Can Israel Survive?

 Can Israel Survive?

By Richard P. Joseph

7/17/2022

 

Jack Van Impe has been preaching an imminent end of the world message for nearly my entire life.  Now that he has passed, his wife Rexella, has taken on the mantle.  I really don’t think the Van Impe’s are evil or bad in any way, I just think they have been misled just as most pastors have today.  The only real problem with his, and most pastors message is, that none of it is in the bible.  Now Rexella has put out another money making DVD with the all important question of whether or not Israel can survive Armageddon.  In the mail flier Rexella expresses some concerns that, of course, will be answered in the DVD (for $25 or more).  Since I don’t plan on purchasing the DVD, I will just have to answer those questions myself!

The flier reads:

“God has a plan for His chosen people.  We saw the rebirth of Israel as a nation once again in 1948-and we know the Lord will never abandon the Holy Land or the Jewish people…”

Addressing the first sentence I have to agree, God does have a plan for his chosen people.  Peter said;

9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.

You see, Rexella’s only problem with the chosen people is that she doesn’t even know who they are.  The chosen people are the Christians, not the Jews.  Jesus warned Israel many times over that the vineyard was to be taken from them and given to a people that will produce fruit from it.  That was accomplished in AD 70.  Fleshly Israel no longer has any claim as the chosen people and never will again.  Even though a nation of modern day Jewish adherents was created in 1948, this has absolutely nothing to do with biblical prophecy.   This is just a bunch of Rabbinical Jews who are making the same exact mistake that the ancient Jews made in AD30.  

As far as God not abandoning the Holy Land and the Jewish people, well I hate to be the bearer of bad news but, he already did that.  Just read any of Jesus’ parables and you will clearly see that the Jews were to be abandoned and the baton was passed to a new nation.  Israel and its sacrificial system was completely obliterated in AD 70, never to be raised again, and God took a new wife and created a New Jerusalem.  This new city will never be dismantled as it is an everlasting kingdom with no end.  And the best part is that you don’t even have to buy a DVD to know this.  I do this for free.  Gee I’m a really nice guy!!

A distant land

 A Distant Land

By Richard P. Joseph

6/8/2022

    Luke 19:11-27 describes the second coming of Christ in, what would have been to a first century Jew, unmistakable terminology.  Any bible reader that is not familiar with first century Middle Eastern culture might still be scratching their heads trying to figure out what this passage is really all about.  At best it might be about being responsible for the tasks that God has given you to perform but that is only a shadow of what this parable is about.  

    Jesus tells a story about a certain nobleman who was to go to a distant land in order to receive a kingdom.  As a young Christian I really had no clue what that really meant.  Moreover, the people also sent a delegation in order to stop this nobleman from receiving his kingdom.  However, the nobleman did succeed in acquiring his kingdom and returned, not only to reward his faithful but also to punish the unworthy as well as execute the delegation that opposed him.  

    Being a preterist, one is forced to apply certain hermeneutical parameters such as audience relevance and historical context when attempting to interpret scripture.  Using these techniques, the reader can then understand what those that first heard this parable would think.  A major mistake made by modern day new Christains is that they do not apply these techniques to their scripture reading and nearly always come up with the wrong interpretation.  So, what was Jesus actually alluding to and what was his message from this parable?

    Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, which belonged to the state of Israel.  Israel however was an occupant of the Roman empire.  In those days any, would be, ruler of any occupied country would need the permission of the Roman emperor.  It goes something like this; When Herod the Great sought the throne of Israel he had to first go to a distant land, Rome, and stand before Caesar.  If Caesar approved then Herod (or whomever) would become what is called a vassal king.  Usually when someone in those days would seek such authority a hostile delegation would also appear at the hearing almost similar to our current system of choosing a federal judge.  They were allowed to make their case and Caesar would make the final decision.  According to Josephus, Herod got the nod from caesar and when Herod returned as a king to his kingdom he straightway butchered his opponents.  This was normal operating procedure pretty much until the United States introduced a much more civil system of power transfer.  Back then if one aspired to high office he didn’t go campaigning door to door seeking votes; nay, he gathered an army and murdered the king and his entire family.  That is how one acquired political office in those days and in that culture.  In fact that was the normal world before the United States.  The Democratic Party is attempting to take us backwards to those days again.  The parable that Jesus taught was easily understood by those sitting there listening to him.  They didn’t, however, understand how it would all play out.  

