Epiphanies. Antiochus did not confirm a covenant with Israel for seven years. It is the Antichrist who, in the end times, will establish a covenant with Israel for seven years and then break it by doing something similar to the abomination of desolation in the Jewish temple in Jerusalem.
Whatever the future abomination of desolation is, it will leave no doubt in anyone’s mind that the one perpetrating it is the person known as the Antichrist. Revelation 13:14 describes him making some kind of image which all are forced to worship. Turning the temple of the living God into a place of worship for the Antichrist is truly an “abomination.” Those who are alive and remain during the tribulation should be watchful and recognize that this event is the beginning of 3 1/2 years of the worst of the tribulation period and that the return of the Lord Jesus is imminent. “Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man” (Luke 21:36).
Keep in mind that Jesus talks from the Jewish perspective here. The Abomination has to do with false sacrifice, but more. The pig is unclean, so not only is the sacrifice false, but it is the filthiest sacrifice possible and desecrates the altar. It symbolizes that false death and resurrection of the Antichrist against the truth of Jesus' resurrection. It testifies to the complete falsehood of the AC and tells everyone around him and who witnesses the event, likely on some form of mass media or on all of them, that this IS the Bad Guy.
But from the monster perspective, this event christens the true leader. The monster will rush to take the tattoo on the forehead or the hand. Just as the Christian is sealed for Christ, the tattoo will symbolize that the followers of the AC are sealed for eternity in Hell.
Perspective. We see heroes or monsters depending on our perspective.
But Jesus also referred to 70 AD:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/history/issues/issue-28/ad-70-titus-destroys-jerusalem.html
Gessius Florus loved money and hated Jews. As Roman procurator, he ruled Judea, caring little for their religious sensibilities. When tax revenues were low, he seized silver from the temple. As the uproar against him grew, in A.D. 66, he sent troops into Jerusalem who massacred 3,600 citizens. Florus’s action touched off an explosive rebellion—the First Jewish Revolt—that had been sizzling for some time.
Launching the Revolt
The Jewish Revolt began—and met its bitter end—at Masada, a hunk of rock overlooking the Dead Sea. The Romans had built a virtually impregnable fortress there. Yet the atrocities of Florus inspired some crazy Zealots to attack Masada. Amazingly, they won, slaughtering the Roman army there.
In Jerusalem, the temple captain signified solidarity with the revolt by stopping the daily sacrifices to Caesar. Soon all Jerusalem was in an uproar, expelling or killing the Roman troops. Then all Judea was in revolt; then Galilee.
Cestius Callus, the Roman governor of the region, marched from Syria with twenty thousand soldiers. He besieged Jerusalem for six months, yet failed. He left six thousand dead Roman soldiers, not to mention weaponry that the Jewish defenders picked up and used.
Emperor Nero then sent Vespasian, a decorated general, to quell the Judean rebellion. Vespasian put down the opposition in Galilee, then in Transjordan, then in Idumea. He circled in on Jerusalem. But before the coup de grace, Nero died. Vespasian became embroiled in a leadership struggle that concluded with the eastern armies calling for him to be emperor. One of his first imperial acts was to appoint his son Titus to conduct the Jewish War.
https://www.britannica.com/event/Siege-of-Jerusalem-70
Siege of Jerusalem, (70 CE). The fall of Jerusalem was a pivotal moment in the first Jewish-Roman war. It resulted in the destruction of the ancient temple of Solomon and much of the surrounding city by a fire started by the Roman army under the command of the future emperor Titus.
The Jewish-Roman war of 66 to 73 CE was the first of three rebellions by Jews against Roman rule in Judaea and is referred to as "The Great Revolt." The revolt started in 66 CE, following religious tensions between Greeks and Jews, but soon involved protests against taxation and attacks on Roman citizens. Shocked by the defeat of a legion under the command of Gallus, Emperor Nero sent military commander Vespasian, with a force of 60,000, to ensure that order was restored.
Despite victories elsewhere, Jerusalem proved difficult to take. Vespasian’s son, Titus, surrounded the city with a wall and a trench, and anyone caught trying to escape was crucified. Titus then put pressure on the food and water supply by allowing pilgrims to enter the city in order to celebrate Passover but not letting them out.
After a number of failed attempts to attack the city, the Romans set about the destruction of Jerusalem’s formidable defenses with a battering ram. Having breached these defenses, the Romans fought their way from street to street. Many Zealots sought sanctuary in the ancient temple of Solomon and in the fortress of Antonia. The Romans finally overwhelmed the fortress, and the ancient temple was destroyed by fire in the ensuing battle, reputedly against the wishes of Titus. The destruction of the temple is still mourned by Jews in the annual fast of Tisha be-Av, and the fall of Jerusalem is celebrated in Rome’s Arch of Titus.
Losses: According to Jewish historian Josephus, Jewish, 1.1 million dead and 97,000 enslaved; Roman, unknown.
Tony Bunting
We know that Christians right before the Roman invasion, based on the idea the Temple would be violated in the invasion, ran for the hills. We suspect they will also flee from Jerusalem when the AC appears in the Temple, healed and proclaiming himself the god humanity is to worship, will flee, perhaps the start of their return to Petra, taking Jewish followers and Jews who are enlightened by the "sacrifice" with them. And opening the gateway for Muslims to flee as well, since they will be repulsed by someone claiming Allah is a fraud. Lead to research of their Quran and the discovery it has only good things to say about the Savior. Perhaps at last coming to the God they thought they were worshiping all along.
An act of ultimate evil can lead others to salvation.
I want to conclude on the notion of perspective by discussing something i discovered doing my due diligence for this blog. I was checking the sources of hits for the posts and discovered some of them are "unsavory" by Christian definition. In fact, several are. From a self righteous Christian perspective, it would seem best to notify Blogger and have them stop that contact. However, I also have this realization there are likely three reasons for this activity, 1) There are Christians at those sites for whatever reason who have to use them as contact with the outside world. In which case I definitely want the contact to continue. 2) They are actually Christian sites who disguise themselves this way to exist in countries that ate less than accepting and I really don't want to "out" them. 3) There are curious folks at these sites who want to know more about "this Christ person" and come here to find things out. In which case, I am blessed by God to explain His plans to those who don't yet know Him. And truly, this may be the first case of these folks secretly visiting a Christian site instead of a Christian secretly visiting them.
Perspective is also a matter of perspective after all.
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