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Daily Devotional, Year 2 – JANUARY 9

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The Time of Trouble!

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Part 1:

“Armageddon In The Sky!”

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There has been no lack of enthusiastic speculation about the last great battle called Armageddon! And many are looking over there in Palestine, to the literal place called Megiddo for this great battle to occur.

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And isn’t it interesting that such a big reaction is made over just one little verse which speaks directly about Armageddon.

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Listen… “For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. And he (either God, or the 6th angel with the 6th bowl of wrath) gathered them (the peoples of the whole world) together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.” Revelation 16:14-16

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Now if we were to take this verse literally, we would have to agree that, indeed, this battle takes place in literal Israel!

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Armageddon – Wikigallery – Public Domain

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THE WHOLE WORLD GATHERED TOGETHER

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One very big problem with that, is that the people from the whole earth could not possibly be gathered together in literal Megiddo!

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After all, there are 6 or 7 billion people on earth today!

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Remember, it says, “For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of THE WHOLE WORLD, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty…into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.” Revelation 16:14, 16

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Now some Bible teachers say that this gathering to this battle must be accomplished by means of television or Internet, since the whole world could not possibly be physically gathered together in one place. But this theory would not solve this logistical problem since there are millions of people-groups living in places without television or Internet.

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So there has to be another explanation! 

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Armageddon – Wikigallery – Public Domain

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THE VALLEY OF DECISION

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But as with so much of the Bible, and with so much of the Book of Revelation, God presents spiritual truths, veiled in types and symbols and allegories.

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Yes, the Day of the Lord will be upon the whole earth. And the whole world will be gathered together in Armageddon!

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Listen to the prophet Joel… “Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.” Joel 3:14

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So, Joel is prophesying of the Day of the Lord, as if it is a decision. A “Valley of Decision”!

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Therefore, this Valley of Decision is a spiritual concept, and not a literal place.

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Pilgrim in a Rocky Valley by Carl Gustav Carus – Wikimedia – US Public Domain

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VALLEY OF DECISION IN THE SKY!

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But wait!

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Maybe this Valley of Decision is a literal place! Maybe we’ve been looking in the wrong direction!

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Maybe we need to do as Luke 21:25, 28 commands… “And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring…And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” Luke 21:25, 28

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Yes, maybe we need to take Luke’s counsel and realize that God is now revealing the long-awaited signs in the Sun, Moon, and stars! And maybe we need to take his advice to just, “look up, and lift up your heads”, and you just might see a constellation group known as “The Valley of Decision Constellation Group”!

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Yes, from summer through Fall, this constellation group appears in the night sky, presenting a fearful message about the Day of the Lord!

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ABOVE PICTURE: THE FALL CONSTELLATIONS

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WINTER CONSTELLATIONS SPEAK OF WAR!

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Now the Valley of Decision Constellation-group appears in mid-Summer, through Fall. And they precede the Winter constellations.

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And just as Joel prophesied, “the Day of the Lord is near in the Valley of Decision”, so too, the Valley of Decision in the sky is just prior to the appearance of the Winter Constellations. And the Winter Constellations are a grand and awesome portrait in the winter-night sky of Armageddon!

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Yes, the Winter constellations are a marvelous battle scene! Michael is fighting the Dragon! The Dragon is spewing out his poison water! The Woman is fleeing from the Dragon’s wave of water. The Horse and his Rider are stomping on the Dragon’s tail. The Captive Angel is waiting to be freed from her imprisonment! 

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The Winter Constellations are all about war, war, war!!!

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ABOVE PICTURE: THE WINTER CONSTELLATIONS

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WHO IS ON THE LORD’S SIDE?

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And the Valley of Decision is asking the question: “Am I willing to go all the way with the Christ? Am I willing to engage in the battle? Am I willing to be crucified with Christ?”