    It played out exactly like God planned it to.  The Jews played it out each year during the feast of atonement when the high priest would enter the Holy of Holies and present the blood of the lamb for the forgiveness of sins and then reappear to the waiting crowd.  After Jesus was murdered, he then went to a distant land (heaven) where he presented his blood to the father.  He then reappeared in AD 70 as a king and straightway butchered his enemies (the unbelieving Jews) and has been reigning on earth ever since never to be removed by anyone.  Those that were given the talents were the leaders of Israel.   Some were successful and some were not.   Jesus' kingdom has been established for all time and eternity. 

 

Rapture questions

 Rapture questions

By Richard P. Joseph

3/17/2022

I wrote an article in October 2018 entitled “Why was a Rapture Necessary”.  In this article I would like to discuss the ongoing question of whether or not there was a rapture.  Preterists have an ongoing discussion about whether a rapture actually took place or if it is more of a spiritual rapture from law based to Holy Spirit based living.  I, at this time, prefer a physical rapture.  This physical rapture actually paves the way for a spiritual shift in things giving both views a type of legitimacy.  In this short article I would like to take a quick walk through Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians and document my position on it.

The two epistles to the Thessalonians are laced with eschatological passages.  Wouldn’t it be nice to have a recording of what Paul taught them personally!  Unfortunately we don't have one so that leaves us to infer what the church actually asked Paul, of course, in context, of the rest of scripture.  

In 1 Thessalonians 1;10 Paul says;

and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.

This passage can go either way.  Paul is telling them that at the parousia, Jesus will deliver them from the wrath to come.  The wrath was something that was to follow the Tribulation.  The Tribulation was a 3 ½ year period where Christians would suffer at the direction of the Jews and Romans.  The wrath is the payback that the unbelieving Jews will have by the hands of the Romans.   Since the rapture, apparently described by Josephus [Wars 6.299 (6.5.3)], happened exactly between the two events, it gives credence to the physical rapture.  To me, if the “rapture” event was to just relieve Christians from their current persecutions, then the rapture event would be after the fall of Jerusalem, not before.  

In 2:19 Paul talks about them being in the “presence” of the Lord at the Parousia.  

For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming? 

This, being in the presence of the Lord, makes me think that they will be in the presence of the Lord.  It is not just talking about being filled with the Holy Spirit and living for the Lord, it seems to be indicating that they will actually be with the Lord in his heavenly realm.  Keep in mind that in Revelation new crowds of people show up in heaven allegedly at this very time.  I do not believe it is simply talking about a new lease on life down here, I really do believe that those people were raptured, creating a clean delineation point in history between the inspired world versus the uninspired world.  The consolation for the uninspired world is that we now are guided by the Holy Spirit.

1 Thes 3:13 again talks about them being in the presence of the Lord. 

 so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.

1 Thes 4:14 Jesus is going to “bring” with him those that have already died.  This is because Hades is emptied at the rapture.

 

 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who [c]sleep in Jesus.

In 4:15 Paul lets them know that the living will by no means precede those that have passed.  If the living wasn’t going anywhere then what does this verse mean?  In other words, where are the dead going that the living is also going, but after?  

 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are [d]asleep

4:16-17 says that the dead and living will end up in the same place.  It never talked about the dead coming back to earth at this point, it only talks about them being taken up to meet the lord in the air.  There is no mention of those that are staying behind.  

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.

5:3 is like saying “There is no escaping from dungeons and dragons”!  

 For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. 

If the living saints were going to stay then this verse would make no sense except it might get their enemies off their backs.  But the following verses assure the saints that they have no part in the wrath.  I personally have a hard time imagining any of the apostles all of the sudden losing their inspiration and living the rest of their lives in a dumbed down state of being.  Since none of them write after AD 64, let alone even appear in the historical record, it lends itself to the possibility that they were raptured.  This view makes the most sense.  I don’t believe that they were merely “elevated” to the next level of spiritual consciousness, nay, if they stayed around they would have actually been “demoted” to a lower state.  I therefore, at this time, believe a physical rapture took place creating a definite point in history between the old world and the new world.  The rapture was the beginning mark of the 3 ½ year long parousia which culminated in AD 70.    After this point, all Christians rely on the Holy Spirit for guidance and truth.  There are no more personal gifts.  If a miracle takes place, it is by the hand of the Holy Spirit, not us.  We can pray and act and be confident that we are now living in the everlasting kingdom of Jesus Christ.  We are currently living in his kingdom while on this earth and our soul will continue after we depart our fleshly body.  Either way, we are with the Lord. 

