James 5:1 "Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you." James is now talking to those that are rich from ill-gotten gains, or made their gains from fraud. This is not aimed at those that are blessed by God with a good business mind, or that God has blessed from doing their work God's Way. No one ever needs to apologize for the wealth that comes from God's blessing, and for doing things God's way. God's blessings are a gift from God to you. In this case, we are to consider God's blessings as a badge of honor from our Heavenly Father. James 5:2 "Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth eaten." God is telling those that have gained riches by means of fraud that those riches just will not last. The rust and aging process will devour your wealth, and inflation will eat up your money. The fine clothing that give you status will become outdated and moth-eaten in time. The fact that the moths got to it, means that there will be a great waste to what ever the wealth is. James 5:3 "Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days." When the gold and silver becomes cankered or rusted, it means that the other parts of the wealth has already been destroyed. The mere fact that you have obtained that wealth with no intention of using it, will be a witness of your corrupt mind. This is not talking about your nest egg for retirement, or what you have set aside to cover hard times that may come. This is talking about someone that has absolutely defrauded his brothers and sisters, as well as other people, and have laid up vast amounts of wealth. This is talking about the rewards for being a robber and thief, whether by legal or illegal means. It is the intent that matters here, and how the wealth was obtained and for what purpose. We are not talking about God's blessings that He gives for doing your business His way. James 5:4 "Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth." Lord of Sabaoth - 4519 sabaoth, "Lord of Sabaoth"; Lord of the armies of Israel, as those who are under the leadership and protection of Jehovah maintain his cause in war. The labourers that have done the work, and after the fact, you held back their fair share for their labor they have done for you. This brings the cry of fraud in the ears of God. It is the Heavenly Father that is the Lord of Sabaoth [Hosts], and He hears the prayers of those that have been defrauded and cry out to Him. The time will come shortly when all things are made right by Him. There is much written in the Word of God concerning the relationship between employer and employee. What is being looked at here is the relationship between the land owner, or business owner that pays such a small salary to his or her employees, when the profits are so out of line with the salaries is paying. The salaries were so low, that the people could not buy the food and pay the rent, and meet the basic needs to live on. It came to the point that the people cried out to the Lord for the injustice being done. They had no choice for they could do nothing else. James is telling us that God knows when this happens, and He watches when this take place to His children. The subject is still "God is Judge" and in His due time, all records will be made even and accounted for. No man in the flesh will get away with anything, for if there is vengeance to be given, God will do it in His way at His time. Romans 12:19 "Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, "Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, saith the Lord." The judge already knows all the wrongs that have been done, for there are no unsolved mysteries in the eyes of God. Our Heavenly Father knows exactly what happened, and He knows the intent of the mind of the one committing the fraud. Payday is coming. James 5:5 "Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter." "Lived in pleasure", spoken of here is "trephao" in the Greek text and it goes back to the animal nature that is in man. It is saying that this wealth that the rich have obtained is for that pleasure, and not for his spiritual self. James 5:6 "Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you. This is looking forward to the return of Christ, and it saying that while Jesus was here on earth, you have crucified the Just One, who is Christ. When Christ went to the cross, He did not open His mouth, but as a lamb goes to the slaughter, He went gladly to the cross. Why did He do that? Because it was prophecy and the Word of God had to be fulfilled. Isaiah 53:6 "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all." Isaiah 53:7 "He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth: He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth." Jesus did not defend Himself when He was brought before the false accusers because He was paying the price for your and my sins, and all those that would repent in His name and have the faith to believe in Him. Jesus is the Just One, and He lived the perfect life in every way and manner. James 5:7 "Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain." Patience is one of the most difficult things for any man to have, for everything must come to pass in the due course of time. When you go out and plant a tree, you have to wait for the tree to mature before it can give you its fruit. There is a time coming when the fruits of all mankind's labor will be rewarded, and that time is at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. When you plant a crop, the seeds need the former rain to germinate and sprout and to start growing. The spring rains are light and un-saturating, those rains gives nourishment to the young plant. Where as the latter rain brings the heavy down pours that