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Yes, there are many who would rather just remain a Disciple of Christ and enjoy the more pleasant aspects of Christianity. To merely study the Bible and tell others about Christ. To just sing praise songs and wave our hands in the air, and swoon and get emotional all over Jesus! The Summer Constellations depict these more pleasant aspects of the Gospel

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But the fact is, it is the Valley of Decision which will separate the true Believers from the make-believers! The Valley of Decision will separate the wheat from the tares, and the goats from the sheep!

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Yes, the Valley of Decision will make manifest to all the world, just who it is that serves Christ, and who it is that serves Him not! 

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And so, dear soul, we must pray to God, that He will graciously reveal these signs in the Sun, Moon, and stars, that we might know for a certainty, whether these things are true or not!

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ABOVE PICTURE: THE SUMMER CONSTELLATIONS

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“Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision:

for the day of the LORD  is near in the valley of decision.” Joel 3:14

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ABOVE PICTURE: THE FALL CONSTELLATIONS

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TO READ PART 2, CLICK HERE…

OCTOBER 15 (The Time of Trouble! Part 2: Gideon & Our Soon-Coming Battle!)

Gideon and His Three Hundred (Bible Card) www.thebiblerevival.org – Wikimedia – Public Domain

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TODAY’S PRAYER…

“Dear Lord, I have been so thoroughly indoctrinated by today’s Bible teachers. Please renew my mind, that I may look at my Bible with fresh eyes, that I may be from from all the dogmatism which has given me a narrow-mindedness about Bible prophecy…

Woman Praying – cropped image – Wikimedia – Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license

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READ MORE…

To explore deeper into this subject, please read… “The Crown of Revelation 12: What Is “The Time of Jacob’s Trouble”?”, or you can also read… “August 25th (End-Time Exodus! Part 1)”

Question book magnify svg – Wikimedia – GNU license

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THE END

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TODAY’S FEATURED HEAVENLY SIGN

Info & pics of constellations on this site from Wikipedia & International Astronomical Union (click here)

 

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VALLEY OF DECISION GROUP…

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Look eastward in the early summer through fall. Find the Cassiopeia Constellation. Cassiopeia is the Mount of Blessing.

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In the sketch, it is the farthest mountain to the left. In the sky, it is the northern-most of these three mountains when facing eastward. It resembles a pyramid. Then find the next pyramid to its right (south). Then go a little further south to the next third pyramid. The third snow-cap is the Destroying Mountain Constellation. These three pyramids are the snow-capped portion of these three mountains in this sketch. (of course, you won’t see the snow-caps in the sky. They are just an embellishment in this sketch to present a concept-EDITOR).

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“Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.” Micah 4:1, 2

THE VALLEY OF DECISION CONSTELLATION GROUP. They appear in mid-summer in the eastern skies in pre-dawn hours.

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These are made of Cassiopeia (mount on left), and various stars from the Andromeda Constellation (valley) Pegasus (Mount of Cursing (middle mount) & Destroying Mount (right)), and Pisces (Broad Way to Hell). The galaxy which appears to be climbing the Mountain of Blessing is the Andromeda Galaxy. 

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The above Wikipedia star-chart shows this amazing constellation group as it appears from June to fall, just prior to the winter constellation group. Actually, this Valley of Decision Constellations appear in early summer in the pre-dawn hours. (Editor of this website has sketched in this constellation group onto this above Wikipedia star-chart.) 

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READ MORE…

To explore deeper into this subject, please read… “The ‘Valley of Decision’ Constellation”

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TOMORROW…

JANUARY 10 . . . . How a Joke Killed!

Laughing – (cropped and color added) – Fotothek df roe neg – Wikimedia – Share-alike License

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20 MINUTE+ AUDIO BIBLE STUDY IN JEREMIAH 

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ALL ‘NOBLE BEREANS’ (open-minded seekers of Bible truth) ARE ENCOURAGED TO BEGIN FOLLOWING THIS 650+ AUDIO BIBLE STUDY THROUGH THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH EACH DAY ON THIS DAILY DEVOTIONAL.

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THIS STUDY #374 IS PRESENTED BY THE LATE HAROLD CAMPING…

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