Here we go again

 Here We Go Again!

By Richard P. Joseph

1/30/2022

Revelation 9: 10 They had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails. Their power was to hurt men five months. 

I have to admit that if I were to join the crowd I could come up with a very good “end of the world” scenario using our current global crisis.  All of the ingredients are right.  We have megalomaniacs running around attempting to inject the entire seven billion humans on earth with a gene changing poison that would torment men worldwide.  The plot is actually true and fully diabolical.  But is this the end of the world?  

If scripture is taken out of context and time markers are completely ignored then the covid scam could easily seem to fulfill many of the images given in the book of Revelation.  But I heard this story before; many times before and it won’t be the last time.  Actually I believe that those evil people that are perpetuating this plague on the earth use the same methods that were historically used.  There is nothing new here really.  For example, the NAZIS used outright lying propaganda to control the masses and silenced anyone who disagreed or told the truth.  Since the new NAZIS, the Democratic Party, is using the same exact methods, does that mean that we are fulfilling what happened during WWII?  No, it does not mean that.  It only means that we are fulfilling our current evil proclivities using the same methods.  The results will be similar may I suggest, but this is not 1945, it is 2022.  The book of Revelation was written in about AD63 and was completely fulfilled by AD70.  There is nothing left to be fulfilled from that prophecy.  Just because some of the evil methods are being used by today’s current atheists doesn’t mean that it is the fulfillment of Revelation.  It would be wiser to use our current situation to create a great awakening but instead the pundits are trying to assign it to something that will never happen, “the end of the world”.  Revelation, and all associated eschatological prophecies, were a prediction of “the end of the Jewish age”, not the end of the “world”.  In fact there really isn’t any scripture that predicts the end of the physical world.  The end of Judaism was the focus of what Jesus preached, never the end of the world.  Judaism fell in the year AD 70 and the Mosaic economy with it.  Jesus became the fulfillment of all prophecy and thus we are now living in what is labeled “the age to come”.  There is no end to the Christian age, it is eternal.  

So, even though we are now living in catastrophic times, our focus should be to awaken and educate the people to what is really happening.  This should be a time of unparalleled evangelism but instead people are preaching the end of the world.  Let’s take this great opportunity to reach the uneducated and bring them into the fold of Christ.  Then, and only then, can we win this battle. 

Are You the One?

 Are you the one?

By Richard P. Joseph

12/11/2021

    I wrote in another article how John the Baptist preached that the messiah would come in wrath and judgement.  John’s warnings included statements like; “Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”, “ And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees.”,  “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit [a]and fire.”  “His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

    As you can see, you won’t hear this stuff in most churches as it is an affront to the sissyfied Jesus that most pastors preach about.  Jesus is no more than a peace loving hippie according to modern seminary thought.  The real Jesus, however, is loving and yet just.  His love is what led him to die for our sins but his justice has avenged his holy name.  This brings up another point about John the Baptist. 

    When John was in prison and near his end, he sent two of his disciples to Jesus asking him;  “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?”   There are many people who have commented on this as to why John would ask such a question.  Did not God confirm that this was the coming one when John saw the Holy Spirit descend upon Jesus and a voice from heaven exclaiming that this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased?  In light of the disciples' ignorance, even after three years with the man, were still in the dark as to how Jesus’ mission would be rolled out.