come later on, when the plant is fully matured, and near harvest. Then the plant needs much watering or it blasts in the field and becomes worthless. This is as it is with man. If you plant a seed of truth in a ground or mind that is not prepared for the seed, it will dry up and die. If the seed of truth is rejected by that person, it is not ready to receive the truth, so just don't plant any more seeds there until the mind is ready to receive the truth. If God wants that person to be reached, He will give the former rain in the mind of that person, then the seed will take hold and sprout into understanding within that person. You will know that it did sprout by the questions that that person asks you. Then as that person matures, you put the latter rain, which is the truths from God's Word in that persons mind and it will bear fruit for God. It is God that is in control and He is the one that decides when the former and latter rain is right, for God's Spirit opens the minds of those that will receive the truth of His Word. It is not you but God that gives the understanding, but we are to be prepare to be used by God when that mind is open and inquiring for the truth. As the Word then is fed into that inquiring mind, it will change that life and God's Word will become reality to them. James 5:8 "Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh." Be stable in your mind, and have the patience to wait on the Lord. He will do everything that He has promised in His course in time. It is not for you or I to determine what God will do, or when He shall return, for when the last soul is sealed in his or her mind with the Word of God, then the events that will bring about the end of this earth age will begin. God has laid out the sequential order of the things that will happen at the end of this earth age, and written them in His Word. Satan is not going to be released on the earth with his fallen angels until that last of God's elect are sealed. Then and only then will Revelation 12:9 come to pass. Revelation 12:9 :And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him." This knowledge must be sealed in the mind of every elect on the face of the earth prior to the coming of Satan with all his lies and wonders and miracles, or those elect would be deceived. This coming is at the sixth trumpet, and the coming of the Lord will be at the seventh and last trumpet. Paul speaks of the events of the seventh trumpet it is recorded in II Corinthians 15:50-53. I Corinthians 15:50 "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption." Paul is talking about the coming of the Lord drawing nigh, and that coming will be on the last day of this earth age of the flesh. Your flesh and blood body simply cannot exist in the kingdom of God, when Jesus is reigning here on this earth in the Millennium age. "Corruption" is the "flesh body", and "incorruption" is your spiritual body, as the angels have. When you are in the kingdom of God, in the Millennium age, you will be in a different body then you are in today. I Corinthians 15:51 "Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep [die], but we shall all be changed," The "mystery" that Paul is showing us is that a time is coming when all of the people living in these flesh bodies will not die anymore, but all flesh bodies of both good and bad people alike will be changed into their spiritual bodies. I Corinthians 15:52 "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." When this changing takes place, it will be instant, faster then you can wink your eye. The time of this changing will be when the last trumpet sounds, at the seventh trumpet. so Paul is telling us that when we see Jesus coming, it will be after the change from our flesh bodies into our spiritual bodies. This is why all souls shall bow their knees to Christ, for they then know exactly who Jesus is and the true identity of Satan, the one that many Christians will have been worshipping for the past five months. It is no longer a secret to anyone, for the truth of all of God's Word will be known. However, the seventh trumpet is after the sixth trumpet, and after the coming of Satan, when Satan and all his angels are cast out of heaven on to the earth. You must understand this or you will be deceived. There is no rapture, or flying away prior to the seventh trumpet, for the understanding of this is what is being sealed in your mind. You either know it and believe it and are sealed, or you are not. If you are not, God will turn you over to Satan and his realm to do with as he will. Revelation 9:4 "And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads." Satan is coming not to destroy any of the plants or animals or even flesh man, but Satan is coming to deceive mankind into worshipping him, and destroying their souls. The protection that God is giving is only to those men which have "the seal of God in their foreheads". Your mind is in your forehead, and it is what is in your mind that seals you, or causes you to accept or reject Satan as the true Christ. Satan is coming as the "instead of Christ" or Antichrist, and he will be a counterfeit or impostor of the real thing. Revelation 9:5 "And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man." Jesus warned us in Matthew 24:22 that the three and one half years of Satan's reign will be shorten for the elect's sake, those sealed in their minds with the truth of God's Word. "And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened." Here then in Revelation 9:5, Jesus revealed to us through John that this time was shortened to five months. Two other matters to consider and understand here is that Satan and his locust army of fallen angels are not out to kill