A sign for the church - Time's UP! I've been anticipating this follow-up post that has now come up in the queue. It adds to that another witness, the related sign of an event that had occurred just over one month before the other.
I'm not the kind of guy who sees the face of Jesus in every slice of toast and neither am I the kind of guy who sees signs and is willing to dismiss them as meaningless. Not every sign is on the scale of the earthquakes in Christchurch, New Zealand.
1 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, speak to the sons of your people and say to them, ‘If I bring a sword upon a land, and the people of the land take one man from among them and make him their watchman, 3 and he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows on the trumpet and warns the people, 4 then he who hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, and a sword comes and takes him away, his blood will be on his own head. 5 He heard the sound of the trumpet but did not take warning; his blood will be on himself. But had he taken warning, he would have delivered his life. 6 But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet and the people are not warned, and a sword comes and takes a person from them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require from the watchman’s hand.’
Ezekiel 33:1-6I see what I see, and judgment is on the church and in the land - and it is escalating. As I have stated before, judgment has been on the church for over a year, and it will continue until the Lord's purposes are accomplished.
For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?
1 Peter 4:17What follows is an excerpt from this article: Sheriff: Stray bullet kills Amish teen 1.5 miles away
“A Ohio Amish girl was killed by a stray bullet while riding in a buggy on her way home from a Christmas party, and a man more than a mile a way who had shot his gun into the air is allegedly to blame.”
“Rachel M. Yoder, 15, had just dropped off a friend after leaving the party on her horse and buggy. Shortly after, a man allegedly fired his gun in the air from 1.5 miles away, and the bullet struck the Holmes County girl in the head.”
“Yoder's brother noticed the horse and buggy going in a circle and discovered that his sister had been injured the Coshocton Tribune reported. Initially, investigators believed Yoder had hit her head on the buggy, but a computed tomography scan revealed that she had been shot.”
“Rachel M. Yoder, 15, had just dropped off a friend after leaving the party on her horse and buggy. Shortly after, a man allegedly fired his gun in the air from 1.5 miles away, and the bullet struck the Holmes County girl in the head.”
“Yoder's brother noticed the horse and buggy going in a circle and discovered that his sister had been injured the Coshocton Tribune reported. Initially, investigators believed Yoder had hit her head on the buggy, but a computed tomography scan revealed that she had been shot.”
Note that she had been attending a Christmas party.
As I stated in the earlier post about the woman who died on her birthday, I am not untouched by the loss that some must surely feel who knew Rachel Yoder, or the horror I suspect the man who fired his gun into the air might be feeling. Yet, for those who perceive the event as a sign it is not in vain. The odds involved in being killed by a single bullet randomly fired from a mile and a half away, well, come on. This really isn't about odds.
As a sign, I mean to say it's beyond merely, "life is short so live it well." It testifies that in this judgment that has come upon the household of God, no one is beyond its reach.
The Amish are considered by some to be saints of a more pure kind, separated from the "English" and their corrupt ways. The lifestyle of relative isolation in rural communities and their manner of "clean living" close to the land is appealing to many who admire the simplicity and values represented. The Amish don't involve themselves with politics and war. If that's all good, is it enough? Are they exempt from the judgment now falling upon Babylon, able to opt out of sharing in her judgments? No, they are not; no one is. The sign bears witness.
Are the Amish really those of the pure religion, followers of the Lord Jesus Christ like those of the early church of Acts? In some doctrines and practices, perhaps. Yet, if the Amish were the bastions of purity, the Amish barn star fad would not be sweeping the country because there would be no Amish barn star. The star is an angel. The second commandment expressly forbids forming such an image. (See Amish Barn Stars and the mysteries of Gothic architecture) The Amish barn star is an idol, literally and truly, and the proliferation of these idols across the country brings a curse, today, as such things only ever have done. Judgment has come upon the church for idolatry. The church is the impure harlot, the idol worshiping Mystery Babylon.
This writing should not be mistaken for a condemnation of the Amish in particular, nor as an attack on the character of the young women who died. It is personal, for you and I, engaging here and now.
This "innocent" Amish woman was struck in her youth at 15 years of age, at the dawning of womanhood. Woman ~ Church. Her name was Rachel, meaning, "ewe, female sheep." She was of Jesus' flock, the good shepherd's. Rachel is the name of the patriarch Jacob's favorite wife, mother of Joseph and Benjamin. As a symbol, Rachel compares with Ariane Noelle Patterson, the subject of the earlier post who died on her 21st birthday during a college class on religion.
Ariane = Most Holy or Very Holy
Noelle = Born on Christmas Day
Patterson = "son of Patrick." Son of Nobleman - Noble one
Noelle means "Born on Christmas Day" She died on her birthday. Rachel had been attending a Christmas party. She didn't make it home alive. Rachel died Thursday 12/15/11. Ariane died Tuesday, 1/17/2012. The deaths bracket Christmas. Let's focus on the Christmas connection, which I hit rather lightly in the earlier post but am compelled to emphasize here.
If you are wondering what might be wrong with Christians celebrating Christmas it must be said that you have not been paying attention or paying heed to the spirit of God that calls us to pursue the prize of Philippians 3:14.
If you type the word "Christmas" into my blog's "SEARCH THIS BLOG" textbox you'll get three pages of results. For some among you, I recommend making these the subject of serious study. You will find among them a link to another helpful page that asks, Should a Christian Celebrate Christmas? If you haven't yet, you should give the Easter so-called holiday similar consideration.
The most piercing testimony I know of about Christmas doesn't even involve the pagan religious tradition. It is what I call The Story of Christmas that Should be Told, which looks deeply and soberly into the biblical account of the events surrounding the birth of my Lord Y'shua and sees a testimony of accountability, of justice and judgment. That insight speaks to the judgment upon us today, declaring to all who will hear it that we, having been given much, dear saints, are being held accountable for responding according to measure. Judgment is due for returning little for the much given, even for celebrating with no genuine honor or love for the Lord the idolatrous pagan traditions passed down to us.
Let these two recent signs speak to you that the end of such is finally at hand, having come under judgment. This lengthy season where the professing church may act with the presumption of impunity is closing fast. Do we love the Lord? Are we willing to obey, submitting to His commands? Lipservice and hypocrisy, these are being judged in this season of escalation.
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