    In Matthew 16;20 Peter takes Jesus aside and begins to rebuke him saying  ]“Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!”  It was clear that Peter and the apostles still did not have a clear view of how the mission of Jesus would be accomplished.  In John 14:8 Phillip was astonished when Jesus had to inform him that he was God in human form.  I, therefore, deduce that John the Baptist was in the same boat as the disciples.  John knew that it was the end of the age and that judgement was coming.  When he saw Jesus performing miracles of love and compassion, he was probably a little bit confused and therefore was wondering if Jesus was the one to pour out this wrath that he was preaching about or not.  It turns out that John had the message correctly but he just did not understand exactly how and when it would occur.  It turns out that Jesus did completely pour out the wrath of God on Jerusalem and executed judgement on the faithless but this was to take place in its proper sequence.  Jesus performed his acts of love and healing to prove who he was so that there would be no excuses when the wrath did come.  He gave Jerusalem every opportunity to repent and believe, then the judgement took place.  Jesus began his ministry around AD 30, was executed by the unbelieving Jews 3 ½ years later.  The disciples then continued the mission for another 30 plus years then the wrath came.  First the Christians had to endure tribulation to seal the deal then a rapture occurred which emptied Hades out and took up any remaining disciple into the realm of God then the wrath was poured out on Jerusalem for 3 ½ years culminating in the destruction of the temple and the end of the Mosaic economy in AD 70.  Thus John the Baptist was correct in all he said except for the simple fact that he did not have the entire sequence given to him.  That is why Jesus told his disciples that no man knows the exact time or day that the parousia would occur and for good reason.  

   

   

WOKE!

 WOKE!

By Richard P. Joseph

4/16/2021

Every person born on this earth is born under the sin of Adam.  In other words, we are in a condemned state of being which was made clear by Jesus.  

John 3:18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

The word “already” is telling because that puts us all in a condemned state of being until we are born again by believing in Jesus Christ.  

 John 3:19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 

Men love the darkness and will choose it every time unless the Holy Spirit resides in them.  Those that have been born again have been pulled out of that darkness and into YHWH's marvelous light.  We have left the world of evil and hopelessness and have entered the glory of Jesus Christ.  This has prompted men to write creeds such as the Nicene Creed etc.  

We believe in one God,

the Father, the Almighty,

maker of heaven and earth,

and of all that is, seen and unseen…..

There is a new creed going around today.  People are so proud that they put signs of it on their front lawns to let the world know that they are “woke” or in other words “born again of Satan”.  These people have been moved from bad to worse.  From lost to hopeless.  From ignorant to pure evil.  From off- base to debase.  From bad to perverted.  From free to communist and from dim to dark.   And unfortunately most of the world and businesses have fully embraced this new darkness.  

This is just one example of a creed that says loud and clear that they have rejected Jesus Christ and love the darkness.  Some other signs go into more detail but this is sufficient to see that they are communist, anarchist, homosexual, murderers, atheist, and lost.  And they are proud of it.  They are WOKE!  And worse yet most churches go right along with them.  That is why I quit going to church.  I belong to the church of Jesus Christ and get ill when I attempt to go to a local woke church.  

I only write this article to show the sad state of affairs on earth.   Satan is a defeated foe that has been thrown into the lake of fire yet we have lost souls flocking to Satan’s doctrine.  The woke philosophy demands that Christians be silenced and punished.  Jesus left us as the light of the world and yet we have put that light under a bushel and most are afraid to even let someone know it's there.  Our cowardice is shameful and hurtful.  We must repent of our shameful behavior and once again put that lamp on top of the table where it belongs and stand up for the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Gangster from New York

The Gangster from New York

By Richard P. Joseph

2/16/2021

Many people have seen the movie Schindler’s List and if you haven’t seen it, you should see it.  The movie was superb and gave a great visual of Nazism and of repentance and even heroism.  The book, however, gives a little more detail.  In the book there is a story that is not brought out in the movie but has impacted me greatly in understanding evil and one’s compromise with it.  The book tells of an event that occurred that taught me a very important lesson when dealing with evil.  

This evil presented itself when the NAZI SS brought in a group of rabbis and told them to spit on their holy books such as the Torah.  But not to just spit on them, they must drool spit on them in a dramatic fashion or else they would be shot.  They commenced to perform the best they could in order to not get shot.  They spit on the very scripture that supposedly gave them their very existence in life.  Then a Jewish street gangster was brought in and they told him the same thing.  The gangster, much like the Samaritan, had other thoughts though.  He simply refused to spit on the scriptures.  He was already accustomed to threats and lies and traitorous behavior, he knew the results of compromise and cowardice.  The SS,  outraged, did what they did best; they shot the gangster; then shot the rabbis.

Jesus told a story similar to this in Matthew 21:28-30.  

28 “But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go, work today in my vineyard.’ 29 He answered and said, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he regretted it and went. 30 Then he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, ‘I go, sir,’ but he did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?”

They said to Him, “The first.”

Jesus said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you.

While the Rabbis said yes to God, it was the gangster that actually did the will of the father.  