anyone, except the two witnesses. But Satan and his fallen angels will be out to deceive the people of the earth into accepting him. The counterfeit messiah, through the lies and miracles that he and his angels shall do in the sight of all men shall deceive all those that do not expect this to happen. Do you see why the rapture doctrine is so evil, for it puts the Christian off guard and allows them to be taken instantly at the second trump. Satan and his fallen angels' method of striking man is the same method that the scorpion uses when it strikes a man, so lets look at what the scorpion does. The scorpion has no stomach, so what ever digestive process goes on, goes on in the body of it's prey. Once it locks on to its prey with its pinchers, it shoots a venom into the prey and then instantly the scorpion virtually vomits its digestive juices on the skin of it's prey. The venom goes instantly to the brain and paralyzes the victim, while the digestive juices turn the flesh of the victim to mush. The man lays paralyzed while the process goes on, and when it is over, the scorpion sucks in the digestive juices and is gone. Two things that we should look at here, first when the strike comes, the paralyzing is instant. When Satan and his fallen angels are cast out of heaven to earth, man is taken completely unaware. The preparation must be done ahead of time, because the mind of the individual is shut down as to what is happening to him or her. The second thing we should understand is that the whole process takes place inside the man that has been struck by the scorpion. The destruction that Satan does in his role as the "instead of Christ", or Antichrist is not physical destruction but spiritual destruction. The battlefield is in your mind and the war is fought with words, ideas and the twisting of God's truth to make it a lie. This is why we are to put on the whole armor of God that is spoken of in Ephesians 6:10-20. That armor protect our entire being, and it is the truth from the Word of God that is put on in advance of the strike. The Word of God is our armor, all of it from Genesis to Revelation, and His Word will protect every part of our lives and our body. The Word gives us direction to our lives, and alerts us to the dangers within our lives and to the events of the day. Once Satan has arrived with his bag of miracles and tricks, those not prepared with the truth in their mind will instantly run to him and be taken by him. This is why Paul warned us in II Thessalonians 2:3, 4 that we should not be deceived, for Jesus is not coming until Satan, "the son of perdition" has come first, and has sat in the side of the north in Jerusalem, which is to say the temple there, and declared himself to be God. That act is the "abomination" spoken of by Daniel that our Lord warned us of in Matthew 24:15. The "desolation" comes when the people of the earth, including most Christians believe Satan to be the Christ. They mock the truth, and chase after their fairy-tale doctrines of flying out of here before the tribulation comes. They explain away the next verse in I Corinthians 15:53. I Corinthians 15:53 "For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality." In other words, Paul is telling you that your flesh body must be changed into your incorruptible body first, and for the elect's body, immortality will come before Jesus Christ returns to this earth on the day of the Lord. Lets put this even more simple for our understanding; you will not see Jesus Christ or hear one word that He says in your flesh body, and if anyone comes and declares that he is the Christ, he is an imposter. More than likely he is even Satan. If mother is still in the nursing home, then that person claiming to be Christ and doing those miracles is Satan. If you still desire to do the functions that your flesh body does such as eating and sleeping, then that one claiming to be Christ is a liar, and is Satan. Pinch yourself, and if it has feelings then that is not the true Christ. If your sons and daughters are younger than you, and grandma still has her wrinkles, that you are looking at Satan, and you had better not bow a knee to him. So James is telling us to "stablish in our heart", which is to fix in your mind the time of the coming of the Lord, and have the patience to wait on the true Christ, and not be taken out of season by the false Christ. Know in your mind what the Word of God states about the coming of the Lord, and know the prophesies that are to occur prior to the coming of the Lord. Be on watch for them, and know them when you see them. Be a watchman on the wall, alert and looking out for the enemy, for he is coming before the Lord draweth nigh. When there is a doubt as to the things that are happening, go to the Word of God and document it in your mind, and that will give you the patience to stand firm in your belief. What you do in the flesh is what you will be judged by at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. There will be no one standing in for you on your behalf pleading the sins that you have committed. If your preacher leads you to Satan he will be held accountable for that act, and so will you for following him. It is your soul that you are accountable for before our Father, so be patient and stablish yourself in your mind with the truth. This verse is written for the generation that we are living in today. Friend, it is a warning to you personally. James 5:9 "Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the Judge standeth before the door." Don't murmur and complain about one another for that is judging one another and in turn placing judgment on yourselves. Jesus Christ is coming, and He can see and will know