TRAWDADDY: 04/30/24

Tuesday, April 30, 2024

By Jan Markell

April 30, 2024

Have you ever been betrayed? Maybe you have more than once. Maybe many times. I bet you find it hard to trust anyone now.

You see, the Jews didn’t take things seriously in Germany in the 1930s. It wouldn’t get all that bad. They were comfortable and assimilated back then. Whatever was happening would blow over. The Jews had contributed in so many positive ways to European society. The warning signs had to be false alarms!

They were betrayed in Europe, and it is happening again, and now they are reading the handwriting on the wall! The messages of warning are everywhere! This time they are paying attention. They’ve gotten the message that now it is the two-minute warning! Here’s why.

Their 75-year ally, America, is chastising, marginalizing, scolding, and telling them to lose their war. Don’t retaliate when attacked. Their long-time friend favors Iran.
Politicians who are “one of them” have turned on them. Can you say, Chuck Schumer?
The media has betrayed them—even the conservative media. Can you say “Tucker Carlson?”
Parts of the church are hostile due to Replacement Theology. Others don’t want to make waves or wade into controversy.
Every global outfit from the U.N. to the W.E.F. to the I.C.C. to the E.U. laments the plight of the so-called Palestinians. In fact, most of the world feels the Jews are the oppressors and the Palestinians are the oppressed. They support Hamas. They have sympathy for barbarians. That’s hard to imagine.

So, someone is waiting in the wings who is the ultimate betrayer and he will fool them, too. Because they are in a state of fear and anxiety, they will be open to his cunning message. This global mover and shaker may be inconsequential right now, but he is rehearsing how he will play into their insecurities. He’s in the shadows now.

The Jews will eagerly listen to him. Wouldn’t you if people were shouting at you to “go back into the ovens!” “There is only one solution—Intifada, revolution!” “Long live Hamas!” “Death to Jews!”

Wouldn’t you be receptive if you saw nearly every prominent college campus writhing with Jew hatred? Then threats are issued, saying, “The 7th of October is going to be every day for you!”

These radicals want to murder your babies and other loved ones, burn your homes, and even take more hostages! Is this the predicted “love growing cold”? How can human hearts be this cruel? What has infected a huge number of those under the age of 25?

In 1938, Germany was not their home, but in 2024 neither is America, or Australia, or Canada, or France, or the UK, or South Africa.

They only have one home and that is Israel. Israel will do their best to protect the Jews. At Columbia, and Yale, and MIT, and dozens more, Jews are on their own. No one has their back.

But this smooth-talking man called the Antichrist will be on their side—for a short season.

This is the classic set-up right now! A charismatic man is waiting in the wings. He will seduce the “left behind” world, but he will mesmerize many Jews because they are being primed to be told that a benevolent dictator is their best friend and will never betray them--ever. Those days are behind.

They will relax for three and one-half years, secure in his promises that include no betrayal, and then he will stab them in the back even worse than all previous betrayers. That peace treaty he signed will be shredded. That third temple he allowed will be defiled. How can this be? He promised. He was convincing. He told them what they wanted to hear.

It was all a lie. They will have to flee to the hills called Petra. This will be the classic betrayal.

Then Jesus Christ enters the picture. He will never betray. You can count on it! Their anxiety will actually turn to tears. But the betrayal will finally be over!

“And on that day, I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour out on the house of David, and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of pleading, so that they will look at Me whom they pierced; and they will mourn for Him, like one mourning for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn.” (Zechariah 12:9-10)

Come to think of it, maybe it’s the two-minute warning for the whole world!

Stand Firm and See the Lord’s Salvation – Exodus 14:13-14

A Clay Jar

Encouraging, comforting, and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory. (1 Thess. 2:12 NIV)

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Moses said to the people, “Do not fear! Stand firm and see the salvation of the LORD that he will provide for you today; for the Egyptians that you see today you will never, ever see again. The LORD will fight for you, and you can be still.”
Exodus 14:13-14 NET

God had delivered Israel from slavery in Egypt. They were a free people, headed toward the land of promise. The land promised to their ancestors–to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It was an exciting time for Israel.

But then, a bump in the road. They found themselves between the proverbial rock and a hard place. On one side was the sea. On the other side was the Egyptian army–come to reclaim their escaped slaves. It looked hopeless. And humanly speaking, it was.

But Moses told the people not to fear. To stand firm and see the salvation of the Lord. Then Moses stretched out his staff, and God opened a way for them through the sea. They crossed safely while the Egyptian army pursuing them was destroyed. Once again, Israel had experienced God’s salvation.

Trust in God

There is a lesson in this for all of us today who have been delivered from our slavery to sin. As we journey toward the promised land, there will be times when we might despair and look back on our previous life with longing. Or look at the lives of the people around us and wonder if we made a mistake.

But when, not if, that happens, remember Moses’ words to Israel. Don’t be afraid! Trust in the Lord to bring you through the sea, saving you from the hand of the enemy who seeks to enslave you again. Stand firm! Don’t be moved from the hope we have in Christ.

We are not promised that life as a follower of Christ will be easy. Quite the opposite, in fact. We are warned that all who want to live godly lives for Christ will experience suffering along the journey (2 Tim. 3:12).

But if you stand firm, he will see you safely through every obstacle you might face and bring you into the promised land. Unlike that generation of Israel who experienced all that God had done for them, yet, in the end, turned back and fell short.