In like manner I have voted for many “Christian” politicians and they all said yes but when it came to doing the will of the father they were complete disappointments.  Then in 2016 we elected a gangster type playboy from New York as our president.  Donald Trump, a successful business man with a long history of involvement in Hollywood, beauty pageant dealings, and many other worldly adventures, now took on the mantle of President of the United States.  Trust me, he was not my choice in the primaries but I pinched my nose and voted for him in the General election being that I would never vote for the opposing communist/NAZI party.  To tell you that I was pleasantly surprised by President Trump would be a massive understatement.  Deep inside this man of the world were the seeds of holiness that were planted long ago by his grandparents back in Ireland.  When the media asked Mr. Trump to spit on the bible and bow before Dagon, he held his chin up high and refused.  Not only did he refuse to spit on God’s word, he actually fought to uphold the spirit of the Word better than any of those weak “Christians” that I have ever voted for in the past.  The man had balls of steel.  He was akin to Judas Maccabaeus.  He stood up like an oak tree and would not budge.  He called the media exactly what they were, “fake news”, right to their faces and began heckling them with slogans such as “merry Christmas” and many other in-your-face Christian type slogans.  He fought abortion better than anyone else that came before him and at least tried to remove sexual perverts from the military.  His support for faith based operations was second to none in the modern era and he really did try to Make America Great Again.  The Democrats and the rest of the God haters all went apoplectic.  Never in my life have I seen the left wing lose their minds like I have now.   As we all are now experiencing their rage, I am full of joy in my heart that God reigns.  Yes, we have to deal with our current situation but nothing can ever take my joy away that Jesus Christ reigns.  They have run Trump out of town on a rail and are pursuing in an attempt to utterly destroy the man and his followers.  So let the war begin, but I still have a smile on my face put there by the gangster from New York!

Revised edition below, 4 years later    (2/27/2025)

    Well they did it, the communist Democrats executed a successful coup of the American government in 2020 with, of course, the help of weak cowards in the Republican party.  I won't waste time explaining the carnage that was swept in and utterly decimated our economy, our military, our schools, our borders, our morals and everything in-between.  It is so bad now that even some Democrats are waking up.  The country actually needed someone like Joe Biden to help them see how bad it can get when atheist communists run the country.  The result, a landslide victory for Donald Trump to accept a second term in the White House.  My real question is this; is this a result of faithful Christians in America or not?  In the end, it is, but at the same time it is also a stern rebuke on the same.  It appears that Donald Trump's Christian faith is something that developed later in life rather than early.  It also appears that his faith is real and it also appears that God called him in somewhat of the same way God called the Apostle Paul.  God needed Paul, a strong headed legalistic Jew, to do something extra ordinary and Paul had not much choice in the matter as Jesus knocked him to the ground and blinded him in order to convince him to the right way.  I think God called Trump, a billionaire playboy, to do something extra ordinary and Trump had no choice in the matter and accepted the terms.  Even two assassins, multiple court cases, an onslaught by the media and multiple frivolous lawsuits couldn't deter him.   He is, in my opinion, the most effective Christian president in our history.  Even if he isn't the most dedicated and scholarly Christian president, he is the most effective.  He has now assembled the most productive cabinet known to the United States of America.  This cabinet is made up of Christians, Hindus, agnostics and probably some other stuff that I don't know about.  My next question is; why not all Christians?  The short answer; because most Christians simply will not obey God.  They are weak cowards that don't understand that being a Christian is a bold and courageous lifestyle.  Since God ultimately sets up governments and takes them down, God did this.  This is where the rebuke comes in.  God has to use non-Christians to do what Christians fail to do.  We have been voting for "Christian" politicians for our entire lives and what do we get?  Abortion, inflation, transgender ideology, oppression, invasion, tax robbery, child molesters, forced vaccination, economic depression, social discord, communism, cancel culture, and complete social entropy.  That sounds a lot like what Jesus described that would be outside the kingdom of God.

Revelation 21   8 But the cowardly, [e]unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”     

Maybe it's time to redefine what a Christian really is.  The one thing he isn't is a sissy coward.  It is almost as if we need to learn from Trump's cabinet how to become a bold and effective force for the kingdom of God.  America is a Christian nation and we are in desperate need of strong Christian men to lead us in our future.  If you fit Revelation 21:8, please stay home, but if you are a worrier like David and Peter then step up, we need you.  Our future depends on it!