what has taken place, and it is for him to do the judging. In our generation, Jesus is truly at the door, and there is not much time left to prepare for that day. We are to be seed planters, and we are to be wise enough to know that at this time much of the seed will fall by the wayside. Don't get upset when it looks like your efforts are in vain, for when you plant the seeds, you have done what you are responsible for. If your words of that seed don't take root, be gone with yourself. Don't argue about religion, for Christianity is not a religion of a man made form of worship, it is God's reality in life. You are either in that life, or you are not. It is nothing to argue about. We are to show patience with those that are babes in Christ, for they must mature in the Word before they can have full understanding for themselves. When a baby acts up, it is a sign of their maturity, and it is not expected for that child to act as a mature adult would act. Their accountability for in their innocence is not the same as it would be for you or I as an adult and mature. God knows the intent of their mind and yours and each of us shall be judged fairly. Remember back in James 4:17; "Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin." You are judged by what you know to be true, and how you apply those instructions to your life. God is standing at the door and He sees what you do. James 5:10 "Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience." James is telling you to look back at the prophets of the Old Testament; take Isaiah and Jeremiah, and all the prophets that have spoken out "in the name of the Lord". Every prophet in the Bible suffered ridicule or physical harm for speaking out in the name of the Lord. When God spoke to them, they faithfully carried out the instruction given them by God. Think of Jeremiah, thrown in a well, mud up to his armpits and left there for days. All because he warned the people of a danger that was coming, and that the people of Jerusalem would go into captivity. The people refused to believe Babylon was coming in Jeremiah's day, and today they make up all sorts of fairy-tales to get away from facing the truth that Satan is coming first. They allow the Kenites to do their interpreting of God's Word, then they can't understand why the Word of God doesn't make sense to them. It doesn't matter what troubles these prophets went through, God was faithful to see them through to the very end. God is the judge and He keeps His Word. Satan and the Babylon of the book of Revelation is coming in our generation, and every flesh man that is alive on the face of the earth will be part of his system. The point is that you know who Satan is, and that you don't worship him as Jesus Christ. Satan is a counterfeit of the other, Jesus the True Christ. James 5:11 "Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy." Happiness is the knowledge and satisfaction that we have when we know that He will never let us down. This word "pitiful" in the Greek text is "polusplanchnos", and means that He is "very compassionate". If you are patient, God does have love, compassion and tender mercy for those that love Him. We are to be patient and give God the time necessary to do the work that is yet to be done. When you understand that the Word of God is completely true, and all prophecies must be fulfilled as written, then you understand that for God to change that order is for Him not to keep His Word. God is not worried about you that are saved, but it is the unsaved that He is tending to, and longsuffering. He desires that no one perish, and as one of God's elect, that should be your concern also. That is your purpose for being called and a "sent one". James 5:12 But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea, and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation." We are to absorb the Word into our mind, and then to follow that Word fully in our commitment. Today many are taught the Word, however in the teaching there is never declared a specific point. Their teaching is built around a problem that the teacher or pastor creates in your mind, and then they allow you to work out the solution for yourself. Instead of basing their teaching around the absolute Word of God, they base their sermons on what this man or that man had to say about the teaching in God's Word. They always bring their conclusions to what a man had to say on the matter. By using two different men with two different conclusions it leaves it up to the congregation to make up their own minds, and this is wrong. When this goes on in any church, what you are learning is called the "traditions of men". Anytime the conclusion of Biblical teaching is left to a man, and not taken back to God's Word to study how it was written in the initial text, it is of man and not God. We get the meaning through the Strong's numbered Hebrew and Greek dictionary or a similar source such as Green's Interlinear Bible, or it those words become nothing more that the traditions of men and a complete waste of time. When God's Word is taught there should be no room left for man's interpretation. Where God's Word says yes to a matter then the answer is yes; and when God's Word speaks out against something, then it is absolutely no. When a teacher or preacher leaves the outcome in doubt, then James says that the preacher has given the congregation the cause to sin. It doesn't take much study to see what God has to say on any matter, and get the in-depth meaning. This is why we are very fortunate to have the "Companion Bible" [the King James Bible keyed to the Massorah text in its notes] for it gives us an outline of the verses we read. It identifies the subject