God raises up and casts down kingdoms; and predicts it 100 years before the fact.
God will judge every idle word.
Only God can forgive sin.
God even loves Atheists -- to a point of no return.
Death and Hell will be cast into the lake of fire.
MEN WHOSE MINDS GOD CONTROLLED.
1) PHARAOH'S HEART HARDENED BY GOD.
A) "But Pharaoh will not heed you, so that I may lay My hand on Egypt and bring My hosts, My people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments" - Ex 7.4.
B) "And Pharaoh's heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, as 'He Is' (Yahweh) had said" - Ex 7.13.
C) "But 'He Is' (Yahweh) hardened the heart of Pharaoh ..." - Ex 9.12; and also: 10.1; 10.20; 10.27; 11.10; 14.8.
God puts His will into the hearts of men, to do His bidding, and to glorify Himself (for He announces these feats long before they happen; See: Gen 15.13-14).
2) KINGS OF ASSYRIA DIRECTED BY THE MIND OF GOD.
"Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger and the staff in whose hand is My indignation. I will send him against an ungodly nation [Israel], and against the people of My wrath I will give him charge, to seize the spoil, to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. Yet he DOES NOT mean so, nor does his heart think so; but it is IN HIS HEART to destroy, and cut off not a few nations" - Isa 10.5-7.
So then, Assyria carried off Samaria, in 721 BC, and surrounded the walls of Jerusalem, in 713 BC, until :
"Then the angel of 'He Is' (Yahweh) went out, and killed in the camp of the Assyrians 180,000; and when [people] arose early in the morning, there were the corpses -- all dead" - Isa 37.36. And #2 agrees with #1; about how God operates.
3) "Behold, I will send and take the families of the north [Babylon], says 'He Is' (Yahweh), and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and will bring them against this land [Judah], against its inhabitants, and against these nations all around, and will utterly destroy them and make them an astonishment, a hissing, and perpetual desolations" - Jer 25.9.
NOTE: God boasted that He would kill "two-thirds" of the nation of Judah, and chase the other third into captivity (Eze 5.12). The slaughter came to Jerusalem in 588 BC.
Some of the forum expressed curiosity about, "Just how much does God control?" The next number will give a better idea about this subject.
4) GOD ALLOWED PAGAN KINGS "FREE WILL."
A) "So the angel who spoke with me said to me, 'Proclaim, saying: Thus says "He Is" (Yahweh) of hosts, I am zealous for Jerusalem and for Zion [written: 518 BC] with great zeal. I am exceedingly angry with the nations at ease [Babylon and her allies]; for I was a little angry, and they helped -- with evil'" - Zec 1.14-15.
B) "... and you [Gog] will say, 'I will go up against a land of [unwalled] villages, I will go to the ones at rest, ones
dwelling in no wall, and gates are not to them" - Eze 38.11.
NOTE: God is explaining to us: (1) that He sent Nebuchadnezzar to kill "two-thirds" of Judah; and: (2) that Nebuchadnezzar "did evil" that God did not approve of. So then, the main point: "killing two-thirds" was from God; but attacking the "unwalled villages" was evil originating in the mind of the king.
You should not speculate on this subject; less you sin. God has a sufficient number of examples for the curious, in the Bible. "If anyone speaks; as the sayings of God" (1Pet 4.11).
5) GOD IS ALIVE TODAY; AND CONTROLLING THE GOVERNMENTS.
"The Ten Horns [10 Papal States] which you saw are Ten Kings [figuratively speaking] which have received no kingdom yet [AD 67], but they receive authority for One Hour [15 Years] as kings with the Beast [Pagan Rome; fell - 476]. These are of One Mind [Roman Catholic], and they will give their power and authority to the Beast , and the Lamb will overcome them*; for He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with Him [are] called, chosen, and faithful ...
And the Ten Horns which you saw on the Beast [Papacy], these will hate the Prostitute [Catholic Church], make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh [territories], and burn her with fire [Papal States fell in 1870]. For God has PUT IT INTO THEIR HEARTS to fulfill His purpose, to be of One Mind [Roman Catholic], and to give their kingdom to the Beast [Papacy] until the words of God are fulfilled*" - Rev 17.12-17
* When the Protestants taught that, "Jesus lives today! -- on earth!"; then they believed that God would overthrow Papacy and Pope (Rev 19.20). And, they were right!
Today the churches do not believe that God will overthrow Papacy and Pope the second time (Rev 20.10). This unbelief is despite front page news of the Catholic Church "going down."
** The Fall of Babylon in One Day (Rev 18.8) was from June 4, 1859 to May 1860. The Fall of Babylon in One Hour was September 20, 1870. Many Protestant expositors included this event as the completion of Rev 16.10-11. All encyclopedias have recorded these events; even The New Catholic Encyclopedia. See: "Italy." So then, the founding of Italy was the end of the Papal States; after 42 Months (1260 Years).
The Roman Catholics overthrew Papacy and Pope (Rev 19.20), in 1870.
Today, the Roman Catholics are ruining the Catholic Churches (Rev 20.10).
S.N.A.P. is an organization of "survivors" of childhood molestation by Homosexual Roman Catholic priests, and they are leading Catholics in their lawsuits against the Catholic Church. There have been 90,000 lawsuits reported since 1950.
Last year (2004), the Catholics were continuous front page news for: (1) Homosexual priests convicted; (2) Lawsuits won against the church; (3) Closings of churches, and schools, and hospitals.
God is Alive, and Well, and At Work.
hoaryhead
™ Version 4.2