matter that is discussed, and you can follow the lesson being taught. Many churches do not like the Companion Bible for it shows their traditions to be false, and brings out the errors in their teachings. If you use it simply for the outline, it will keep the subject and object object fresh in your mind so that you know what God's Word is talking about. An example of this is as follows. The word "Job" in the Hebrew tongue is #347 in the Strong's Hebrew Dictionary; "Iyowb, ee-yobe'; hated, (i.e. persecuted)." When you study the book of Job from Job 3 to chapter 37 you read of nothing but the babbling teaching of the false prophets. Yet many so-called preachers of today have no idea of this fact from their teaching and in their ministry. Now ask yourself this? What do you call a preacher that teaches his congregation what some false prophet said? You have to ask yourself, are they doing this in complete ignorance, or is their intention to mislead them? It is obvious that they did not read Job 38 and beyond, for they would read how disgusted God was with Job for sitting there through all this babbling and conflict, listening to those fools with their empty words. Job 38:1 "Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said," This is after Job had sat there in his boils listening to those different false prophets. Job 38:2 "Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?" Every word that they have spoken is dark counsel, it is not from God but from the traditions of men. It is words without knowledge. Job 38:3 "Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou Me." God is asking Job, why are you listening to those men with empty heads. You know My Word, now get up off the ground and start acting like a man. James is saying basically the same thing here to us, You know God's Word, stop listening to those men with empty heads and strange traditions giving their dark counsel. Gird yourself up and start acting like a man of God. Let your yes be yes and your no be a definite no. You learn to stablish your mind in the Word of God, then let that be the only guide for your answers. Remember that the subject here in James is the return of the Lord, and that is what James is warning us about. He is telling us to be able to document what we believe from the Scriptures and stick by what we know the be true. Stop listening to dark counsel of men with no knowledge concerning these matters. James 5:13 "Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms." This then is the approach that we should have when we are trying to have the patience to wait for Christ's return. If you desire to pray, then pray, and if you like to be happy and show your excitement, then sings songs, or even quote the verses from the bible. James is saying that in our having patience we should study God's Word, pray for understanding, and go about our life with our minds in tune with all the good that is coming from His Word. James 5:14 "If any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:" This is the instructions for your giving prayer for the sick and James is asking you, Is there any sick among you? If the answer is yes, then this is what you do. Pay attention now; it is the sick person that must do the asking. He is the one that makes the effort to call the elders of the church and request that these brethren in the Lord, pray over him. When that person asks for this prayer, it shows that the sick person has faith and believes in the healing power of God. The word "oil" in the Greek is the base root [aleipho], "pure olive oil", the oil of our people. It is not the "oil" that does the healing, but the obedience of the sick believer, and his faith in following the Word of God. His faith is there because God's Word has stated that it should to be done in this manner for the healing. The act of anointing is the placing of the olive oil with a touch on the forehead, and it may look silly to the unsaved, but it is your obedience and faith in carrying out the act that brings about the healing. This anointing applies to your homes also that are sick and filled with confusion and evil spirits. It is the place where the entire family comes together, and many times those spirits can cause trouble for the entire family. This is why we must also take control over our homes also, when necessary. When we anoint our homes, we are to use the example of the anointing in the first Passover, by anointing the doorpost where the entry into the home is. The anointing is to be the same as the anointing of the sick person, "in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ". At Jesus name all evil must flee so don't forget to tell those evil spirits to go back to where they came from. They know personally where they belong. Take a little oil and place it on the door mantle, and pray that the Father will protect all persons inside your home and that nothing evil can pass through that threshold and enter your home, "in Jesus name." It is not a ritual, but a prayer of faith. It works and it should be done as necessary. James 5:15 "And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him." In that prayer of repentance for the sick, not only will the sick person be healed, but the sins of the one seeking healing will be healed in both body and soul. God will forgive your sins also. When you pray for healing for a sick person, and that person dies, it doesn't mean that God did not answer your prayer, for your prayer must be within the will of God. You don't know what the will of God is, but the results of your prayer will reveal His will. When that person dies, his sins are forgiven, and his soul is raised up to be with the Father; that is the will of God. "...And if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him." The forgiving of sin is also part of the healing process, and we must learn to accept God's Will even when it goes against what we desire for that individual. When he dies, his soul goes to be with the Father, and there will be no more pain and suffering then. Ecclesiastes 12:7 "Then [at death] shall the dust [flesh body] return to the earth [elements of the earth that the flesh body is made of] as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God Who gave it." God placed that soul into the embryo of that child at conception, and when that body matures and grows old and dies, that soul will return to the Father that placed in into the embryo at conception. I don't think that is to hard to understand. If we pray for healing of a sick person, the sin has left the soul, and that soul is returned to the Father fit for all eternity. Only the Lord knows when each soul is required to be returned to Him, and we are to pray that His will is what is respected. Sometimes when people start to judge the Judge, it can be a very dangerous thing on their souls. God knows what is expected of every person, and don't forget that God is making up an army both here on earth, and in heaven that shall return with Him. If God chooses certain ones for his army in heaven, so be it. James 5:16 "Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." A righteous man is someone who has just repented of their sins, and is free from all of their sins. That person is completely forgiven and they are perfect in the eyes of God. It is at this time that we are to pray for one another, after you have confessed your sins to our Heavenly Father, and prayed for forgiveness for yourself. When you are right with God, then He will seek to answer your prayers within His will. James 5:17 "Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months." Elijah was a man with like passions that each of us have. When it was hot he sweated, and when it was cold he froze. When He was hungry he wanted something to eat, and so on. When Elijah wanted it to stop raining, there was nothing that he personally could do to stop the rain, but he prayed earnestly to God for the rain to stop. Elijah was a righteous man, and when he prayed, the rain stopped for three and one half years. That is the same amount of time of that three and one half year period spoken of by Daniel in 12:11. Daniel 12:11 "And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days." In Daniel 9, Daniel spoke of a seven year period, where the first half would be a system of a world government spoken of as a beast, which the second half, or this three and one half year period, would be when Satan the Antichrist would rule. This time period is the same time frame, and God will allow it to happen in each case. It wasn't Elijah that stopped the rain, it was our Heavenly Father. James 5:18 "And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit." The Elijah type ministries are those that are warning of the time when there shall be a famine upon the earth. We are warned of this through the prophet Amos, in Amos 8:11; "Behold the day come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord:" This warning came in the last verses of the Old Testament. Malachi 4:5 "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord:" Malachi 4:6 "And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse." Notice that the word "fathers" is plural, and those fathers are our Lord God Almighty, and Satan the fake. The truth of God's Word will drive a person somewhere, and for those that accept and believe His Word, it will drive them to the Lord. However, most people, even many Christians simply take their traditions over the Word of God, and their traditions will turn their hearts or minds to accept the fake, Satan the Antichrist. It is not for you and I to judge which way any one will go, for it is only our Father that does the judging. We plant the seeds, and the Spirit of God will make it grow if that is the will of God and the choice of the individual. The very seed of the Word of God may lay in the mind of the person for years until the rainy season, and then sprout into life. You plant the seed and then keep your hands off it it, that is the Lord's business. James 5:19 "Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him;" James 5:20 "Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins." We are to pray for people and help them, and it shall cover a multitude of your own sins upon repentance. This is a true saying. Not one of us is perfect. We are living in a very exciting generation, and even those prophets and apostles of Biblical times desired to live in our generation. This is the generation of the parable of the fig tree, and it was planted and set out in May of 1948, when both the good and the bad baskets of figs returned to Palestine to set up the tiny nation of Israel. The former rain has already fallen, and now the latter rain is falling on it. This is a serious time, and we should have our minds set on planting of the seeds of truth from God's Word. For when even one soul repents and accepts the Lord, the angels in heaven rejoice. There brings truly a happy day in heaven. The time of acceptance is now, while we are in the flesh and have the right of free-will and choice, however that time is coming to a close. Much of what you consider big trouble today, is very small when you consider what the future holds for those that refuse the outstretched arms of our Lord. Now is the accepted time of salvation, to repent to the Father in Jesus name, and get about our Heavenly Father's Work.
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